Top 10 Things I'd Change about the EU

Dec 30, 2010 18:03

When I started my EU lists, starbuck92 asked my Top 10 Things I'd Change about the EU. Of course, I couldn't resist. So here's my list. Beware of ranting.



This list concentrates on post-ROTJ era EU, since that's what I grew up on, and to me, that's what I think of when I hear the term "Expanded Universe." I know there's much more to it than that, but frankly, nothing has ever held my interest like the continuing adventures of the Big Three (and later the Big Four).

While most of my problems with the post-ROTJ EU stem from the Dark Nest Trilogy and later books, the Bantam era EU had its fair share of problems, and I won't ignore them here!

1. Luke and Mara would have gotten together way earlier. And there would be much more angst in between The Thrawn Trilogy and The Hand of Thrawn. Like, they’d actually talk to each other and show some sort of interest in each other! Or, they could have gotten together, broken up, and then gotten together during HoT, so his proposal didn't come so out of left field.

If I had my way, the timeline would be like this:
TTT -> Much Revised JAT / I, Jedi -> Revised New Rebellion -> Corellian Trilogy -> HoT

Oh, who am I kidding? If I had my way, my fanfic would be canon. LOL!!!!

2. NO SUPERWEAPONS!!! NO CALLISTA!
I was so freaking sick of damn superweapons in the Bantam era. You had the Sun Crusher, the Darksaber, and Centerpoint Station. Two of those were KJA creations, of course. I didn't mind Centerpoint Station, mainly because the plot wasn't ridiculous, but the whole idea just grated on my nerves after awhile.

And actually, Callista is acceptable, only if she tells Luke stuff about the Old Jedi Order and provides a much-needed catalyst for Mara to get her head out of her ass.

3. There would have been more than one Skycrawler; OR

4. Anakin Solo would be alive and kicking ass.
Either one of these would suffice. I would have loved for Ben to be already born in the NJO. If you read the books in chronological order, it makes perfect sense for them to have Ben after Survivor's Quest. He should have already been born in Vector Prime, and Mara could have gotten pregnant with another child in the NJO. (Of course, if they had gotten together earlier, their kids could have been a lot older in the NJO.)

And then there's Anakin Solo. To be truly honest, I don't mind his death in Star by Star. I think it was beautifully written and perfectly in character for him. However, I really missed him in the NJO and especially in later books. He was the only Solo kid I really cared about, and I can't help but wonder what the EU would be like if he was still alive.

5. Jacen Solo would not have turned Sith.
This, in my opinion, is the biggest mistake of the post-ROTJ EU, even more than killing Mara. I was never a big fan of Jacen Solo, but I hated that he turned evil. It was a stupid, recycled storyline and if someone had to turn Sith, it should have been someone other than a Skywalker. ARGH.

Also, Tahiri would not have turned Sith, either. Poor Tahiri. That girl has really been through the ringer.

6. Jaina and Jag would have gotten together after the NJO.
They are their generation's Luke and Mara, with WAY more angst. I feel bad for all the J/J shippers. They get together, then break up, then get together, then break up, more times than you can count! And Legacy makes it all seem rather pointless.

7. Mara would still be alive.
Obviously. If they were going to do the Jacen turns Sith storyline, his "sacrifice" should have been someone he actually cared about. After he came back from his five-year journey, he never cared about Mara. He was much closer to Luke, his former master.

8. Leia would have become a Jedi after her children were older and she was done with the government - between HoT and NJO.
I hate that she finally became a Jedi Knight during that god-awful bug series.

9. Jaina, Jacen, Anakin, and Ben would be the stars of the post-ROTJ EU, and the Big Four would be happily retired.
Sure, I will always want to read about the Big Three/Four, but there's only so much they can do. They deserve a break! And there's only two left of the new generation, and they need to really come into their own. Jaina Solo, IMO, is painfully underused. (Yes, this is coming from someone who hasn't read LOTF or FOTJ, but I've read enough of the storyline to know that it's true.)

10. Timothy Zahn, Aaron Allston, and Michael Stackpole would write waaaay more books.
Because, I mean, they just should.

What I Want to Happen in the Future: Besides my pipe dream of a reboot after The Unifying Force?

Del Rey needs to stop doing long series (which they are going to) and focus on character-driven stand-alones and trilogies that fill in the timeline, specifically between VOTF and NJO, and NJO and DNT. There's so many characters that could be fleshed out. And I would love love love a Luke/Mara book set before VOTF. But most of all, I want my Skywalker family novel written by Timothy Zahn. COME ON, DEL REY. That would be a license to print money.

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