I am kind of tempted to reread the Zahn books but am worried that either A) jaded old man Lauchs won’t read them with the same suspension of disbelief, sense of awe and childish imagination or B) be really annoyed we didn’t get those as the new movies.
Back in 2019, after I experienced a traumatic hallucination (where I had this vivid, nightmare-like vision that Disney brought JJ Abrams back to make 9th star wars movie) I reread the Zahn trilogy.
Sure, as an adult it was maybe less awesome than the first time I read it, but I really, really enjoyed it. It was such a palate cleansing experience, it really helped me get over that nightmare. A story that continued the plot, characters and setting of the original trilogy in interesting ways that made sense to the world and people already established, had a plausible scope and threat level that was menacing but didn’t undo the achievements of Luke & the Rebellion, and opened doors to a wider galaxy. I hope if Disney ever get round to finishing the sequel trilogy they take some cues from Zahn’s approach.
Have you read the new Thrawn trilogies? I’m a big fan. The running theme throughout those books and Rebels was that while he is a brilliant tactician and leader, he has blind spots like everyone else. In Rebels’ case, that was the Force, which Ezra used to convince space whales to get rid of Thrawn. Personally, that’s good enough for me, especially considering that in Ahsoka, he’s got that blind spot covered.
Everyone had a plan for “what if a Jedi boards your ship”. Nobody had a plan for “what if a Jedi gets his semi mythical space whale friends to jack your entire fleet like they’re the repo man and you just missed a payment”.
And that was why I loved the rogue squadron series as a kid: the main characters weren’t Jedi. They were just regular people, whose superpowers were just weaponized competence. No handwavey space magic, just a T-65 and decades of starfighter combat experience.
![[HSW] Always gotta be safe](https://dmv.social/pictrs/image/a108a622-838d-404c-941b-66006c40f799.jpeg){kind=link}
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