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Bantam Era, this is your life, er, thread!

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:03 pm
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Dancelittleewok EUC Staff Joined: 15 Sep 2010 Posts: 1117 Location: Kansas If you've read a Bantam Era book or want to share your experiences during the Bantam Era, please post here! _________________ Observation: Life would be cooler if everyone spoke like HK-47. Communications Coordinator at EUCantina. Last edited by Dancelittleewok on Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:17 pm
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Crash Override Master Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 1796 Location: Carcosa Technically, Han Solo at Stars' End is a Del Rey novel!

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:22 pm
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Dancelittleewok EUC Staff Joined: 15 Sep 2010 Posts: 1117 Location: Kansas Crash Override wrote: Technically, Han Solo at Stars' End is a Del Rey novel! Bantam and Del Rey are both imprints of Random House, so the difference is merely academic. You're welcome to discuss the Brian Daley books if you want. _________________ Observation: Life would be cooler if everyone spoke like HK-47. Communications Coordinator at EUCantina.

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:32 pm
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Crash Override Master Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 1796 Location: Carcosa Technically Dark Empire isn't part of Bantam either but since it falls under the initial wave of Expanded Universe I'll discuss that: One of the aspects of Dark Empire that I enjoyed was that it wasn't lazy at all, and introduced a boatload of new starships, aliens, and planets, including my favorite starfighter, the E-Wing.

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:18 pm
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Cerrinea Master Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Posts: 1410 Dancelittleewok wrote: Bantam and Del Rey are both imprints of Random House, so the difference is merely academic. You're welcome to discuss the Brian Daley books if you want. Actually there's a big difference between Bantam and Del Rey. Del Rey specializes in scifi/fantasy. Bantam has a much more diverse offering, and a diverse group of authors. Del Rey was founded in 1977; Bantam was founded in 1945. Bantam has vastly more experience in publishing than Del Rey does. Bantam list of authors include Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, John Grisham, Robert Ludlum, George R. R. Martin (Book of Thrones) and the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie. Del Rey and Bantam have always been jointly owned in that one of the original founders of Bantam was Betty Ballantine. Del Rey was founded by Ballentine Books, but Ballentine Books wasn't founded until 1952 so Bantam books actually preceded Ballentine. _________________ Roqoo Depot co-founder.

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:28 pm
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Dancelittleewok EUC Staff Joined: 15 Sep 2010 Posts: 1117 Location: Kansas ^ I didn't know that. Thanks, Cerrinea! _________________ Observation: Life would be cooler if everyone spoke like HK-47. Communications Coordinator at EUCantina.

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 3:54 am
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Life Is The Path Master Joined: 10 Sep 2010 Posts: 3405 Location: In a galaxy far, far - No, I'm behind you! Got you! Boo! Okay, so let's settle the argument by simply calling the time before Del Rey took ownership (the most recent time) as Bantam era, regardless of who published what - because you could just as easily called one the Dark Horse era, or what have you. And, thus, have this era the Del Rey era. Agreed? _________________ I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:51 pm
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Darth Skuldren Moderator Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 5756 Location: Missouri Ballantine Era: OT novelizations Early Del Rey Era: Splinter of the Mind's Eye, The Han Solo Adventures/The Lando Calrissian Adventures Bantam Era: Heir to the Empire-Tales from the New Republic Del Rey Era: Episode I novelization onward My first exposure to the EU was during the Del Rey Era (post 1999), however, I actually started reading with Dark Force Rising (yes, gasp, I actually skipped Heir to the Empire and went straight into the second novel) in the Bantam Era. _________________

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 2:29 pm
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Crash Override Master Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 1796 Location: Carcosa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtkZjmY6Nyw

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:36 am
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Life Is The Path Master Joined: 10 Sep 2010 Posts: 3405 Location: In a galaxy far, far - No, I'm behind you! Got you! Boo! Quote: People are flying in from Japan, and Belgium, and France, and Germany. And far away places like Utah and Iowa.' _________________ I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:05 am
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Crash Override Master Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 1796 Location: Carcosa That store is where I went back in the day for Star Wars stuff. Sadly it's gone now. It was awesome too because it was right next to a theater and a video game arcade. Both also gone. Ah the mid-nineties. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Star-Wars-Dark-Empire-Metallic-Impressions-Embossed-Metal-Collector-Cards-/300620706593?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fe63f321#ht_500wt_1156 I bought those there over fifteen years ago. I think I had the expectation that they would be rare and worth money at some point, but evidently that hasn't come to pass. I still have them wrapped in plastic.

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:15 pm
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Mara Jade Skywalker Master Joined: 15 Feb 2008 Posts: 5359 Location: Beyond Shadows Darth Skuldren wrote: My first exposure to the EU was during the Del Rey Era (post 1999), however, I actually started reading with Dark Force Rising (yes, gasp, I actually skipped Heir to the Empire and went straight into the second novel) in the Bantam Era. This is awesome! Because with the exception of the Courtship of Princess Leia, this is exactly how I started, as well. I found Dark Force Rising at the library and dove right in. I had no idea what was going on, but I loved every minute of it. And the rest was history. _________________ "It's not about the legacy you leave, it's about the life you live." ~Mara Jade Skywalker

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:17 am
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Dancelittleewok EUC Staff Joined: 15 Sep 2010 Posts: 1117 Location: Kansas So what was the fandom like in the 90's? I've read Star Wars EU since the ROTJ: Special Edition, but started going on forums after I read Betrayal. How did fans interact with each other then? _________________ Observation: Life would be cooler if everyone spoke like HK-47. Communications Coordinator at EUCantina.

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 10:01 am
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JediMara77 EUC Staff Joined: 14 Apr 2011 Posts: 106 Location: Disney World Ahhh, Bantam. When books sucked but we read them anyway because it was the only thing we had. LOL. I loved the Bantam era, mainly because it was when I first became obsessed with Star Wars and I loved the infinite possibilities the post-RotJ era gave us. The New Republic era will always be my favorite. Of course, there are many flubs, and things I've love to retcon out of existence, but the books were self-contained stories, the long series had several authors working together in tandem, and the bad guys were bad and the good guys were good. Now if we can just erase a few books from that time period from my memory. Heh. _________________ “You are greater than the Jedi of the former days. Because unlike the Knights of old, Jedi Luke Skywalker…you are not afraid of the dark.”

Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 9:13 pm
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Crash Override Master Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 1796 Location: Carcosa JediMara77 wrote: Ahhh, Bantam. When books sucked but we read them anyway because it was the only thing we had. LOL. I loved the Bantam era, mainly because it was when I first became obsessed with Star Wars and I loved the infinite possibilities the post-RotJ era gave us. The New Republic era will always be my favorite. Of course, there are many flubs, and things I've love to retcon out of existence, but the books were self-contained stories, the long series had several authors working together in tandem, and the bad guys were bad and the good guys were good. Now if we can just erase a few books from that time period from my memory. Heh. Having re-read the "bad" Bantam books recently, I can say that I honestly don't think there's any difference in quality between the worst that Bantam and Del Rey offer. In fact, I think The Crystal Star gets a bad rap because of Waru but it's not a badly written book. And the characterizations aren't anymore egregiously bad than some of Del Rey's offerings. I think the difference is that for the Big 3, Del Rey's offerings are large series that consistently have what I'd call "bad" characterizations, but since that's all that we see, it's more accepted than an one-off novel in which the characterizations are off because in that case, there's better characterizations to compare to. The other thing Bantam has over Del Rey is that when you get a bad Bantam book, it doesn't have lasting repercussions. Jacen is gone as a character... if Jacen was written poorly in Bantam, the next author could just reset his characterization the way it should be. Del Rey has raised the stakes in the storytelling, which isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but when a book is completely botched and kills off Mara Jade or Jacen, they're not coming back. There's no lasting repercussions from The Crystal Star that would actually improve Star Wars by eliminating it, whereas I think eliminating LOTF would improve things quite a bit. At the moment, my favorite EU is the post-film era up until Dark Empire.

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