Better the Second Time Around

Re-reading books is always an interesting endeavor. Every now and then I like to re-read a Star Wars book and sometimes my second opinion of the novel can be very surprising.

For instance, when I re-read Star By Star, a book I initially liked and thought was very good, the second go around was rather disappointing. The book I so fondly remembered wasn't as good. Maybe it was my mood, maybe it's a new viewpoint. Regardless, my new opinion of Star By Star has been greatly dampened.

Some books still hold up to my original opinion. the Edge of Victory duology, Traitor, Heir to the Empire...these books still got it.

I started re-reading Specter of the Past a few weeks ago, and it was very difficult to get into. In fact, I didn't get into it. I hit the 100 page mark, put the book down, and then put it away. It just wasn't cutting it. I then skimmed through Stackpole's Dark Tide duology and was really impressed. It was a lot better than I remembered.

And speaking of better the second time around, Allegiance was a book I thought was okay the first time I read it, and really good the second time I read it.

It's interesting how opinions can change.
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I actually prefer re-reads to reads. The first time you read a book you're caught up in the moment and you don't pick up on all the subtleties (certainly not the foreshadowing), but you can dig deeper with each re-read. And, yes, a book might be far better or worse than you remember it. That's always interesting. Razz

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There is the utter east.

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4400 Location: Korriban

Depends on the book, some hold less power the second time whereas ones I was less into improve with readings.
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Knight Joined: 08 Apr 2011 Posts: 299

Dark Journey was like that for me. The first time I read it, I wasn't too impressed. In fact I skipped it when I decided to re-read New Jedi Order. When I finally did re-read it, I found myself really enjoying it.

There are other books, I find this to be true with, but none of the Star Wars EU.

One benefit that re-reads hold for me is that it reminds me of what happened when reading the later books of a series.

Back in the day, I used to wait for PB releases. For Legacy of the Force, it meant I needed to wait a full year after reading Revelation to read Invincible. Anticipating this delay, I stopped after Inferno, and put the books aside. Then, when Invincible was almost out in PB, I re-read the whole series.

I want to do that for Fate of the Jedi too. The delays were too long between each book, that I forgot what happened sometimes.

Otherwise, I'll re-read my favourite books a few times. Jurassic Park and Dune are my two favs, and I've read them each 3 times. I plan to read JP again this month, when I travel.
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It was the year of fire… the year of destruction… the year we took back what was ours.
It was the year of rebirth… the year of great sadness… the year of pain… and the year of joy.
It was a new age. It was the end of history. It was the year everything changed.
The year is 2261.
The place: Babylon 5.

Knight Joined: 07 Feb 2012 Posts: 358 Location: USA

For me any book with Thrawn or the Chiss I'll reread many many times.

But, some books I've reread because the first time there were some details I didn't 'get'. An example for me was the Courtship of Princess Leia. I really didn't understand the Hapians. Now have readedeveral books the LotJ I understood Hapian society more so, I was able to enjoy rereading CoPL the second time round.
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"Study art...", said Thrawn.

"Vote for Papa Palpatine".