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aseThe terrible thing about reading something at the age of ten is that it's really hard to reread with anything like objectivity later in life. It's warm and fuzzy comfort reading. You tend to overlook a lot of flaws. This is probably also true of movies, and likely goes a long way toward explaining my unkillable love of the original Star Wars trilogy and my bitter disappointment in the prequels. Well, that and the terrible directing and dialogue.
Thank goodness for professional fanfic.
The thing that struck me this time is how much Zahn likes misdirection and playing with the flow of information. Appearances decieve. Just because a character says, "and oh, we've got 20,000 Spaarti cylinders ready to go" doesn't mean the reader knows what a Spaarti cylinder is, or why they're important. The characters familiar with Noghri culture aren't the people who know that Darth Vader had kids. The ch'ala tree-lined promenade is mentioned a number of times before anyone thinks to link them with Delta Source. Mara Jade spends most of the trilogy misinformed about events surrounding the Emperor's death. It's the sort of narrative play that makes rereading such a pleasure.
Thank goodness for professional fanfic.
The thing that struck me this time is how much Zahn likes misdirection and playing with the flow of information. Appearances decieve. Just because a character says, "and oh, we've got 20,000 Spaarti cylinders ready to go" doesn't mean the reader knows what a Spaarti cylinder is, or why they're important. The characters familiar with Noghri culture aren't the people who know that Darth Vader had kids. The ch'ala tree-lined promenade is mentioned a number of times before anyone thinks to link them with Delta Source. Mara Jade spends most of the trilogy misinformed about events surrounding the Emperor's death. It's the sort of narrative play that makes rereading such a pleasure.