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jaredkwheeler's review
2.0
Star Wars Legends Project #5
Background: Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith was released in six issues during the final months of 1996 through February of 1997, and the trade paperback came out in August of 1997. It was written by [a:Kevin J. Anderson|4845|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1215310030p2/4845.jpg] and pencilled by [a:Dario Carrasco Jr.|146769|Dario Carrasco Jr.|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] Anderson is an extremely prolific author, with several dozen novels to his credit, and a wide array of entries into the Star Wars Expanded Universe. There was a time during the mid- to late-1990s when Anderson seemed to have a finger in just about every Star Wars pie. He wrote The Jedi Academy Trilogy and the stand-alone novel Darksaber, co-wrote the 14-book Young Jedi Knights series with his wife, Rebecca Moesta, authored most of the Tales of the Jedi story arcs and the one-off comic Leviathan, edited the three short-story collections produced as tie-ins to the original trilogy films, and produced a number of Star Wars reference books. He's done work in a variety of franchises, and he eventually moved on to muck around in the Dune universe with Frank Herbert's son, Brian. Carrasco drew three of the Tales of the Jedi arcs alongside Anderson's writing, and they also collaborated on Jedi Academy: Leviathan.
The Golden Age of the Sith takes place 5,000 years before the Battle of Yavin (so, 20,000 years after the Dawn of the Jedi stuff). The Jedi are established as roaming protectors of the Galactic Republic, but much of the galaxy remains unexplored, and lightsabers require a belt-mounted battery pack as a power source. Aside from Sith, humans, and a Hutt, there aren't any recognizable alien species, and although Coruscant makes a brief appearance, most of the story is set on brand-new worlds. The whole thing is working very hard to be "Star Wars ancient history."
Summary: Orphaned during the final conflict of the Unification Wars in the Koros system, siblings Gav and Jori Daragon eke out a meager existence as hyperspace explorers, hoping to stumble across a profitable trade route that will erase their financial woes. Unfortunately, their credit lines have run dry, and they can't pay for the repairs to their ship, Starbreaker 12 (what happened to the other 11?). Driven to desperation, the pair steal back Starbreaker 12 and recklessly jump to hyperspace after punching in a random set of coordinates. Their last-ditch gamble lands them in the midst of the powerful Sith Empire, which has been cut-off from the rest of the galaxy for millenia, just waiting for an opportunity like this to appear: the chance at a whole new frontier of worlds to plunder and enslave!
Review: I'm just going to say, I don't hate Kevin J. Anderson the way a lot of readers do. Maybe that will change as I re-read his work now that I'm a bit older. I'll admit, he is a bit of a bad-idea machine, and he has a lot of trouble with internal consistency, but he isn't bad at crafting the written word, and his ideas are bold, even when they're terrible. At least, that's what I recall of his books. Unfortunately, the only really bold ideas in this comic seem to have come from Carrasco, through the art. I'm not overfond of some of the creature design, and a lot of the color schemes, but the overall style on display in the architecture, dress, and ship design is a spectacular vision of Star Wars several thousand years before the movies. And I really dug it.
I didn't care much for the heroes, either the bland Jedi characters (so many authors seem to have trouble writing a Jedi character who has a personality) or the somewhat doofy Daragon siblings, but I did enjoy the cutthroat political wrangling among the would-be Dark Lords of the Sith. Had the story spent more time exploring them and their empire (you know, like the title promises), this would have been a much stronger offering. It starts off quite strong, but by the halfway point, it suddenly becomes clear that this isn't going anywhere by the end. Instead, it's really just a long set-up for the next arc in the series. It doesn't stand up particularly well on its own, and leaves every single thread dangling by the end.
I do look forward to the follow-up, [b:Fall of the Sith Empire|390090|Fall of the Sith Empire (Star Wars Tales of the Jedi, #2)|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1331425401s/390090.jpg|379703], mostly to see what the evil Lord Naga Sadow has up his sleeve next. Oh, and can I just say how much I hate that the heroes' surname is one letter off of "Dragon" and the villain's is one letter off of "Shadow." I find that incredibly distracting (and I read the name "Gav" as "Gay" half the time because of the way the "v" was written). Just name them what you obviously wanted to name them, for crying out loud. And while I'm on this general subject, there were several really obvious typos that I stumbled across, which seems sloppy when all of your words are being hand-lettered. So, the upshot is that this is a fairly mediocre effort that fills in a key spot in the timeline with a few interesting elements and a visually-arresting style. You could do worse.
C
Background: Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith was released in six issues during the final months of 1996 through February of 1997, and the trade paperback came out in August of 1997. It was written by [a:Kevin J. Anderson|4845|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1215310030p2/4845.jpg] and pencilled by [a:Dario Carrasco Jr.|146769|Dario Carrasco Jr.|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] Anderson is an extremely prolific author, with several dozen novels to his credit, and a wide array of entries into the Star Wars Expanded Universe. There was a time during the mid- to late-1990s when Anderson seemed to have a finger in just about every Star Wars pie. He wrote The Jedi Academy Trilogy and the stand-alone novel Darksaber, co-wrote the 14-book Young Jedi Knights series with his wife, Rebecca Moesta, authored most of the Tales of the Jedi story arcs and the one-off comic Leviathan, edited the three short-story collections produced as tie-ins to the original trilogy films, and produced a number of Star Wars reference books. He's done work in a variety of franchises, and he eventually moved on to muck around in the Dune universe with Frank Herbert's son, Brian. Carrasco drew three of the Tales of the Jedi arcs alongside Anderson's writing, and they also collaborated on Jedi Academy: Leviathan.
The Golden Age of the Sith takes place 5,000 years before the Battle of Yavin (so, 20,000 years after the Dawn of the Jedi stuff). The Jedi are established as roaming protectors of the Galactic Republic, but much of the galaxy remains unexplored, and lightsabers require a belt-mounted battery pack as a power source. Aside from Sith, humans, and a Hutt, there aren't any recognizable alien species, and although Coruscant makes a brief appearance, most of the story is set on brand-new worlds. The whole thing is working very hard to be "Star Wars ancient history."
Summary: Orphaned during the final conflict of the Unification Wars in the Koros system, siblings Gav and Jori Daragon eke out a meager existence as hyperspace explorers, hoping to stumble across a profitable trade route that will erase their financial woes. Unfortunately, their credit lines have run dry, and they can't pay for the repairs to their ship, Starbreaker 12 (what happened to the other 11?). Driven to desperation, the pair steal back Starbreaker 12 and recklessly jump to hyperspace after punching in a random set of coordinates. Their last-ditch gamble lands them in the midst of the powerful Sith Empire, which has been cut-off from the rest of the galaxy for millenia, just waiting for an opportunity like this to appear: the chance at a whole new frontier of worlds to plunder and enslave!
Review: I'm just going to say, I don't hate Kevin J. Anderson the way a lot of readers do. Maybe that will change as I re-read his work now that I'm a bit older. I'll admit, he is a bit of a bad-idea machine, and he has a lot of trouble with internal consistency, but he isn't bad at crafting the written word, and his ideas are bold, even when they're terrible. At least, that's what I recall of his books. Unfortunately, the only really bold ideas in this comic seem to have come from Carrasco, through the art. I'm not overfond of some of the creature design, and a lot of the color schemes, but the overall style on display in the architecture, dress, and ship design is a spectacular vision of Star Wars several thousand years before the movies. And I really dug it.
I didn't care much for the heroes, either the bland Jedi characters (so many authors seem to have trouble writing a Jedi character who has a personality) or the somewhat doofy Daragon siblings, but I did enjoy the cutthroat political wrangling among the would-be Dark Lords of the Sith. Had the story spent more time exploring them and their empire (you know, like the title promises), this would have been a much stronger offering. It starts off quite strong, but by the halfway point, it suddenly becomes clear that this isn't going anywhere by the end. Instead, it's really just a long set-up for the next arc in the series. It doesn't stand up particularly well on its own, and leaves every single thread dangling by the end.
I do look forward to the follow-up, [b:Fall of the Sith Empire|390090|Fall of the Sith Empire (Star Wars Tales of the Jedi, #2)|Kevin J. Anderson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1331425401s/390090.jpg|379703], mostly to see what the evil Lord Naga Sadow has up his sleeve next. Oh, and can I just say how much I hate that the heroes' surname is one letter off of "Dragon" and the villain's is one letter off of "Shadow." I find that incredibly distracting (and I read the name "Gav" as "Gay" half the time because of the way the "v" was written). Just name them what you obviously wanted to name them, for crying out loud. And while I'm on this general subject, there were several really obvious typos that I stumbled across, which seems sloppy when all of your words are being hand-lettered. So, the upshot is that this is a fairly mediocre effort that fills in a key spot in the timeline with a few interesting elements and a visually-arresting style. You could do worse.
C
dejajoue's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
thewonderelf's review
4.0
Pretty sure if GL had read Tales of the Jedi before making the prequels, they would have been so much better.
raincorbyn's review
4.0
I was obviously in a bad mood the first time i read this, and I like it a lot more this time. The focus on the Sith Lords' dispute was interesting and quality SW action, and while the protagonists were wisecracking blandos, their moving through the villains' plans worked. Good rhyming with the original trilogy, too.
The art is 90s Dark Horse at its most 90s Dark Horse. It's nostalgic to me, but not the greatest. Still, a worthy entry.
The art is 90s Dark Horse at its most 90s Dark Horse. It's nostalgic to me, but not the greatest. Still, a worthy entry.
mmwiseheart's review
3.0
The Golden Age of the Sith has a good story line, but I found some of the lines to be a bit inane. This is fairly common in comics though. Generally, I love Kevin J. Anderson's work, and it was nice to finally read the story of the Sith and the Massassi. I'm looking forward to continuing the story in the next graphic novel.
stealingsilver's review
3.0
Feels very early 90s. basic storyline though. I hope it leads to something bigger
shun1's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
sanihachidori's review against another edition
3.0
INHALT:
In diesem zeitlich gesehen ersten Comic der Jedi-Chroniken verfolgen wir die Geschehnisse rund um die beiden Geschwister Gav und Jori Daragon. Die beiden sind machtsensitiv, aber haben sich gegen die Ausbildung als Jedi entschieden. Sie geraten durch Umwege in die Fänge von Naga Sadow, einem Sith. Dieser steht im Wettstreit mit Ludo Kressh. Sie beide buhlen um die soeben frei gewordene Position als Sith Lord. Zwischen diesen Fronten stolpern die Geschwister ins Geschehen und wissen noch nicht, welche Bedrohung Sadow für die Jedi sein wird. Lediglich ein Jedi-Schüler namens Odan-Urr sieht die verhängnisvollen Geschehnisse voraus.
Mehr möchte ich gar nicht verraten, um nichts zu spoilern.
SCHREIBSTIL:
Der Zeichenstil hat mir erst nicht so sehr gefallen, wurde aber im Verlaufe der Geschichte immer besser. Ähnlich des ersten Bandes der vorherigen Comic-Reihe, fehlt mir bei diesem hier ein wenig mehr Tiefe und Information. Es wurde alles eher oberflächlich behandelt und hier und da mit coolen Sprüchen unterlegt. Besonders gut fand ich allerdings, dass ich mehr über Naga Sadow erfahren habe, welcher auch im zweiten Roman Erwähnung findet.
Der Schreibstil war leider etwas flach und substanzlos, wenn man einige Charaktere betrachtete. Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass es bei den Folgebänden eine Besserung gibt.
FAZIT:
Ich bin selbst noch ganz überrascht, das ich mal Star-Wars-Comics in der Hand halte. Wer hätte das gedacht? Auf jeden Fall hat mich dieser Comic nicht ganz überzeugen können. Ich hatte mir etwas anderes erwartet, denn die Grundidee ist wirklich klasse. Vielleicht wird das Potential aber wieder in den Nachfolgern ausgeschöpft.
Alles in allem eine solide und unterhaltsame Geschichte, mit aber teils blassen Hauptcharakteren. Es fehlte etwas an Substanz, weswegen der Comic für mich nur durchschnittlich bleibt.