SPOILER "Bloodline" by Claudia Gray (Discussion)

Pretty sure the only point to the exchange was to address the classic question for the fans: Did Leia train to become a Jedi? Answer: No. She gave it a shot but it just wasn't for her.

 

Was Carise killed when hosnian prime was destroyed or were the centrist conspirators warned?

 

I don't think we have any information one way or the other (yet).

 

I sorta half-ass skimmed through this book when it first came out, and I remember feeling very "meh" about it. Since I've been in a fanatical Star Wars book binge lately and have heard so much praise for Bloodlines, I decided to dust off my hardcover, get the audiobook, and tackle it "Michael Scott-style". This was a great read.

Why does it hit me so differently? 2016 was a long time ago and a galaxy far, far away. So much has changed in these seven years. I have been through a lot, the world has been through a lot, Star Wars has been through A LOT. Even reading through the hundreds of pre-TLJ post and theories here made me chuckle, some ideas were dead-on the right track and some made me think, "oh, child, just you wait and see..." A few takeaways from the 2016 conversation-

One of the things that rubbed 2016 me wrong. Not that she shouldn't have been there, but it should have been clear who she represented. Now, I see that's a silly argument, but I'd still like to know. My favorite ideas for her constituents are the survivors of Alderaan, or Yavin 4, or she just simply represents the Rebel Alliance.

I think it was ordered to be done by Rinnrivin Di. He is the only one among the perpetrators that would have wanted to spare Leia.

I would have been eyebrow deep in this discussion! That scene in his office and that whole obsession of his creeped me out and hit home with me. Probably one of the major reasons I did not really get into the book originally. I have a story!

Yeah. Been there. More than once. It can be extremely jarring visually and even more when a narrative and reason is laid out to try and justify it. The candy-coated idolatry of such things has been a real world thing I have seen many times. It has become far less candy-coated lately.

Right. So this is something that is a caricature of Southerners and sorta made parody, and while it is not a fair representation of all, or even the majority of us, I find it can be humorous, except it is also very real. I do think it has become a facade that some people use to simply claim allegiance to a political group. I think this was Claudia Gray's intent in the book. Casterfo was willing to disassociate the evil that he knew those items represented in order to show some false bravado that he hoped would align him with a particular political group that he saw as his way to power, while at the same time, repel the opposing group that he thought to be weaker.

There are some frighteningly real parallels to this sort of behavior in the US right now, far more relevant than it was seven years ago. I'm reminded of several young and prominent lawmakers who have no business in their positions yet were duly elected because of the personas they have perpetrated and the symbols they hide behind.

On to "lighter" subjects... The placement of these events in the book are somewhat off. I feel like six years before TFA just does not feel right. I can't recall anywhere in the book that a specific time or age is mentioned, and simply based on the way she and Han talk about Ben, along with what we now know is still to happen, Bloodlines seems to fit better at roughly 12 years before TFA. Otherwise, the theory above would be a most probable case, and that just makes a horribly sad and devastating situation even more horrible and devastating. If the incident between Ben and Luke has happened years prior to this point in time and Luke has just hit the bricks without telling Leia and Han...

 

Very enlightening to say the least, I'm from the North, so this sheds a bright light on the subject. A good friend of mine, just moved out of state and says he has noticed this behavior where he recently moved to.

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i'm originally from the South. it never fazed me to walk into a place fully decorated to the hilt with Confederate memorabilia.

Yeah. Been there. More than once. It can be extremely jarring visually and even more when a narrative and reason is laid out to try and justify it. The candy-coated idolatry of such things has been a real world thing I have seen many times. It has become far less candy-coated lately.

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