2009 was a year of change. Or, change. In fact, it was also a year of change.

You get the drift.

The Lord Darth Iurus, both as an individual and as a member of NJOE’s brand new, reinvented-in-2009 News Team, has also experienced a great deal of change. I had never written a (formal) novel review before last year, after all.

Read past the break for a chance to experience any of my contributions (or simply those that helped out some of my projects) that you might have missed in 2009.

Spoiler-free Reviews on NJOE

I originally joined the News Team, not for my rare tidbits of news, nor for the reviews I eventually came to love doing. No, I just wanted someone to be publishing spoiler-free reviews of novels for people like me (or Nom) and I was the first person to volunteer. My older reviews represent this: my primary interest was purely to give away as little of the plot as possible. Now that I’m deviating from that a little bit, I hope that the exercise of reviewing Fate of the Jedi: Backlash and Allies will give me the opportunity to continue improving my style while not needing to give away plot details. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy my Spoiler-free reviews and that at least a small percentage of readers get some value from them.

• Fate of the Jedi: Outcast - my first official novel review and first post as a News Team Member!
• Fate of the Jedi: Omen
• Fate of the Jedi: Abyss
• Death Troopers
• Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil

Sequential Reviews on NJOE (And “Guest” Reviews)

Shortly after joining the News Team, I had two ideas. One was that I’d like to reread the entire EU (as my bookshelf allows) in chronological order to experience the entire saga, regardless of publication dates, as one entity. The second idea was to chronicle my experience for others to follow, and help other fans experience the saga vicariously through me (and, of course, decide what they’d like for themselves). How good these ideas were, only the fans can say, but I’m stuck in it for good. Interacting with other reviewers, such as Kirr and Corax, is part of what influenced me to redefine my reviewing style, as my late 2009 and early 2010 reviews should demonstrate.

As I traversed the Saga, I discovered that my limited bookshelf was not sufficiently to truly demonstrate the Star Wars saga as we’ve come to know and love it. Throughout 2009 (and this will continue into 2010 and likely beyond), I’ve requested the aid of several talented individuals to review novels that I may have enjoyed but don’t have on hand, or simply have never read. The following list includes not only my own reviews, but also “Guest” Reviews by other NJOE members that have so graciously helped out.

• Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
• Darth Bane: Rule of Two
• I take this opportunity to officially retcon Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil into this spot, as it had not yet been published at the appropriate time
• Also of note is that in between the Darth Bane and Darth Maul works, Uliah’s Finding the Path: Padawan Tales column starts with the chronologically earliest Young Adult novels.
• Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter and Darth Maul: Saboteur Dual Review
• The Phantom Menace Novelization
• Attack of the Clones Novelization
• Republic Commando: Hard Contact
• The Clone Wars Novelization
• The Clone Wars: Wild Space reviewed by Kirr Mistwielder
• The Clone Wars: No Prisoners reviewed by Kirr Mistwielder
• Shatterpoint reviewed by MizzeeOH (Mizz’s first review!)
• Republic Commando: Triple Zero
• Republic Commando: True Colors
• Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
• Revenge of the Sith Novelization reviewed by MizzeeOH
• Republic Commando: Order 66
• Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
• Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight review by Sith Jammies (SJ’s first review for NJOE!)
• Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows review by Sith Jammies
• Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force review by Sith Jammies

NJOE Special Features and Events

Editorial - In June, shortly after my induction into the News Team, I posted an editorial by my close partner, Sith Jammies. Unfortunately, we were trying out a new system and had not yet worked out the best way to get the word out- as a result, many of you may not have even been aware of this at the time. Since that time, not only have we familiarized ourselves with the new NJOE, but SJ has also joined the News Team in sufficient capacity to publish her own editorial. I won’t name it here, but if you check back TOMORROW, SJ’s Editorial will be available on the front page once again for reading and comment.

Comic-Con - In July, X-Wingurly, MizzeeOH, Iron Fist and myself, as well as Jaina SoIo and Patchworkz7 attended Comic-Con International in San Diego. We observed several Star Wars panels and met the authors of Fate of the Jedi. For information from Comic-Con 2009, check out these articles.

The Essential Atlas - At Comic-Con, X-Wingurly, MizzeeOH, Iron Fist and I were able to receive free, signed copies of the as-yet unreleased Essential Atlas, which we had looked forward to for quite some time. After receiving permission from author Daniel Wallace, MizzeeOH and I posted a front-page preview of the Guide. Iron Fist, as well as Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry, also answered questions about the Atlas leading up to and following the book’s release. Still one of my coolest experiences with a Star Wars book and one I hope to repeat in the future.

Crimson Empire - While not technically a special feature, both MizzeeOH and I received our debut at officially reviewing comics with Crimson Empire. Interspersed with Kirr Mistwielder’s reviews of Star Wars Tales Vols 1-3, Mizz reviewed Crimson Empire and I reviewed its sequel series, Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood. I don’t plan to do this often, but I’m certainly not adverse to the idea and am open to requests.

Interview of Joe Schreiber - I was one of the people involved in the Interview of Joe Schreiber organized by MizzeeOH and posted on multiple sites. Definitely a fun experience and my second VIP interview ever, other than submitted questions.

Tune in a week from now for what’s left of this wrap-up of 2009 as it relates to my life as a fan! (Sorry, this isn’t a personal blog for me to be filling it up with my personal experiences.)