Pilgrim Stars

Manboy

Manboy

Rear Admiral
I've just finished reading Pilgrim Stars and I must say, it was an incredibly enjoyable read - props to Peter Telep. I didn't think I was going to get into it as much as I did due to the fact that I wasn't a big fan of the movie, but this book has made me reconsider my stance. I really liked the pace and feel of the book, it reminded me of the movies characters and atmosphere - and I'm actually ready to give the flick another go, with open arms. And that's something I wasn't willing to do up until now...

Anyway I know that there was a sequel to the book but for some reason it hasn't been released. Which is a shame because the story had so much more to give plus there were interesting characters, such as Markorshk, Santyana, Aristee and Karista, that I wanted to know more about. Is there any chance of the sequel being released - or should we consider it part of the lost WC holy treasures, next to WC2 SNES?

Also I really liked how fleshed out the Pilgrim aspect of the WC universe became in this book. I know the whole "paranormal" thing has been done to death, but it's handled with class in Pilgrim Stars and I think the concept should remain in the WC universe, in future games and books. Anyone agree/disagree? It's a touchy issue with most WC fans - but I don't really know how most of you feel about it...I've been won over with this book, as you can tell.

And another thing: This was the first WC book I ever read - and want more. What are the other novels, and which is the best? Cheers for any replies :)
 
Manboy said:
And another thing: This was the first WC book I ever read - and want more. What are the other novels, and which is the best? Cheers for any replies :)
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Good to hear you liked it and most of us accept it as part of the WCU. The page you should check out this page. It lists all the novels. I recommend them all, a lot of people love End Run and Fleet Action. I'm a fan of ER myself, but all the others are still fantastic. The game novels some don't like because they aren't the same as the game in some cases (they are the "official" version of what happened in WC3/4).

I'd advice you to get them all, as if you are a wingnut, and you seem to be, you will love them all and wonder what took you so long to read them.

Enjoy!
 
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ER and FA are pretty much essential. And really bloody. a freaking carnage. But they're not just cool, they're important to the mythos like no other book.
 
Edfilho said:
ER and FA are pretty much essential. And really bloody. a freaking carnage. But they're not just cool, they're important to the mythos like no other book.
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Agreed. You really can't get to far into a WC discussion without someone bringing up the events of either book.

Although, Hunter comes much more alive if you have read FF prior to FA. His character is developed really amazingly in the book and it helps to know how the hell he got a kilrathi sidekick.

Basically, buy them all.:D
 
While they're all good books, if you're looking for something most true to the WC game feel, Freedom Flight, occurring around the time of the Firekka invasion in Secret Missions 2, is the closest, in part due to one of the co-authors (Ellen Guon) being one of the writers for WC2.

As I said, the other books aren't bad, they're just not quite as true to the spirit of the games (for lack of better phrasing).
 
I read the Forstchen titles recently and loved them all, especially End Run. (well, liked WC3). I don't remember liking Freedom flight even a fraction as much, though to be fair, I read it long long ago when it first came out, so it's probably worth another try.
 
Thanks for the responses, guys. I came across Pilgrim Stars by chance at a book sale and I've been searching for the others since. No luck. Seems e-bay is the way to go - can't wait to get my mits on em.
 
McGruff said:
I read the Forstchen titles recently and loved them all, especially End Run. (well, liked WC3). I don't remember liking Freedom flight even a fraction as much, though to be fair, I read it long long ago when it first came out, so it's probably worth another try.
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I'm willing to bet you will like it more now. It may not have the massive battles of the other books, but you come to respect it more with time I suppose. I used to think the same thing till I gave it a reread a few years ago on a suggestion of some other forum dwellers.
 
QuailPilot said:
actually I bought Fleet Action for one cent on Amazon
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Holy cow!!!... Are you serious???

I found Pilgrim Stars and End Run as documents in the web, I haven't read any of the others, but from what I heard they are amazing...

The closest I come to Fleet Action is Standoff hehe:D
 
theres a couple books on Amazon where you can by them used.

The Fleet Action book looked like it was read once or twice, and it just sat in the guy's shelf for years.
 
Houkiboshi said:
The closest I come to Fleet Action is Standoff hehe:D
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Standoff kind of occurs around the events of FA and only the major events post Kilrathi crossing the frontier.

FA is much more than just BoS and BoT. It has a lot of interesting things happening throughout.
 
which was free because at the time Amazon had their certain sale which was, if you bought more than $40 worth of items the shipping would be free. Thankfully my dad bought the Thin Man collection
 
Dundradal said:
Standoff kind of occurs around the events of FA and only the major events post Kilrathi crossing the frontier.

FA is much more than just BoS and BoT. It has a lot of interesting things happening throughout.
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I know, and that’s the reason I'd really love to get my hands in that baby :D

McGruff said:
One cent plus shipping ;)
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How much would it cost to ship it to South America hehe :D

QuailPilot said:
which was free because at the time Amazon had their certain sale which was, if you bought more than $40 worth of items the shipping would be free. Thankfully my dad bought the Thin Man collection
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Well, I should make a nice list then:)
 
Houkiboshi said:
I know, and that’s the reason I'd really love to get my hands in that baby :D
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Entirely understandable. I also recommend getting Action Stations as well. It's nice to read before FA, as it has a lot of the major characters in their youth and you can see the early events that shaped their careers. (Tolwyn and Richards especially)
 
Entirely understandable. I also recommend getting Action Stations as well. It's nice to read before FA, as it has a lot of the major characters in their youth and you can see the early events that shaped their careers. (Tolwyn and Richards especially)
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I would strongly reccomend against this advice. The whole point of Action Stations is to show you how the Fleet Action characters came to act the way they do in that novel -- anything beyond the literal action story would be completely lost on someone who hasn't read the earlier book first. There's a reason Action Stations goes to some lengths to avoid simply being a 'set earlier' story (the post-WCIV bookend, the fiction-in-fiction conceit) - you aren't supposed to read it first.

which was free because at the time Amazon had their certain sale which was, if you bought more than $40 worth of items the shipping would be free. Thankfully my dad bought the Thin Man collection
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Shipping is always free for orders over $25 at Amazon, although this never applies to zShips (which are usually what sells paperback novels for a cent).

Anyway I know that there was a sequel to the book but for some reason it hasn't been released. Which is a shame because the story had so much more to give plus there were interesting characters, such as Markorshk, Santyana, Aristee and Karista, that I wanted to know more about. Is there any chance of the sequel being released - or should we consider it part of the lost WC holy treasures, next to WC2 SNES?
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We're working on both WC2 SNES and Pilgrim Truth. Pilgrim Truth exists, Peter Telep would like to release it... but he needs permission from Electronic Arts. Tell EA you want to see the book - post to the official Arena forum, e-mail their PR guy, all the usual stuff.
 
I was given Pilgrim Stars for my birthday, not long after the film came out.

To be honest, I didn't enjoy it that much. The development with Paladin peeved me a bit, and it just... didn't feel very Wing Commander. I mean, my enduring memory of Angel is of this hot nerdy chick who gleefully told me that it takes 1.4 missiles to destroy a Dralthi. And reading about Blair casually spooning her kind of destroyed that, a bit...

Ahem.

Anyhow, I got End Run and Fleet Action out of the library, some time around when I'd been playing WC4, and I really loved them. I was initially disappointed that Blair wasn't the main character, but I got over that pretty quickly. (And it obviously prepared me for Prophecy, heh.)

I really need to try and buy them, since it's been so long since I read them, plus I'm trying to fill in the gaps in my Wing Commander collection anyway.

Actually, can somebody remind me what expression the Kilrathi used to smack talk Confed pilots in one of the books, but due to their poor intel it was really comical... argh, that's gonna bug me now. :(
 
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