Star Wars Bookworms Book Club discussion
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Entechment
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This could lead to an interesting parallel with Dev. He is forced to be "renewed" by the Ssi-ruuvi and used to enslave other humans. Once he feels Luke's presence in the Force, though, he begins to question his enslavement. So I can see a theme about free will and enslavement running through this novel.
The general concept of transferring life energy to machines is used in a few other Star Wars novels. (view spoiler)





As for it not being very "Star Wars"...consider this: in the last 13 episode of The Clone Wars, something very similar to this happens in one of the story arcs.
As for Dev and how the Ssi-ruuk were able to manipulate him, it's classic Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding. --> "a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness."
Entechment. I can't get on board with this no matter how hard I try and here's why:
Star Wars is many things. It's that strange creation that almost defines a genre, yet utterly abandons it at times. It can be argued that it isn't even science fiction, but rather space fantasy or a space western. But what makes it work is the balance between sci-fi and fantasy.
The science of Star Wars really isn't that bad. Lightsabers are very close to something that could be made today, hyperspace is never fully explained in the films but quantum theory would accept it as possible, and droids are basically a sci-fi staple.
On the other hand, the Force is both a plot device that can get our characters into or out of trouble as the writers see fit and also a sense of mysticism and high fantasy. The different views of the Force held by Luke and Han symbolize so much more than just their particular religions. They define the characters in fundamental ways, giving Han a reason to be such a stick in the mud at times and Luke a reason to be so wide-eyed and optimistic. It makes Star Wars Star Wars.
However I, like many Star Wars fans, generally only let suspension of disbelief go so far. Entechment attempts to sound scientific, since these Ssi-ruuvi are Force-blind and cannot use that only source of mysticism we, as fans, have ever really signed off on. The problem with it though is the fact that the science of it is awful. We as readers can't be forced to just accept that a tube can be inserted, you can be Force calmed, and your body can be emptied of your you-ness can we? Picturing someone's soul traveling through these tubes and into a droid while retaining anything, magnetized, ionized, or otherwise that resembles your identity or "life energy" is just silly.
Not to mention how incredibly non-renewable this "energy" would be. What do their ships run on? Could they not power the much smaller droid ships on that same fuel? I just think this is an as yet unjustified leap to ask the reader to make.
All things considered, I enjoying most of this book. Like I said, the characters are familiar and written well and I always enjoy enriching my knowledge of the Star Wars universe. I know it's a galaxy far, far away and all, but this just bugs me and it doesn't feel like Star Wars.
What do you guys think? Does it fit any better in your Star Wars?