After many long years of reading, and at least two major interruptions, earlier this afternoon, at 14:11, I finally finished The Unifying Force. And it was good!

Years ago, I began reading Vector Prime. Soon, though, I realized I should go back and read everything in the EU that I hadn't yet read. That was, needless to say, a lot. But I completed my task -- or close enough, anyway -- and went back to the New Jedi Order.

Then came the Clone Wars. I wanted to be up-to-speed when Episode III came out, and doubted my ability to finish the NJO and then read every Clone Wars book. So I interrupted myself yet again, and read through each and every Clone Wars book. It was the first time since I was reading the Young Jedi Knights series that I was actually reading Star Wars books as they came out.

I went back to the New Jedi Order, and by the time Episode III rolled around I was on the final book: The Unifying Force. I had hoped to finish it by the 19th. That was such a busy time for me, though, that I couldn't.

Fast forward to now. Revenge of the Sith came out ten days ago, but in a way -- for me -- it's been out for twelve days. Judging by my sleep pattern, anyway, and counting a day as lasting from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep.

This morning I stayed in bed and read. And read. And read. I didn't get out of bed until 14:11 -- likely a record for me. I think I woke up at about 10:45, so that's almost three and a half hours of nonstop reading. I think last night I read up until page 403 or so, and the book's 527 pages long (this is the paperback version), so that's 124 pages in 201 minutes (assuming I began reading five minutes after waking), and that's about 0.62 pages per minute, which is 1.62 minutes to read one page, which is about one minute and 37 seconds, if my calculations are correct. All that, in turn, means that, if I could keep up the pace, I could have read the whole book in about 14 hours and 15 minutes.

Are my calculation accurate? Probably not. But you get the gist of it.

I liked TUF. It's exciting, it doesn't drag on, it has more than a few surprises, and it ties everything up neatly while still keeping some things open for exploration in later books. My one complaint has nothing to do with the book. Rather, it has to do with the classification thereof by LucasBooks.

Why, oh why, did they have to start a whole new era for the NJO? To make matters worse, why do the series and the era have the exact same name!?!? And then, when the new "Legacy of the Force" series was announced at Celebration III, why'd they feel the need to start another era, and call it the "Legacy" era??? That leaves only the NJO (series, not era) and Dark Nest in the NJO era.

At first I thought they should have kept LotF in the NJO era, and maybe call the whole thing the Legacy era, and use the Legacy icon, since the NJO and New Republic icons were already too similar. Then I though: why not just make the NJO (series, not era) part of the New Republic era?

The Old Republic era came to a close with the end of the Clone Wars. The Imperial era came to a close with the end of the Galactic Civil War. The New Republic era came to a close with... a couple kids being trained?

Why not end the New Republic era when it makes the most sense: with the conclusion of the Yuuzhan Vong war? It would work so much better. After all, TUF really is the end of an era. Like at the ends of every other era, an enemy has been vanquished and a new galactic government is rising. The way LucasBooks has it currently, the New Republic era just kind of fades away, and then the NJO -- yes, it's long, but it's still just one series -- flashes by, and then they're on to another era.

The only obstacle I can see, and it's admittedly a rather large one, is that it would be difficult to revise the NJO era now that it's all been published and sold millions of copies. However, I have little doubt that it would be possible.

DelRey and Bantam, who was the previous publisher of Star Wars novels, are currently both owned by Random House (or so I gather from my 15 seconds of research). So, wouldn't it be possible to take every Star Wars book ever made... okay, never mind, that's too ambitious. What about every remotely worthy and fully sanctioned Star Wars book? A bit more realistic?

Anyway, take them all and republish them. Include a brand-new era system, with the five eras being Sith, Old Republic, Empire, New Republic, and Federation. "Federation" would encompass Dark Nest, Legacy of the Force, and basically everything after the NJO. Why "Federation"? Well, "Legacy" is too similar to the series name, for one thing. Also, every other era title has been a government, and since the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances is in control after TUF, I think "Federation" is appropriate.

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SIDENOTE: The names of the eras are somewhat unclear. The original announcement on StarWars.com lists them as Old Republic, Rise of the Empire (which lasts for a thousand years? Huh?), The Rebellion, New Republic, and New Jedi Order. In the front of TUF, they're listed as Sith Era, Prequel, Classic, New Republic, and New Jedi Order. It makes no sense to call era "Prequel" and "Classic," though, as those words have no meaning within Star Wars continuity. Ask famous holodocumentarian Wolam Tser about the Prequel era, and he'll say "Huh?" Ask him about the Clone Wars era, or maybe the Jedi Purge era, or even the last days of the Old Republic, and he'll know just what you're talking about.

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These republished books would include timelines spanning all the way from whatever Sith era books are coming out to the Legacy of the Force series. They would also each feature a galaxy map with points of interest specific to that book highlighted, much as has been done with the NJO. Clone Wars-era books could should Confederacy and Republic territory, much as the NJO-era books show the Yuuzhan Vong invasion corridor.

Each book would also have the era icon at the bottom of the spine, where it would actually be helpful to a fan organizing their bookshelf or a clerk organizing their bookstore. On the back, there would be a narrow header reading "x years ABY/BBY", for After Battle of Yavin or Before Battle of Yavin.

From a DelRey/LucasBooks perspective, this would reinvigorate interest in older titles, let readers of one book know about all the others, and probably get some people to re-purchase their entire collection. (You know who you are. ) The licensing and copyright issues don't seem to be too large to overcome; I think it would be a great idea.