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Posts Tagged ‘Part’

Twilight snarkster Cleolinda, whose book recaps are much beloved of many Jaders, has recapped the franchise’s fourth film.
Club Jade

A listener, Mariano, shot me an e-mail and asked me if I had read  Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, and I have not.  As a guy who is always looking for a reason to buy a Star Wars novel, I rushed out to picked this novel up, so I could respond to Mariano, so [...]
Star Wars Book Report

This week’s Friday Update follows on from one made a few weeks ago, where Senior Game Designer William Wallace shed some light on how companion characters work. This second instalment takes a look at companion AI, and their roles at various points in the game. See below for an excerpt. Quote from William Wallace (Source) When [...]
Star Wars: The Old Republic

So my blog brother from another mother hooked this blog brother up with a connect for some Green Lantern swag. I decided to have the party on May 7th in the late afternoon. I didn’t want to throw our usual children’s bash where we have enough children to fill a studio audience for Oprah. So we had to narrow things down. I chose some of the children of some of my students and I sat down with the babies and asked them to pick a few friends to invite. Then we narrowed that pool down. After much deliberation, we made a few more cuts. I got this cool Green Lantern invites and made sure I put on there to RSVP and not to bring any presents. I am sure some parents were like, “the Omi’s got another baby?” No, we are not trying get extra presents. As a matter of fact, we are giving some away. Presents, that is.

My children were hella excited. I can’t blame them. I am an adult and I still love going to parties. I am sure this one was special since they didn’t have to wait around for their birthdays. Plus, they get free stuff. They wanted to pass out the invitations. At first, I didn’t want them to do this. I thought it was a bad idea. I felt that if I went to each child on my own or encountered their parents, I could emphasize the need to RSVP (and yes many of you all refuse to do that in the 21st century when just an email will suffice). I preferred to give it to their parents because sometimes children lose things.

Of course, two of the children lost their invitations. My middle son actually hand wrote another invitation which I am sure looked suspect to the parents when they received it. Another child failed to give it to his mother. Only five days away from the party and I only received two RSVPs and one cancellation. This part is actually understandable. Some folks were just not raised to RSVP. Only a handful of us were taught to RSVP even if the invitation doesn’t ask you to. Yet I digress…

The problem came when other children didn’t get an invitation from my children. My middle son, who we call the accountant, has no qualms telling someone off. He is very sophisticated and can calmly tell someone to step off. He told several of his classmates that their behavior is abysmal and should not expect anyone to invite them to their party. He also pointed out that its a party organized by his dear old dad so the issue needed to be taken up with me. My daughter on the other hand is not as sharp. So the girls in her class gave her a hard time.

The next problem came when some of the students began to solicit me and the wife. Of course, I am quick to say “hey look, it’s a numbers game and you didn’t make the cut, get over it, homie!” The wife wants to come home and bring it up in the middle of the night when the brother is trying to get some sleep.

“You should have seen his eyes,” she pleaded, “you should invite him. You know he needs his daddy time.”

I rolled over in my bed.

“You’re not being fair, you are throwing this party for the children…” she went on.

At school, a gang of children asked me why I didn’t give them an invitation. A few promised to get all A’s if I would only give them an invite. I gave them all negative responses. There was no negotiating this one as I have done on so many occasions. My children continue to tell me about fellow students who pleaded their cases.

Unfortunately, I am not budging….

Comic Books for Colored Folks

First, I have to thank Mocha Dad for hooking me up. Without him, this shindig would not have been possible. Also, my wife gets mad love for hooking up the Green Lantern jello. It was choice! Finally, I have to thank Capoeira Dayton for coming out in full force to support a brother.

It was a blast. Everyone chipped in to help clean up. The children loved it. Although some lost their rings (which I found and shall return to the rightful owners), no one went home with empty hands. Below are the pics. Enjoy.

My wife and I racked our brains trying to figure out how to put the Green Lantern symbol in the jello. Well this is what we came up with:

Here, I was making the masks by hand. I probably saved about .00 doing it this way. It took me about an hour and a half to cut them out and put the transparent string on them.

We decided to have a ring ceremony where we commission new Green Lantern recruits. The children dug it. There was alot of grumbling since we have out titles to particular children (head trainer, sector officer in charge, internal investigator, etc.). Only one parent came late so it worked out.

Despite the fact that I was clear about how to light up the rings, some of them still didn’t get it. Thankfully, some of the children were paying attention.

How come my boys are the only ones to put their masks on? the rest didn’t even feel like putting them on? Oh well, here are the Green Lanterns of sector 2814…!

The youngest Lantern ever! (and the last one to leave!)

Comic Books for Colored Folks

If this cover does not produce a reaction in you, I am not sure what will.  Darth Malgus the next cool Sith that has been introduced in the Old Republic, and the first thing that any Star Wars fan will think when picking this book up and glancing at the cover is, “Why is Vader on the cover of an Old Republic novel?”  You cannot help but to notice the similarities between Darth Malgus and the visage that Luke gazes upon in Return of the Jedi when Anakin utters the greatest line in movie history, “You already have my son.”  Their respirators are the same.  Their heads are bald.  They are wearing black capes.  Their chest plates have similar looking gadgetry.  Their faces have disfigurements.  Darth Malgus and Darth Vader could be twins.  Now, that will produce a strong response whether it is good or bad in Star Wars fans.  My question becomes…is it a good response or bad one?

This past Spring Break I took my youth group, as I am a Youth Pastor, to the beach for a retreat, and Steve Glosson who you all know from Geek Out Loud, Starkville House of El, and others was our Guest Speaker, and if you think he can talk geek, you should hear him share from the Bible.  He makes God’s Word come alive.  One day we took the youth shopping, and Steve and I were walking through a book shop.  He picked up Deceived and said, “You know what bothers me about this?”  To which I responded, “He looks like Vader.”  Steve said, “Exactly,” with a little disgust mixed in with his tone.  It was a strong reaction, and I must admit, I was stunned when I saw this cover because of the similarities between Malgus and Vader, but instead of being bothered by it, I thought and still think it is pretty cool, and here is why.

First, Steve, and I love Steve, but he needs to read more Star Wars novels.  Did you hear that?  Steve just launched into his “Star Wars was meant to be a visual medium speech” at his computer screen.  And yes Steve, I know, understand, and agree that the visual medium should and does take precedence over the written EU, but the secondary canon that is well below G level Canon does make these visual similarities cool.  In Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, James Luceno goes into great detail on why Vader looks the way he does, and Vader’s look comes from an ancient Sith tradition from Sith battle droids, and we have since learned that Vader’s suit also mirror ancient Sith battle armor.  Vader’s suit has a rich Sith tradition, and Steve knows how much I like tradition, and I do.  If this suit does have this rich Sith tradition, than you would expect to see this suit or something similar in earlier stories, so I really liked that Darth Malgus’ suit and respirator gives Vader’s suit’s tradition a little more foundation.  It is cool.  Darth Malgus and his exploits makes Darth Vader’s suit even more intimidating because this black suit has a history of crushing the republic.  I like it.

Second, in the recent written EU, we have discovered that the Sith have a rich history.  I have enjoyed reading works outside of the Darth Bane Rule of Two era, which is where the vast majority of my reading has taken place.  I have enjoyed the Lost Tribe of the Sith, The Fate of the Jedi Sith, The Old Republic Sith, Knight Errant Sith because I have learned so much about Sith history and their teaching.  Again, Vader’s suit coming from this rich tradition is cool.  I really like the fact that Palpatine connected Darth Vader to this rich tradition.  It was a great way to keep this waffling Sith Lord Vader a Sith.  This connection to this Sith tradition by having Darth Malgus’ suit look like Vader’s was a very good idea.

Third, Darth Malgus and Darth Vader make look alike, but they do not think the same.  Darth Vader turns Sith to bring peace and stability to the galaxy and hopefully peace and stability for his family.  Darth Malgus is a Sith because he believes conflict and war is the natural state of the galaxy.  That could not be any more opposing of philosophies, so they may look alike, but they are very different in thought and beliefs.  I liked that too because Darth Malgus is not a Vader clone.  They just dress similarly.

I will say…I would not have had Malgus be bald.  I know an explosion went off in his face, but I would not have had him be completely bald because that does make his face and head look too much like Vader.  I like the suits looking so similar…I don’t feel that way about their faces being so similar.  Lava and an explosive device disfigured them too similarly.

But I love that the suits match.  It makes Sith tradition mean something, and as a lover of all things traditional, I love this.  I want to see more black clad intimidating Sith.  I imagine you too had a strong reaction to the image of Darth Malgus.  I would love to hear your reaction, and that is your Sci-Fi Book Report.

As always send us your thoughts and comments to jesse@starwarsbookreport.com or leave us a voice message for our podcast at 706-760-5782.  Have a great day, and thanks for reading.

Exploring the galaxy one page at a time, Jesse

Star Wars Book Report

Episode 19 of your Sci-Fi Book Report is fully packed…just like the Super Bowl was, and now, Wayne pays up in our Super Bowl wager by butchering the US National Anthem worse than it was at the Big Game.  After our normal sports non-sense at the beginning we dive head first into Timothy Zahn’s Dark Force Rising, which is part two of the Thrawn Trilogy.  We discuss what we love about this novel and discuss our criticisms of this book.  We compare the style and pacing of the Early Post Yavin novels and the Clone War novels, and much, much more.

Next, Wanye and I break down the first half of Eldest by Christopher Paolini, which is the second book in his Inheritance Cycle, and again we discuss our likes and dislikes, as well as compare this novel to other similar tales. 

Finally, we open by announcing the latest member to join our www.starwarsbookreport.com family. 

So come and explore the galaxy with us one page at a time. 

Thanks for listening, Jesse

Star Wars Book Report

Daily

Reading

Update

Dragon and Thief: The First Dragonback Adventure

This update covers chapter 13 through the end of the book.

Having read Zahn’s Star Wars works I knew he was a master of a multi-layered action plot, but I was blown away in this novel by his sense of humor.  Timothy Zahn is very funny.  We left our young hero Jack Morgan last time crashing a bonding ceremony.  Jack terrified about being sent back out to the street because he is being chased out there, and Jack is even more terrified of the Wistawki because he has crashed a sacred ceremony that could also get them very angry at him and Wistawki do not have a reputation for being understanding, so Jack improvises to allow him to stay at the party without the Wistawki knowing he crashed their party.  Jack pretends to be the entertainment, and juggles, tells jokes, and performs some other minor tricks with Draycos totally following along.  It was great.  The grand finale is making Draycos, his dragon robot, disappear when Draycos returns to Jack’s skin.  This was an incredibly lighthearted and funny scene with Jack and Draycos delighting the audience.  This was a nice interlude to the chase scene that preceded it. 

Jack and Draycos leave this ceremony thinking that the chasers are long gone, but Raven was waiting.  Raven captures Jack, with Draycos who cannot do anything because Raven has backup and Draycos is not sure he can take them all before Jack gets shot.  In the process Raven kills two Wistawki, which he can pin these murders on Jack to help Jack cooperate.  Raven drugs Jack and they leave Vagaran.  Zahn goes from light hearted to deadly serious in about two paragraphs.  This sudden change was shocking.  You were expecting Raven to be long gone when Jack left the ceremony.  If this was movie, or if you can read really fast, you would jump at the abruptness of Raven’s arrival.  Again, as stated multiple times in my last Daily Reading Update on this novel, this novel shows Zahn’s incredible range going from laughter to intense in just a few short sentences. 

While travelling we see Draycos like for Jack grow.  Jack is continually unconscious from routine drugging, and Draycos goes stir crazy trying to discover a way to save Jack.  He memorizes the name of the ship, searches the ship, among other things just trying to save his new friend.  I liked this scene very much because I like the fact that Draycos likes Jack. 

When Jack comes to, we discover that all of this plotting against him was actually aimed at his uncle whom everyone thinks is still alive.  Pinning theft on Jack with the dry ice and the ability to pin these murders on Jack is all to get Jack’s Uncle Virgil to break into a safe. 

With these threats upon him, Jack decides to break into the vault replace the tube with his fake tube, and then, out of a newfound sense of duty impressed upon him by his new poet-warrior friend, give the real tube back to the owner and try and find a way out of this mess with their new ally friend. 

Through a very entertaining heist plotline, Jack does in fact steal and replace the tube with a brilliant bit of planning, and Zahn showing his brilliance throws one great twist that will surprise anyone.  Throughout the enter novel you are led to believe that Cornelius Braxton of Braxton Universes is after Jack, or more accurately, after his uncle.  When Jack tells the owner of the tube he stole that he wants to return the tube to him, he discovers that the man he stole from was actually Cornelius Braxton himself.  Then, Braxton’s security guards take both Jack and Braxton hostage because they are running a scam for the number two man in Braxton Universes so that he can take over the company.  When travelling to dispose of Braxton and Jack, Draycos leaps off Jack unnoticed, and the Zahn brings back a wonderful aspect of Draycos that was shown at the beginning of the book, and that is Draycos indecision. 

Draycos is a noble poet-warrior of the K’da, but what is noble is not that clear.  Draycos struggled at the beginning of the book on whether or not to attack those on his ship even though he would die without a host, and Draycos’ sense of self-preservation won out, and he bonded with Jack instead of attacking him.  Draycos’ is conflicted again do I rush in, save Jack, and expose myself to Braxton when that could jeopardize his people that are still coming to this part of the galaxy, or do I wait for an opportunity to save Jack where Braxton does not see him even though that pause could cost Jack his life.  Draycos struggles with this decision which was nice conflict in a hero.  Do you save your new friend? Or do you protect millions on the way?  This indecision was interesting to read as I was shouting at my novel, “SAVE JACK!”  Don’t laugh.  You either yell at books too or you don’t enjoy them enough.  Draycos finds a way to save both Jack and maintain his anonymity, but that inner struggle reminded me that it is not only Jack that has room for growth, but Draycos as well. 

The book ends with Jack receiving a few fuel credits for saving Braxton’s life, which Jack won’t take anything more.  Jack and Draycos leave to rendezvous with the Essenay and Uncle Virge.  Then, there is twist number two.  Braxton who you are led to believe is this good guy with a loving wife orders Jack to be investigated, which leaves this story on a cliff making me want to read the second Dragonback Adventure, so that was a very good thing. 

I liked this story.  It was not a heavy read, and I will definitely put the second Dragonback Adventure into my reading list, and that is your Sci-Fi Book Report.

As always send us your thoughts and comments to jesse@starwarsbookreport.com or jesse@scifibookreport.com or leave us a voice message for our podcast at 706-760-5782.  Have a great day, and thanks for reading. 

Exploring the galaxy one page at a time, Jesse

Star Wars Book Report

Daily

Reading

Update

The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams.

Chapter 10 through 20

I know my last DRU was somewhat negative about this book, and I hate to be negative, but it was just too many post-purge Jedi and not enough pages to do these confrontations justice.  Again, I believe that to more of a product of novelizing a video game than anything else.  I enjoyed these 10 chapters much, much more. 

First, Darth Vader saves Starkiller and has him nursed back to health on his secret lab ship.  Vader gives Starkiller a new plan to overthrow the Emperor.  I loved this scene because it shows that Darth Vader has the same fear and anxiety that you see in Anakin Skywalker.  Vader does not believe he can take down the Emperor alone, which is what was prophecied about him as the Chosen One.  Anakin and now Vader do not have a fear of death as much as a deep fear of failure, and Vader is so afraid to face the Emperor because then he has to face his status as the Chosen One.  Being the Chosen One brings Anakin much anxiety in the Clone Wars era novels, so I loved seeing this insecurity and fear in Vader by saving Starkiller and trying to get help in taking down the Emperor.  It reminded me just who was under that mask.  I cannot say just how much I loved this scene Vader displays so much of Anakin’s emotions, anxiety, and fear.  Tremendous!

Next, I loved Starkiller disobeying a direct order from his Master, who again happens to be Anakin, because of his attachment to Captain Juno.  This again was a wonderful play on Anakin’s life as a Jedi.  How many times does Anakin lie and disobey his master Obi-Wan, the Jedi Code, and the rest of the Order because of his attachments to Padme, to his desire to save everyone, and his mother?  The answer is a lot, so to see Vader’s apprentice disobey him because of his attachment was a very nice bit of irony. 

In tracking Kota, the novel makes a similar mistake as it did with the quick scenes with the three post purge Jedi fights.  Starkiller, Juno, and PROXY are all travelling to Nar Shaddaa.  The next thing I know Starkiller is walking into a cantina in Bespin.  I was thinking how did we get to Bespin I thought we were going to Nar Shadda.  I re-read the previous few pages to make sure I got Nar Shaddaa correct.  You literally enter hyperspace heading toward Nar Shaddaa, and in the next sentence, you are in a cantina in Bespin.  On top of that, it is not until the third paragraph you are told that this is Cloud City and not Nar Shaddaa.  That was just weird.  You later find out that Starkiller chases Kota from planet to planted finally catching up with him on Bespin, but heading to one place and entering a completely difference place in one sentence was so awkward that I re-read the last few pages thinking that I skipped a page or something.  There needed to be at least of couple sentences between jumping into hyperspace heading toward Nar Shadda and being in a cantina in Bespin. 

Starkiller has mat back up with Jedi Kota who has been a downward spiral since his conflict with Starkiller, who is know blind and does not know, or at least pretends not to know, that he agrees to help Starkiller, the man who blinded him and ruined his life, fight the empire.  This is nice because there are so many ways for this story to end, and I don’t know which way it will go.  Will Kota freak out when he discovers that he has been helping the man who blinded him?  Will Starkiller be freaked out when he discovers that Kota has known all along who he is?  Will Kota and Starkiller face Vader and the Empire together, or will Starkiller turn on Kota and attack him once again?  There are many paths this storyline can go that you cannot predict it, and I like this, “I have no idea what is going to happen storylines.” 

They then travel of Kashyyyk to meet up with one of Kota’s allies.  Nice little action scene where Starkiller has to fight his way through bugs and other creature found in the depths of Kashyyk’s Wroshyr trees.  Starkiller then finds an Imperial base and fights he way inside with not only his fighting skills, but also a little mind trickeration, which I liked very much.  Sean Williams does write a nice action scene short though they may be. 

Inside the Imperial base, Starkiller meets a young Leia Organa with Artoo.  This was great.  Now, Leia’s name is never mentioned, and if this ends up not being Leia I will be upset because Leia popping up here is awesome.  One of the areas of great interest that have never been touched is Leia’s political career prior to Episode IV, so for her to pop up hear secretly working against the enslavement of the Wookies is wonderful.  I also like how she is not afraid of the obvious killing machine in Starkiller, but bosses him around telling him how to destroy the Skyhook.  Vintage Leia Organa!  I love it. 

These last 10 chapters were a much better read than the first 10.  Again, I do not put this at the feet of Sean Williams.  He is an excellent writer.  I loved the Force Heretic Trilogy by Williams and Shane Dix.  I just think there are significant challenges in writing a video game.  Where the novel seems abbreviated and quick, the video game may take hours to defeat this level giving you time to process.  Also, like I stated in the previous DRU, writing a video game is the one time a novel has less space for material than what it is novelizing.  I think that brings some difficult challenges and choices for Williams. 

I will say Starkiller’s character is amazing.  Captain Juno is pretty cool with her splicing skills.  Kota brings nice flavor to this story.  Vader is of course Vader, and I love PROXY.  He could be my favorite droid ever outside of the movie droids.  When he apologizes for not killing Starkiller and trains to kill him, but obviously cares for Starkiller.  I love PROXY.  Also, his ability to be a hologram and communication device is nice.  When Starkiller is talking to Vader, but it is actually PROXY as Vader was pretty cool. 

I am enjoying this read especially since they have not introduced anymore post purge Jedi.  Looking forward to the remaining 150 pages!

As always send us your thoughts and comments to jesse@starwarsbookreport.com or jesse@scifibookreport.com or leave us a voice message for our podcast at 706-760-5782.  Have a great day, and thanks for reading. 

Exploring the galaxy one page at a time, Jesse

Star Wars Book Report

Daily

Reading

Update

The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams

I have completed this novel, and I have to admit this novel bothered me on so many levels…pun totally intended.  If you have read my Daily Reading Update part 2 on The Force Unleashed there will be some repetition here.  This novel is just so over the top, filled with galaxy altering events that will shape the Expanded Universe, that there was not enough space to adequately cover these topics.  In my Daily Reading Update part 2, I mentioned how Starkiller faces 3 post purge Jedi in just 92 pages.  That is 3 monumental events in the Expanded Universe to learn of 3 post purge Jedi and one padawan.  Since those 92 pages, Starkiller learned that there was another Jedi who survived the initial purge in his father.  We learn of a total of 5 new Jedi that survived the initial purge.  Words cannot adequately describe how huge this is, but this just scratches the surface of the Universe altering events that were in this novel. 

We are also introduced to some serious Rebel Alliance leadership like Bail Organa, Leia Organa, Mon Mothma, and Garm Bel Ibis, and they are secondary characters.  This is a pre-rebel alliance look into these characters, which is another huge event. 

In the last third of this book, we have Starkiller who breaks Bail Organa out of prison and then takes down a Star Destroyer construction facility, and through these two acts becomes trusted enough to observe and actually become the founder of the Rebel Alliance as the rebel leaders give their allegiance to him.  Not only do we have 5 new post purge Jedi, we have the actual founding of the Rebel Alliance, and that founding is a side story…how can something this huge be a side story? 

Next, the Death Star is brought into the story as Starkiller has to infiltrate this incomplete super weapon to rescue Mon Mothma, Garm Bel Ibis, and Bail Organa (again).  Again seeing the Death Star during construction is huge. 

Then there is a titanic fight between Starkiller and Vader, and after that, I titanic fight between Starkiller, and the Emperor himself. 

Total, 5 post initial purge Jedi, 4 founding Rebel Alliance leaders in a somewhat pre-rebellion story, the founding of the Rebel Alliance with Starkiller at its head, Darth Vader and the Emperor engaged in fighting, 1 Death Star all in a single novel.  These are monumental events that just cannot be adequately covered in 355 pages.  Sean Williams’ task was impossible.  You could not read these scenes and not be disappointed by the brevity of the coverage of such huge events.  Again, this is not a testament against Sean Williams the writer.  He is excellent.  I loved the Force Heretic Trilogy in the New Jedi Order.  I thought they were the best in that entire 19 book series.  Williams was just asked to put too much into too few pages. 

I have not even begun to talk about what Starkiller’s actions using the force.  He is unbelievable.  He completely changes our understanding of the force in general and how powerful a single force user can be.  He does things never done before.  He moves a crashing Star Destroyer with the force.  I bet Yaru Korsin wishes he could have done that in The Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice and Anakin and Mace could have done this in the Clone Wars Cartoon.  He crushes Darth Vader in a duel that is not even a contest.  Vader get’s owned.  Then, the Emperor shoots Starkiller with Sith Lightning, and Starkiller walks through the lightning toward the Emperor.  Here are the two most powerful Sith in the universe and possibly ever, and Starkiller annihilates Vader, and the Sith who was powerful enough to destroy the Jedi Order, whose lightning shot Yoda across the room and put Luke into a fetal position, could not stop Starkiller.  Then, Starkiller in some way blows himself up using the force, so that the rebels could get away from the Emperor. 

I do not see how you can read this novel and not say that Starkiller is the most powerful force user in the Star Wars Universe ever.  He made mincemeat of three Jedi one of which was a master.  He made Vader look like a joke in their final confrontation.  He moved a Star Destroyer with the force, and you can give me the “Size matters not” quote all day long, but you do not see the Jedi in the Clone Wars throwing around the Separatist’s ships with the force, and Yoda strained more moving Luke’s X-Wing, than Luke did moving those rocks.  He walked through the Emperor’s Sith Lightning, which neither Yoda nor Luke could do.  He killed thousands without a scratch.  I do not see how he cannot be labeled as the most powerful force user ever after reading all that he does in this novel.  If you choose to not make him the most powerful force user in the Universe period, you must admit he is at least top 3, which makes Starkiller himself a huge moment in the Expanded Universe because he proves to be more powerful than Anakin Skywalker by resisting the Emperor’s influence, more powerful than Yoda and a young Luke when he stands against the Emperor’s Sith Lightning.  He is more powerful than Anakin, Mace, and Yaru Korsin by being able to control the decent of a massive crashing space ship.  He is possibly more powerful than the Emperor by walking through his Sith Lightning.  Starkiller just blows away the mold of how powerful a force sensitive can be.

With all of these monumental events covered in such a short space, you are left with questions that are just so awkward when this story is placed within the canon.    

Starkiller becomes the leader and founder of the Rebel Alliance where Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, Garm Bel Ibis, and Rahm Kota give their support directly to him.  Bail knows of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Master Shaak Ti, and Rahm Kota at least, and they choose some new guy to lead the rebellion.  That is just is so weird.  You tell me why they are not asking Yoda or Obi-Wan to lead this rebellion from its foundation?  You tell me why they give their complete trust to this guy that has done a grand total of two things to hurt the empire, save Bail and destroy the Star Destroyer facility?  Kota, who admits at the end of the story to Juno that he knew who Starkiller was the whole time, gives Starkiller his support, and allows the rest to do so, when he knows that Starkiller at best is a recently converted Sith or at worst a Sith spy.  This is just a tad bit ridiculous. 

Next, with the addition of 5 Jedi survivors of order 66 to go along with Yoda and Obi-Wan, you have to explain to me why they were not working together against the empire?  Through the dialogue of Kota and Bail, you learn that at the very least 5 of these 7 Jedi know of one another, so with these 7 Jedi, why weren’t they starting a new temple somewhere and training new Jedi?  This is just too many Jedi aware of one another for going into hiding for almost two decades to be a viable choice.  Am I wrong or is this is just awkward? 

This was just too many earth shattering events for 355 pages to adequately cover.  The brevity of these events left me disappointed and with awkward questions.  Again, Sean Williams is a great writer and my disappointment with this novel is not at all a reflection on his writing.  I think he is great.  Mr. Williams was just given too much to adequately cover, and there were just too many Universe altering events for me to be comfortable. 

Lastly, this book is just not fair to other novels.  So many Star Wars novels are lucky to have one small aspect of it shape the Expanded Universe and how future novels are written, and this novel had so much that rocked the Expanded Universe, that my love for the other novels cause me to dislike this one.  This novel is liked the favorite spoiled child that is allowed to do all kinds of cool stuff like unmask Vader, have extra Jedi in a time where the novels have none, control Star Destroyers with the force, have the Death Star, have all the leaders of the Rebel Alliance, have the founding of the Rebel Alliance and more, where the other children are only allowed to do one small thing.  This makes me dislike the spoiled book, and love the others even more.  I hope that makes sense.    

If you want to read a novel where the Expanded Universe is rocked to its core, than this novel is for you, but for me it was too much in too little space, which again I blame on it being a video game.   Gamers want to be the bad guy and the good guy…Starkiller is both.  Gamers want to beat up Vader so bad his mask comes off…Starkiller does this.  Gamers want to stand against the Emperor…Starkiller does this.  Gamers want to be the center of it all…Starkiller is absolutely the center of it all, and that is your Star Wars Book Report. 

As always send us your thoughts and comments to jesse@starwarsbookreport.com or jesse@scifibookreport.com or leave us a voice message for our podcast at 706-760-5782.  Have a great day, and thanks for reading. 

Exploring the galaxy one page at a time, Jesse

Star Wars Book Report