Archive for the ‘Luke Skywalker’ Category

I do not like to be negative…Quick name one book I have said was terrible…It’s hard to do because I love books.  I love stories, and it is rare for me to not get into and enjoy reading whatever I get my hands on.  I want to enjoy everything I read, and for the most part I do, but there are aspects of Fate of the Jedi that I just don’t get.  I hope you can tell me I am wrong about this series, and I hope you can give me multiple reasons to love this series.  As of now though, Fate of the Jedi leaves me scratching my head.

First, this series was set up to fail with the earlier appointment of Admiral Daala as the Chief of State.  I don’t know whose idea this was, but it was not a very good one.  Daala as Chief of State makes no sense.  She was the developer of super weapons for the Empire.  Her work helped destroy planets and entire galaxies.  She was Grand Moff Tarkin’s lover and disciple.  How is it evenly remotely possible for her to be elected as Chief of State with that background?  This would be like the United States electing the head of the Nuclear Weapons Program of Russia as its own President.  There is just no way it would happen.  Making Daala chief is like they ran out of eligible candidates with Mothma, Ackbar, Leia, Fey’lya, Omas, among others all out of the political picture, so they went with the last character standing.  The only problem is there is only one story to tell with Daala…former imp fights with former rebels.   I can’t see any other direction.  Develop new political characters or C3PO will be the next Chief!

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We have a big show for you today.

Wayne and I break down Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn.  We discuss Zahn’s ability to write great characters.  Some you love, and others you love to hate.   We also break down plot and how Zahn truly captures the spirit of Star Wars and is faithful to George Lucas’ vision.

Later we share with you and interview with Paul Kemp author of multiple Forgotten Realms and Star Wars novels, short stories, and more.  Mr. Kemp shares with us his favorite characters he has written, if any of his Forgotten Realms characters come from his RPG days, how he would describe his own writting, and I couldn’t resist asking who is crazier Star Wars or Forgotten Realms fans, and much, much more.

One note – early in the podcast I mistakenly say that Crosscurrent by Paul Kemp was connected to the Legacy of the Jedi series, and that is incorrect.  As you all know, and I do too, I just misspoke, it is connected to the Fate of the Jedi series.

Thank you for listening.  Please share us with your friends.

Exploring the galaxy one page at a time, Jesse

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This is a spoiler conscious review of Dark Nest III: The Swarm War by Troy Denning

Books and Series Mentioned

Dark Nest III: The Swarm War

The Dark Nest Trilogy

The New Jedi Order

I just completed the Dark Nest Trilogy, and there was no reason for me to like this trilogy.  There were so many plot points and events that I do not like.  Strike one, I am not big into bugs.  I do not like them in my house, and I do not like them in my stories.  Strike two, as has been well documented on the site, I am not a fan of the unifying force.  There was one scene in Dark Nest One: The Joiner King where Luke drew upon his anger and fear to cloak their ship that turned my stomach.  Strike three, I am not a fan of a hive mind.  That idea has just seemed overdone to me in the Sci-Fi universe.  I did not think that Star Wars needed to go there.  Strike four, there was its total ignoring of Jacen’s sojourn through the universe studying the force that Jacen tells Luke he will do in The Unifying Force.  I was so intrigued by Jacen telling Luke about this plan in The Unifying Force, that was the one thing I was excited to learn about in this series, and it basically ignores it with just a few offhanded mentions.  Strike five, the Jedi council, which seemed finally settled after The New Jedi Order was not so settled and we had to read through another Chief of State vs. Jedi debate.  Strike six, and the most egregious, is Luke on the cover of Dark Next III: The Swarm War shooting Sith lightning!  Let me tell you I still throw up a little in my mouth seeing that.  How many strikes do you get before you’re out?  Through the grape vine I heard about these issues and could see the cover of Dark Nest III: The Swarm War that I did not think that I would ever read it.  I was not interested at all. 

In fact I was so not interested that it took my love for reading on a Kindle to get me to read it.  I have read every other Kindle Star Wars book, and since I live in small town USA, I had to either drive 45 minutes to the nearest book store, or read The Dark Nest Trilogy, and my laziness won out, and I Kindled The Dark Nest Trilogy, and let me tell, no other book, movie or any other form of entertainment has won me over like this trilogy.  There are so many reasons for me to hate this trilogy, but I didn’t…if fact I rank it as one of the best trilogies I have read. 

You may be thinking that my expectations were so low that I could not help, but be impressed by this trilogy, but that is not the case.  This was not about my expectations.  I flat do not like, bugs, hive mind, the unifying force…these are things that bother me, so for me to like things that I do not like, is an incredible writing feat by Mr. Troy Denning, so let’s get to all the things I loved about the final installment of this thrilling trilogy. 

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This is a spoiler conscious book review of Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen for more spoiler information and thoughts check out the Daily Reading Updates on this book where I break down each chapter. 

Novels or Series Mentioned

Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen

Dark Nest I: The Joiner King

I know I have been doing chapter by chapter reviews of Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen, but I got into this story and finished it.  I will go back and finish the chapter reviews, but while this story is fresh on my mind, I thought I would share my conclusions.  This is one of those novels you will love or hate.  It really depends on your tastes in Sci-Fi.  There is some great action.  I think Troy Denning shines brightest when he is writing an action scene.  There is one tremendous scene that still gives me chills…then there is the cheesiest story arc in the history of Star Wars novels.  Now, I love cheese in my Sci-Fi, so this did not bother me, but I could see it bothering those that do not like the cheesy nature of some Sci-Fi ventures.  Also, there is some under-reactions that could bother some readers, and there are some slow chapters as well.

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If there is one thing that has been made clear in the Star Wars Universe it is this; if you are an over thinker, you will become the epitome of evil.  If you like to think four and five moves ahead, you need to stop right now, or you will end up on the wrong end of a light saber or a blaster.  Just look at the evidence. 

Case One – Grand Admiral Thrawn – This man looked at the art of a culture…the art…we are talking paintings and statues and stuff, and by examining the art, he knew how that cultures generals were going act in battle.  If that is not over thinking I don’t know what is.  Thrawn is the classic chess master villain who over thinks every situation and how did Thrawn end up?  He threw invisible asteroids at Coruscant which hurt civilians as much as it did the military and by over analyzing threats that were ten steps down the road that he totally missed the Nohgri right in front of him as a threat.  Over thinking was Thrawn’s downfall.

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This begins as a spolier conscious book review and then there is some spoiler information later in the article.

Novels or Series Mentioned

Betrayal

Legacy of the Force

Aaron Allston and this creative team gave this book a great title. Betrayal has multi-layered meaning for this book. It can reference so many characters and plotlines. Is it talking about Corellia’s turn against the Galactic Alliance or the Galactic Alliance’s turn on Correllia? Is it referencing Han Solo’s turn on the Galactic Alliance? Is it referencing Thracken Sal-Solo’s turn on Corellia? Is it referencing Jacen’s turn on Nelani and/or Ben Skywalker? I think the answer is YES. So many of these story lines can be viewed as betrayals from different perspectives, and some look like betrayals on both side, so this is a great title for this book and my favorite aspect of this story.

The basic plot for this tale is that Corellia is trying to get all the benefits of being a member of the Galactic Alliance without paying taxes. The fun starts when people start choosing sides: freedom of choice for Corellia or Corellia should abide by its agreement with the Galactic Alliance, and some characters choose an unexpected path.

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This review is a review of Abyss by Troy Denning and contains spoilers, so be wary of the prior to reading.

Novels or Series Mentioned

Abyss

Star by Star

Dark Nest I: The Joiner King

The Fate of the Jedi

Troy Denning is quickly rising on my favorite Star Author list.  Star by Star was an epic story that was written and handled very well.  I recently posted how much I enjoyed Dark Nest I: The Joiner King even thought there were numerous reasons for me to hate it, since I am quite the traditionalist and do not like change.  Both of those novels are testaments to Denning’s writing skill, and Denning’s writing skill is also on display in Abyss. 

Denning is an excellent writer of action.  The way Abeloth’s planet was filled with action with the venomous and dangerous foliage.  I know dangerous plants do not sound thrilling, but Denning writes them in a way that keep you on your toes because you know at any moment another attack is coming from left field, and I enjoyed that constant danger while reading.

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This is a spoilerful review of Dark Nest I: The Joiner King by Troy Denning. 

Novels or Series Mentioned

Dark Nest I: The Joiner King

The Unifying Force

Star by Star

Dark Nest Trilogy

The New Jedi Order

This book got my blood pumping and boiling more than any Star Wars novel I have read in a long while.  My reading of this book and it’s take on the Force in particular.  The new Unifying Force espoused by Luke Skywalker during the conclusion of the New Jedi Order has already spawned a two part crossover podcast spectacular with Steve Glosson and Geek Out Loud and Star Wars Book Report to discuss the nature of the Force, which is in the editing phase, and an article where I addressed Barris Offee’s declarations on the nature of the Force because of her bota induced Force experience.  If the goal of a novel is to get a reaction, Dark Nest I: The Joiner King succeeded like no other. 

The Dark Nest Trilogy is a series that I have largely ignored.  I finished the 19 book saga of the New Jedi Order about two years ago, and after spending so much time on one time period, I wanted a break from the New Jedi Order time period, and I have jumped all over the timeline since.  One thing I love about Star Wars novels is the ability to jump around eras, and if you have followed my blog and/or podcast for long, you see I do some considerable jumping around, but I am glad that I finally landed in the wasps’ nest…and wasps’ nest it is.

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In this episode we will discuss the novel that shook the Expanded Universe to its very core.  Vector Prime by R. A. Salvatore, and love this book or hate you, you must admit one thing, it is one of the most significant books ever written.

I will argue that Vector Prime change our reading experience for the better.  Listen to discover why.

Also, I will complete my top ten list of favorite characters from the Expanded Universe number 5 through number 1.

Finally, there are two major announcements regarding upcoming podcast, which will include a crossover spectacular with Steve Glosson from www.geekoutonline.com, and his official podcast, which can be found at www.geekoutpodcast.com.

The final and biggest announcement is a scheduled interview with two Star Wars authors have been confirmed for an upcoming episode…listen to find out who they will be.

Thanks for listening, and this is your star wars book report.

Exploring the galaxy one page at a time, Jesse

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In an upcoming episode of Star Wars Book Report: The Podcast, I will be participating in a podcast crossover spectacular with Steve Glosson from www.geekoutonline.com, and his podcast Geek Out Loud at www.geekoutpodcast.com.  Steve and I are good friends who love to debate Star Wars, wrestling, and many other geektacular topics.  In our crossover spectacular, part one will be on Geek Out Loud, and part two will be here at Star Wars Book Report.  The impetus for this crossover spectacular was a phone discussion we had on the idea of The Unifying Force as put forth by Luke at the end of the novel with the same name, and this concept of the unifying force goes through to at least The Dark Nest Trilogy and comes up in Legacy of the Force and the Fate of the Force.  This conversation was a blast, and as soon as it is edited, we will give to you.

There was one aspect of the unifying force that Steve and I do not cover in our discussion, and I wanted to address it here. 

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