Archive for the ‘The Thrawn Trilogy’ Category

In today’s episode Wayne and I break down The Last Command by Timothy Zahn.  We share what we love about this novel and our frustrations.  We share which characters from this trilogy that we would want to read in future novels and tell you where you can find these great characters in other novels.  We spend time discussing whether or not we like the demise of Thrawn.  Then we try to put into perspective the significance of this novel and this trilogy.

We also unveil our newest bit with “Quote of the Day” where we share with you the best line from today’s show.  Listen and see if you can guess which line it is, and the correct answer will be shared at the end of this episode.

Also, we give you 4 nicknames for Steve Glosson for the return of Geek Out Loud and share which promo won our promo contest from Episode 25.

Join us for our usual nonsense, and explore with us the galaxy one page at a time.

Thanks for listening, Jesse

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Greetings, fellow Star Wars fans, from the Great White North, otherwise known as Canada … or as many Americans call it: “That big thing sitting on top of our country.”

 This is the first book report I’ve written since high school, which was about 21 years ago (talk about your ‘a long time ago’ moments) … but who’s counting.

So, let’s get down to business. Star Wars: Heir to the Empire. The Timothy Zahn novel that, for many fans, is thought of as Star Wars: Episode VII: This should have been a freakin’ movie.

As listeners to this site’s podcast may recall, I only got into reading Star Wars novels the past year or so, largely because I rediscovered the Wars through the Clone Wars animated series. My passion for the series led to me picking up Clone Wars and prequel era novels. And those were what I was solely reading … until now.

I had heard about the Zahn books, the so-called Thrawn Trilogy, over the years, but frankly, I didn’t really have much interest in it. Nor did I really care for anything that happened beyond Return of the Jedi. Because to me, that was the end of the story. Probably due to my cinematic snobbishness.  And I’ve also figured that since George Lucas said the six-film arc is the story of Anakin Skywalker, once he bought the big acreage in the Force sky (hopefully a place that is soft and without all that coarse sand that gets everywhere),  there wasn’t much reason to continue on past that point.

Well, I was wrong. More on that later.

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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

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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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I recently spent an evening talking with Matt and Chris from the Sarlacc Pitt the podcast for www.galacticbinder.com, and we discussed the prequel trilogy. One thing we spent a lengthy time discussing were th great fight scenes most notably the fight between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace and the final fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin in Rise of the Sith. This discussion got me thinking about the best fight scenes I have ever read, so in no particular order, here are a few fight scenes that I have really enjoyed reading.

Corran Horn vs Shedao Shai. Dark Tide II: Ruin

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Nothing says Memorial Day like kicking back by some some body of water whether it be lake, ocean, pool, or pond, with a grill going, holding a cold drink in one hand and an iPod in the other listening to Star Wars Book Report: The Podcast.  Have a great and safe holiday, and thank you to all the soldiers that are and have served our great country.

In episode 3, we first do a spoiler free book review of Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire.  We follow that up with a little more in depth  review that has spoilage.  We examine where Grand Admiral Thrawn should rank amongst Star War villains, and I share with you my favorite scenes from Heir to the Empire.

We also read your e-mails answering the question, what genre you would like to see Star Wars novels enter into next, since Death Troopers has opened the door to other genres.

Lastly, I give you my recomended reading if you are looking for a non-typical Star Wars novel.

Thanks for listening.

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

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Novels or Series Mentioned

The Thrawn Trilogy

The New Jedi Order

One of the most important characters, and most underrated characters in my opinion is Borsk Fey’lya…Now that your screaming fit is over about Borsk being some evil, manipulative fur ball, please listen to my reasoning. 

First, I totally agree with you that very few characters have made or make me as angry as Borsk Fey’lya, but remember anger and hatred are not the worst emotions a character can evoke.  Apathy is the worst emotion that a character can evoke.  In professional wrestling, there is a saying, “It does not matter if the fans cheer you or boo you.  All that matters is they react to you.”  That is so true when it comes to character in a story.  It is when a character does not move you at all emotionally that the character and the story losses its appeal and becomes boring.  Borsk is anything but boring.  Everytime I read his name, I have a strong emotional surge usually one of anger or frustration or disgust that makes me want to keep reading just so I can see Borsk get his just desserts. 

It is absolutely true without Hot Rod Rowdy Roddy Piper, Hulkamania would not have been as great as it was.  I am not the first to say it, but it is true, we loved Hulk Hogan because we disliked Roddy Piper.  The same principle applied to Borsk.  We loved and pulled for Admiral Ackbar, Princess Leah, Talon Karde, the entire New Jedi Order, and Cal Omas mainly because of our disgust with Borsk.  I think we owe some of our passion for our favorite characters to Borsk, and that is why he is one of my favorite characters of all time.  

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