Archive for the ‘Star Wars Series’ Category

Wayne and I complete the Michael Stackpole X-Wing novels in this episode by reviewing X-Wing: Isard’s Revenge.  Of course we couldn’t complete the series without having Michael Stackpole himself on the show to straighten us out, and straighten he does.  We learn that there was a clear clue in X-Wing: The Bacta War to foreshadow the return of Isard that a sixth grader figured out, and Wayne and I didn’t.  I know that stuns you all.  We cover a variety of topics with Mr. Stackpole from the X-Wing Series, Isard’s Revenge, Episode 7, Why he has be so long away from Star Wars, and much more.

We have fun, and we hope you do to on this episode exploring the X-Wings.

Thanks for listening, Jesse

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We have the first part of two, two part interviews…Say that three times fast, but what that wierd math means is that we have two interviews to share with you in this episode.  First, is a chat with voice actor Stephen Stanton from the Clone Wars among other well known shows.  He stops by to chat about his work in Pink Five and voice acting.  Then, we have Pete Morrison from Lightsaber Rattling who chats with us about the choice of J. J. Abrams as the director of the next Star Wars…and his love for capes.

Wayne and I also break down X-Wing: Iron Fist by Aaron Allston and have a good time with this swashbuckling novel.  Maybe Disney will make this novel into a movie and give Jack Sparrow a cameo…

Anyway, thanks for listening and joining us as we explore the galaxy one page at a time.

Jesse

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In this episode, we have two interviews.  First we chat with head writer of Star Wars: the Clone Wars Matt Michnovetz.  It is a fascinating look behind the curtain of this great animated series.  Then, we chat with co-host of “R2 in 22″ Jen who is a lot of fun and we discuss her podcast.

Then, Wayne and I finish up the Michael Stackpole quadrilogy with X-Wing: The Bacta War.  We break down this novel and this series.

We also must apologize for life putting the show on the back burner for the last couple of months, but we are back and we hope that you love this episode as much as we loved recording it and chatting with our guest.

Thanks for exploring the galaxy with us one page at a time.

Enjoy, Jesse

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Michael Stackpole returns to break down and discuss X-Wing: Wedge’s Gamble or X-Wing: The Krytos Trap.  He gives us more great behind the scenes information on the X:Wing series.  He gives us the background of how he came up with the Krytos virus and his inspiration for his super prison.  Also, he tells how the trial of the century altered the writing of X:Wing: The Krytos.  He also discusses a few writers that inspired him and which books he would take onto a desert island.  All of that an much more.  It’s great, great stuff!

Then, Wayne and I dive deeply into X-Wing: The Krytos Trap.  To maintain the movie comparison motif, we share with you how this book is The Shawshank Redemtion and A Few Good Men rolled into one.

Finally, we share with you some really cool interviews that we have coming up in our next two episodes.  Big news in a big show.

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

Thanks for listening, Jesse

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I thought Fate of the Jedi did a nice job, for the most part, of weaving in some ancillary characters that show up on occasion and give you either a nice side plot or a nice advancement of the main plot.  In this article, I am going to examine just a few of the ancillary characters and give my thoughts on how they helped or hurt Fate of the Jedi.

I begin with my favorite sub plot of the entire series and that is the slave revolts.  I found the slavery material in this series fascinating.  Chapter 16 and 17 of Vortex were two of the most powerful chapters I have ever read in Star Wars, and characters associated with this side plot were some very strong characters such as: Madhi Vaandt, Shohta, Rhal, Padnel Ovin, Grunel Ovin, and Rokari Kem.

I find a galaxy who resources are stretched being called on to end slavery in the outer rim by one side and protection from terrorists from the legitimate governments on the other.  It truly puts Daala and the Galactic Alliance in a very tough spot.  It made for fascinating reading.  Also, as a couple of the above mentioned characters were made senators, I thought this was some of the character building the post Yavin EU needs.  I mean…they made Daala Chief of State…who else could they have chosen?  They just have not developed strong political characters since Cal Omas.  I thought the slave revolt was very interesting in and of itself, and I thought this story arc was setting up strong political characters for the future…boy was I wrong.

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After reading and enjoying Brian’s Fate of the Jedi retrospective found at Tosche Station and their respective podcast episode 14 has inspired me to give you my two cents on the series as well.

I have been critical of the Fate of the Jedi series, but I do think they got a lot right that is getting overlooked because when a series is finished especially of this size and scope, people tend to be overly critical, and I have that tendency too, but I do want to begin my series on the series by pointing what Fate of the Jedi did very well because Fate of the Jedi did some ground breaking work that I do want to point out.

When the entire galaxy is going to be in peril, it is a big deal.  Fate of the Jedi does a really good job with this.  They set the stage of Fate of the Jedi and the galactic peril in a really cool way.  There were multiple books that lead into the series.  Invincible, Millennium Falcon, The Lost Tribe e-book series, Crosscurrent all set the stage for Fate of the Jedi.  That is significant build up, which is warranted for a series where the entire galaxy is in peril.  I loved the amount of stage setting and back story material that we got for Fate of the Jedi. I especially like that these back stories covered various spaces on the time line.  This was a brilliant move, which I hope is continued for future large projects.

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This is a spoiler conscious review of X-Wing: Iron Fist by Aaron Allston.

If you have been following my articles and the podcast, then you know that I like great characters and if forced to choose, would choose great characters over a great plot any day.  Well, the strength of the Wraith Squadron novels, of which Iron Fist is the second, is the fantastic characters.  What surprised me the most about Iron Fist is the shift is main character.  Wraith Squadron touched on all the members of Wraith Squadron, but Kell was the main guy.  Well, in Iron Fist, Kell becomes a secondary character, and Face moves to the fore of this novel.  Also, new characters and members to Wraith Squadron like Lara, Shalla, Castin, and Dia are very significant to the plot.  I was surprised in a totally good way that these new characters were more that just filling out the flight team, but were integral to the story.   After reading Wraith Squadron and Iron Fist, each member of the team is a part of a significant aspect of the story, which is really good.

As I have mentioned in the X-Wing series, the banter within the flight team is very enjoyable, and Iron Fist does not disappoint.  It gives you great witty banter.  Trying not to give too much away in a spoiler free review, there are some great scenes I want to mention so that you can be on the look out for them when you read this novel.  The scene where Runt is made morale officer, Ton’s letter to Face, Face’s comments after winning the mechanic”s nightmare prize, and several more scenes just made me smile with the cut downs and then sudden serious comments.  The interaction between fellow flight mates is just plain fun.

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In today’s episode, Wayne and I complete our journey through the Han Solo Trilogy, by breaking down Rebel Dawn by A. C. Crispin.  We talk romance, love, marriage, blasters, betrayal, gambling, spies, secret transmissions, and so much more.  We share our thoughts on the difficulties of writing a novel when you know how the story must end, and your audience does too.  Then, we praise Ms. Crispin for keeping this novel interesting even when we know how it will end.

Also, in this episode, you can hear Wayne and I gush over the fact that we were noticed by Ms. Crispin herself when she commented on our Face Book friend…you should like us on Face Book, so you can read her comments about us and our silly little show.

Finally we share an announcement over a search that may interest you over at www.knightsarchive.wordpress.com

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

Thanks for listening, Jesse

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Here is a recap of the top 9.

10 – Mace Windu first’s conversation with Depa Billaba – from Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover

9 – Han’s farewell with Dewlanna – from Paradise Snare by A. C. Crispin

8 – Zarrah saves Bane – from Darth Bane: Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn

7 – Chewbacca grabbing Leah and running from Xizor – from Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry

6 – Onimi revealed as the leader of the Yuuzhan Vong – from The Unifying Force by James Luceno

5 – Palpatine berating Yoda and Bail Organa allowing his hatred to flow – from Clone Wars: Gambit Siege by Karen Miller

4 – Han reacting to Chewbacca’s death – from Vector Prime by R. A. Salvatore

3 – Wedge’s pre-flight check of an X-Wing – from X-Wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole

2 – Luke confront Darth Caedus – from Inferno by Troy Denning

Also, I feel like I should give some honorable mentions of great scenes that just missed out on the cut.

Coran Horn’s duel with Shedao Shai from Dark Tide II:Ruin by Michael Stackpole – This is just a great lightsaber duel.

Coran Horn dropping Booster Terrick’s name in an attempt to intimidate a man that turns out to be Booster Terrick from X-Wing: The Bacta War by Michael Stackpole – I laughed out loud.

Reading the confused thoughts of a man whose head has been separated from his shoulders from Conviction by Aaron Allston – I was so surprised and thought this was so imaginative.

Yoda and Count Dooku’s discussion at the end of Dark Rendezvous by Sean Stewart – This scene shows the power of dialogue and the size of Yoda’s heart.

Anakin and Obi-Wan performing for and earning the trust of the locals from The Approaching Storm by Alan Dean Foster – It was neat to see the heart of these two.

The death of Anakin Solo from Star by Star by Troy Denning – Just incredible…especially Leia’s reaction.

Boba Fett’s opening words of Boba Fett: A Practical Man, “You can run, but you’ll only die tired.” – That could be the greatest line ever uttered in Star Wars history.

I could go on, but those are just a few of the scenes worthy of honorable mention, now let’s get down to business and give you my favorite scene in Star Wars novel history.

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This is a spoiler conscious review of Conviction by Aaron Allston.

I must begin with an apology.  I stated in a Daily Reading Update, which haven’t been so daily have they, that I was disappointed that Vortex ended before Valin, Jysella, Corran, and Mirax speak to one another after Valin and Jysella were unfrozen from carbonite.  I did mention in that article that I held out hope that the next novel, which is Conviction would open exactly where Vortex left off, but I did not believe for one second that it would.  What do you know?  Someone in the Star Wars Universe made me a happy man because Conviction does open with the unfreezing of Valin and Jysella, so you do get the unthawing payoff that I was so hoping for in Vortex.  That was nice.

I must also echo my sentiment from Vortex that the Fate of the Jedi series is starting to pick up.  As I have stated multiple times, my biggest problem with Fate of the Jedi is that I do not like Abeloth, and the writers have moved away from what I thought were the more interesting storylines for Abeloth, such as the retracing of Jacen’s mysterious five year journey and the Jedi dealing with the new Sith.  I know we get some Sith thrown into the Abeloth storyline, but I want here out of the way, so we can have some old fashion, and I mean pre-Bane old fashion, Sith vs. Jedi throw downs.  Anyway, let me stop beating that old drum.  This series is getting interesting.

Trying not to spoil this novel at this point, I must say there is a nice twist with the Horn family storyline that I did not see coming, and I found to be a fascinating read.  It is these little gems that are really causing this series to pick up.

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