Star Wars, Geek Culture, and Power Converters
Just announced: #StarWars Reads Day to take place on Saturday, October 5. More news to come. #SWEU
— StarWarsBooks (@DelReyStarWars) June 1, 2013
The day devoted to Star Wars in written form will return for it’s second year on October 5th. Keep your eyes out for announcements on local events near you.
Ania Solo’s accidental adventure continues as things just keep getting worse. Legacy: Prisoner of the Floating World #3 was released on Wednesday and Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman continue to deliver a solidly good book.
This review contains mild spoilers for the issue.
Well. It’s done. I’ve finished reading these books and I’m ridiculously relieved to be through with Fate of the Jedi. To be completely honest, even though there are a lot of things in Legacy of the Force that upset me, I’d rather read a series like that than this one. I hated the character derailment that some of them were subjected to but I prefer that series as a whole to reading about anything with Abeloth ever again. No more tentacles please. There were a lot more high points in that series than this one. To top it off, I just never felt as invested in these books. There was both too much and too little going on. I know that sounds impossible but I don’t know how else to describe it. Basically, the majority of the series made me do this:
At least there was Mercy Kill waiting for me at the end. Observe my Wraith Squadron related tears of joy.
Warning: There are some NSFW words on some of these gifs
Vortex
My sentiment about having to read this book again can be summed up in one word: Ugh.
This book is bad. It’s not Jedi bug sex bad because I didn’t cringe and resort to drinking but it is bad. I literally just finished it and tossed it down and said “Stupid. So stupid.” Was half the galaxy replaced by Skrulls? Honestly, I’m running out of reasons for why so many people acted the way they did. Everyone makes bad decisions that in turn make me want to bash my head against a wall. I can’t even rage like I usually do. It’s just all so gosh darn frustrating. We’ll go down the list.
First and foremost is everything involving Kenth Hamner. I have yet to understand why “The Villainization of Kenth Hamner” had to occur and I think it’s ridiculous. While I don’t think that he (or anyone in the order really) is looking at the situation from an entirely rational point of view, I also don’t think that anything that happened with his storyline was logical. I especially disagree with how he dies.
That brings me to point two which is Saba. I liked Saba when she was originally introduced. I really did. I feel like I’m not dealing with entirely the same character anymore. It’s nice that she doesn’t take any pleasure in killing Kenth but it doesn’t change that she did and the last time I checked? You don’t reward someone for that by making her the new Grand Master. Seriously, Cilghal and Corran? Seriously? Kyp Durron or Kyle Katarn would’ve been better choices. I’ll agree about wanting someone who’s more of a warrior in charge but I certainly don’t think that staging a kriffing COUP is going to help things. There’s general distrust of the Jedi Order because they’re too powerful and act only as they see fit. Clearly the best way to counter this is to remove the Chief of State from office. EXCEPT NO. NO IT IS NOT.
On the other side of the galaxy, we’ve got Skrull!Luke Skywalker. Everything about this Luke feels wrong. I don’t know what else to say except that this isn’t the Luke Skywalker we know from the films and previous books. I’d also really like to know when his storyline went from ‘Retrace Jacen Solo’s Force Odyssey’ to ‘Retrace Luke Skywalker’s Love Life’. Oh and hey! We can throw in some Sith while we’re at it. 😐
Fourth, I still don’t get Abeloth. If I could never read again about her tentacles and giant mouth that eats people or whatever, I’d be happy. She is ridiculous. Everything about this storyline is ridiculous and I want it to end. I’m so done with all of this.
This next one doesn’t anger me as much as it annoys me. I honestly don’t get the point of including this slave uprising storyline. I know it gets used more later and does tie into the overarching story but it feels overall like wasted page space to me. Sorry.
Finally, who thought this Barabel nest thing was a good idea especially when it comes to ending a book? No, don’t answer that. It was rhetorical. On a scale from 1-10, this ranks an 8 on the Unnecessary Scale.
Well. Here we are. Reading Fate of the Jedi again. I had actually just gotten around to reading the series in its entirety the month before I started this project and I can’t really say that I was looking forward to reading it again so soon especially given how long I delayed reading it in the first place. This series was first published in March 2009. By then, I was a poor college student and the prospect of reading and buying series published entirely in hardcover was not very appealing to me especially after Invincible. At some point, I picked up the first book because it was Allston, liked it well enough, but wasn’t overly inclined to run out and read all the others. In the summer of 2011, I finally convinced myself to read the first four books… and then got side tracked by a New Jedi Order reread and didn’t return to them until fall 2012. Basically, this is a very long winded way for me to say that this series never really managed to grab my attention and draw me in like some of the others. Unfortunately.
I blame Abeloth.
Outcast
Well, they Allston-ed me again. It’s nice to see that the previous galactic war had consequences and that they are carrying over here. However, I still cannot figure out why the heck anyone would put Daala in charge. It makes zero sense to me.
The good news is that this book has a lot of my favorite Allston moves. We get a pilot reunion over on Kessel and thankfully, Wedge seems to still be retired. We also get the Darkmeld group which I positively LOVE and not just because Winter finally get to reappear. It’s a rather excellent mix of people. I also loved that we get Jag referencing his relationship to Wedge because that’s brought into play far too infrequently. The relationship between Jaina and Jag is also very well written and it’s nice to see them together and functional again. Also, every time Jag corrects someone about it being the ‘Galactic Empire’ instead of ‘Imperial Remnant’, I crack up.
In typical Allston fashion, the Horn siblings (and family) finally get to take center stage only for their lives to end up seriously sucking. Valin Horn, stop being crazy.
The other high point of this book has to be the father/son relationship between Ben and Luke. I love getting to see Ben’s ridiculous sense of humor (Grand Master Whango Mittpool!) and how well they work together. The whole plot line of retracing Jacen’s steps and trying to figure out what happened is actually rather intriguing although I think his problem was named Lumiya. Regardless, it will be neat to see these other Force using orders. But really, it’s just great watching these two play off one another especially with their different strengths and weaknesses.
The Official Star Wars Books Facebook page announced that they will be hosting two live chats with Star Wars authors next week.
Tuesday, 5/21 3pm EST – Please join us for a chat with Star Wars comics veteran John Ostrander, who penned the prequel short-story to INTO THE VOID (featured in Star Wars Insider Magazine #141).
Wednesday, 5/22 4pm EST – Please join us for a chat with first time Star Wars author Tim Lebbon, author of the just released INTO THE VOID. Tim will be joining us from across the pond in the UK.
Be sure to check them out especially if you have any questions about the newly released Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void or the related comic penned by Ostrander.
This was a much nicer trio of books to read between long series than my previous “palette cleanser.” SO MUCH NICER. All three are actually books that I haven’t had the chance to read yet and neither had I heard much about them so this was one giant blank slate for me. The verdict? Well, you’ll just have to read the post for that!
Crosscurrent
I had no idea what to expect from this book and yet I’m fairly sure that this wasn’t it. I’m not saying that in a bad way. I’m just saying it in a way where I tilt my head to the side and go “huh”.
For the most part, it’s an enjoyable book. It took me a good 100 pages or so to really get into it though. The start felt a bit slow but also jumbled with the introduction of a lot of new characters. It took me a little while to keep everyone straight. I’m also not sure how I feel about the time travel. I liked the character of Jaden Korr though as well as Marr and Khedryn. On the other hand, I’m really not sure what an Anzat looks like exactly but I don’t think I want to because they sound weird and a bit disgusting.
The clone thing was… different. Although actually, I guess it doesn’t really surprise me that they would’ve tried to clone Jedi but I’m not entirely sure I buy mixing Jedi and Sith DNA. It makes the choice between following the light or the dark like much less of a choice. On the other hand, I absolutely buy that they’d be a bit crazy. That part makes plenty of sense.
My biggest problem with the book is the lack of female characters. Where were they? I know it was a small cast but that doesn’t mean that every single one of them had to be male.
Mostly, I’m really just still head tilting at this book. I’m wondering if a second read through might help but no time for that right now. It is a good read though and it’s certainly a nice break from watching all of my favorite characters take stupid pills.
We’re so close to the end of this project and also so close to me dying of high blood pressure. I’ve said before that I didn’t hate this series completely the first time I read it and that still remains true now. However, there is a definite turning point where my enjoyment of the books shoots waaaaay down and that turning point was the ending of Sacrifice. I’m also realizing that reading all these books so close together isn’t doing me or the series any favors. When there are months between publications dates or you’re just casually reading the books, you have time to cool down between each book. When you’re reading them for a blog, you don’t get that breathing space so I apologize, I really do, for the fury displayed in this post.
Ironically enough, much of that fury isn’t directed at Fury.
Inferno
I’m trying really really really hard right now to take some deep breaths after finishing this book. It’s possible that this book upsets me even more than Sacrifice did because I’m honestly scraping the bottom of the barrel here for any positives about this book. I guess that I can’t really hate on the writing style? It didn’t offend me or anything. Oh! I did like the brief scene with Han, Leia, and Tenel Ka towards the end. It’s a nice moment and I love that the Solos see Tenel Ka like part of the family.
Yeah. That’s all I’ve got. Continue reading
Hit it, Star Wars Books.
DATE CHANGE: #STARWARS EMPIRE AND REBELLION: RAZOR’S EDGE by @marthawells1 will now go on sale October 1. #SWEU randomhouse.com/book/225871/ra…
— StarWarsBooks (@DelReyStarWars) May 10, 2013
Great news all around. I’m personally looking forward to this book. Pair this with Kenobi and the last half of 2013 is shaping up to be a great period for Expanded Universe releases.
Another week, another fantastic cover release. This time around, it’s John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi.
And a synopsis!
Tatooine—a harsh desert world where farmers toil in the heat of two suns while trying to protect themselves and their loved ones from the marauding Tusken Raiders. A backwater planet on the edge of civilized space. And an unlikely place to find a Jedi Master in hiding, or an orphaned infant boy on whose tiny shoulders rests the future of a galaxy.
Known to locals only as “Ben,” the bearded and robed offworlder is an enigmatic stranger who keeps to himself, shares nothing of his past, and goes to great pains to remain an outsider. But as tensions escalate between the farmers and a tribe of Sand People led by a ruthless war chief, Ben finds himself drawn into the fight, endangering the very mission that brought him to Tatooine.
Ben—Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, hero of the Clone Wars, traitor to the Empire, and protector of the galaxy’s last hope—can no more turn his back on evil than he can reject his Jedi training. And when blood is unjustly spilled, innocent lives threatened, and a ruthless opponent unmasked, Ben has no choice but to call on the wisdom of the Jedi—and the formidable power of the Force—in his never-ending fight for justice.
Kenobi hits bookshelves on August 27th.
I’m not going to lie: I’ve been dreading reaching these books in my reread not because I dislike them as a whole but because of how controversial they are. Actually, I don’t hate everything about these books, just certain parts. In the mean time, observe as I use humor as a red cape to distract all of you for yelling at me for being wrong! Can you tell I’m nervous? I think I’m doing that thing where I write too much. Maybe we should just start with the actual post.
Betrayal
Kids, in spring of 2006, I was ready to give up on the current timeline of Star Wars books. The Dark Nest trilogy had left me mentally scarred and the Prequel Trilogy books just seemed so much nicer and safer even though I knew everyone was going to die. And then Del Rey did something very smart: they Allston-ed me. What is ‘Allston-ed’, you ask?
Allston-ed (verb) 1 The act of bringing in Aaron Allston to write more books in the Star Wars Expanded Universe therefore enticing readers who might have otherwise quit to come back and continue reading.
2 Experiencing a heart-breaking character death that makes you want to sob uncontrollably and from which you shall never recover.
To top it off, we were told that the planet Adumar would be making an appearance and that Wedge would be in the book. You have no idea how disappointed I was that the Adumarians hadn’t put up a statue of Wedge somewhere and written a charming song called ‘Hero of Adumar’ to go with it. SO DISAPPOINTED. (Wedge! The Man They Call Wedge!)
Speaking of Wedge, why can no one just let him retire? Or maybe you should just not kidnap him and hold him prisoner. I’m told that’s a sure way to convince him to fight against you simply because he’s pissed. On the other hand, I find it hilarious when Wedge takes advantage of his pilots’ reflexes and military instincts and yells things like “Rogue Two! Break to port!” at them and makes them look ridiculous. So much about this book reminds me why he and Tycho Celchu are some of my favorite characters especially when you put the two of them together.
I really enjoyed reading this book. There was many a time where I was downright grinning like an idiot as I read through it. It was like I was reading this book for the first time again. I will never be over the Donoslane and Kolot references or Shalla’s brief unnamed cameo. To top it off, we get to see both Doran Tainer and Syal Antilles as characters in this book. Characters who do things and get page time. I have such a strong love for all of the Wraith and Rogue kids that this made me happy beyond belief.
Oh wait. These books are supposed to be about the Skywalkers and Solos, aren’t they? I think that Allston writes a really good Jaina and I love getting to see her as a pilot again. Wedge and Tycho are right: she is indeed a traitor for not sticking with the piloting thing. It’s such a shame since she’s so good at it. As far as Han and Leia go, I just roll my eyes and shake my head at them. I think they’re actually making the GFFA/Corellia situation worse by meddling. Allston also writes a really great Ben. That kid’s sense of humor cracks me up every time especially with his Lando impression.
I’m not a huge fan of Jacen Solo taking stupid pills at the end of the book though nor am I fan of Nelani dying. She had potential to be a really great character but alas. Damnit Jacen. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to listen to Shire Brie? This will end in so many tears. Many of them will be mine.