Tag Archives: Claudia Gray

Book Wars Pod, Episode 157: MEAT FIGHT! MEAT FIGHT!

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This week, we’re wrapping up our discussion of Claudia Gray’s The High Republic: Into the Dark. What do we think about Cohmac taking Reath under his wing? How are the Drengir similar to–and unlike–any Dark Side foe we’ve previously seen in Star Wars? What are our initial impressions this first bit of Project Luminous? Find out on this episode!

The cause we’re highlighting for this episode is Helping Friends and Neighbors Fund (Disaster Relief Fund) at the Community Foundation for Mississippi. A donation to this fund will help wrap around needs related to Jackson’s water issues.

For a list of black-owned bookstores to order from, now and always, click here.

To download this episode, click here.

Book Wars Pod explores the Star Wars universe through the franchise’s non-screen media: the canon novels, comics, and video games. Check out our guide to past episodes, and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and wherever else you cast your pods. You can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Mega Feed on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher for more great shows from our podcast network.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for episode updates! Hosted by Chris Sedor, Kate Sedor, Rana LaPine, and Miranda Eldon. Audio and production by Kristen McDonell. Art by Joe Butera. Music by Podington Bear.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!

Review: The Fallen Star

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For months, High Republic fans have had a side of anxiety ever since we first heard the light of the Jedi would be going dark with the next wave of stories. Well, that wave has finally arrived with The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray and folks? Things got real dark.

Starlight Beacon has been a symbol of hope in the Outer Rim despite all the struggles the Jedi and the Republic have had as of late. Symbols, however, only inspire for as long as they continue to endure. Many of the Jedi need time to rest and, in some cases, mourn, but the Nihl aren’t exactly going to give it to them. In fact, Marchion Ro is about to enact his master plan and the Jedi are going to be in very, very big trouble. Continue reading →

Review: Into the Dark

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The High Republic continues and this time, it’s Claudia Gray at the wheel—err… keyboard. With Into the Dark, out today, Gray introduces us to a new Good Soft Boy to love in the form of one Reath Silas and all was well in the galaxy and this was a very good book, thank you and good night! …oh wait. Did you need to know more about this book other than it has a Good Soft Boy in it? Well if you insist…

Padawan Reath Silas would be perfectly content to spend his time in the Jedi Archives but no. His Jedi Master just had to agree to a post at the Starlight Beacon which means he is headed there too. Reluctantly, Reath boards a transport along with several other Jedi only to find himself caught in the middle of the hyperspace disaster. Their (and the other nearby ships’) only hope is an abandoned space station. But there is a darkness lurking in those halls and their problems are about to multiply… and not just because of the plants. Continue reading →

Review: Master and Apprentice

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There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and that Claudia Gray’s books will make you feel things.

Master and Apprentice explores the relationship between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi at an uncertain time. They haven’t quite meshed together yet in the way expected of masters and padawans who’ve been together for several years and when Qui-Gon is offered a seat on the Jedi Council, he thinks that accepting it may be the best possible solution for both of them. Before he can make a decision, they’re specifically called to assist with a political dispute on Pijal by Rael Averross, another former padawan of Dooku. What should be simple mission quickly grows more far complicated especially once the Force shows Qui-Gon violent visions of the future… Continue reading →

Go/No-Go: Leia: Princess of Alderaan

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nasa-mission-control-3Welcome back to Go/No-Go, Tosche Station’s regular feature where we offer our spoiler-free opinion as to whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money on a book, film, or other entertainment. Today on the launch pad: Star Wars: Leia: Princess of Alderaan. This is author Claudia Gray’s third trip to a galaxy far, far away and her second with Leia Organa. What did we think of her take on a teenage princess? To mission control for the verdict! Continue reading →

Review: Leia: Princess of Alderaan

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Rebellions are built on lies.

These are words that ring opposite what Cassian told Jyn in Rogue One but are no less true. Rebellions are built on hope and on lies but perhaps not in the way that you might expect.

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray takes us back to the princess’s earlier years on Alderaan before there was ever a Death Star in its orbit, poised to destroy the lives of millions of people. At age sixteen, Leia Organa must, by Alderaan custom, have her Day of Demand and then complete her Challenges of Body, Mind, and Heart before she is officially recognized as heir to the crown of Alderaan. While the challenges are worthy ones, they lead Leia down a path she didn’t entirely expect as she discovers the truth about her parents. (No, not that truth.) Continue reading →

Tosche Station Book Club #3: Bloodline by Claudia Gray

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Welcome back to the Tosche Station Book Club! This month, host Nanci is joined by guests Bria and Nicole as well as audio engineer Brian to discuss Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray.

Tune in next month for a review of The Cold Between by Elizabeth Bonesteel!

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and your support on Patreon!  If you like what you hear, you can subscribe to the Tosche Station Book Club on iTunes or you can subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Megafeed for all of our great Star Wars and geek culture content. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Western Reaches #5

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Megan and Saf are joined by Nanci this week to discuss the latest Star Wars and gaming news, the books they’ve been reading, and roundtable discuss Bloodline by Claudia Gray! If you want to be completely unspoiled, come back to this episode after you read the book.

You can find Megan on Twitter with the handle @blogfullofwords and you can find Saf with @Wanderlustin. Be sure to subscribe to Western Reaches on iTunes and subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Mega Feed for more great shows, discussion, and commentary.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and your support on Patreon!

Review: Star Wars: Bloodline

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SW_Bloodline_coverIt’s difficult and I mean reeeeeally difficult to impartially review a book that feels like it was written specifically for you. It’s hardly a secret that I’m the token politics nerd and Alderaan die hard around here. There are only two things that this book could have possibly done to make me love it even more. The first would have been bringing Winter back into canon and the other gets us into spoiler territory. (The third would be bringing Padmé Amidala back from the dead but that seems highly unlikely in any scenario. This is Star Wars, not comics.) All this is to say that Bloodline by Claudia Gray felt tailor made for me and the two and a half hours I spent reading it were one hell of an emotional roller coaster.

Set in the years before The Force Awakens, Bloodline tells the story of Leia before the galaxy comes crashing down around her a second time. The New Republic is well established at this point and two distinct political parties have formed in the Senate. Senator Leia Organa, however, is kind of over all of it. The time is starting to feel right for her to retire and go spend more time with her family but first… one last mission shouldn’t cause too much trouble, right?  Continue reading →

Go/No-Go: Bloodline

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nasa-mission-control-3Welcome back to Go/No-Go, Tosche Station’s regular feature where we offer our spoiler-free opinion as to whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money on a book, film, or other entertainment. Today on the launch pad: Bloodline by Claudia Gray. It’s not only our first look at the years before The Force Awakens but also the political Leia book we’ve been clamoring for for years. But how did it go over with us? To mission control for the verdict!

Bria: Bloodline is the book that I’ve wanted desperately for years. As the resident political nerd and lover of all things Alderaan/Organa/Leia, this book sounded like it was going to be right in my wheel house. Spoiler Alert: It was. This is a book that literally begins with the New Republic having a dedication ceremony for a statue of Bail Organa and it only keeps getting better. Bloodline is the emotional love child of Razor’s Edge, The Force Awakens, and Kenobi and if you don’t think that’s a good thing, I don’t know what to tell you. Claudia Gray writes a pitch perfect Leia who feels like the logical progression of a character we last “saw” 20+ years ago. This Leia has decades of politics and rebelling under her belt but neither is she quite yet the Resistance General Organa that we saw in Episode VII. Everything is just perfect. Gray does an incredible job with fleshing out the galaxy in the years before The Force Awakens and answers some of our questions without making it feel like a checklist. The supporting cast is also fantastically written and I promise that you’ll never look at Korr Sella in those few moments on Hosnian Prime the same way again. However, the two standouts are most definitely Greer Sonnel and Ransolm Casterfo. Greer’s a former racing pilot turned Leia’s Chief of Staff and Ransolm is a Senator from the opposite party who also likes to collect Imperial artifacts. Both could have easily been archetypes but Gray does oh so much more with them that I can’t really go into without spoilers. And then there’s the Organa stuff. THE ORGANA STUFF. Bloodline gets one of the strongest GO recommendations from me in a very long time and I will definitely #VoteLeia for First Senator.

Nanci: Two days after finishing this book and I can’t stop thinking about it, which you know is the mark of a good book. There’s a few things I disliked — mainly the glossing over of certain scenes I really wanted to read — but mostly Bloodline left me wanting more in a really good way. For those of you worried that a political book would be boring, you have nothing to fear. Yes, it’s political, but it’s also fast-paced, easy to understand, and does a great job setting the stage for The Force Awakens. And then there’s the characters. Oh, the characters. There’s been so much good Leia stuff lately (Moving Target, Princess Leia), and Bloodline is definitely the pinnacle of that. Leia is the star of this book and unlike a lot of Legends content we’re not focusing on her marriage or her family. We’re focusing on her job as senator and how her family history plays into that. However, the character who surprised me the most in this book is without a doubt Ransolm Casterfo. I was shocked at how much I liked him. At times, his story moved me to tears. In general, this novel both had me turning pages but also dreading what would happen next. While I loved Aftermath (Sinjir is still my favorite character of the new canon), Bloodline gets the crown of best novel in the new canon so far. Definitely GO buy it.

Flight Director’s Ruling: Bloodline is a GO for launch!