Book Reviews

Book: The Old Republic: Annihilation
Author: Drew Karpyshyn

This review is going to be a little different then the others and much shorter. There won't be any spoilers so this is all safe, but I find the standard format just won't work for this one. You see I don't hate this book, but for the life of me I just can't find anything to like in it. The characters are pretty typical one-dimensional cliches, the plot is so bland it's almost painful as they go out of their way to make sure nothing in the book could have even the slightest bit to do with the MMO, and the setting is practically skipped over entirely. I can kind of see where they might have done something interesting, a couple things actually even if one of them is getting a bit tired of late, but they don't go anywhere with the ideas brought up.

In a way this is the worst thing that can happen to any work of fiction, it has no redeeming qualities, but it's not bad enough to really make fun of or make an example of what not to do. It's just a shameless cash-in with no soul and no ambition.

Recommendation: Not Recommended. That's it really, I can't even expound on that, it's just not worth the time.

Hope I can find it and waste my time on that book. Haven't read anything since I finished with Plegueis.

Because what I'm reading now is "Seven Deadly Sins" by Corey Taylor. I need to read something to keep my level of English.

Book: The Last Jedi
Authors: Michael Reaves & Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Biggest Pro: Character development.
Biggest Con: Meandering plot.

Recommendation: Moderate Recommendation(actually a bit more confusing than that, skip down to "Overall Recommendation" for explanation)

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For those of you who don't follow the SW book schedule(which is most of you) this is the true ending to the Coruscant Nights trilogy, or at least it could be. Honestly I have no idea if this is the last entry in the series or not, because the ending is solid enough to be left alone, but open enough that I wouldn't be surprised if they did make another book. Anyway, on to the review.

This picks up right after Patterns of the Force, with Jax and his crew escaping Coruscant in order to get the Whiplash resistance's leader to a safe location. Things go badly, the leader is kidnapped, and they have to work to get him back. That's the story in a nut shell, simple but the entire Coruscant Nights trilogy was less focused on story as it was how a Jedi copes with the loss of his entire way of life in a Galaxy that now hates who they are or were, so I can forgive the lack of twists.

Arguably the main focus on this book isn't even the stated goal, but how a Jedi deals with grief and how easy giving into the dark side can be, how tight a leash they have to keep on their anger even for Jedi not particularly powerful in the Force. This the book excels in, and unlike so many other books that feature the loss of a close friend in SW this one actually does let him grieve. He's not the same, he doesn't spend five minutes in a corner and then everything goes back to normal, no he actually struggles with the loss, it actually affects him significantly. Which makes this very much Jax's book, there isn't much else to it, though we do get to see how Den deals with it as well it's much less pronounced. That makes this book hard to place, because while Jax is a fine character and his development is handled well he really is the least interesting person in his own group.

Overall Recommendation: If you haven't read the Coruscant Nights trilogy, then this is a Light Recommendation. A good book and it can stand on it's own, but the impact of one of the character's death that is grieved over is only really impactful if you know the character and they don't get much time before the death occurs. If you have read the trilogy then a High Recommendation as it makes a MUCH better ending then Patterns of the Force. It gives a real sense of closure and some hope for the future.

Nice to see you still doing this. BUT! What do you think Episode 7 will do to the EU timeline. I heard they are attempting to disregard EU and go for an original story

Well Crucible is still going ahead, but there are not any other books planned for post Epi 6. So my guess is they're going to pick and choose what remains canon, Disney isn't stupid, there's more time invested in the EU then there has been in all the movies combined and there would be significant fan backlash if they retconned it all. My guess, they'll keep the more important books like Thrawn, Jedi Academy, & the X-wing series. Probably they'll keep one of the NJO/Legacy series, maybe two, but I doubt all of them and my money is on the Yuuzhan Vong getting either axed altogether or being COMPLETELY rewritten.

Book: Scoundrels
Author: Timothy Zahn


Biggest Pro: Exploration of non-Jedi, non-war, setting and characters.
Biggest Con: Meandering Plot.

Recommendation: Not Recommended.


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So this is REALLY overdue. To be honest I finished this book back in February-March period, but I had so much I was reading that I just forgot to post a review. It also didn't help that this book is just awful. The characters are poorly explored, make a note I say poorly because they are in fact explored to an extent just not well enough to be interesting. The plot starts out simply enough with a heist scenario then takes a series of sharp turns through altruism, the Rebels, talk of the greater good, so many things that you actually feel like it jumped the rails to another book entirely. None of the characters stated traits are followed after about half-way through the book and it brings up the awkward question as to why they continue with this when it's all but stated that the job isn't worth the potential reward. This is all followed by a pointless twist that I just didn't have the energy to care about anymore.

Overall Recommendation: I've read worse books than this, but this is by far Zahn's worst work. He normally turns out at least decently good books, but this one is just contrived and boring, in my opinion. I'll admit I might have missed something, I had a lot going on while I was reading this book and it took me nearly two months to get through this, reading on and off the whole time, but the impression I got(and when you get right down to it this is just my take on the book) it's not even worth reading at the price of free, much less shelling out $30+ for the hardcover.

Book: Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void
Author: Tim Lebbon

Biggest Pro: Moral Ambiguity.
Biggest Con: Not fully committing to that moral ambiguity.

Recommendation: Moderate Recommendation

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Alright if you've been reading my reviews(the full versions) you know that despite my spoiler warnings I do try to speak vaguely enough that if you haven't read the book it isn't really a spoiler to read the review. But you also know that's not ALWAYS the case sometimes I do spoil it pretty hard and while I'll try to avoid complete spoilers this will be another one of THOSE reviews. Be warned.

I'm conflicted on this one, in one aspect this is a totally valid adventure with good action, setting, and plot; on the other hand I do feel like it let me down, worse I don't even know if that was deliberate or if I just read too much into it. If you just want to know if it's a good action read then you can feel free to stop here, it is. Not the best but better than a lot of the SW books I've had recently, if you want to know why I think it let me down then read on.

Alright so first the setting: This is part of the Dawn of the Jedi timeline, which means we have a functional society in a SINGLE solar system in the Deep Core. The citizens of which were taken from their home planets 10,000 years ago by ships that were sent out to gather Force Sensitives from across the Galaxy for the purpose of creating the Jee'dai or Jedi as they are more commonly known. This civilization now comprises both Force Sensitives and non-Force Sensitives with one planet, Tython, devoted entirely to the "Jee'dai" while the others spread throughout the system. At this point in time they DO NOT HAVE HYPERDRIVES so they are limited to this single system with no idea what lay beyond it(which for those who played KotOR know is the Rakatan Empire). The plot is thus: A brother of a Jedi long thought dead has shown up again in a cult called the Stargazers(people who want to leave the system and find their species' home planets) with plans for a gateway that could allow for inter-galactic travel. The catch? It uses dark matter, which, if handled improperly, could create a blackhole in the middle of the system. The Jee'dai in response send his sister after him.

Yes it was necessary to explain all that first because of the tone of the book. As the sister, Lanoree, searches for her brother she leaves a trail of destruction in her wake as she ignores the laws of every world she visits, gets innocent civilians killed, ends up the center point of the annihilation of an entire city, and leaves a guide, who has backed her through this all while sick and half-dead, to die after he saves her life. All of this in the name of protecting the system from a threat they even acknowledge might not even exist. Normally I would just put this down to bad story-telling, but all this time you get flashbacks of the brother, Dalien, and his sister Lanoree going through their training to become Jee'dai. In this you find that while Dalien has the potential he is a very private person and doesn't even like the IDEA of the Force as an all pervading force controlling them all, so you see him as he tries(and very nearly succeeds) at the training without the benefit of the Force. All through these flashbacks NO ONE tries to see things the way he does, they don't try and respect his decision, they just pity him, openly. This is made all the worse by the fact that he is curious about the Galaxy at large and at this point in time, in this society, being curious and dreaming of mysteries is essentially considered a stigma, with those who express such desires treated as though they were crazy.

When I realized the above facts in the book I thought it might be trying to make a statement, maybe trying to show where the initial divide between light and dark sides came from, as at this point in their history they believe a Jee'dai must reach a balance between the light, Ashla, and the dark, Bogan. This opinion only became stronger as I reached the end and Lanoree, who at this point has gotten quite close to her guide, Tre, leaves him behind after he sustains a seemingly fatal injury trying to protect her. Tre does this even after witnessing the horrific experiment she has kept and sacrifices in what can best be described as some sort of demonic ritual in order to save her own life. She leaves him behind, all to reach her brother whom never even got close to the "Hypergate" if it existed and finish him off in what is the most obvious one-sided battle I've ever read. It got to the point where I was rooting for her obviously completely bonkers brother just because of the enormous disadvantage he had.

I THOUGHT at this point she would come to realize the mistakes she and her society made. That if someone had respected her brother's decisions and desires he would have never reached this point. That the number of lives lost in the name of stopping a disaster that would have never happened were a pointless sacrifices done in fear of losing the status quo. Hell just a realization that she let the most moral character in this entire thing die because she was afraid of what MIGHT happen when there was no evidence to back-up that reasoning. But NOPE it was a threat, the guide is fine, and oooooh that person she interviewed in the beginning and very nearly killed for no good reason might actually be the mastermind of a conspiracy involving even the Jee'dai Masters.

I don't want to make it sound worse than it is, Lanoree honestly does question everything and wonder at what might have been, but not as much as I would like and not when, in my opinion, it really should be questioned. I might have ruined the book for myself by forming a more fitting ending(in my mind) for the book. But I do feel like that's where the author was heading, before he decided(or was told) to redesign it to be less morally ambiguous, and as such I feel let down.

Overall Recommendation: If you just want to explore the setting and action in a time before lightsabers and Sith, then this book does an excellent job of that. If, on the other hand, you feel you might read into it too much, or want something morally or philosophically challenging then... you should probably still give it a chance for the setting, which is done fantastically. Just don't expect anything below the surface.

Book: Kenobi
Author: John Jackson Miller

Biggest Pro: Characters.
Biggest Con: The sequence of events can get a little too convenient at times.

Recommendation: Light Recommendation.

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So just to get it out of the way, the book declares itself to be a Western set on Tatooine, but that's a little misleading. It does make good use of some Western techniques to make the story more interesting and get the read to invest more in the stakes, but it's still very much a Star Wars book. As such it feels obligated to give us some flashy Force stuff that, while well done and entertaining, is completely out of left field as compared to the rest of the story.

The story follows Obi-Wan, now going by Ben, through his early days on Tatooine and his acclimation to the unfamiliar culture, but creatively does this without ever giving us a segment from his point-of-view. Instead the reader sees him through the eyes of those he interacts with on a daily basis from a shop-owner, to a moisture magnate, and even a Tusken. You get to see and know him again even see how his character changes from Epi 3 to 4 and why, without ever having to actually bring events from the prequels into it.

The book also does something I thought was impossible at this point: it makes Tatooine an interesting setting. This is where it's Western techniques actually really shine, getting us into the nitty-gritty so it can actually explain things like why anyone would moisture farm when water's the most abundant thing in the Galaxy as well as Tusken lore and motivation in attacking said moisture farmers.

As far a the plot goes, that's the only real downfall as you'll quickly figure out the twists before the characters do and have to wait until they catch-up. This can get agonizing at times when they're sitting there with all the information they need and still can't piece it together. Though this really is a minor complaint as the real drive of the book is in it's characters.

Overall Recommendation: When books like this occur(by that I mean books that don't really have a purpose, nothing changes in the mainstream and the events have no real lasting impression on the characters) they tend to be one of two things. Surprisingly good(Shadow Hunter, Rise of Darth Vader), or remarkably bad(most any standalone in the New Republic Age), there's no real middle ground. When the book is bad it makes my job easy no relevance + no quality = skip it. But when the book is good it puts me in a tough position as even though it's good it really serves no purpose save pure curiosity. Why do I say all this? Because I like this book, but it has zero impact on the rest of the universe so I don't feel safe giving it a High or even Moderate Recommendation as there's no where you can go with it after this. As a result I can only give it a passing recommendation to the curious despite the fact that I just gave it a glowing review.

What are your opinions on Crucible?

I'm still reading it, I got Kenobi and Crucible a day apart after a very lengthy delay getting them in the first place. I'm only on page 60 in Crucible and so far it's not very impressive, but I'll hold off final judgment until I finish.

Book: Crucible
Author: Troy Denning

Biggest Pro: Interesting Setting.
Biggest Con: Complete lack of suspense.

Recommendation: Not Recommended.

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When I first saw this book listed and read the short description of what it was to be about I had a bad feeling that I would end up hating it. I did not, however, expect that to be an understatement. I loathe this book, it's full of plot holes and leaps of logic as well as a complete failure to deliver on any of it's surprises or suspenseful moments. And nearly all of these faults can be traced back to who the book follows: Han, Leia, & Luke. Not those three on top of a full cast of others, no the book follows ONLY those three save for an occasional perspective shift that don't end up mattering in the long run.

So let's start off with the obvious problem, the characters. As mentioned our heroes are Luke, Han, and Leia, all of whom have jumped such a large succession of sharks that any action scene lacks any sort of suspense. The villians of this piece as such can never be viewed as a legitimate threat, especially since they arise from no where with waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more power than they should have, but take that a step further by being one-dimensional and cliche. Our side characters are just that, sidelined for the whole thing, not even worth listing.

Next we have the plot, such as it is. A mystery that's no mystery and villains who have such obvious goals that it's almost comical how long it takes the heroes to guess them. The flaws run the gambit from overkill to characters acting uncharacteristically dumb so as to be aligned with our villains, and ends on a complete rush job.

And finally the setting, the ONLY thing that keeps this book from being my own personal pariah and the ONLY thing that kept me reading until the end. Even then it's really only the promise of the setting that kept me interesting, when it came to exploring it we just end up with a bad mash up of the Dream World from Fate of the Jedi & the Mortis episodes from The Clone Wars.

Then to cap off the book we get another promise I've heard before, that the main characters are going to go away and let the twenty or so more interesting characters created in the last 50-60 New Republic, NJO, and Legacy era books take over. Needless to say, I don't buy it and I'll believe it when I see it.

Overall recommendation: The ONLY reason I don't have this listed as "Keep your money" is because there are some people out there that would like to know something more about Mortis, and while the book doesn't deliver much it does give the reader a little. If you have to know, then I can only recommend getting it from your library or pirating it, because in all honesty they should be paying you to read this shit.

Book - Empire and Rebellion: Razor's Edge
Author - Martha Wells


Biggest Pro: Solid character writing all around.
Biggest Con: A bit over-simplistic on the mystery.

Recommendation: Light Recommendation

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I briefly considered starting this review with a sentiment of relief that this is just a fun little side book and how I haven't seen many of those in SW for a while. A sentiment which, in the long run is true, but lately this is really the only kind of book we've been getting, save Crucible which was just awful. After realizing that I took a look on the planned books for SW and found out that Disney has suspended any upcoming books set in the New Republic or later so for at least the next year these kind of books are all we WILL have. That being said if they keep on the same quality as this one and Kenobi then I won't mind terribly.

OK now on to the actual review. As I said this is a side story in the series, doubt it will ever be referenced again except in passing, but that works in this books favor for once. We get to see Leia acting like the strong leader we've always been told(and briefly shown) she could be not just in politics(which, let's be honest, aside from her Jedi portions in the later books is the only strong side we ever get to see), but also on the fly in very complex and dangerous scenarios. The other characters are strong enough, for the number that exist and the length of the book(249 pages), but make no mistake this is Leia's adventure. Now if you're like me, and I know this will probably come across wrong, you're dreading the read just from that summation, but I urge you to not dismiss it. It really is SO MUCH better then what we've seen from Leia-centric stories so far, the whole of the book is much better than I thought it would be. A little rushed in places and the "spy" is pretty damn obvious from the start, but pretty well done given the rushed publication and short length.

I know I should go into more detail, I usually check off the three boxes of plot, setting, & characters; but in this case it would be a waste of time. The plot and setting aren't anything original, but they don't need to be, this is a story focusing on Leia and her ability to lead and both the plot and setting are geared towards that.

Overall Recommendation: Definitely worth a buy once it hits paperback, and if you can borrow it from a friend or your library certainly give it a read. Given the short length though I cannot in good conscience recommend a buy at hardback price.

Book - Maul: Lockdown
Author - Joe Schreiber


Biggest Pro: Fights are pretty decent.
Biggest Con: There's no reason for this to be Darth Maul, it could be anyone and it wouldn't affect the plot in the slightest.


Recommendation: Not Recommended

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Alright this is going to be short because it's basically just the light review. The plot is weird, it can seem to decide whether it wants to be complex or straightforward and instead of balancing even ends up nut-shotting itself on the tightrope. The setting is actually interesting, if not terribly original in places, but isn't used to good effect. The characters are one-dimensional and Maul is pointless here and you could substitute anyone for him FORCE-USER OR NOT(Maul's test here is to never use the Force on his mission), and it wouldn't change a damn thing. The fights are about the only decent thing and even then the last fight is underwhelming due to the poor choice of a final challenge. The only reason I don't give this my lowest rating is that unlike several SW books I've read it's not painful to read, just boring. 

Overall Recommendation: Don't bother, in any form, not even Darth Maul fans as this isn't really any recognizable version of him.