by Matthew Wilson
Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Timothy Zahn. This is the final book in the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy. The Ascendancy trilogy as a whole, takes place after the events of Attack of the Clones.
SUMMARY: A threat to the Chiss Ascendancy is just on the horizon, but not all can see it coming. The enemy, Jixtus, has been formulating a plan to weaken the Chiss, turning the families against each other with lies and theatrics. Thrawn is fully aware of the deception and must act alone in order to keep the Ascendancy from collapsing in on itself, or from being conquered by outside forces, known as the Grysks.
CHARACTERS: A big cast of characters in this book, many military and political figures as well as a few alien races with very prominent roles, I’ll just briefly mention Thran and Jixtus.
Thrawn, as always knows what’s happening and is several steps ahead of everyone else. Sometimes its fun and believable, other times it’s silly and unbelievable. Thrawn seems to be in control of his own destiny, nothing comes as a surprise to him. I love that the Chiss families all have a grudge against him and want him ousted. Thrawn breaks the rules quite a bit, ignoring most of the orders given to him. Governing officials can’t stand him, but a handful of military leaders understand his motives but cringe at his risk taking.
I liked what Zahn was doing with the primary villain of the story. Jixtus is a pretty bad dude; he’s manipulative, controlling, and determined destroy the Chiss Ascendancy. While the character was handled well most of the time, I was actually somewhat underwhelmed with the overall arch of the character.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: For me, this novel has the same flaw as the previous instalments, the “Memories” chapters. These “memories” tend to foreshadow events or themes that are contained in the following chapters. I really don’t like reading unnecessary content that doesn’t mean much to the overall story… especially when it’s going make the following chapter(s) predictable There is one memory chapter in this book that actually was really good, it gave me the chills while reading it. That said, there is also one of these memory chapters, that left me outright confused as to what it was referencing, it seemed important, but there was no explanation of what was happening or why.
There is so much happening in this book, I’m surprised it was condensed down into a trilogy rather than a series of five or six books. I could be wrong but it feels like that’s something Zahn would’ve wanted to do, but it just didn’t happen. While the book is over 500 pages, which is pretty hefty in the Star Wars canon, it felt rushed in many places and left some aspects of the story wide open without conclusion.
I was hoping this book would tie up at the end with some sort of absolute closure with certain things, but it really didn’t. So many things can be brought back up in the future, which could be nice… but it also has me worried that we may never touch on these things ever again. For example, some awesome, wild tech is mentioned but not utilized in this story… we know it’s there now, we know what it’s capable of doing… I would hate it if we never get more use with it. There is more I can say on this, but I like to keep reviews spoiler free.
RATING: I enjoyed a lot of the book, but due to some of the issues that I really can’t seen get over, I give Thrawn: Lesser Evil a B.
by Matthew Wilson
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Michael A Stackpole.
This novel is part of the Expanded Universe , aka, Legends timeline. This tale takes place during the New Republic Era, seven years after the battle of Yavin, in the A New Hope.
SUMMARY: Years after the death of the Emperor & Darth Vader, many worlds remain loyal to the Empire, back when the Senate was dissolved and world powers handed over to Moffs, some Imperial factions stay true to the cause, some fend for themselves, and others join the Rebel Alliance to end the tyranny.
Rogue Squadron has been reformed, commanded by Wedge Antilles. Corran Horn is one of the best pilots in the Squadron, but things don’t come easy for him. The Squadron is not just to possess the best pilots, but have the courage and skill to operate independently and accomplish operations that would typically require a much larger head count. Some within the Squadron have blurred the line between justice & revenge against the Empire.
Rogue Squadron sets its sights on Coruscant, but has other missions it must accomplish on that road to the Empire’s ruling fortress.
Characters: There is a heafty amount of characters to talk about, but I’ll mention two leading characters.
Corran Horn: He’s a great pilot, but he struggles with pride. His journey consists of humbling himself and learning to operate with a team. His past haunts him, and has him marked for death by the Empire. The man seems desperate to be a hero, taking big risks. Sometimes I felt that Corran was a rip off of Solo, some lines from Han from the films were repeated by Horn.
Wedge Antilles: He’s the Squad leader of Rogue Squadron. He’s somewhat of a downer, always downplaying everything, even the victories they have. It’s like he’s stuck in the past.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: During the first briefing of Rouge Squadron, Wedge Antilles tells them that most of them will die within the first five battles. That their job will be dull and boring, with brief sparks of sheer action & terror. This sets a grim tone as well as foreshadowing that we will certainly loose characters … but who?
I was confused at one point, when Corran is revealing some history about his time in CorSec, he was tasked with killing rebel smugglers, his team made up some names and blamed Corran for executing them, then when he escaped the Empire, the deaths of those fake folks marked Corran with a death warrant wasn’t that his job?
I’ve never been a big fan of stories that have several characters on the same team that always nag and compete against each other. I can see a few moments where it may be entertaining but it seems like Corran is always pushing everyone’s buttons, and he has to prove himself… to himself and/or Wedge.
Wedge mentions that the Bothans are too cocky, they celebrate their bravery and “victory” of getting/obtaining the plans to the second Death Star, the Emperor lured them all there as a trap. Those are some pretty harsh words coming from Wedge, the Bothans died as heroes in my heart, had they not had those plans, the trap would have been successful! Yet, the Rebels won that day… thanks to the Bothans.
There are good moments in this story, then there are parts that I just get lost on. There’s so much going on it’s hard to keep focused and remember exactly who’s who and where we are. I’m not a big fan of the book. There’s so many different names and places being tossed around I couldn’t contain all the details. Some characters are written well, but not written in a way that makes me feel invested in the characters. Some deaths occurred and I could care less.
There is a cool thing in the Epilogue with Isard and Kirtan Loor. She let out info where Loor was located, this will lure Corran Horn for revenge, but also this makes Loor nervous, he’s seen Corran in action.
Do I recommend you pick up Star Wars: Rogue Squadron? If your’re a Wedge Antilles and or military warfare fan, yes. If you’re more into Jedi wizardry, probably not.
RATING: I give this book a C+ I think it could have been better, especially the character development.
by Matthew Wilson
Star Wars: Out of the Shadows was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Justina Ireland.
Justina Ireland did a pretty good job with her previous High Republic book, Test of Courage. However, with this one, I checked out early. I read the whole thing, but my care for anything going on was absent. There are parts of the story that are ok, but there are many parts that were just so boring.
I love that this book tied in with the other High Republic books and comics so well. Familiar and new characters have a lot going on. The events on Valo have many people throughout the galaxy scared. The Nihil are really making a name for themselves. The Jedi are getting really frustrated with the Nihil, but also with struggle they face by dipping too far into the affairs of Republic politics and war (sounds familiar).
This book had a lot of cringey material. I don’t know why the YA books have more adult themed subjects than the adult books. For example, alcohol consumption, sexual advances, and even prostitution. When a YA book has to mention every sexual orientation and every racial skin tone, it doesn’t read good. It feels like a a diversity training manual disguised as a Star Wars book.
I’m not kidding, just about every character that was brought in was described by the color of their skin, it’s poor character development, I can understand doing this occasionally… but all the time? Please stop. Our main character, Syl, is horn-dog, she’s so pervy.
RATING: I hate doing it, but I have to give this book an F. I spend my time reading books and I want to like them, I really do. The most important thing I MUST do, is be honest and give my opinion on the book. Some of you folks, will love this story.
by Matthew Wilson
Star Wars: Ronin was written by Emma Mieko Candon. Ronin is Emma’s debut novel. It was published by Del Rey (thanks for this copy) and ties in to the Disney Plus series, Visions.
SUMMARY:
An old man is haunted by a voice in his head. He has lived a long, hard life. Events unfold in a manner he never expected, when he witnesses a slain warrior rise from the dead. It’s brought to light that a Sith witch has been resurrecting the dead to do her bidding. The Ronin and a band of unusual folks make it their mission to find the witch who’s creating her demonic army, and sever the strings of her dark puppetry.
This band of warriors will face many trials, some will be victorious, some will be overcome with grief. This quest may also bring to light answers as to what happened to the beautiful planet Rei’izu, which vanished after the great war between the Sith and Jedi.
In this tale, lore of the force and those that wield it altered in a way reader’s have never witnessed.
CHARACTER:
Ekiya: She’s the pilot of the Poor Crow, the most down to earth of the characters. She’s not afraid to tell people how things are going to be on her ship. When tensions rise between bickering force users, she’ll tell them to shut it. In her youth she was forced to fight in a war she wanted nothing to do with. She lost so much that was dear to her. She holds pins her anger on the Sith and the Jedi.
The Ronin: He’s a seasoned warrior, of both light and the dark. In his youth he served the Jedi. Yet, he eventually abandoned the the Jedi and Empire, to serve his own desires. He and the woman he loved, sought out the Mirror of the Shinsui Temple, which was said to give visions that would fulfill their desires. This led to a great war on the planet Rei’izu. Now, in his old age, he is alone but not alone, a voice in his head guides him. It guides him into danger, to duel with Sith warriors. But… this voice isn’t singular to just the Ronin.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
This book, I have mixed feelings about it. Most of what’s in this story I absolutely enjoyed. We have a wonderful adventure full of obstacles, with pain and suffering, there is mystery, hope, betrayal, and mysticism.
The novel takes an alternate path from what we know as canon. Emma tells a unique story, that does have familiar tones that we’ve witnessed in Star Wars, but it’s also so very different. This story, this galaxy of Star Wars, is a version we have’t seen. The Empire rules the galaxy, but it’s not the Empire we know of in current canon or the Expanded Universe/Legends Empire. The Jedi are its warriors, they are divided into clans and ruled by Jedi lords that serve princes of the Empire.
Emma’s writing style is nice, it’s not a style I recognize in the other Star Wars books, so that’s great, it reads more like a fantasy than a science fiction book, which is the style I prefer. The plot was great and the twists were decent. As a tale that isn’t part of the canon timeline, it definitely works as a stand alone novel that brings in its own lore and could potentially spark a new line of canon in an alternate Star Wars universe.
The negative that I have… I hope you actually hear me out on this, I do not like the use of the pronoun they/them/their. I found it EXTREMELY difficult to follow some situations and got very confused when a group of characters were talking amongst each other. The shift of they or their between an individual and individuals was making my head spin. I also don’t understand how a character is known to be identified as this, when another character comes along and refers to that character as a they/them/their… I can’t find the logic in it. However, this character was very interesting and mysterious. I just wish so much about the character didn’t confuse me.
RATING: I will give Star Wars: Ronin a ( B – ). I loved the writing style and the plot, but the confusion that disrupted my brain while reading a particular character brought the rating down.
by Matthew Wilson
The Final Girl Support Group was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Grady Hendrix. I’ve been a fan of Hendrix for a while, I highly recommend you pick some of his other books, My Best Friend’s Exorcism & The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.
So, what is a Final Girl? Well, she is the lone survivor in a horror story. After her friends and/or family have been brutally murdered by a violent psychopathic killer, she stands to face the killer alone. In most cases, she triumphantly overcomes her attacker, putting an end to the graphic bloodshed.
In this story, we follow Lynnette, as she does her best to keep the support group she’s attended for over a decade, from dissolving. The members, all Final Girls, are the inspiration of slasher horror films and writers of tell-all books. Some of the ladies feel the group should to disband! During a meeting that spirals out of control with pointless debate and petty complaints, one of the members checks her phone to see the horrific news, that the Final Girl whose chair was empty, was killed.
The news of one of their own being killed strikes a nerve, especially with Lynnette. On her way home, she takes unique paths through the city that she believes would shake a tail – in the event that someone was actually following her. She focuses in on the shoes of people near her, checking if the same pair have crossed her path more than once. Lynnette’s the kind of gal that has back up plans for her back up plans, just in case things go wrong… which they do.
Someone is trying to kill off the Final Girls!
Lynnette is the only one aware, thanks to her paranoia, that a killer is hell-bent on spilling the blood of her and her friends… To kill off the Final Girls.
Will Lynnette save her friends? Or, will she be the Final Girl – of the Final Girls?
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
As always, I get a kick out of Grady Hendrix’s stories. Each one of his books is so different, but as far as I can tell, they all share just one thing… a wonderful female lead. I could be wrong, but seems to be a trend in publishing right now (don’t cancel me) to have a female lead. Almost every new book I’ve read has a leading female protagonist – there’s nothing wrong with that! Hendrix writes characters extremely well. As a man writing the female perspective the way he does it, it’s just mind blowing. Hendrix always puts a character in the most uncomfortable situations, and it’s always exciting to see how the character will react.
I found it humorous to base not just characters, but the actual massacres of the Final Girl’s past off of real horror movies and characters, like Sidney from Scream and Laurie from Halloween. Of course, things are mixed up and twisted a bit. Although certain plot points mirror things that we have seen in horror flicks, the story is still unpredictable and loads of fun.
While I did enjoy the book, the only complaints I have, is that some plot points were slightly muddled down and some things were resolved a bit too conveniently. HOWEVER, those complaints share almost ALL of my thoughts on horror films in general – off the wall plot points and convenient resolve. Well, I guess that’s what makes it fun.
Rating: I will give The Final Support Group a B+
