Matthew Wilson, Author at TheGeeksAttic

Star Wars: Thrawn Book Review

SPOILER FREE

Star Wars: Thrawn is written by New York Times Bestselling Author Timothy Zahn. Zahn is no stranger to the Star Wars galaxy, he is the mastermind behind the Legends canon epic known as the Thrawn Trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. I’ll provide links to amazon below so you can pick those up if dont already have them!

Summary: The empire takes a mysterious alien into custody. Due to the rarity of the individual, the officer in command decides to deliver the alien directly to the Emperor as some sort of trophy. The bond is formed immediately between the Emperor and this alien, a Chiss named Thrawn. Thrawn swears his loyalty to the Empire. His impressive background and military expertise leads Thrawn to many successes in the Empire, climbing the ranks faster than anyone else. Because of his alien species he does face adversaries which brings him some strife, but there isn’t much he can’t handle.

The antagonist in the novel is brilliant, only Thrawn stands a chance at piecing the puzzles together that are laid out by this individual, called Nightswan. He’s responsible for theft of a strong material that is being used by the Empire to build a certain military space station. The side story involves a young woman, Arihnda Pryce and her struggle with power and success. I want to tread lightly and not reveal spoilers, so moving on.

Characters: Because Thrawn was loaded with so many fantastic characters, I’m going to mention three of them.

Thrawn: calculated, well spoken, and well trained. The mains a military genius. He is a strange being to the known galaxy, only myths exist of the alien species, the Chiss. Thrawn is the man you’d want on your side. I found myself routing for him… I should be, because he’s a filthy imperial. To better understand his foes, he studies their art. Thrawn is one of the most elaborate and impressive character we’ve been gifted in the new canon.

Pryce: A woman from Lothal. I was actually impressed by this character, she was secondary, and somewhat disconnected from the story of Thrawn, but her story was just as fun and interesting. Her path is a crazy one. I liked this character but by the end of the book, I hated her. Not because she was poorly written, but because of her personality and what she does. Only after this book did I find out she’s in the Rebels TV show.

Finally, Eli Vanto: The character I feel a lot of us regular guys can relate to, you have plans, you can see your success paying off, then crap just hits the fan and you wind up in places or situations you never expected. I routed for Vanto from page one.

Overall Thoughts: This book is absolutley amazing! If you are a Legends fan who can’t bring yourself to read a canon book… but your watching or reading this review anyway, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. Timothy Zahn can seriously write a novel. I’ve heard folks complain that there wasn’t enough action in the book, I found just the right amount. The perfect balance of action and politics. This novel focuses on thing that is very very important, that a lot of books on both the new canon and Legends lack. STORY!

As of now, I’m going to claim that Thrawn is definitely in my top 3 canon novels. I think this is the first book I’ve read that demands a trilogy. I hope Thrawn survives season 4 of Rebels… a show I don’t watch, so we can get more books focuses on his character.

Rating: I give this book a 5 out of 5

Star Wars: Adventures In Wild Space: The Nest Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

Star Wars Adventures In Wild Space: Book Two – The Nest is written by Tom Huddleston

That’s right, this is book two in the Star Wars young reader series! There is something I may have missed in my first review… these books do have an opening crawl. The story takes place during Palpatine’s rule over the galaxy.

Summary: The Graf children flee from Thune and the Empire! Captain Korda of the Empire came pretty close to capturing the two kids, but to his frustration, they escaped. Over the Graf’s ship comm, a signal peaks their interest, a call to revolt against the empire! If they can pinpoint the signal, it’s possible they may find refuge from the Empire!

Their ship Whisper Bird is having hyperdrive issues, so they make a pit stop. On some unknown planet in Wild Space. The kids land the ship and head out on foot to where they spotted a shipwreck not too far from them. They think maybe they can harvest some parts. They leave together, not wanting to split up after their recent run in with danger. They also just want to be sure they aren’t walking into some sort of a trap… it pays to be aware and cautious on unfamiliar turf.

Still, the kids run into trouble. Mercenaries already had dibs on the wrecked ship. Now the children are being held captive be this group. Chaos unfolds involving more than just the crazy mercenaries… there’s nasty creatures and a giant beast that are lurking around.

Characters: Usually I like to talk about two characters, but because there book is under 200 pages and the story isn’t crammed with characters, I’m just mentioning one. I’d have to say the most interesting character in book two was a new character, Gozetta. She is a cocky big game hunter, she’s not to kind to the kids or her own employees or crew. the other characters continuously misjudge the lady. Though I do find her interesting and wouldn’t mind reading a little more about this character.

Overall Thoughts: I liked this book better than the previous book, The Snare. We get a nice break from the empire to enjoy a new terror. The character traits of the children remained the same, no complaints there. However there was one small thing I noticed, a description of a creature changes only paragraphs apart. So the petty silly question is… which is canon, the red or the black eyes?

I like that the story is a continuation of the previous, with that break from the empire, but we still get that feeling they aren’t too far behind. Lina and Milo are still in trouble and we’re still routing for them to find their parents.

There are some really tacky parts, like every line of dialogue from the Graf’s droid CR-8R. Maybe I’m just too critical of droids in most of Star Wars books… does that make me a droidist? Who cares. Once again, I had fun with the book and look forward to the continued adventures in Book 3: The Heist! Oh, side note, there’s actually a Book 0: The Escape. It did not have wide release but it was printed in Europe. I’ve got my physical copy ordered on Amazon! However, it’s available as an ebook here in the US.

Rating: I give this book a 2.5 out of 5

Star Wars: Adventures In Wild Space: The Snare Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

Star Wars Adventures In Wild Space: Book One – The Snare
The Snare is written by Cavan Scott

This Star Wars book is for young readers, but it’s canon and there are several more books in this series coming soon. I’m not sure where this book takes place in the timeline because it wasn’t made clear, but the empire is ruling the galaxy.
Summary: The empire has plans to explore and expand to the reaches of wild space – the unknown regions. Adventurist Auric and Rhyssa Graf were well known for their work on mapping out wild space, because it wasn’t an easy job. The Empire had sought out the Grafs and had taken them against their will to work for the Empire. The children of Auric and Rhyssa, Milo and Lina and trusty droid CR-8R, are on the run.

The children and droid pilot their ship, Whisper Bird, to the planet Thune. There, they have high hopes in gaining more information from an old family friend on how to retrieveretreive their parents. One problem leads to the next as the children do what they can to avoid imperial entanglementsentaglements and scummy individuals as they take on their personal mission to rescue theirthier parents. Traps are set and sprung as this wild adventure is just getting started.

Characters: Lina Graf is the oldest of the two children. She wants to protect her little brother the best she can, that’s what older siblings do! She puts the weight of responsibility on her shoulders to not just to care for him, but protect him from the wide range of dangerous situations they find themselves in. She’s a smart girl that wants the best for her family.

Captain Korda, a ranked imperial who is responsible for taking Auric and Rhyssa Graf. His jaw is made of steel, that’s not some euphemism for a strong fighter or a mouth filled with witty comebacks, he literally has a steel jaw. We don’t really get much on the character in this book. We just learn he’s desperate to capture the Graf children. He wants them alive, but comes pretty close to other options as he gets upset. I hope to learn more about Korda the deeper we get into this series.

Overall Thoughts: The one major complaint is not knowing where in the timeline this tale takes place. The dialogue was decent, the droid was the most annoying character. The humor was ok, of course it’s written for children but I still found some things humorous. Cavan did a great job introducing us to new characters. The actions scenes were written very well in this young readers book.
This story is not required reading to get a better grasp of any other tale in the Star Wars canon, at least not yet. I do hope that the deeper we get into the series, more events will tie into other major events we’ve either seen on screen or read in other books.

Rating: I give this book a 2.5 out of 5

Iron Man The Gauntlet Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

Iron Man: The Gauntlet was written by New York Times Best Selling Author Eoin Colfer.

Summary: Tony Stark is on his way to an Eco Summit in Ireland, when his personal AI distracts him. The software pulls up a satellite image which displays across the Iron Man helmet visual scan. An out of place gunship on an abandoned island seemed a little too suspicious to Stark, it looked as though trouble was in the making. Well, trouble is exactly what unfolds. A trap, set up by his latest AI software, a.k.a Friday.

Tony springs the trap and loses the Iron Man suit. now Tony Stark must outwit the powerful villain, the Chef… in order to break free and ruin the Chefs evil plan for the Eco Summit.

Characters: Saoirse (Seer-sha), an intelligent young Irish gal who’s out for revenge. She blames Tony for events that led to her family being pulled apart. While she was intelligent, she wasnt smart enough to know what kind of crowd shed been mixed up with. Ally or enemy? I won’t spoil that reveal.

The primary antagonist goes by Chef. He’s a vicious man out to destroy his nemeses Iron Man, and bring terror to the world.

Tony Stark aka Iron Man… is Tony Stark. Witty, Funny, Rude, and Rich.

Overall Thoughts: Iron Man: The Gauntlet was a decent book, it’s actually the first Marvel book that I’ve read. I could really tell that the book was aimed toward younger readers, which isn’t a problem at all. The cover clarifies that this if for grades between 3-7 or ages 8-12. As an adult/man-child, I must be honest and admit, I did some fun reading the book. Would I rather read an Iron Man book aimed toward a more mature audience? Yes, I would. I haven’t spent the time to research if such Marvel books exist.

The plot in this book was pretty simple and was loaded with action. Author Eoin Colfer did a great job describing the environment without overloading on pointless details. The dialogue wasn’t the greatest. There were many times in which I felt the sarcasm and “witty” comments were tiresome and eye rolling. Maybe that’s just kid humor… I’m sure it is.

You like Iron Man? Want more literature with the rich fancy pants hero? Just a collector of Iron Man material? Then I suggest you pick up this book.

While Iron Man: The Gauntlet was some fun, I didn’t think it was an excellent read.

Rating: I give this book a 2 out of 5

Star Wars Book Review: Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide was written by Pablo Hidalgo with illustrations by Kemp Remillard and a foreword by John Knoll, the Executive Producer & Visual Effects Supervisor for Rogue One. The book was released by DK Publishing.

In the Forward, John Knoll expresses his praise for Star Wars, released in 1977. He was amazed at the design and high quality execution of the film. He admits that the film is what set him on the path to a career in entertainment.

Rogue One was an epic film! I could even argue that the novelization by Alexander Freed was even better! I have enjoyed all the extra material that surrounds Rogue One and can’t wait for more stories focused on the new characters we were introduced to.

This visual guide is pretty much an encyclopedia for the film. It has so much detail about every little thing. First thing I’d like to mention, is that it has the updated galaxy map with all the new planets from the film. I love maps, and it excites me that these books are staying up to date with the films.

On characters, we get some awesome details about the characters seen in Rogue One. One of my favorites is Admerial Raddus – we get to know more about where he came from, his personality, even his height! There is so much information with photos of characters I didn’t even notice in the film! The Death Troopers are intimidating warriors, we get close up visuals of the weaponry and armor with information on what the equipment is capable of.

This book is loaded with cool stuff! If you love Rogue One like I do, or just have to have all the details on pretty much every character that man an apperance in the film… get this book.

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