Matthew Wilson, Author at TheGeeksAttic

Star Wars: Catalyst Book Review

Star Wars Catalyst, a Rogue One novel is the 12th novel released in canon. It was written by New York Times Best Selling Author, James Luceno. Luceno is no stranger to the Star Wars universe. He’s written several books in the Legends canon and recently wrote Tarkin as part of the new canon.

Summary: The tale takes place between the events of episode 2 through 4. The battle between the separatists and the republic, the Clone Wars, tears the galaxy asunder. A brilliant scientist, Galen Erso and his family are held captive. He wants his work to be used for the good of the galaxy… not for the military.

Characters: This is a great introduction to some of the characters we are to see in Rogue One. Every character fits in to the universe. Some characters we already know, Luceno actually spiked my interest with some of the old characters we’ve met before. I always like to mention at least two of my favorite characters from the book. One of them was introduced to us through marketing for Rogue One.

Orson Krennic: He’s an imperial officer who’s somewhat obsessed with rank and title. He’s overseeing the construction of the a massive space-station/super-weapon. The man is sly, a trickster and a smooth talker. An excellent villain, the best I’ve read yet.

Galen Erso was fantastic, but I’d rather talk about Has Obitt. Has is a smuggler. Has is a smuggler who’s been mixed up with the separatists, republic, and then the empire. He’s a humanoid with some morals. He gets caught up in the lies and web of some imperials before making a drastic decision.

Overall Review: I absolutely loved this novel. James Luceno knocks it out of the park with characters, dialogue, plot and even the subplot. The pacing of the story was fast and entertaining. Not a single moment did I think, “pick up already!” In my opinion, some events/characters from the prequels were polished, having them make more since and fit into the overall saga a lot better. There is plenty exploration into the Jedi. Creating new lore and myth for them, the Force, and for the power source of light sabers… kyber crystals. We get s look into the empire like we haven’t seen before. Luceno paints the devastation taking place on so may worlds in great detail. Thank you Luceno, for this awesome book.

Rating: I give this book a 5 out of 5

Star Wars: Complete Locations

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars: Complete Locations was released by DK Publishing. It was written by five authors; Kristen Lund,Simon Beecroft, Kerrie Dougherty, James Luceno, and Jason Fry. They each cover an episode of the Star Wars Saga, however, Luceno covers three.

After spending nearly 15 minutes staring at the cover, I finally opened the book and read the forward written by Production Designer, Doug Chiang. The surrounding art framing the text is absolutely beautiful… it was a sure sign that the pages to follow would blow my mind. Mr. Chiang was the production designer for episodes I, II, III, & VII. I could really tell in Doug’s writing, the man has a deep passion for his work. Most of us Star Wars fans love to imagine new worlds, cities, and vehicles we read about in the novels. But to actually be able to make all these things come to life on screen, Doug has truly been blessed and so lucky. I really can’t wait to see what he has in store for us in the coming years.

Ever wonder how big a planet is or what the population might be? Within the pages of this book, the answer can be found for the popular worlds. One of my favorite images in the book is a simple one… it’s the map of the galaxy. This map shows us where the planets/systems are located. Though we only get a good look at the locations from the films, I really hope that future editions of this title will include “facts” about the planets we read about in the novels, which are considered canon. To see illustrations of those would be an excellent addition. Beyond the drawn out details and breakdown of ships, buildings, and terrain, we get brief story points that take us along the timeline from episodes I through VII.

A really fun addition to the art, is the science behind the object/location being shown. For example, The home of the Gungans is Otoh Gunga. The place seems pretty simple up front, but upon closer inspection… those are some highly engineered bubbles! We may be annoyed with the Gungans but they’re definitly smarter than they look. The little science nuggets are a fine treat that make the technology in Star Wars seem like it could actually be real.

Maps are always interesting to look at and study, especially when they have routes that are drawn out that our heroes had taken. The space battles and ground assaults are pretty crazy to watch in the movie, so you’ll love seeing some of these broken down into one beautiful image. Now there is just so much information within the pages, I don’t want to spoil any of it. By digging deeper into the Star Wars galaxy we already know and love, it expands the universe so much more!

I highly recommend this book for not just the hardcore fans, but for everyone who loves the saga. After reading through this book, I still turn back to pages long studied, just to study them some more. I’d say my wife is an average fan of Star Wars, she’s watched them all once. When I got this book, she took it from me and flipped through the pages for what seemed like hours.

I look forward to future additions of this book and really hope to see worlds and technology from the canon novels. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book, I guarantee that you’ll love it.

Star Wars: Turning Point Review

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

Turning Point: A Star Wars short story, is written by Jason M. Hough. Art was created by Carsten Bradley

Summary: In this tale we follow a simple man from the land of Tavuu, the capital city of Radii; a new location in canon. This man, Gorlan, is sought out by an Imperial officer and his stormtroopers. He is to guide them through the dangerous Zoess forest, so they may find what they seek. Will the native be a hinderance to the Empire or will he fulfill his task?

Characters: Our two main characters are Lieutenant Vrake and the native Gorlan Seba. For such a short story, I felt that we really got a great in-depth look at some new characters. Lieutenant Vrake is loyal to the empire. He is strict yet somewhat sensitive. He takes his job seriously and listened to the advice of the native rather than act on impulse and pride.

Gorman is a simple man, he could care less about the Empire and just as well, any sort of rebellion. Gorlan is experienced in his task of trekking through the dangerous and deadly Zoess forest. He is smart, stern, and honest.

Overall Review: I loved this short story! It’s actually the first I’ve read in the new canon. This story alone is worth the Star Wars Insider magazine. I truly wanted this story to keep going! I want so much more of Gorlan and Vrake; can we get a novel with these two? The environment was creative and fresh, fitting in just right with the galaxy. I would have liked maybe just a little bit more details of the environment. The story was was written in first person, which I normally can’t stand, but Jason Hough wrote it well. The story leads into the novel, Aftermath Life Debt written by Chuck Wendig. The ending of the story was a delight but really made me want more!

Rating: I give this short story a 5 out of 5

Star Wars: Ahsoka Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

Ahsoka is the 11th novel released in Star Wars canon, the second Young Adult Novel. It was written by first time Star Wars writer, E.K. Johnston.

Summary: This story is focused on the life of the Ahsoka and it takes place after the Clone Wars. Order 66 has been issued and the Empire has been formed! Ahsoka is doing her best to avoid imperial entanglements by moving from one planet to the next once the Empire’s presence grows. She finds herself making friends on the moon, Raada, and actually helps them resist the Empire’s grip on their home world.

Characters: If you’ve ever watched my YouTube videos, you should know by now that I’m not a big fan of the Clone Wars era, especially when it comes to characters! I thought the creation of Ahsoka actually damaged the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin. After reading this novel dedicated to this character, my feelings remain. I still don’t like Ahsoka. We meet a few new characters in the book, but none of them save Kaeden,were interesting. The others, you read them then forget them.

Overall Review: I read this book with an open mind, wanting my dislike for Ahsoka to turn around. The book started out great, but half way though it, I felt it turned into an episode of the Clone Wars. There are flashbacks scattered throughout the book, I don’t think we really needed those. The writing was decent, mostly dialog and brief descriptions. There was nothing to really there to make me feel like I was in the “real” Star Wars galaxy. It’s silly when a character can understand what an astromech droid is saying without a translator. The book was highly predictable and sadly anticlimactic. I do believe Clone Wars era fans or fans of the Clone Wars TV series will like love book. I need to make it clear, this book wasn’t awful. I just feel I wasn’t the target audience.

Rating: I give this book a 2.5 out of 5

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Star Wars: Aftermath Life Debt Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

Aftermath – Life Debt is the 10th novel released in Star Wars canon. It’s the second installment of the Aftermath trilogy and was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Chuck Wendig

Summary: We have a rag tag team of characters that we were introduced to in the first book. The soldier, the pilot, bounty hunter, the imperial, and a droid sidekick. This team works for the New Republic, combing the galaxy for high ranking officials of the empire. Though the Empire suffered a major blow from what we witnessed in Return of the Jedi and read about in the first Aftermath installment, they haven’t completely fallen yet. This team is also tasked with an important mission, to find the missing Han Solo. Han Solo and Chewbacca both went missing on their quest to liberate Kashyyyk from the empires grip.

While the Empire is struggling for control of not just the galaxy but control within itself, Admiral Sloane is on a personal mission to uncover the true identity of the man calling all the shots throughout “her” Empire.

Characters: Only a few new characters are introduced including the high ranking antagonist, Gallius Rax. He somewhat interesting, manipulates those around him to his will. Some may speculate he may actually be Supreme Leader Snoke, I think not. The main characters such as Norra Wexley and SInjir, are okay, I still don’t care about these characters. The pet droid, Bones, hate him! “Roger roger.” Han Solo and Leia, written poorly… too whiney and absent of the voice have in other books and especially the films. I’d say he did a bad job with Mon Mothma, but because we don’t have her much in the films, we don’t know who the character really is, nothing to compare to… so that said, I don’t like Mon Mothma. Not the way she was written, but just as a character in general.

Overall Review: Alright, I hated Aftermath. My expectations were too high for the book. So upon the release of Aftermath Life Debt, I lowered them greatly and accepted the story being told. This book wasn’t my favorite. It wasn’t horrible either. I didn’t connect with the characters of the New Republic, I found Rax and Sloane interesting – I think it’s because Wendig did a better job writing the Empire, the New Republic coverage was tiring. The book has a lot of sexual content, still odd to have in what’s supposed to be a family friendly story. I lost count of how many characters pinched their brow. The writing style is still not my thing, there were a lot of predictable and convenient moments. The end of the book was indeed the best book, not because it was over! But because that’s when it got really interesting. I can’t believe I’m going to say it, but I’m looking forward to January’s release of Aftermath: Empire’s End.

Rating: I give this book a 2.5 out 5