Book Reviews Archives - Page 27 of 30

Star Wars: Rogue One Novelization Review

SPOILER FREE

Rogue One the novelization, it was written by New York Times Best Selling Author, Alexander Freed. This is his second novel in canon, his first book was Battlefront Twilight Company.

Alexander Freed… can do no wrong!

Summary: The Empire successfully constructs the ultimate battle station! The oppression and tyranny of the Empire expands as an underground alliance is built on hope. It’s purpose, to strip power from Emperor Palpatine and reinstate the Republic. As intelligence unveils a secret planet killer, it’s realized that a peaceful transfer of power is unlikely. The transition may very well have to be executed through rebellious force!

Intelligence reports that an imperial pilot has defected! He contains highly classified imperial information regarding the Empire’s new battle station. Jyn Erso, a rebellious young lady, is intercepted by the rebel alliance. She may be the key to extracting more information on the dreaded space station. It is known that her father has played a role in its construction.

We go on a wild chase to put an end to the planet killer, meeting a few new characters and landing on new unfamiliar planets! This tale leads right up to the moments just before A New Hope.

Characters: There are several characters that I could talk about from this book, but Im only choosing two.

Jyn Erso, the daughter of Galen Erso, the man responsible for constructing the Death Star’s powerful weapon by order of the Empire. Jyn is strong willed, she’s held onto hatred for those who have abandoned her over the course of her life… even though her father was taken against his will. Saw Garrera, a rebel who is known as an extremist amongst the alliance and the Empire, also left her behind. As she is forced into an explosive force of events, she must either free herself of the mental and emotional prison she is trapped in… or close herself off to reality and remain behind her personal prison.

The other character to mention is Bodhi Rook. He was the imperial shuttle pilot who defected from the Empire. It took a lot of courage to pull off what he had to do. In the book we find out a more about his past. He’s pretty rattled by his actions… from imperial pilot to full blown rebel. The man was tortured during his transition but overcame the pain. He’s got a conscience, he’s honorable, a true hero of the rebel alliance.

Overall Review: This novelization… is phenomenal! So I saw the film a few times in theater. This book doesn’t take away anything, it actually adds a few things that are completely necessary. As expected there was added dialogue that wasn’t in the film. It’s not distracting at all but adds to the story. Between some chapters are “Supplemental Data” logs. Documents of various sorts such as messages between imperials or journal entries of the rebel alliance.Alexander Freed perfected the dialogue and development of each character. We get into their minds and discover who they are psychologically and emotionally. He paints amazing visuals with his words.

I loved this book so much! If this wasn’t a novelization but just a standalone novel, I’d probably have to put this as number one on my list. It’s debatable, but as of now, I will not rank the novelizations along with the other novels.

Rating: I give this book a 5 out of 5

Star Wars Year by Year: Visual History

by Matthew Wilson

Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual History

This book, from DK Publishing, is a true work of art. It’s written by a handful of writers: Ryder Windham, Daniel Wallace, and the canon/legends lore keeper, Pablo Hidalgo.

This book dives deep into the past. Way back to when the creator of Star Wars was born. George Lucas Jr. was born in 1944. He was like many of us, a nerd who loved comics, tv, sci-fi and radio dramas. We learn a lot of about Mr. Lucas and what it was that inspired and influenced him to create his legacy, Star Wars. This book contains a lot of interesting material, a unique look at historical events that took place during or share some correlation to the creation of Star Wars. What we learn about the beginning of Lucas’s career is amazing, from the projects he was working on to the supreme talent he was surrounding himself with.

A little knowledge nugget: After the huge success of the original film, we learn a lot about what took place behind the scenes. For example, someone else wrote the first draft to the sequel of Star Wars, and George wasn’t pleased with it at all!

Parts of the book I couldn’t wait to get to were mentioned in the Author’s Note by Ryder Windham: “We would also include occasional inconsistencies between the movies, novels, comics, and merchandise.” I found that to be extremely interesting and exciting!

Many Star Wars fans love the EU. I’ve learned that the birth of the EU was Sept 1977, Star Wars Marvel comic issue #7. Although the legends canon and new canon don’t mix well, each stand on their own and are both fun to read. Before the EU most of know today, the first sequel to the hit film Star Wars, was Splinter of the Minds Eye and comics that had stories going beyond the film. Some fans argue about all canon having contradictions… true or not, fans noticed the obvious one in the early EU when a character trait was switched!

This history book is loaded with historical content, the ultimate coffee table book! From front to back, every page has several images with descriptions and the facts of the times. At the end of the book we’re reminded of how fast time sneaks past us. There is so much more history to be written already. New material is published every month, new shows, new movies… history is always in the making.

GO GET THIS BOOK!

Star Wars: The Voice of the Empire Review

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

The Voice of the Empire: A Star Wars short story, was written by Mur Lafferty. Art was created by Jason Chan.

Summary: In this tale we take a look into the mainstream media of the Star Wars galaxy, the Holonet News, or HNN. Much like the real world, media is bias and for the most part, controlled by some unseen puppet master… maybe? In this story the Empire takes control of HNN, giving them complete control. Now the Empire can make itself as “transparent” as it wants to be, by restricting all the grusome facts. Eridan Wesye is the new head of HNN, giving Mandora Catabe (former head) a forced early retirement. The favored reporter and main character, Calliope Drouth, is promoted and given a small gift from former boss, Mandora… a small recorder droid, an X-OX model, pronounced as ZOX. She will become the voice of the Empire, a face the galaxy will trust. Calliopes first assignment under new management, is to attend the Imperial Ball and rub shoulders with the dignitaries and report on the fashion trends.

Calliope is at the ball, speaking to senators and Imperial officers until her attention turns with the crowds gaze to a new arrival. Commander Krennic, the man behind the Emperors secret projects. Calliope develops a plan to interview the man in white, and when she does, a malfunction occurs that could potentially spell out doom.

Characters: Calliope Drouth is really the only character worth mentioning in this story. She’s the lead, most of our time is spent with her. I don’t like her, though I don’t hate her. She’s just a dedicated reporter doing her job. She’s got a scar on her face that she’s refused to have removed. It’s somewhat of a trophy… a symbol of how serious she takes her job as an investigative journalist. She really wasn’t anything special and I don’t care to learn more about her in the future.

Overall Review: I did not like this story. With the lack of any action, dialogue and a climax that failed to deliver, there was nothing special about the short story. It simply doesn’t stand out. Just a day to day routine of the Empire and how it functioned. Wasn’t it assumed that the Empire had taken over the media pretty soon after it was formed? The character names were difficult to read and pronounce. In my video review I stumble of the names often.

Rating: I give this book a 1 out of 5

Star Wars: Catalyst Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

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