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The Book Review Thread

Started by TheNorm, May 11, 2015, 09:57:43 PM

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BojackHorsefella

Yeah, I didn't read Wayward Pines but I read "Run," "Snowbound" and...."Abandon."

TheNorm

Took a long time and wasn't able to meet my goal of finishing before seeing the musical (hell, the first AND second time), but finally finished Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Fascinating and loved it.

Just started reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig, and so far it's pretty damn good. Bit difficult to put down. Almost finished with Michelle Obama's autobiography and enjoying it.
"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr

Crewe

Just finished Lost Stars, part of the Journey to Star Wars series.

It spans the lives of two kids growing up on a desolate outer rim planet and are fascinated by space travel.
They grow up wanting to join the Empire and are caught up in the wars spanning the OT.
It's a really enjoyable and fun read and gives you insight from characters not wholly involved in the war.
Expanding the universe while focusing on the era of the OT is really entertaining to me and watching characters like this develop gives you another look at how people's ideologies form

Crewe

Building off of the previous post...

Watching Mando S2 really re ignited my Star Wars spirit, so I conquered Clone Wars, even though Im not a big animated fan.
It was surprising well done and filled in a ton of background, but that's for another thread.

ive been on a Star Wars book reading tear since Christmas.
Lost Stars reviewed above, then, it was

Kenobi by John Jackson Miller.
This takes place right after ROTS and follows Kenobi getting settled on Tatooine after handing over Luke to his aunt and uncle.
I really did enjoy this, it built on a lot of character developed in the Clone Wars for Obi Wan and examined his approach to his new life and tested his dedication to his duty.


Master & Apprentice
by Claudia Gray
She wrote Lost Stars too. I enjoy her style with the Star Wars canon. We join up with a barely teenage Obi Wan and his master Qui Gon.
We learn quite a bit more about the master here which really helps TPM a bit more. What else we learn is his way with the force and the council which directs his teachings of his young padawan. Kenobi, as we know, is a strict adherent to rules while Qui Gon is more flexible and maintains an interest in ancient philosophies in which the council readily ignores.


Path of Destruction
by Drew Karpyshyn
Set 1000 bby. We encounter young Dessel, enslaved in the mines his entire young life until he has a chance at something better.
Once he discovers the sith, he realizes the powers he's always had but never knew the why or how. Conquering his new abilities in the Sith Order, newly minted Darth Bane seeks to learn all he can about the dark side. he becomes extremely powerful and sees the weakness in his order and decides it needs to be re tooled from the ground up, and there shall only be one remaining.
This one was fun, but probably the least interesting one on the list for me.

Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston
Her adventure takes place one year after ROTS. Still hiding from the fallout of Order 66, Ahsoka tries to find her way in the now Jedi-less galaxy.
Still possessing the nature and nurture characteristics of her fallen order, our young padawan finds herself continually running, knowing the Empire are actively searching to destroy any remaining Jedi.
Cognizant of this, she has to resist displaying her abilities, even in private.
Constantly seeing the poor commoners crushed under the boot of the Empire, she decides to try and help one outer rim community stay alive.
I really enjoyed this one. This is the first character of such a young age to escape Order 66 and throughout the book, it is still fresh in her mind and all of those events have shaped who she is now in the vastly different world.


Revenge of the Sith
by Matthew Stover.
The movie novelization.
While I liked ROTS the film, it was the best of the 3, but as usual, the book gives you so much more insight, and I always felt Lucas didnt dwell on necessary emotive parts of III quite enough.
Well, the book will and it makes ROTS a much better watch.
Matter of fact, after reading the book, I fired up the flick.
With the book fresh in mind, the movie played cleaner, more crisp, and in many parts, lifted the dialog right from the movie.
I did feel the author was more descriptive with his surroundings from time to time, focusing too much on unnecessary facets, but all in all, a good read.

And now, Im on to Dark Disciple...

And just as a side note, after finishing The Clone Wars (and the Clone Wars movie) I did go back and watch AOTC again.
That movie is  still god awful