Books

[Eagle]

I´ve just begun rereading The Dark by James Herbert. It´s really very disturbing and also impressing how good this author can describe scenes so you´ve got the feeling like watching a movie. I´ve just found the end a bit disappointing when I´ve read it the first time. So let´s see how I will feel about it eighteen years later.

[Mitth_raw_nuruodo]

I'm currently on The Dark Tower. It's the seventh book in a series by the same name. When I finish this one, I plan to start both Dante's Inferno and King's 'Salem's Lot. I've decided that since I'm enjoying the Dark Tower series so much, I'll read all of King's DT-related books. I've already read The Talisman, written with Peter Straubb, and I notice a lot of similarities. I can't wait to find out what happens when 'old long, tall, and ugly' gets to the Dark Tower.

[Darth_Rob]

Mitth, I read Dark Tower when it first came out. When you're done, give me a shout and we shall discuss the ending.

[SOCL]

When last I posted here, I had only just begun Troy Denning's Star by Star...

 

As of this moment, I have since completed:

-Dark Journey by Elaine Cunningham (I rate it 3.5 out of 5)
-Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream by Aaron Allston (4.5 out of 5)
-Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand by Aaron Allston (4.5 out of 5)
-Traitor by Matthew Stover (5 out of 5!)
-Destiny's Way by Walter Jon Williams (4.5 out of 5)
-Ylesia by Walter Jon Williams (4 out of 5)

 

Tomorrow I'll start Sean Williams' and Sean Dix's Force Heretic I: Remnant.

 

WEE! I'm almost finished with the NJO! I think I should have read through at least The Unifying Force by mid-July!

[DarthTofu]

That's great- the Force Heretic Trilogy is, as I've said before, rather well written. Not the best written, but still rather well done.

 

I personally would not have rated Destiny's Way as high as you did (too many continuity errors. They annoy me far more than they should, which just creates cyclical annoyance at my being annoyed for being annoyed), but to each his own.

 

Let me know when you finish through to Sacrifice- I'm trying to secure a copy of that book presently, and really hope that it'll be out in paperback before/when Inferno is released. Otherwise I'll be quite annoyed, since I'm collecting the whole series and really don't feel like wasting extra cash on the hardback version with less content in it (Paperback will include Boba Fett: A Practical Man according to wookiepedia)

[Krytos]

I personally would not have rated Destiny's Way as high as you did (too many continuity errors. They annoy me far more than they should, which just creates cyclical annoyance at my being annoyed for being annoyed), but to each his own.

Destiny's Way was one of those books, the first time you read it you love it. I did, and was happy that I bought the hard back copy. Second time around, not so grand. By the third time I was wondering why it went hardback

 

As for Traitor, I've only read it the once and wasn't too impressed with it. Weird, seeing most other people love it. I should try and read it again some day.

[SOCL]

I guess it's all up to personal preference. I very much enjoyed Traitor and the two Hand of Thrawn novels because they focused so heavily on the psychological/thinking aspect of each individual character. Then again, I enjoy a good action read like Republic Commando: Hard Contact as much as the next guy, and then everyone loves Stackpole and I simply can't stand him.

 

Continuity errors? I didn't detect anything in Destiny's Way, but then, it seems the NJO novels, as one goes further, seem to get less and less well edited, with many internovel errors, including simple mechanical errors (spelling and grammar!). Still, the fleet movements and that final battle over Ebaq 9 I found phenomenal! Williams seems to have a pretty good grasp of general military structure and organization. It's the same reason Ylesia was pretty decent; I especially enjoyed the bit with ground forces in convoy trying to navigate through hostilities in Peace City. But that's just personal preference, I suppose.

[budious]

Russia's First Civil War: The Time of Troubles and the Founding of the Romanov Dynasty

 

Good scholarly work on medieval Russian history. I like to study the tactics of ancient medieval warfare. Interesting stuff.

[SOCL]

Finished Force Heretic I: Remnant today. I wrote a review for my Facebook account, giving a 3 out of 5 stars. It would have been lower if not for the general coolness of the Battle of Borosk in the latter portion of the second section. In general, though, whoever wrote the military interaction bits (be it Williams or Dix), they were horribly stereotypical and horribly cheesy. It was like watching a bad war movie...like Green Berets.

 

Here's what I wrote up as a review on Facebook (SPOILERS follow):

 

Sean Williams and Shane Dix deliver in the first of the Force Heretic trilogy of novels in the overall series of the New Jedi Order. In it, we find the old heroes and new ones battling the galactic enemy, the Yuuzhan Vong, but when the Yuuzhan Vong prove too much for them, they will have to search elsewhere for allies, sometimes in the most unlikely places. In truth, this novel was likely one of the worst ones in the entire series. It serves merely to wrap up lose ends from the Bantam era of novels, bringing in the Yevetha and Fia of the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, as well as the nagging presence of the reclusive Imperial Remnant, the latest mutation of the Galactic Empire. It is sad to say that despite some very interesting action sequences and much potential, Williams & Dix let the reader down by simply taking you a pulp-style adventure where many things happen, but the actual series plot goes nowhere. Indeed, the Imperial Remnant's entrance to the war on the side of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances is an important point in the war against the Yuuzhan Vong and some of the 'misadventures' of Nom Anor provide some interesting advance, the journey Han Solo, Princess Leia, and their daughter are taking to "fix" communication throughout the Galaxy is, in truth, silly and pointless. This novel's only redeeming grace lies in the latter portion of the second chapter (there are only three with an epilogue) with the battles between the Empire and Vong over Borosk, but even that is overshadowed by the antics of this new breed of Jedi. Complete with silly bickering between Imperial leaders (as though that stereotype hasn't been overused!), the novel ends with the two parties off to another rip-roaring adventure. For the average reader, this novel should be avoided, save that second chapter. For the Star Wars fan trying to read all of the NJO, go ahead and suffer, but then put it away and don't bother with it again.

[DarthTofu]

To your review I merely say this: Dark Journey. Oh, yes, and Star by Star (Blaster Bolts!)

 

Truth be told, it is the weakest one in the trilogy, but I assume fans wrote them yelling at innacuracies and the like, which resulted in the next one being better and correcting some issues, and the third one being their best.

[SOCL]

Sure, but I'm only 100 pages into the second one and I must say, Williams & Dix have no concept of the characters. I would have to squint with the Sun at my back and the volume all the way up to even be able to tell that this is the same Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Mara Jade, and Han Solo of previous works. They have no concept of characterization, especially since everyone, except perhaps Nom Anor and Tahiri, behave the exact same way! Seriously, they all act like teenagers, willingly threatening everyone to get what the want. Maybe I'd expect this from Han Solo and even Mara Jade, but Luke Skywalker? Leia? Just bad writing. I'm just happy that I only have this and the next one, and then I can move on to a better author.

 

 

 

UPDATE:

Oh, yes, and Star by Star (Blaster Bolts!)

I wasn't bothered so much by this, but then, I take it you haven't read the Young Jedi Knights books. You want blaster bolts? Those have more "blaster bolts!" than anyone can stomach. Even Jahled...

 

Just kidding.

 

Here's my review of Force Heretic I: Refugee. I tried to make it as SPOILER free as possible by not talking about specific story details.

 

Oh, and I gave it a 1 out of 5...

 

Fresh off the heals of the first in the series, Williams & Dix once more demonstrate that their understanding of the Star Wars universe, much less it's literature, is terribly lacking. In the second novel of the Force Heretic trilogy (of the New Jedi Order series), Williams & Dix seem to employ the Saturday morning cartoon premise of a new villain every week. In the last novel our heroes were off uniting with the Empire and fighting off the Yevetha and Fia threat, in hopes of uniting the Galaxy against the Yuuzhan Vong. In this entry, we have the return of the annoying Ssi-ruuvi Imperium from the novel 'The Truce at Bakura' and the entry of the Chiss, seemingly in an attempt to have them ally with the Galactic Alliance. Aside from Nom Anor's attempts to undermine the Yuuzhan Vong by casting himself as a Prophet a rising religious movement which venerates the Jedi, this novel might as well be from the Bantam era of books for all the good it goes to the New Jedi Order's plot. Not even the presence of Soontir Fel and the Chiss of old-school lore are enough to save this novel from itself. It seems that somewhere between the bad characterization of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Mara Jade, Leia Organa, and the Solo twins and their humanization of the Chiss, they seemed to have forgotten that there's a BLOODY WAR ON! In fact, the Yuuzhan Vong, much less the war, are given only passing acknowledgments despite the urgency of the matter in previous novels. The Galaxy hangs on the edge of utter disaster and our heroes are off fighting stereotypical bad-guys and generally acting like whiny teenagers who use threats instead of diplomacy to get what they wish--even Luke Skywalker. Indeed, I can't even be sure I even recognize these characters! I am hard-pressed to say that the Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, peaceful servant of the Force is even present in this novel, except for perhaps the fellow who happens to have his name.

 

Aside from that, these characters behave utterly the same, no difference in them, aside from Tahiri and Nom Anor, who receive hardly any spotlight (relative). The adventures are so bad, the situations so cheesy, and the villains so stereotypical, this novel reads like a long "Young Adult" chapter-book in the kids' section of one's local bookstore. Even for a Star Wars fan, this novel holds nothing but irrelevant tramping about the Galaxy, as irrelevant as a colony Aztec space-ninjas!! (And if you get THAT allusion, you earn a prize!) I would go so far as to say that this novel should be AVOIDED! It holds no relevance to the overall plot and at the end, we are only a step (Zonama Sekot) further along in the story of the NJO than we were when we started this novel. Just read the Epilogue--you'll save yourself a lot of time, and it will make just as much sense. The only pleasure (and yet, still dread) one has when this one is complete is that there only (or still) remains on more novel in the trilogy...

Edited July 2, 2007 by SOCL

[Mitth_raw_nuruodo]

I haven't read a SW book in a while. Maybe I should start one and read a couple books at a time for a while.

 

@Rob: I'll do that.

[DarthTofu]

Where does Luke threaten people? I only recall he and Jacen drawing their lightsabers on a very few occassions. Granted, the books do next to nothing for the overall plot, but then again, how much did the Dark Tide duology or the Enemy Lines duology do for the overall plot? Not too much, in the end.

[Defender_16]

Ouch! I thought the Force Heritic Books were some of the more decent ones in the series because they were running into all the old bad guys. I admit they wern't as good as the Edge of Victory Books but that's only because those had the equivilant of a Young Han Solo With Force Powers.

 

*When reading the old Han Solo Novels.*

Me: "Damn, Han that was crazy... this whole charging straight into trouble thing seems familiar...

...You're charging in all crazy like just like your future son!"

 

 

Soooooo.

 

Reading Baldur's Gate. The novel based on the game. It took a little while to pick up speed. Characters getting killed off left right and center.

[SOCL]

Where does Luke threaten people? I only recall he and Jacen drawing their lightsabers on a very few occassions. Granted, the books do next to nothing for the overall plot, but then again, how much did the Dark Tide duology or the Enemy Lines duology do for the overall plot? Not too much, in the end.

Well, he wasn't going around, blatantly saying, "Give this to me, or you're dead!", rather it was the way he said things. In most of the first part of the book, even talking to the Chiss, he constantly said things like, "We need this, and it would be unfortunate if we didn't receive it" or "You don't want us to get angry, do you?" Just stuff like that. I would retrieve the novel, find exact quotes, and post them, but I have vowed to never open that novel again unless I have to.

[Defender_16]

It would be unfortunate if you didn't help us and the Vong destroyed you all.

[DarthTofu]

In all reality the frog-like bureaucrats in the first book are immensely annoying, and thus you would snap at 'em, too.

 

As for with the Chiss, I decidedly remember the characters being disappointed occasionally when things didn't go their way, but not really threatening anything, beyond that the Vong would get them if they failed to unite their forces with every one's.

[SOCL]

Just finished Force Heretic III. It made me rethink my score for the first novel, bringing it down to 2 out of 5 stars. But the third one wasn't so bad, though I would call it about average at 3 out of 5 stars.

 

Ah, just two novels to go, and I happen to like both authors.

[Darth_Rob]

I had forgotten how quickly the Harry Potter books go. I was successful in finishing HBP in 3 days...

[tacoJoemeru]

Its already out? I thought it was in, like, late July?

[Mitth_raw_nuruodo]

HBP is not book seven. I'm pretty sure it's book six. Deathly Hallows (not certain on spelling, though I think I'm correct) is the one that comes out later this month. 21st???

 

Why do I know this, Bruja? Why do I WANT to know this?!?

[Darth_Rob]

Correct Mitth. I am nervously awaiting amazon.com to ship my copy of DH to my door.

[turtle]

I've been reading a lot of kiddie books recently to my 3 year old daughter. The most recent that I remember being 101 Dalmations.

[Jahled]

Err..

 

http://hagen.let.rug.nl/~s1133624/linkto/up/harry_potter.jpg

[Darth_Rob]

That's great J!