4/5 Rancors - With Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil, Drew Karpyshyn ends his trilogy chronicling the powerful Sith Lord's ascension to power and formation of an order based on the Rule of Two. In the second book, Bane and his apprentice Darth Zannah firmly established their working relationship and additionally managed to deceive the galaxy into believing the Sith Order was extinct. Bane had ostensibly trained Zannah to one day overthrow him and take an apprentice of her own, furthering the Sith cause and continuing the slow progression to overthrowing the galaxy. As Dynasty of Evil starts, Bane is still waiting on Zannah to challenge him, and indeed has begun to wonder if she has what it takes to be the next Sith Lord. Therefore, Bane is looking for alternatives, one of which would be prolonging his own life to ensure the future of the Sith (and of course perpetuate his own power). Two key elements from the prior books feature in this story. One is Serra, the daughter of Caleb the healer who saved Bane's life in years past. She is living a new life as a princess on the harsh mining world of Doan (a place reminiscent of Bane's own childhood world Apatros). The other is Lucia, a member of Bane's old Brotherhood of Darkness regiment the Gloom Walkers: she's now Serra's bodyguard and friend. Completing the main cast is The Huntress, a Force-sensitive assassin who revels in the hunt and uses her latent Force abilities to her advantage, and Set Harth, an ex-Jedi artifact hunter who lives purely for his own pleasure. These two play into the plot as candidates for new apprentices as Bane and Zannah scheme to their own ends. Dynasty of Evil features two particularly page-turning action sequences (along with quite a few other battles, naturally). The first is an ambush where the Huntress and some minions attempt to actually capture the Lord of the Sith in his own mansion. It's grippingly cinematic and realistically portrayed, with sound tactics employed by both sides. The second big action beat is in the gloomy and secretive Stone Prison on Doan, as all six of the main characters are brought together, each with their own agenda. Great chase scene and a very intense interrogation sequence showing Serra overwhelmingly out of her depth. From the comics detailing ancient times in the Old Republic Mr. Karpyshyn borrows Darth Andeddu's holocron. Within this relic is the secret to life transference and possibly the key to Bane's ambitions. Bane visits Prakith in the Deep Core to forcibly retrieve the holocron while distracting Zannah with a separate assignment. The pacing is excellent as the two each start to realize what the other has in mind and as they accept their inevitable confrontation to determine primacy. Speaking of the end, there is a fascinating twist in the climactic battle. I won't detail it any further in an effort to avoid spoilers, but suffice to say it's one that will inspire debate as to its true nature. Personally, I felt there were enough cues provided that the outcome was fairly clear, but I'll leave that discussion to messageboards rather than this review. I was satisfied with this ending for the trilogy but it does leave at least one significant question mark about the continuity of the Sith line. Mr. Karpyshyn did an excellent job in the Bane trilogy of rendering an evil protagonist in a balanced and intriguing manner. He gave plenty of background and insight into what made Bane tick and after the first book showed a talent for taking the story sketched out in the older Jedi vs. Sith comics and running with it. This set of books is over for now, but I would welcome further Star Wars contributions from Mr. Karpyshyn in the future.
3/5 Rancors - Joe Schreiber's Death Troopers took me by surprise. I am not particularly fond of the horror genre, at least in its gorier aspects. I do enjoy a good thriller, though. So my initial reaction when I heard that Star Wars would be getting its first horror story was quite mixed. I enjoy seeing the saga taken in new directions and stay open-minded as it mutates through many permutations of what I first saw on the big screen in 1977. However, I really wasn't convinced that horror would be an appropriate choice for a universe that has stayed rather, for lack of a better term, family-friendly to date.
It turns out I'm glad I took a chance on Mr. Schreiber's first Star Wars contribution (his second, a Death Troopers prequel, is already underway as I write this). There were points where the gore factor was excessive for my sensibilities, and a particular scene involving a toddler Wookiee didn't sit well with me. Fortunately, these qualms were allayed by a very fast-paced and gripping story that didn't pause to take a breath between chases and creeping around in the dark.The size and creep-factor of a seemingly deserted Imperial Star Destroyer adrift in space is well underscored. I also enjoyed the time spent on the prison barge Purge in the opening chapters: penal vessels and procedures aren't an aspect of the Expanded Universe that has received much focus in prior novels. The method by which Death Troopers introduces its version of zombies to the Star Wars universe is believable. I liked that the zombies weren't the sole drivers of the horror elements of the story: the actions the prisoners take against each other early on and the choices a group of Imperial survivors on the Star Destroyer have made to stay alive are good examples of things as unsettling or more as the creatures themselves.The characters are on the thin side, mostly subservient to the action. They filled their purposes well enough, although there isn't much about them that stands out to me after finishing the book. Captain Jareth Sartoris has a nice little character arc at the end, although it is fairly predictable. The Longo brothers and Dr. Cody act as the reader's primary lens on the outbreak, since they have the least life experience and react with presumably the same horror as the reader to what is taking place.In what is not a well-kept secret at this point, two movie characters materialize midway in the story and have key roles. I recognize that their presence undermines a general principle of a horror story, in that we as the reader know these two will come out relatively unscathed. However, as a Star Wars fan first and foremost, I confess I was pleased to see them arrive on the scene and they helped greatly in establishing this tale as one set in that galaxy far, far away.Although the darkness of Death Troopers did not remind me of the Original Trilogy, the excitement of Mr. Schreiber's rapid storytelling and focus on dynamic action sequences did, and for me that's high praise. Although I'm not likely to track down his non-Star Wars horror stories, I will be ready for the Death Troopers prequel and look forward to it with much more confidence than I did this first one.
4/5 Rancors - Showdown at Centerpoint is the final book in Roger Macbride Allen's Corellian Trilogy. In the first two books we followed Han, Leia, and their kids along with Chewie, Lando, Luke, and our two favorite droids as they all took various paths to end up in the middle of what appeared to be a rebellion in the Corellian sector. In this book, Luke and Lando uncover the Starbuster that is part of Centerpoint Station and that is programmed to explode the star Bovo Yagen and destroy millions of people. The Sacorrian Triad started rebellions on each of the five planets in the Corellian system and gained control of Centerpoint Station as part of a master plan to force the New Republic to acknowledge the Corellian sector as an independent state.
Centerpoint St
ation is an enormous gray-white space station in the Corellian system located at the balance point between the twin worlds of Talus and Tralus. Approximately 350 kilometers long, it is even larger than the original Death Star and can fire a tractor-repulsor hyperspace burst. The Sacorrian Triad discovered that the station could destroy stars, but it had been stable for thousands of years until suddenly two stars were destroyed. The Triad activated massive interdiction and jamming fields over the entire Corellian system and had a fleet of ships ready to do battle with New Republic and Bakuran forces.
All of our heroes were involved with foiling the Triad's plan with different ones of them coming at the problem from entirely different approaches. They were assisted in their efforts by Gaerial Captison, who had been an Imperial Senator from Bakura during the final years of the rebellion and led her planet to freedom. Admiral Hotel Ossilege commanded the Bakuran fleet. Mara Jade also offered valuable assistance.
Some of the most interesting roles in the tale are played by the Solo kids - Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin. We find that, even at their young ages, they are skilled enough to fly the Millennium Falcon, at least well enough to escape from the clutches of Han's evil cousin Thracken Sal-Solo on the planet Drall. Plus, Anakin's force powers enable him to control the planetary repulsor that is on Drall. Pretty impressive kids.
Showdown at Centerpoint is the best book in the trilogy and tells a tale that moves right along. My only real quibble with the book is that I felt it could have been severely edited in a few places.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Ultimate Sticker Book, page 8
Clearly, rancors appeal to all ages, and when you use the sticker book, you get to place the rancor yourself. What fun! Here's what the book says.
Jungle rancor These ferocious monsters are covered in rough armor-like skin, which can withstand blaster fire.
3/5 Rancors - Assault at Selonia is the second book in The Corellian Trilogy. It continues the travails of our well-known and much loved Star Wars heroes as they travel several different paths. Han Solo has been imprisoned on Corellia by his cousin Thracken Sal-Solo and appears to be in serious trouble. Sal-Solo plans to reinstate the Imperial system and seize total power himself. Han must join forces with a female alien in order to escape and warn Luke, Leia, and Lando. Leia is under house arrest in what used to be the Governor's residence and must work with Mara Jade to escape and search for her family. Luke and Lando have returned to Coruscant and are now on their way to Bakura to convince Gaeriel Captison to let them borrow the Bakuran fleet to put down a revolt in the Corellian system. At the same time, Han and Leia's children are with Chewie on yet another world. Serious problems exist everywhere.
T
he book is an improvement over the first book Ambush at Corellia. We have more action, more plot, and no story involving Lando's search for a rich wife. That particular search was a real weakness in the first book. A number of major questions still remain. Who is trying to use Corellia's powerful repulsors and why? What is going on at the mysterious Centerpoint Station? Who is causing major stars to explode? There is plenty still left to lead one to look forward to the third book in the trilogy.
3/5 Rancors - Roger MacBride Allen's Showdown at Centerpoint completes the Corellian Trilogy and neatly ties up the storylines laid out in the first two novels. It continues the accelerated pace found in Assault at Selonia and includes a handy synopsis at the beginning for anyone who hasn't read or doesn't remember the prior books (Star Wars novels rarely contain a synopsis of what's gone before, making it worthy of note). Events in the Corellian system have turned into a race against time, as our heroes struggle to discern the truth behind the murky maneuverings of the Human League and other splinter groups. If they can't solve the plot quickly enough, they will fail to stop the annihilation of millions of sentients whose sun is targeted for destruction by the mysterious starbuster device.
The most intriguing portion of this book deals with the massive Centerpoint station, a facility of unknown origin and purpose sitting in space between Corellia's Double Moons. It doesn't take too much effort for the reader to connect Centerpoint with the destroyed stars and this hunch is quickly confirmed. The only significant new character introduced in this final volume appears on Centerpoint: Jenica Sonsen. She serves primarily as a guide to the station, which has developed a strange little culture unto itself in the isolation of space. The introduction of Centerpoint and the mysteries that still surround it at the end of the book make a lovely little hook for future authors to build upon.A key storyline of Showdown at Centerpoint (actually started in the prior book) revolves around the three Solo children and their efforts to locate a planetary repulsor on Drall. Once it is located, Anakin Solo cannot resist delving further into the machine's secrets, leading to a great action sequence when it is turned on. Unfortunately, this also leads to one of the nastier events for the kids, when their malicious uncle Thracken Sal-Solo shows up to kidnap them and take control of the repulsor. Thracken doesn't get to do much in this book beyond chew some scenery and show a cold-blooded willingness to harm his own flesh and blood. The notion of Thracken as a sort of "shadow" Han Solo has plenty of promise, but overall the trilogy doesn't take this as far as I'd like. The most interesting interaction between the two is in their shared scenes in Assault at Selonia.The trilogy delivers a substantial amount of information about the three native Corellian species and their unusual system of five worlds. I enjoyed the exploration of the Selonian culture in particular. They pretend to conform to human societal standards but in reality have a whole separate social system working just under the surface (literally). Their travel by underground tunnels seems rather impractical but it does make for some good entertainment. Also, their reliance on negotiation, especially when contrasted with their impressive physical skills, makes for some unexpected dynamics when they try to come to terms with Leia, Han, and Mara Jade.Some other good points: the Tendra Risant storyline which originated in Lando's ridiculous search for a rich wife comes to a satisfactory conclusion. There's a terrific escape sequence with the Solo children featuring a nifty little display of a seldom-used Force ability. One character I hadn't mentioned in my prior reviews of the trilogy is Q9-X2, a modified astromech that speaks Basic and exhibits a rather marked streak of paranoia. Q9 continues to entertain here just as in the prior novels, and one pairing I would love to see would be him with I5 of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Medstar, and Coruscant Nights fame.The Corellian Trilogy is not an earth-shaking piece of Star Wars literature, but it is a fun ride and quite enjoyable while it lasts. The books got progressively better and Centerpoint itself is truly an interesting place. The series is worth reading for anyone who is a fan of the Original Trilogy heroes and wants a fairly light and adventurous romp.
3/5 Rancors - Assault at Selonia, the second volume in Roger MacBride Allen's Corellian Trilogy, picks up the pace considerably from the leisurely first book. The story opens with our heroes stuck in various predicaments. Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian have left the fringes of the interdiction field blocking all access to the Corellian system and are on their way back to Coruscant to report and formulate a strategy. Han Solo and Chief of State Leia Organa Solo are being held prisoner in separate facilities by Han's treacherous cousin Thracken Sal-Solo. Han and Leia's children have escaped along with Chewbacca and are on the run looking for a hiding hole. The New Republic is working to identify the true puppet masters behind the Corellian situation, on the theory that Thracken's Human League and the other Corellian splinter groups simply don't have the wherewithal to have put together such a large-scale conspiracy.
There is quite a bit more action in Assault at Selonia than is found in its predecessor. The book opens with Thracken conducting an interrogation of Han followed by a forced fight pitting him against an intimidating Selonian named Dracmus. A great sequence, full of typical Han swagger and showing us that even when it is in Han's best interests to throw a fight, he still has trouble backing down. Another excellent sequence features Leia and Mara Jade escaping Thracken's clutches, and Mr. Allen devotes quite a bit of detail to the mechanics of their exodus. Other scenes are more forced, most notably one in which Luke and Lando take an inexplicably dangerous journey through Coruscant's underbelly to attend a meeting (there's an explanation provided for this but to my mind it was thin).One welcome reappearance from earlier novels is Gaeriel Captison, featured in Kathy Tyers' The Truce at Bakura. Gaeriel and Luke's reunion forces them to explore what might have been had they followed the burgeoning feelings for each other they felt fourteen years earlier, and also underscores how long Luke has been searching across the galaxy for a meaningful relationship. It's a nice tie to the earlier story to bring Gaeriel and the Bakurans in. We also learn more about the Bakuran military structure and are introduced to the efficient, thrill-seeking Admiral Ossilege. The Bakurans bring a rather intriguing hyperspace technology to the table designed to counter the effects of an interdiction field.The story of Lando seeking a rich wife is furthered but in an improved manner from Ambush at Corellia. Lando is too busy with the military situation to continue his quest, and besides, he has taken a fancy to Tendra Risant, who he met in the last story. Tendra takes a daring solo flight into the interdiction field to find Lando and spends the book creeping through space alone. Although her plan is not a very sound one, people often do crazy things, especially when L-O-V-E is involved, and Tendra is seemingly no exception. She also brings warning of an outside fleet likely to play a key role in book three.Mr. Allen's trilogy features a notable level of hatred for droids. Lando is downright nasty toward C-3PO and R2-D2. Luke shows tolerance for the pair, but many of the other characters are shown to despise droids. There are glimmers of a superior attitude many organics feel toward droids in the films, with Han in particular having some choice moments with 3PO, but there is no grounding for the outright prejudice shown here. I got tired of Lando's interactions with them and wished someone would put him in his place. The droids have saved their friends countless times across the films and books and this is simply not believable characterization.Assault at Selonia is a step up from the somewhat tedious first entry in the trilogy. It is a quick read and sets up a decent mystery involving the true perpetrators of the starbuster plot. We learn more about the three species that comprise the Corellian system's native population and there are several fun action sequences along the way. I look forward to finding out the resolution of the multiple hanging plot threads in Showdown at Centerpoint, especially after the grim climax of this story.
