Andrew's Review of The Jedi Academy Trilogy Vol. 3: Champions of the Force

2/5 Rancors - Champions of the Force is the final book in Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy. It continues much in the vein of the first two novels: a somewhat promising and engaging storyline is dragged down by pedestrian writing and some very hokey scenes. The 300-some pages of this book are essentially one extended climax to the trilogy. One battle in particular, the assault on the Imperial facility in the Maw, almost stretches the entire length of the story.

The Bantam Spectra era of Star Wars novels was noted for the authors' predilection to invent "superweapons-of-the-week." True to form, this trilogy contains not one but two in the form of a prototype (but fully functional) Death Star and the even more powerful Sun Crusher. It's not that hard to swallow the existence of a prototype Death Star, although the idea feels a trifle overused after seeing them in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. However, the Sun Crusher concept goes beyond the pale. Anderson asks the reader to accept it took a 100+ kilometer wide sphere to support a laser that could destroy a planet, but this tiny fighter-sized craft carries the power to cause supernovas. Ick.

The Imperials of this story are sadly incompetent. Admiral Daala continually praises her own abilities and chuckles diabolically at the havoc she is about to unleash on the New Republic, but her tactics are weak and her plans fail time after time. The other key Imperial character, Ambassador Furgan from the Imperial training world Carida, is similarly depicted. Both are a long step down from Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Luke spends much of this novel in a comatose state while his spirit mystically wanders free. Anderson sets up a big confrontation between Luke's spirit and that of Exar Kun, the 4000-year old Sith Lord from his comic series Tales of the Jedi. There's potential here but when the climax comes it is underwhelming. It makes the point that the Jedi candidates will have to go beyond themselves and work together to succeed, but these characters are so one-dimensional it's hard to care. I appreciate what Anderson tried to do in this trilogy by exploring Luke's uncertainty about resurrecting the Jedi and charting a course for the future, but I don't like the weakness he coupled with the indecision. It takes Luke too far from the hero so loved in the films.

As I mentioned in my prior reviews of the Jedi Academy Trilogy, the events contained within are too big to ignore to understand the Star Wars Expanded Universe fully. The books are easy to read and won't require a whole lot of time or much deep thought. However, there are some definite flaws preventing me from recommending these books to a more casual reader.

Andrew's Review of The Jedi Academy Trilogy Vol. 2: Dark Apprentice

2/5 Rancors - Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy continues in this second volume, Dark Apprentice. At the conclusion of the first entry, Jedi Search, Luke Skywalker had laid the groundwork to start his new academy for training potential Jedi on the planet Yavin IV. Here Anderson explores the early days of the Academy itself, along with continuing the plotline of Admiral Daala's exploits and also devoting a large amount of the story to a new storyline involving Princess Leia and Admiral Ackbar.

There is a reasonably interesting story present in this book. Unfortunately, it is dragged down by pedestrian writing and Anderson's inclination to directly spell out exactly what the characters are feeling and thinking. There's not any room for subtlety and what drama there is gets undercut by passages that feel more like summaries than prose.

The most engagingly written plotline in this book is the tragedy that befalls Admiral Ackbar on a trip to Vortex to visit the legendary Cathedral of Winds. In the aftermath of the Vortex disaster, Ackbar resigns from the New Republic government and returns home to Mon Calamari. Soon after, Chief of State Mon Mothma falls gravely ill and Leia realizes she will need Ackbar's support to ensure moderate voices are still heard on the Council. Leia sets off to Ackbar's watery homeworld Mon Calamari to make her case for Ackbar's return. Anderson writes a fun little voyage through the world's oceans to find the ex-Admiral. He does a nice job of tying into the Dark Horse comic series Dark Empire, in which the resurrected Emperor's World Devastators wreaked havoc on Mon Calamari.

Luke's story is less successful, and unfortunately the Academy is the focal point of this trilogy, at least in theory. Luke comes across as weak and indecisive: granted, reviving the Jedi Order is going to be incredibly challenging, but it's not much fun to read about a waffling Jedi Master, especially the one so loved from the films. His Jedi candidates are only briefly sketched out, and several are pointedly never identified at all, presumably to leave room for other authors to fill in later. This storyline ties heavily to the comic series Tales of the Jedi, also written by Anderson, as the spirit of 4000-year old Exar Kun starts influencing the more pliable candidates on Yavin to the Dark Side.

One story point was outright corny and irritating. In a fit of pique, Han Solo sits down to a high-stakes sabacc match with Lando Calrissian that ends up with him losing his beloved Millennium Falcon to Lando. That's just ridiculous and it didn't add a thing to the story. Worse, the Falcon changes hands between them in two follow-up games later in the book. The Han I see in the films would never put himself in the situation where he might lose the Falcon in the first place, unless it was to save someone's life or something of equally high importance.

Overall, this trilogy contains too many events referenced in other Star Wars novels to skip. The good news is it is a very fast read, and there are places in which it successfully engages the imagination. However, the weaknesses I've outlined above prevent this second book from rising to the heights some of the other novels achieve.

Andrew's Review of The Jedi Academy Trilogy Vol. 1: Jedi Search

3/5 Rancors - Kevin J. Anderson played a prominent role in the Star Wars Expanded Universe for a few years in the mid-1990s. His projects included the Tales of the Jedi comics published by Dark Horse, the Illustrated Guide to the Star Wars Universe, editorial and authorial duties on three Tales collections, various youth-oriented fiction, and a few of the adult novels. Jedi Search was his first book in the Jedi Academy Trilogy, set after the pivotal events of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy and the Dark Empire comic series. This trilogy typifies many of the characteristics often associated with the 90s Bantam Spectra era of Star Wars publishing, following the main movie characters as they battle a newly emerged ex-Imperial leader and throwing a new super weapon or two into the mix.

This first part of the trilogy opens with the New Republic in the process of re-claiming Coruscant after the recent Imperial reoccupation. It's interesting how openly the book ties to the Dark Empire comics series in some of the early scenes. Readers who stick only to the books will be quite confused when things such as the Emperor's resurrection and Luke Skywalker's fall to the dark side are mentioned. For my part, I applaud the inclusion of story points from multiple media in these books. Star Wars is unusual in that there is a concerted effort to create a single unified chronology where everything is at one level of canon or another.

Han and Chewbacca are sent on a mission to Kessel to negotiate a possible alliance when their plans go awry and they find themselves enslaved to work the spice mines. They meet Kyp Durron, a teen with untrained Force potential who will go on to be an enduring figure of the later Expanded Universe. Kessel is evocatively portrayed, especially the chilling lightless mines and the monsters that lurk within. Later in the book our heroes find themselves in the Maw, an old Imperial research facility hidden by a veritable nest of black holes. The primary new Imperial adversary for this trilogy, Admiral Daala, is in charge of the facility and is shocked to discover the Emperor is dead and the galaxy has a new order. Kudos for coming up with this facility and the plot device of its isolation. It brings a realistic new threat to the galaxy in the wake of classic ones such as Thrawn and the resurrected Emperor.

Not so realistic is the new super weapon in development. Subtly named the Sun Crusher, it's a small fighter-size craft capable of sending a star into supernova phase and thereby destroying entire solar systems. It's a massive reach in believability to accept the Death Star required such a massive scale to house a planet-destroying weapon but only a few years later this dinky little craft can do so much more. Held in reserve is also a prototype Death Star, mentioned but not used in the plot of this particular volume.

Luke spends this book laying the foundations for his new Jedi Academy. His first step is finding quality candidates, so he embarks on the titular Jedi search. Two encounters are depicted in detail. The first, on a wasteland of a mining planet with a leader named Gantoris, is not well executed. Gantoris puts Luke through a series of life-threatening and cruel tests to ascertain if he will allow himself to be trained. This has the effect of making Luke's character very weak and in no way do I accept Luke would permit Gantoris the latitude he does here. The second, with a gas miner named Streen on the fringes of Bespin, is much better: interesting setting, good new character, and believable actions.

This book is a rapid read. Scenes are brisk and there is never much of a lull between action sequences. Anderson writes in a plain-spoken, easily digestible manner and keeps the pace fluid. The two major storylines come together at the end in a big, if tactically unsound, space battle. Where the book struggles most is in accurately characterizing the familiar cast from the films and in relying too much on super weapons and thinly developed new villains. The events of this trilogy are too big to ignore if you're interested in understanding the larger Expanded Universe, but expect a fairly light, brisk read that probably won't leave a strong impact on you.

Andrew's Review of X-wing: Isard's Revenge

3/5 Rancors - Michael Stackpole returns to the adventures of Rogue Squadron with the eighth book in the X-wing series, Isard's Revenge. The first seven books were all set together in the chronological order of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, but this volume takes place a couple of years later on the heels of Timothy Zahn's acclaimed Thrawn Trilogy. The first chapter actually places us into the Battle of Bilbringi, the climatic conflict of Zahn's The Last Command, offering a nice bit of continuity and a smooth way to rejoin the Rogue Squadron storyline.

Readers of the previous volumes will know that Wedge Antilles, hero of numerous Rebel Alliance victories, has repeatedly refused a promotion to General, fearing a life bound to a desk shuffling papers. He and Admiral Ackbar finally come to an accommodation which will allow Wedge to accept the promotion while still remaining in command of Rogue Squadron. After all the adventures and near-death escapes Wedge has had, it's rewarding to see his efforts recognized, especially considering he is the only pilot to have actually survived flying against both Death Stars.

This dealt with, Stackpole rapidly moves into the main plotline, establishing an adversary that will be familiar to readers of the Rogue Squadron comics (Stackpole had a hand in writing most of those comics and I highly recommend reading them as a supplement to this series). This time around, the Rogues must deal with Prince-Admiral Delak Krennel, an Imperial warlord who was also responsible for the death of Imperial ruler Sate Pestage. Interestingly, the attack against Krennel takes the form of a pre-emptive strike rather than a response to a particular provocation. The New Republic needs to show its strength in the wake of the Thrawn crisis, proving to the galaxy at large that the menace of the Empire is over and despotic warlords will no longer be tolerated. It's an interesting departure of form for the New Republic's government, running the risk that the populace might start to perceive them as bullies rather than saviors. To mitigate this risk, the government seeds the idea that Pestage's death (and the elimination of his family) is a driving factor in going after Krennel, even though no one mourns the loss of Pestage himself in the slightest.

Since this eighth book is actually titled Isard's Revenge, one might infer that Ysanne Isard herself, presumed dead at the end of the fourth book, returns. She does indeed return, and more, in a plot that involves both a logical escape from Thyferra and a somewhat strange and off-putting cloning element. Isard is working with Krennel, aiming to both restore her grasp on power and get her long-awaited revenge on Rogue Squadron. Isard is a good villain in the first four books, certainly more interesting than Krennel. However, I found the manner of her return to be overly complicated by introducing the clone storyline. One Isard is more than enough to be a convincing antagonist.

There's an interesting twist mid-book where the Rogues are forced to team up with some Imperials. This allows for new dynamics in the pilots' relationships and also has one of the most amusing sequences in the whole series, where the two astromechs Whistler and Gate stage an escape and travel alone through the galaxy seeking help. We don't often get an astromech's point-of-view in the EU, and this was just as much fun as reading about Lara Notsil's plotting with her astromech Tonin to take control of a Star Destroyer's mouse droids in Aaron Allston's Solo Command.

Ultimately, this book was a solid but not particularly outstanding entry in the nine-book series. The style is very much like Stackpole's first four books, but this time the story suffers from being a one-off rather than a multi-book arc. After just reading the Thrawn books, returning to Isard wasn't as engaging as perhaps a different villain might have been. Isard's Revenge is certainly worth reading if you've already read the earlier X-wing books, but it does suffer a bit from the law of diminishing returns by mining some very familiar ground.

Andrew's Review of Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor

5/5 Rancors - Star Wars books have gone in several directions over the last few years. The continuing post-Return of the Jedi timeline is now some forty years past the Battle of Endor and has taken the franchise in a rather bloody and dark direction. Beloved movie trio Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa have been put through the proverbial wringer, suffering multiple personal tragedies and spending much of their lives embroiled in conflicts both big and small. There have also been novels rolling out set in the prequel era, one ripe with interesting characters but also a time where the ultimate fate of the primary characters is a known quantity. One thing most of the recent stories have had in common is tonal shades of gray: they present characters and situations where the lines between right and wrong are indistinct.

What we haven't had much of lately is stories in the vein of the original trilogy, focused on Luke and his friends and offering a clear vision of Good vs. Evil. When it was announced that Matthew Stover, notable author of the incredible novelization of Revenge of the Sith as well as the excellent Shatterpoint and Traitor, would be penning a novel exploring Luke Skywalker's time as a General and his decision to resign and rebuild the Jedi Order, I could barely contain my excitement. The revelation that Stover's story would deal with this theme while also revealing the events of the hitherto shadowy and catastrophic Battle of Mindor, referenced only in passing in a few older Star Wars materials, was icing on the cake. What backdrop could be better for an insightful yet exciting yarn exploring a major life change for my favorite film character?

After one of the fastest and most rewarding Star Wars reading experiences I've had in recent memory, I'm thrilled to say Stover delivers on all my expectations. What Stover has crafted here is a novel bringing back the awesome thrills and wonder of the original films. The characters behave like themselves; the story's villain, Lord Shadowspawn, is a memorable over-the-top villain in the vein of some of the Bantam era adversaries; and even though the story is inserted into the existing timeline a little less than a year after Return of the Jedi, there's a sense of true danger as the horrific battle for Mindor unfolds.

Stover's characterizations are superb. Of course the most weight is on how well he presents Luke Skywalker and he does not disappoint. Luke is confident yet unsure of himself at points, a blend of the farm boy and the newly-christened Jedi. He is torn between pursuing the military leader career the New Republic asks of him and following his own heart to explore the mysteries of the Force. The Luke Skywalker of this book is a true hero, doing everything he can to save people both from external forces and from themselves. Most of the emotional high points in the book belong to Luke, as well as several action moments that will make you want to cheer out loud.

Also, this is the best Han Solo I've ever read, with the possible exception of A. C. Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy, and the other characters aren't far behind. Han may seem like a relatively straightforward character to write, but so few authors have gotten the proper balance of sarcasm, loyalty, and intelligence mixed with a fool-hardy willingness to hurtle headlong into danger that we see here. There is a chapter, somewhat of a sideline to the main story, where we get Han's thoughts on Mandalorians that is laugh-out-loud funny, especially as a counterpoint to Karen Traviss' take on the Mandos in her various novels (which I thoroughly enjoy as well, by the way). The relationship between Han and Leia is exactly what I pictured after seeing Return of the Jedi, making the peculiar take on their romance shown in The Courtship of Princess Leia feel even more of an oddity than it already did.

If ever there was a planet in Star Wars more unpleasant than Mustafar, Mindor may be it. Mindor is a violently unstable system that no sane person should even be in, let alone a place to be trapped in and battling for survival. There were points where I had a bit of trouble picturing the system's composition, which is vitally important to understanding the fleet battles and the looming problem the gravity generator stations present. However, this all became clear as the story progressed, along with the at-first puzzling introduction of meltmassif, a substance vital to Lord Shadowspawn's schemes.

Stover shows a sound grasp on the larger Expanded Universe. Two characters with prominent roles originated in the vintage Marvel comics series from the late 1970s and early 80s. Three more are drawn from one of Stover's other novels, creating a very intriguing link. There's a Jango Fett clone acting as Group Captain for Lord Shadowspawn and we follow his rapid rise through the ranks. There are many smaller nods to various sources, including a couple of character names taken from message board posters on Star Wars fan site theforce.net and a funny line of dialogue dealing with the various spellings of Mindor that have appeared in prior sources.

As a closing thought, there are several wonderful emotional high points scattered through the story, but for me the pinnacle was near the end in a scene written from R2-D2's point of view. In a few sentences, Stover briefly illuminates a beautiful image of the scope of the entire saga by acknowledging the relationship between R2-D2 and C-3PO in a movingly insightful way. A perfect capstone to one of the best Star Wars stories I've ever read. I can't recommend Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor highly enough.

Andrew's Review of The Last Command

5/5 Rancors - The Last Command is the climactic novel in Timothy Zahn's superb Thrawn Trilogy, a series published in the early 1990's that laid the groundwork for much of the Star Wars Expanded Universe that was to come. All of Zahn's carefully constructed plotting comes together here in an action-packed and highly rewarding tale, intertwining the militaristic and precise storyline of Grand Admiral's Thrawn's campaign against the New Republic with the more metaphysical struggles of Luke Skywalker and insane Jedi clone Joruus C'baoth. All the main characters from the Original Trilogy take starring roles alongside Thrawn, C'baoth, smuggler Talon Karrde and ex-Emperor's Hand Mara Jade.

Grand Admiral Thrawn has built the armies and resources he requires for a full-out assault on the New Republic. Key to his plans are the clone army he's creating out of Spaarti cylinders, his newly-acquired Katana fleet of Clone Wars-era dreadnoughts, and cloaking shield technology taken from the Emperor's private storehouse of treasures and technology on the hidden planet Wayland. Thrawn's plans for disabling Coruscant are innovative and quite unexpected, making extremely good use of the cloaking shields. As in the first two books, he is generally a step ahead of his opponents, using his careful analysis of people and cultures' artworks to gain a heightened understanding of their motivations and likely courses of action. For some, Zahn's portrayal of Thrawn might verge too close to making him omniscient, but several key errors act to humanize ("Chiss-ize?") the Grand Admiral and make him more believable. To me personally, Thrawn is one of the most intriguing and entertaining villains in all of the Star Wars stories.

Significant portions of this story focus on Talon Karrde and his efforts to unite disparate bands of smugglers against the Empire. Karrde's journey finally takes on aspects of Han Solo's from the films, as Karrde discovers a wellspring of goodness within himself and is finally able to put profit behind helping people and saving the galaxy. It's interesting learning about the struggles for power between the smugglers after the untimely demise of Jabba the Hutt, and the scenes in which Karrde is double-crossed as he attempts to persuade his peers to his side are quite gripping.

Luke has come to terms with his disappointment at learning that C'baoth is a power-hungry and insane clone of the real Jedi Master, and in this final volume he takes a more proactive role to set things right. Echoing the days of being Rebels fighting a guerilla war against the Imperials, Luke and his friends violate all sorts of rules to break Mara out of imprisonment on Coruscant and use her to get to Wayland and set the stage for the final confrontation with C'baoth. For her part, Mara must deal with the titular last command of the Emperor's implanted in her head, ordering her to kill Luke Skywalker. Zahn's way of permitting her to deal with this imperative and simultaneously allowing Luke to live is quite unexpected.

Of the three books, this one has the most material that is in conflict with the prequel films and later EU, but for the most part everything still hangs together well enough. The clones are portrayed as far more unstable than the ones we met in the films and none of them show any evidence of individual personalities here. There are some timeline things that are a little off, but again, the overall feel of Zahn's story works just fine with everything that has come since.

The Thrawn Trilogy is a terrific Star Wars reading experience and fundamentally important to understanding the Bantam series of novels published throughout the 1990s. Zahn continued on to write quite a few more Star Wars novels, fleshing out the stories of Outbound Flight, Mara Jade, and the enigmatic Hand of Thrawn. Highly recommended!

David's Review of The Last Command

5/5 Rancors - The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn is certainly one of the best series in the Star Wars realm. The Last Command is the third book and likely the best, even though the first two are excellent. Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the best characters ever even if he is on the wrong side. His intelligence, military acumen, and sense of anticipation are unsurpassed. He presents a genuine threat to the Republic forces, and he is great fun to watch in action.

The Last Command manages to keep several different, but related stories going throughout the book without confusing the reader. First and foremost, Thrawn has set his sights on destroying the Republic forces and ruling a new Empire. Such an action appears to be well within his capabilities. Second, the rogue Jedi Joruus C’baoth is convinced that he will be the next ruler of the Empire and that Luke, Leia, and Leia’s twins will switch to his side and help him fulfill his mission. Third, Mara Jade continues her efforts to understand her true purpose and whether or not she is irrevocably bound to the command in her head that tells her she is to kill Luke Skywalker. Fourth, the smuggler Talon Karrde again plays a major role in this book. He is uncertain of where his loyalties should lie and believes that he only wants to remain neutral and profitable. He quickly discovers that neutrality is just an academic concept if Thrawn thinks your services will be useful to him.

The characters in the Thrawn Trilogy are excellent. Of course, we have most of our heroes from the films, plus Thrawn, C’baoth, Karrde, and Mara Jade. During the trilogy we also are introduced to the alien species Noghri. The Empire mistreated them for years, and some of their best warriors were forced to leave their home planet and fight for Thrawn’s forces. One actually serves as Thrawn’s personal bodyguard. Leia has worked with them so they will understand how the Empire treated them, and she has met with success. The Noghri turn out to be invaluable as security for Han and Leia’s twins and also play a huge role in the book’s climactic battle.

The action moves back and forth from space to Coruscant to Wayland (location of Palpatine’s personal storeroom) to the Bilbringi shipyards. The book is paced with surprises and great action. The Thrawn Trilogy is one you will not want to miss, and The Last Command is particularly good.

Top 8 of '08: #1 - Stella Meets Star Wars

And now for something completely different.

2008 is when my daughter Stella learned to walk and talk. Inarguably, these are important milestones in a toddler's life. Perhaps a less-recognized milestone is when a toddler first becomes aware of Star Wars. A caveat: I have no interest in brainwashing Stella into being a little Star Wars fan. I want her to feel free to enjoy any suitable entertainment she chooses (and for that matter, we're not allowing her to watch TV yet anyway). As an aside, the photo is Stella wearing her mom's vintage underoos, so that's not me brainwashing either! :-)

However, when she's seeing my basement full of Star Wars memorabilia every day going in and out of the house, it's inevitable that she would start to have some interest. I stepped very carefully in letting her walk through the collection for two reasons. One is safety: there are a lot of fragile statues on glass cabinets she needs to stand back from. The second is I wasn't sure what she'd make of some things, like the life-size bust of Bossk or the large Sideshow Jabba. Would they scare her? Despite these concerns, Stella was insistent on a visit, and over time the occasional visit became a daily tradition. It turned out the only thing that scared her was toys with electronics and motion. As long as everything just sat motionless, she was good with it. She's also been good about not running and being cautious about stepping up to things.

One of our favorite activities has been naming things we see in the room. Early on she developed a sort of mantra, a particular order in which she liked to name four objects. The four things she was so interested in were the Sideshow 1:1 Yoda Bust, the Sideshow 1:6 Jabba, the Pepsi life-size Watto, and the Sideshow 1:1 Bossk Bust. Over and over she would visit those four in that order, naming them. Eventually we hit a point where she'd run through the list out loud in the car, or at a restaurant, or down at the beach. I never knew when we'd have our little conversation, which always went as follows:

Stella: "Yowie"
Me: "Yoda"
Stella: "Jobby"
Me: "Jabba"
Stella: "Wahwo"
Me: "Watto"
Stella: "Boss"
Me: "Bossk"

Having completed our chat, Stella would invariably sit back with a curious little smile of satisfaction on her face. I bet we ran through this chat a hundred times or more in the last few months of 2008.

Of course, she can now name many more things she sees and is working on short sentences. It struck me how transient her childhood will be when the other day she said "Jabba" with perfect pronunciation instead of "Jobby." I have no idea how long she'll be interested in visiting the collection or naming these characters. It will be a long time until we show her any actual Star Wars content, and by then she may have completely moved on, which is cool.

However, this little period of sharing Star Wars with my daughter in our small way is something precious I'll never forget, and that's why it's easily my favorite Star Wars memory of last year.

Top 8 of '08: #2 - The TV Show

What could be better than seeing a new Star Wars film hit the silver screen? How about a Star Wars TV show every Friday night in the comfort of your living room? In 2008, both became a reality, as the August release of the Clone Wars movie was quickly followed by the October 3 Cartoon Network debut of the new Clone Wars show. The series debuted with two episodes back-to-back, a great decision that quickly introduced the breadth of the show and the variety of stories we are going to be seeing. My, was I excited to see this years-in-development project finally unfold; I probably watched each of the episodes four times before the weekend was over.

This wasn't the first time Star Wars had been on the small screen. In fact, there have been several prior takes on bringing its epic scope home. First there was the infamous and oft-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, aired once and then buried by George Lucas, apparently out of embarassment. Then, after Return of the Jedi, Lucasfilm took several shots at translating the saga over to television. We got twenty-six episodes of the Ewoks cartoon, thirteen episodes of Droids (plus a special), and two Ewok live-action movies. So it wasn't really a new idea to attempt a small-screen Star Wars event when, at Celebration III, Lucas announced plans to do two series.

What felt different for me this time was the level of Lucas's involvement. The past shows were all markedly tangential to the main saga, in three out of five cases focusing on Ewoks. This time Lucas was in from the beginning and apparently over time has become more and more closely involved in the story development. Having his direct involvement and approval is significant to me as a fan. Although there are many, many things I love in the Expanded Universe, nothing replaces getting more story from the creator of the saga. Probably no one out there would agree with every creative decision he has made, but for my part, I'm good with the vast majority of them.

So far I am highly impressed with the quality of The Clone Wars. The show has gone a long ways towards bringing back the fun, adventurous spirit of the Original Trilogy. Especially impressive is the filling out of Anakin's character. We know he was a great hero of the Clone Wars, but prior explorations have dwelt more on his brooding, troubled side rather than on his good aspects. Personally, I don't want to have Anakin's life shown as a constant series of little steps towards the Dark Side. I accept the reasons behind his sudden fall as depicted in Revenge of the Sith and at this point am more interested in why Obi-Wan considered him a brother and how the Chosen One made a difference during the three-year war.

We got ten episodes in 2008 and are now rolling forward with the rest of Season One. What truly makes me shiver in anticipation is Lucasfilm's stated plan to make one hundred episodes (or more). What a wealth of material fans are going to be seeing in the next few years! Coupled with the promise of the live-action series to come, it is truly a great time for Star Wars.

Top 8 of '08: #3 - The Movie

At Celebration III, right before the release of the final Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas made a surprising announcement to an auditorium packed with fans. Star Wars was going to continue, but not on the big screen. The future was in television and two TV series were currently in development. The first was an animated cartoon based on the Clone Wars and the second a live-action series set in the Dark Times between Episodes III and IV.

Fast forward three years. Beyond a teaser trailer for the cartoon shown at San Diego Comic Con in July of 2007, there had been remarkably little news about the development of the show. That changed in February of 2008, where not only was a Fall launch date unveiled for the TV show, but also an announcement was made that, despite previous disclaimers, the show would be preceded by a theatrical movie! It took a while for it to sink in with me that the Star Wars theatrical experience was not over, that once again I would be sitting in a large dark room watching a new story from that galaxy far, far away.

The Clone Wars hit theaters August 15, 2008. August is traditionally a dull spot for summer releases, when people are focused on getting back to school and summer vacations are ending. I had very little feel for the general zeitgeist surrouding this flick. Were people going to line up like any other Star Wars film in the past? Would I be sitting in a theater packed with ravening fans or was this a much lower-key experience that what had gone before?

Turns out it was the latter. In my case, we couldn't work out a sitter for Friday, so I ended up seeing it the following Monday. I was so stoked all day long, sitting in the office waiting to get to the theater. My parents sat Stella and so Gina and I went to a late afternoon showing followed by a lovely dinner. There were maybe a dozen folks in the theater, tops, and we had premium seats right in the center with plenty of space around us. Digital projection makes for a great theatrical experience and this was no exception. About eight minutes of trailers for various goofy films, a couple of PSAs and we were off.

The movie itself? I loved it. I expected a light-hearted Clone Wars romp and I got it. The movie largely served to initiate viewers into the new look and feel (especially those who had enjoyed the 2D Clone Wars aired a few years earlier) and to introduce Ahsoka Tano. The vertical battle on Teth was a particular favorite moment of mine, and just getting a chance to see Anakin and Obi-Wan in action again was enough to make me happy. After walking out of the theater, I couldn't wait for the TV show to begin!

I ended up seeing The Clone Wars four times on the big screen. One time I was the only person in the theater and that's something I won't forget. I've never had a private Star Wars theatrical viewing before, and it was so fun sitting in that massive empty room as the lights went down and the music blared out. Fantastic.

It's certainly debatable whether releasing this film had the impact Lucasfilm and Warner Bros. were looking for. The film netted $35 million in the U.S. plus another $33 millon overseas. Small potatoes by past Star Wars standards, but considering its origin as a Friday night Cartoon Network show, quite amazing. Regardless of the success of the movie, I know I had a blast seeing it and for my part would be thrilled to have every season kick off the same way (doesn't seem likely, though). Seeing Star Wars return to the big screen was my #3 Star Wars experience of 2008.

David's Review of Dark Force Rising

5/5 Rancors - Dark Force Rising is the second book in the Thrawn Trilogy and is a great continuation of the struggle between the Republic and Grand Admiral Thrawn’s forces. What we are most interested in this time is the legendary Katana fleet, a large fleet of dreadnoughts lost years ago in the depths of space. It is somewhat difficult to imagine that a fleet of this size has never been found, but space is a big place. The fleet is considered to be a myth by most people, but a few know otherwise. Both sides desperately want to find the dreadnoughts as they could prove to be the difference in the war.

Mara Jade and the smuggler Talon Karrde play major roles in this tale. Karrde wants to remain neutral and profitable, but Thrawn forces his hand by attacking the smuggler’s base of operations on Myrkr. Mara Jade is an extremely interesting character. She is determined to kill Luke because of his role in the death of the Emperor, but she just never seems to be able to actually do it. She works with Karrde and then with Thrawn and creates several interesting complications.

Luke is still involved with trying to shape the Jedi movement, and he is drawn into a confrontation with the rogue Jedi (or Jedi clone) Joruus C’baoth on Jomark. C’baoth considers himself to be the true leader of the Jedi, and he wants Luke as well as Leia and her twins so he can train them in what he espouses to be the correct Jedi way. Leia is busy for much of the book trying to make allies of the Noghri, an alien species that is an excellent addition to the Star Wars realm.

The Thrawn Trilogy is consistently outstanding. I believe that any Star Wars fan will love all three books in this series.

David's Review of Heir to the Empire

5/5 Rancors - Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn is the first book in a series that has come to be referred to as the Thrawn Trilogy. That is as it should be because Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the best villains in the entire Expanded Universe and this is one of the best books.

Our timeline is approximately five years after Return of the Jedi, so our favorite characters are still around, just five years down the road. Han and Leia have twins on the way. Luke is trying to establish a direction for the Jedi movement. Other favorites also have roles to play, but Thrawn steals the show. You can’t help but be impressed by him even though he is one of the bad guys. His intelligence is overwhelming. He always seems to be at least one step ahead of everybody else. Captain Pellaeon, the commander of Thrawn’s flagship, is constantly trying to understand the rationale behind the orders he receives. Thrawn is the last of the Emperor’s warlords, and he has taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet. His goal, in short, is to do what the Emperor failed to do, i.e., destroy the Republic. Mara Jade also is an important presence in Heir to the Empire. She is the former Emperor’s Hand and a Force user, so her skills are considerable. One other character who has sided with Thrawn is Joruus C’baoth, a strange Jedi with a prickly personality and significant powers in the Force.

This book was first published in 1991 and was like a breath of fresh air for Star Wars fans who were missing the films. They could pull for their heroes again. Heir to the Empire is an excellent read on its own, but it also does a fine job of leading into the next two books in the trilogy. This is a must read for any Star wars fan.

Top 8 of '08: #4 - Sideshow Collectibles

For several years now, there have been two Star Wars licensees warring for the top spot in my collector's heart. The first, as you may guess from my #5 of '08 entry, is LEGO. The other is a company that started in the 1990s producing mostly vintage horror movie collectibles and a few other lower-profile lines. That company, Sideshow Collectibles, saw a gigantic shift in their fortunes when they picked up the Lord of the Rings license and began releasing statues, busts, medallions, helmets, plaques and more based on the smash-hit trilogy. Lord of the Rings is how I came to know about Sideshow, and from the get-go I was bowled over by their quality and their commitment to customer service. For me, the high level of customer focus is what sets them apart. There are many high-end lines a collector can choose from, but with Sideshow I know that if I have a problem, they will set it right.

The big evolution in my Sideshow collecting came a few years ago when they started producing Star Wars goodies. In 2008, their Star Wars offerings included 1:6 scale figures, 1:4 scale Premium Format statues, 1:1 scale life-size busts and droid replicas, and a stellar assortment of diorama statues depicting various key moments from the films. Collecting Sideshow in 2008 was a terrific experience. As usual, their service was excellent. They have the pre-order process down to a science, and I was able to get in on every order I wanted, including every 1:6 exclusive made to date. The 1:6 Darth Vader and Stormtrooper exclusives each sold out in roughly five minutes, so it's a good thing Sideshow has created a robust and quick ordering process.

I picked up many items from Sideshow last year but a few stand out. The diorama line has had hit after hit so far and the future for it seems practically limitless. The first one I acquired in 2008 was Count Dooku vs. Yoda. Great portraits on both and a truly dynamic sculpt, recreating their very memorable duel from Attack of the Clones. Prioritizing meant I had to skip the Duel of the Fates diorama, featuring the climactic duel from The Phantom Menace, but I am hoping to pick it up in 2009. The next diorama for me was a second one from Attack of the Clones (a movie I love that often seems to get overlooked) and featured Padme battling the Nexu in the Geonosis arena. This one was bigger and better than expected, measuring 19" to the top of the chain. I hope they'll plan on an Anakin vs. Reek and an Obi-Wan vs. Acklay someday down the road! The last diorama of the year was the incredible Ambush on Hoth, but as I got it in early 2009, I'll save it for next year's Top 9 of '09.

Other highlights included the first armored figure in the 1:6 line. Instead of an obvious choice like a clone or stormtrooper, Sideshow surprised us with Obi-Wan Kenobi in his hybrid Jedi/clone armor outfit. The figure turned out great, showing that armored figures are quite possible well below the ~$150 price point Medicom had been making them for. 2009 looks to be the year of armored figures, so I'm pleased the first one was solid. The other particular high points last year that stand out to me are the Premium Format Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress. Excellent portraits, iconic poses, and worthwhile exclusive alternate heads made these a hit. Lastly, 2008 is when I picked up the life-size Bossk bust, paid for by selling my Simpsons collection. A cool item and it's nice to get rid of a bunch of small plastic figures for one much higher-end bust.

The excellent items and high level of satisfaction make collecting Sideshow my #4 Star Wars experience of 2008. This is my third and last entry about collecting with three experiences yet to reveal.

Top 8 of '08: #5 - Star Wars LEGO

If I had been doing a list like this every year since 1999, I'm confident LEGO would be on it each time. What an incredible line of products they've made! I still remember back when I was a personal equity portfolio manager reading the Wall Street Journal at the start of each day. In the summer of 1998, there was an amazing article in Section B. It announced that LEGO was embarking on their first licensed line, and what better license to pick than Star Wars!?!? I jumped out of my chair and celebrated as if a stock in my clients' portfolios had been bought out and we'd all made a pile of money (I didn't stick with that career much longer, FWIW). When I was a kid, Star Wars and LEGO were my two primary and almost my only toys I played with - the idea of the two of them together was like peanut butter and jelly.

Jump forward ten years and the LEGO line is still going gangbusters. This year saw the usual lineup of small to mid-size kits early in the year followed by bigger ones in the summer. The summer assortment focused heavily on the Clone Wars series, with seven kits debuting on July 26 (four in wide release and three as retailer exclusives). Target also brought us the Republic Tank late in the year, and to top it all off LEGO offered two direct exclusives: a Ultimate Collector's Series model of General Grievous and a $400, 3800+ piece Death Star playset. Grievous must not have sold so well, as he was marked down 50% after Black Friday and has stayed there (I picked mine up at that price). I haven't gotten the Death Star set yet, but I have every confidence it is a fantastic build and hope to see it someday.

All of these sets were great fun, but the top LEGO experience for me personally in 2008 was building the Ultimate Collector's Series Millennium Falcon. When released in 2007, it was the largest kit LEGO had ever made (the new Taj Mahal tops it in piece count but not in scale). I got mine late in '07 but held off on building it until I finished a renovation of my collection space. When I finally got to it, I was amazed. I've never built a kit so large, of course, and the nights of putting together whatever steps I could fit in became a huge blur by the end of the process. Finished, it is a thing of beauty. I don't really know if I'll ever take it apart, which would be the first kit I've ever felt that way about.

Through the years, LEGO continues to deliver on quality and on excitement, and so collecting and building their Star Wars line in '08 is my #5 Star Wars experience of the year.

Top 8 of '08: #6 - Midnight Madness

July 26, 2008 will be a day long remembered. Each of the prequel films had a particular street date associated with it for the massive release of the initial waves of merchandise. Some stores have been open at midnight each time to allow more, um, intense collectors an "early bird" shot at all the new goodies. I've been there each time. The first was the most memorable, celebrating the release of the first Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi sixteen years earlier. My wife Gina and I were out in Denver, CO for Star Wars Celebration I, and the town was stuffed to the gills with fans ravenous for new toys. We stood in line at a remote Toys 'R Us with about one hundred other folks and battled it out. My wife, bless her, actually dove into the seething pit of humanity crammed in front of the pegs to extract the figures we were looking for. A fun night.

Midnight Madness II, for Attack of the Clones, found us living outside of Portland, ME. I didn't plan on going but when the night arrived, I couldn't resist. Sadly, the Wal-Mart nearby was not a 24 hour store, and the local Toys 'R Us wasn't particularly impressive, so we drove an hour north to Auburn to find a Wal-Mart actually putting stuff out at midnight. It was very low key. Maybe one dozen collectors total, and the toys employee, who was initially jittery and not very happy to be assigned our section, ended up having a great time and brought out enough cases to make sure everyone left happy.

The third one was here in North Carolina and once again I picked Wal-Mart over Toys 'R Us. Less chaos, better prices, more selection. Gina accompanied me this third time as well (and we're still married!) and like the second go-round, things were sedate. Plenty of stuff to go around. Funny part was in the morning, when I went back out on my own to pick up some stuff I'd skipped at night. The bank got suspicious of the morning retail charges coupled with the large midnight purchase and called the house to make sure the card shouldn't be shut down. I still smile picturing Gina sleepily explaining to the bank what her husband was out doing with the card.

So, I thought that would be the end of Midnight Madness. No more movies = no more mass merchandise releases. Well, the Lucasfilm engine keeps on turning and three years later a TV show led by a theatrical movie suddenly arrived! Naturally, events of this magnitude had to be accompanied by another toy night. This time, Gina and our daughter Stella were at the beach, so I went out with my friend Jason. Had a nice dinner, drove by Toys 'R Us to inspect the folks in line, and ended up at a quasi-remote Wal-Mart for the third time of the four. Talk about low-key: there was only one other person buying anything at all, and he was an employee mysteriously hiding behind dark sunglasses and a pulled-down cap (after all, the sun is pretty bad at 12:15 a.m.). It was fun having the run of the place, though. Slept a few hours and then ran back out on my usual morning follow-up, this time accompanied by my buddy Michael. All very civilized.

Lately I've dropped collecting most of the toys (with the exception of the 3 3/4" figures) in favor of more high-end items, especially Sideshow. As a result, I expect this year's Midnight Madness will be the last one where I'll drop a significant amount of coin in the middle of the night. Collections mature and grow and mine is no exception. However, it was great unexpected fun to get to do this one more time, and that's why Midnight Madness was my #6 Star Wars experience of 2008.

Top 8 of '08: #7 - Mindor & Order 66

Rancors Love to Read was originally created to read all the Star Wars novels in chronological order. One challenge with this was that the order is constantly being realigned, as new novels are published that often fall between existing books. When we started, we decided to read new novels as they were published, rather than trying to force them into the sequence artificially. Over time, this has proven to be the right choice, and the initial list we started with has expanded by over two dozen entries.

Out of all the new novels published this year, there were two clear highlights. The first and biggest barely squeaked into the year at all! Released on December 30, Matthew Stover's Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor is one of the best Star Wars novels I've ever had the pleasure of reading. My full review of it is forthcoming, but in short it was an emotionally-charged thrill ride in the vein of the Original Trilogy. Luke is my favorite film character, and between this novel and Dark Horse's awesome collection outlined in my #8 of '08 blog entry, it was a great year to be a Luke fan. While there were a few points early in the story where I had a bit of trouble fully engaging, once it got going I tore through the book like it was on fire. Del Rey needs to contract Stover for as many future novels as possible, RIGHT NOW.

The other highlight of 2008 Del Rey stories was Karen Traviss' Order 66. Her Republic Commando series has been an unexpectedly deep and innovative take on the Clone Wars and the galaxy far, far away. Over the prior three books, I had grown to truly care for some of her characters, and it was with a mixture of excitement and dread that I opened the covers of Order 66 and began to read. Any fan knows the implications of the actual order itself going in, but the way in which Traviss plays it out was satisfying yet left the reader wanting more. The good news is we will get more this summer as we embark upon the Imperial Commando saga.

For these two particular highlights and for the rest of the largely high-quality stories published in 2008 (including the incredible 3-volume update of the Star Wars Encyclopedia), reading Del Rey books gets my #7 berth for top Star Wars experiences in 2008.

Top 8 of '08: #8 - Luke Skywalker: Last Hope for the Galaxy

Rancors Love to Read is focused on reading all of the adult novels in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. However, there is another hugely important and exciting element to reading Star Wars, and that's the comic books. Marvel started publishing Star Wars comics in the late 1970s, meeting with considerable success and rolling out monthly books throughout the run of the Original Trilogy. After Return of the Jedi, the series, which had topped one hundred issues, ceased and Star Wars comics lay fallow for the rest of the 1980s.

In the early 1990s Timothy Zahn kicked the doors of the modern Star Wars Expanded Universe wide open with his acclaimed Thrawn Trilogy. At the same time, Dark Horse comics picked up the Star Wars license, blasting out of the gate with the Dark Empire saga and never looking back. Now, over fifteen years down the road, Dark Horse is still going strong. They have published hundreds of issues, many distinct series, and there are trade paperback graphic novels compiling the vast majority of the content, along with a select few hardcovers.

What we haven't had until 2008 is any sort of truly deluxe, pull-out-all-the-stops hardcover compilation. That all changed last fall with the release of Luke Skywalker: Last Hope for the Galaxy. This massive tome, weighing in at several pounds and a whopping 832 pages, collects various key Luke Skywalker stories from throughout the years, including several entries from the Marvel era. The book is oversized, bringing details to the light that were difficult to discern in earlier releases, and includes some stories that aren't easy to track down, such as "Day after the Death Star" from the Marvel UK comics. Also included is a newly colored rendition of "Luke Skywalker's Walkabout," from the rare Dark Horse Presents Annual 1999. The book comes in a quality slipcover, has a bookmark built in, and simply feels like quality in your hands. Luke is my favorite character from the films and wading through this gigantic book on a beach vacation in November was a delightful journey indeed.

Also notable in 2008 was the continuing success of Dark Horse's ongoing titles. The company currently has four Star wars series running: Knights of the Old Republic, Dark Times, Rebellion, and Legacy. Dark Times and Rebellion took a break in the middle of the year while Dark Horse worked on a new Clone Wars series as part of the big push behind the cartoon, but they will return this year. Legacy and Knights of the Old Republic are two of the best series the company has ever published. Both benefit from featuring non-film characters and utilizing timeframes where we don't already know what's going to happen. I look forward with extreme anticipation to each graphic novel release in these series and have not been disappointed to date.

Speaking of the push for the cartoon, Dark Horse also returned to the Clone Wars era with two new titles. One is a six issue stories written by Henry Gilroy, lead writer for the TV show, telling a tale of Anakin and Ahsoka butting heads with slavers, and the other is a new quarterly digest-size series in the style of the cartoon. It's great seeing Dark Horse return to the Clone Wars era, and even though these offerings have quite a different tone than the excellent 40+ Clone Wars issues that were published between the releases of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, they are a welcome addition to the universe.

For the impressive Luke Skywalker: Last Hope for the Galaxy and the generally high quality of the ongoing comics, Dark Horse earns a berth as my #8 of '08 Star Wars experiences.

Andrew's Top 8 Star Wars Experiences of '08

Almost everybody loves making lists recounting their personal "best ofs" at the end of the year. I'm not above this trend, and even though we're a little more than a week into 2009, I thought it'd be enjoyable to reflect on my favorite Star Wars experiences of 2008. I should note something here that's not obvious from reading this blog: I'm even more into collecting Star Wars than I am into reading it. So my list will reflect that interest as well as a couple of the literary highlights. Of course, viewing Star Wars is always the core of enjoying it. The saga started as a film and nothing ever replaces the sensation of seeing that yellow logo appear on a screen.

So, without further ado, my Top 8 Star Wars experiences of 2008!

Andrew's Review of Dark Force Rising

5/5 Rancors - Timothy Zahn continues the incredible story of the New Republic's efforts to repel the attacks of the formidable Grand Admiral Thrawn in Dark Force Rising, the second volume of a trilogy. Set five years after Return of the Jedi, this book is an excellent continuation of one of the most interesting storylines in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Since the trilogy was written in the early 1990's, some details have been contradicted by the prequel films and the immense growth of the saga, but the overall impact of the story is undiminished and things fit together remarkably well.

The book opens with Thrawn's assault upon smuggler Talon Karrde's base of operations on the planet Myrkr. Karrde is struggling to maintain his profitable neutrality in this conflict, but the open attack by the Empire starts him down a path that ultimately will have major ramifications in determining the victor between the Imperial remnant and the fledgling New Republic. Zahn avoids painting Karrde as a carbon-copy of Han Solo, another smuggler whose heart is opened to his inner goodness via external events, by keeping Karrde as an outside force willing to collaborate with the New Republic but not willing to flat-out join.

The primary focus of this second volume's plot is centered around the Katana fleet, a legendary group of Clone Wars-era automated dreadnoughts lost in the uncharted depths of space. This fleet, also known as the "Dark Force," is fantastically desirable to both the New Republic and Grand Admiral Thrawn. The galaxy largely believes the massive fleet to be a myth, but events here prove otherwise and we are swept to a tense conclusion in which both sides make their play to acquire this source of power.

The former Emperor's Hand and Imperial assassin Mara Jade plays a key role in this story. Her impetus to kill Luke Skywalker remains from the first book, but essentially there's never a good time to actually do it. Indeed, despite blaming him for the collapse of her life and despite the Emperor's implanted suggestions, she ends up teaming with Luke to save Karrde and his crew from the Empire. Zahn does a great job weaving her story into Luke's and she brings a very interesting perspective as an ex-Imperial servant. Also enjoyable is a sequence in which she meets Grand Admiral Thrawn and starts to realize that her role as Emperor's Hand wasn't quite what she thought it was.

Luke learns more about the Force and the Jedi through his meeting with the mad Jedi clone Joruus C'baoth on the planet Jomark. Luke is portrayed as very unsure of himself, a decision I don't entirely agree with, but considering that Luke is single-handedly attempting to chart the future of the Jedi, I can see why Zahn developed this particular characterization. If Luke had been a little more self-confident of his own feelings about right and wrong, I don't believe he would have spent very long with C'baoth, but I do like how this time depicts Luke as extremely anxious to weigh all possible paths and opinions as he forges his own vision of a new Jedi Order. Also valuable to this portrayal is a short but engaging scene where Luke arbitrates a small dispute between two aliens in a bar and realizes the high esteem that much of the galaxy still places in Jedi.

Dark Force Rising has a spectacular storyline involving Leia's efforts to understand and ally with the Noghri people, the same species who assiduously attempted to kidnap her and her unborn twins throughout Heir to the Empire. Leia journeys with Chewbacca and C-3PO to Honoghr, the devastated Noghri home world. The Noghri are a brilliant addition to the Star Wars universe, a truly alien species that Leia struggles to relate to and eventually is able to reach. The sequence in which Leia discerns the truth concerning what the Empire did to the Noghri and Honoghr is absolutely compelling.

The Thrawn Trilogy is some of the best reading in the Expanded Universe, and as such Dark Force Rising is highly recommended. Zahn offers a potent mix of action, politics, character development, and intriguing plotlines to make a fresh and highly readable tale.

Recent Books

I just had the pleasure of steaming through Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor on my short New Year's vacation and I must say, what an incredible read. Stover nails the characterizations of the beloved OT characters like virtually none before him have accomplished. Full review forthcoming.

Also, I'm one hundred pages into Clone Wars: Wild Space and loving it as well. Karen Miller is taking a lot of time with interesting character building and development rather than action, making the book a lovely counterpart to the cartoon series. What a great time to be a Star Wars fan!