by Joe Schreiber

Whenever a new SW book comes out, of course I’m going to buy it and read it, but when it’s written by a first-time SW author, I’m always hesitant. Death Troopers is Joe Schreiber’s first. It starts out great with a nice pace then quickly deteriorates into a story that contains stereotypical horror genre monsters. I really liked the characters and the beginning held so much promise, but then Schreiber introduces well-established SW characters, so it ruins the story’s ending long before it ends. This sci-fi/horror (stereotypical horror, remember) cross genre is incredibly LAME. Big disappointment.

We just returned from seeing The Men Who Stare At Goats, but since Robin, who’s a huge Kevin Spacey fan hasn’t seen it yet, I won’t write a review but I’ve included the trailer. And I will say this: though based on a true story, the movie spoofs the Jedi Order, which is especially funny because Ewan McGregor, also in the movie, plays young Obi-Wan who’s a Jedi of course (see right), in TPM and AOTC. But you don’t need to be an SW fan or know anything at all about SW to appreciate the movie.

Also, there was a bunch of teenagers, mainly girls, sitting in a line outside the theater, and I was like, “What the fuck?” Brian said they were camping out for the new Twilight movie, which I’m not even bothering to link to. Turns out they’re showing it at like midnight or something. Barf. On our way out, Brian wanted to ask them if they were waiting for the new Harry Potter movie.

photo [via]

by Terry Brooks

Books tend to be better than their movie versions, and in this case, though the movie was released first, the book is still better. I’m not a big sci-fi/fantasy lit. fan (except for Star Wars obviously, and Harry Potter I suppose), so I’m unfamiliar with Terry Brooks’s work, but it’s clear he’s an excellent writer. I just don’t like his writing style.

Brooks wrote in scenes and in some places, entire chapters, but The Phantom Menace isn’t his story. If I read one of his own novels, I may have a different opinion. I realize that what bothers me about his writing style is nitpicky. For example, he often refers to Obi-Wan as Qui-Gon’s protégé, which he is, but I don’t believe that word exists in Basic (the predominant language in the Star Wars universe). “Padawan” and “apprentice” are more appropriate. At one point, Brooks uses the word glass, but in SW, this is called “transparisteel,” just as paper is “flimsiplast” or “flimsi” for short, and concrete is “permacrete.”

As mentioned earlier, TPM novelization is an improvement over the movie. One reason, and this is certainly true for most books-to-movies, is because the storyline is expanded. Brooks’s additions provide more insight into the characters’ qualities and relationships with one another, along with their intentions and motivations. He achieves this even in chapters directly from the screenplay by cutting a bit here and writing in something there, which results in more fully developed characters. The author also allows readers into the characters’ heads, successfully transforming Jar Jar from an annoying fool into a tolerable being with intelligent thoughts and sincere feelings but without the capacity to express them.

If not for the special effects and Darth Maul’s gratifyingly menacing face, all of which are described well, I’d recommend the book over the movie. Without a doubt.

by Jan Strnad, Anthony Winn, and Robert Jones

Prelude to Rebellion is a six-issue series with a bonus mini story arc in issue #s 4, 5, and 6. Both are biographical accounts of Jedi Council Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, including how he was named to the Jedi High Council and, in the mini-series entitled “Vow of Justice,” how he was discovered to be Force-sensitive as a child.

Prelude and “Vow” describe life and culture on Cerea, Ki’s homeworld. For example, the ratio of men to women is one to twenty, so men, including Ki, have a bond-wife and several honor-wives. Some men will go as far as kidnapping a male child in order to have a son, so one can understand Ki’s father’s relief and reluctance in allowing him to study at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Once he finishes his trials (approximately 67 BBY), Ki returns as the guardian of peace and justice on Cerea. Only his lightsaber marks his difference from the rest of Cerean security, as he wears the same uniform rather than Jedi robes.

When Prelude begins (33 BBY), Cerea, a world far from the Core, is a non-technological planet, still relying on pack animals as transportation, for instance. Despite Republic representatives’ presentations of the benefits of bringing technology to Cerean society, the planet’s governing body of Elders refuses after a counter-presentation by Ki. As it turns out, one of his daughters is involved in pro-tech rallies. Thus, Prelude also covers themes such as family life, and generation and gender gaps — Ki may be an esteemed Jedi, but that doesn’t mean he’s a great husband or father.

Prelude encompasses the first six issues of the 83-issue Star Wars comic series, Republic. Unfortunately, both the larger and mini-series rely too heavily on narrative rather than dialogue and artwork to tell the stories. The art, particularly for Prelude, more than makes up for this and keeps the action exciting.

by Michael Reaves

Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter centers on Maul and what should have been, for him, a simple mission that Michael Reaves turns into a novel with potential but falls flat. Not only is the story predictable, the author’s writing is . . . not good.

The narrative is written mostly in the vernacular, that is, in plain language, which is fine. However, on many occasions he suddenly incorporates one word that, though perhaps accurate in usage, simply does not belong in the phrasing. Some examples: “Darsha felt the stairwell shift and shudder as if in the throes of a temblor” (153). “Temblor”? Is there something wrong with “earthquake”? Or: “It was a twisty path that Green Hair led them down, even for Coruscant — through dark alleys and back utility routes grown vermicularly complex over the centuries” (277). “Wormlike” would have worked just as well if not better than “vermicularly,” especially since one character here is called Green Hair. Reaves also uses weak similes such as, “a stab of pain like a blaster bolt through her skull” (199) to describe a headache.

Shifts in point of view are not smooth. A situation or action takes place in just a few paragraphs, then abruptly continues from a different character’s viewpoint. This happens often between Maul, the antagonist, and Darsha Assant, one of the protagonists. Indeed, what Reaves does best is draw parallels between the Sith apprentice and the Padawan by describing both characters’ interpretations and subsequent actions via the Sith and Jedi Codes, respectively. Still, disappointing all the way around.

The good news is, James Luceno’s short story, “Darth Maul: Saboteur,” previously available only in electronic format, is included in the paperback version of Shadow Hunter and is a real treat.