Victor Hugo Kebbe
The first book I read by Carrie Fisher was [b:Wishful Drinking 4961048 Wishful Drinking Carrie Fisher https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347698159s/4961048.jpg 5026857], a work in which she exposes herself in a very sincere and passionate way. From then on, I gained a deep admiration for the actress, realizing that she has faced good and bad times throughout her life.Because of her tragic death last year, I decided to read [b:The Princess Diarist 26025989 The Princess Diarist Carrie Fisher https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1482921522s/26025989.jpg 45949491] and, once again, I “met” Carrie Fisher in her rather intimate writing, not only revealing an old diary from her days in Star Wars IV, but also punctuating a few other moments of her trajectory as an actress and as the personification of Princess Leia Organa.The book is very interesting, being a very sincere and harsh telling of her life experience. Fisher acknowledges to have been quite insecure in the mid-1970s', a point that has affected her in subsequent years. As I began to accompany the actress on social networks, I realized that her long learning process lasted until the last day of her life. One of the last tweets of the actress was about the critics of the fans about her aging and the arduous passage of time.The book is very beautiful, especially when the actress shows her reflections about her aging, her relationship with her mother, her relationship with Star Wars fans and, most interestingly, her relationship with Princess Leia, always punctuated by several behind-the-scenes photos. The ending is quite sad, marked by another very emblematic photo of the actress's career.I was quite saddened by the end of reading, feeling that we all lost a great human being, very sensitive and who still had much to teach us much more about humanity.
First of all, the boundaries that separate this book as Young Adult novel as opposed to an adult novel are absurdly tenuous and difficult to identify without reflecting a mere distinction of the publishing industry.
This book has earned my respect and admiration for treating the Star Wars saga in an incredibly innovative way. Even though I've been a fan of Star Wars for a long time, this book has brought a lot of boldness and success in the presentation of the new expanded universe and the classic trilogy.
The book features two new protagonists, Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell, beginning their studies together at the Imperial Academy of Coruscant. Both are observing the great events of the war between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance throughout their military trajectories, whereas one of them defects the Empire and decides to enter for the Rebellion.
Claudia Gray has been able to insert everything in this novel of action, tragedy, humor and even a forbidden love. Far from being cheesy, the author managed to accomplish such a feat with great success, presenting a quite engaging narrative which deserves to be read by every fan of the saga.
The book also presents the bridge for a better understanding of the transition period between episode six and episode seven. It was quite interesting to follow the great battles of the classic trilogy from another perspective, giving me a reinvigorated view of the Star Wars saga.
First of all, the boundaries that separate this book as Young Adult novel as opposed to an adult novel are absurdly tenuous and difficult to identify without reflecting a mere distinction of the publishing industry.
This book has earned my respect and admiration for treating the Star Wars saga in an incredibly innovative way. Even though I've been a fan of Star Wars for a long time, this book has brought a lot of boldness and success in the presentation of the new expanded universe and the classic trilogy.
The book features two new protagonists, Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell, beginning their studies together at the Imperial Academy of Coruscant. Both are observing the great events of the war between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance throughout their military trajectories, whereas one of them defects the Empire and decides to enter for the Rebellion.
Claudia Gray has been able to insert everything in this novel of action, tragedy, humor and even a forbidden love. Far from being cheesy, the author managed to accomplish such a feat with great success, presenting a quite engaging narrative which deserves to be read by every fan of the saga.
The book also presents the bridge for a better understanding of the transition period between episode six and episode seven. It was quite interesting to follow the great battles of the classic trilogy from another perspective, giving me a reinvigorated view of the Star Wars saga.
After several years I did return to the roleplaying games, especially, Dungeons & Dragons. One of my favorite campaign settings over there is Forgotten Realms, known because of its diversity and how it portraits the best of High Fantasy tropes (and, of course, its clichés). But of all Forgotten Realms, I've always liked Icewind Dale.
Icewind Dale has this name because of the unrelenting snow storms and the harsh life style at the faerûnian tundra. The Ten-Towns can be seen as the last bastion of human civilization in the end of the world, beyond the mountains of the Spine of the World and far from the luxurious and vivid cities of the south.
The Crystal Shard was the first time we get to know better Icewind Dale and its people, introducing a Dungeons & Dragons/Forgotten Realms adventure in a new way. The first time I read this book, I found it rather dull. In that time I found the characters hallow and superficial, with equally weak motivations. However, during my second reading of the series, I was able to have more fun leaving all those expectations aside.
The Crystal Shard is a simple, fast and plain reading, without great pretensions. Do not expect a great classic of the Fantasy genre, but rather a fun story that is able to entertain the reader for several hours, and maybe that was the author's goal when he wrote this classic in the 1980s.
We have the first appearance of Drizzt Do'Urden, Bruenor, Wulfgar, Regis and Cattie-Brie, characters well known in the world of roleplaying games. My impression is that the book has two main arcs, the first being the introduction of the characters, at a quite different pace than what happens in the second half of the book. Although loosely connected, the second part of the book presents an epic adventure to save the towns of Icewind Dale.
In this sense, I find problematic to read this book as a single story, because it is in the second part of the book that we have several elements of action that will unfold in the other books in the series. The way the author introduced the characters in the first half of the book might have been done differently.
However, The Crystal Shard entertained me a lot in the last few days, which was quite differently from the first time I read it, several years ago. If you're looking for a simple and fast reading Fantasy book, surely this is a good choice. I could clearly see that the narrative in this book is very similar to an RPG adventure, with its various heroes completing different missions (the adventures) for a larger purpose (the campaign).
It's an interesting adventure, considering that we don't have no new Deep Space Nine stories for a long, long time now. I'd like to see something more epic, like the Dominion, Cardassian, Klingon or Romulan plots than this one about scoundrels coming from all over the place to DS9. I did like the artwork, but some facial expressions are too exaggerated sometimes. I did never see Sisko with a bloodlust face... but it was nice, to read a new DS9 adventure...
It's an interesting adventure, considering that we don't have no new Deep Space Nine stories for a long, long time now. I'd like to see something more epic, like the Dominion, Cardassian, Klingon or Romulan plots than this one about scoundrels coming from all over the place to DS9. I did like the artwork, but some facial expressions are too exaggerated sometimes. I did never see Sisko with a bloodlust face... but it was nice, to read a new DS9 adventure...
All of this has happened before and it will happen again. Someone already wrote in here: this book is amazingly uneven.
There are some AMAZING essays around here, mixed with some that does not have the same analytical sophistication.
I still do not like the introduction and the final chapter. I think if you don't like the show or, if you want to criticize this BSG in a collection of academic essays like this, you have to do a better intellectual investment than just pouring out you didn't like the show just because it ended badly.
I didn't like the end of BSG and I agree with the editors in all of their statements, but I think these articles (and that one by Ryman) are kind of out of place. But I MUST point out those essays that I did love. Here they are:
“Frak Me Reproduction, Gender, Sexuality”, by LORNA JOWETT;
“Real-imagining Terror in Battlestar Galactica Negotiating Real and Fantasy in Battlestar Galactica's Political Metaphor”, by STEVEN RAWLE;
“Butch Girls, Brittle Boys and Sexy, Sexless Cylons Some Gender Problems in Battlestar Galactica”, by MATTHEW JONES;
“Sci-Fi Ghettos Battlestar Galactica and Genre Aesthetics”, by SÉRGIO DIAS BRANCO
I believe if you like BSG and you want to read something interesting about the show, you should read this collection of essays I pointed out. It's a nice book.
All of this has happened before and it will happen again. Someone already wrote in here: this book is amazingly uneven.
There are some AMAZING essays around here, mixed with some that does not have the same analytical sophistication.
I still do not like the introduction and the final chapter. I think if you don't like the show or, if you want to criticize this BSG in a collection of academic essays like this, you have to do a better intellectual investment than just pouring out you didn't like the show just because it ended badly.
I didn't like the end of BSG and I agree with the editors in all of their statements, but I think these articles (and that one by Ryman) are kind of out of place. But I MUST point out those essays that I did love. Here they are:
“Frak Me Reproduction, Gender, Sexuality”, by LORNA JOWETT;
“Real-imagining Terror in Battlestar Galactica Negotiating Real and Fantasy in Battlestar Galactica's Political Metaphor”, by STEVEN RAWLE;
“Butch Girls, Brittle Boys and Sexy, Sexless Cylons Some Gender Problems in Battlestar Galactica”, by MATTHEW JONES;
“Sci-Fi Ghettos Battlestar Galactica and Genre Aesthetics”, by SÉRGIO DIAS BRANCO
I believe if you like BSG and you want to read something interesting about the show, you should read this collection of essays I pointed out. It's a nice book.
It's a good book, especially for those who want to know more or get immersed in the fantasy world created by George R. R. Martin. The book consists of essays by various authors in various specialties, ranging from studies on mental health, history, literary criticism, RPGs, collectors and science fiction and fantasy writers. This variety of authors also makes the book an uneven work, because some articles are very superficial compared to others of the same work. I think that some essays could be deeper, considering that some of their authors write very and dominate enough expertise in their specialties. The organization of the essays is quite interesting and very appropriate, it is possible to see the progress of the discussion in a clear and pertinent way.
It's an interesting story that unites the Next Generation crew with Spock, Scotty and McCoy. What hooked me was the plot continuation for the Unification episodes. I was anxious to see what happened after those two episodes which introduced Spock as the leader of Unification group in Romulus. His attempt to reunite Vulcans and Romulans is interesting and I believe that in this book, his ideas is better developed. It's not the best Star Trek book I've ever read, but it has its virtues. It was great to revisit the Next Generation again.
Not thrilling as the first installment of X-Wing book series. It seems it could take lesser pages to tell this story, filled with tie ins and explanations of things that happened in the first book. Again, Imperial ranks are composed by the biggest cardboard characters ever made... But it's ok, not the best, but ok.
After the disappointment I had in reading Star Wars Aftermath (Chuck Wendig) I decided to move my eyes to one of the classic novels of the Expanded Universe, X-Wing Rogue Squadron (Bantam, 1996) by Michael Stackpole. Today the book belongs to the LEGENDS brand and, despite not being canonical anymore, it has an engaging story.
I'm talking about the most famous starfighter squad of the Rebel Alliance. These heroes were present in the decisive moments of the Alliance battle against the Galactic Empire, as in the clashes of the First Death Star, Hoth and Endor.
Michael Stackpole led this series of 10 books (in partnership with Aaron Alston). For the first time in the history of Star Wars we had books not focused in the heroic axis Leia- Luke-Han. The proposal was to bring adventures such as in that Top Gun movie, without the political discussion of the episodes I, II and III (at that time still in embryonic stage) and without the fantastic-religious motto of the Jedi, the Force and the Dark Side. X-Wing tells stories about regular guys dedicated to the elimination of the evil Galactic Empire, as fighters and defenders of Freedom and Justice.
In this book Commander Wedge Antilles rebuilds the famous squad for the New Republic (six years after the Battle of Yavin), now having to consider the political importance of the group to the newly aligned planets. Sponsored by Admiral Ackbar, Antilles requests the aid of former squad member, Captain Tycho Celchu. Quickly he meets starfighter aces such as Corran Horn from Corellia and Gavin Darklighter from Tatooine.
As a Symbol of the Rebel Alliance and now the New Republic, the Rogue Squadron is always assigned to the main (and most dangerous) missions against the Empire, now in the hands of Ysanne Isard. Isard chooses the intelligence agent Kirtan Loor to track and destroy the squad throughout the first book.
Despite being a book that tells the story of the squad itself, we have as protagonist the former agent of CorSec (Intelligence Agency and Corellia Security) Corran Horn. Well written and with a very dynamic pace, the reader is presented with numerous fantastic maneuvers, and various adventures set against the Empire.
Focused on action, in Rogue Squadron we can observe the perilous political landscape of the New Republic, now in the hands of influential leaders such as the bothans Borsk Fey'lya in the Provisional Government and General Kre'Fey in the military. The shattered Empire continues its powerful incursions and attacks in the galaxy, being a huge threat to the new order.
Very engaging and a must-read for any fan of Star Wars, Rogue Squadron unfortunately suffers the same disease from almost all of the saga books (with the exception of Timothy Zahn): a “cardboard villain” Syndrome. With the aforementioned exception of Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade, both characters created by Zahn, Ysanne Isard and Kirtan Loor play the roles of bad guys just because they're “bad”, without any depth and more interesting motivations. These characters are not Sith or Force sensitive to the dark side to be evil “evil”, but only people with a thirst for power and, in the words of Han Solo, with delusions of grandeur.
However, Rogue Squadron is a very entertaining book, keeping the same spirit of episodes IV, V and VI. I read the books in the series in their respective release years and this re-read brought me a lot of nostalgia.
A series of memorable adventures that are part of the best ever published of the former Expanded Universe of Star Wars, before the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney. This edition is full of endearing characters, telling the adventures of the most successful X-Wing squad of the Galaxy. Wedge Antilles, Wes Janson, Hobbie Clivan, Tycho Celchu and others are members of several important missions of the group, with original stories honoring the films of the Classic Trilogy, also showing what happened to the supporting characters. It was a very enjoyable read that I made at the turn of the year, a must read to all Star Wars fans.
Another interesting story of Luke Skywalker. I finally completed this new cycle [b:The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure 25067044 The Weapon of a Jedi A Luke Skywalker Adventure (Star Wars) Jason Fry https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437275021s/25067044.jpg 44751858] /[b:Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure 25067043 Smuggler's Run A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure (Star Wars) Greg Rucka https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437274933s/25067043.jpg 44751857]/[b:Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure 25067045 Moving Target A Princess Leia Adventure (Journey to Star Wars The Force Awakens) Cecil Castellucci https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437275122s/25067045.jpg 44751859], one of the best books written for Star Wars. Lots of fan service, short-but-great adventures, even for a Young Adult book series.
It is strange to see that the best books of this new Expanded Universe of Star Wars are only those written for children and adolescents. This is a reflection of the new (disrespectful) editorial policy of Disney/Lucasfilm for the books of our beloved saga. However, this book is excellent, with the same spirit and feeling of the original films. These Star Wars Y/A books are definitely sophisticated.
