Review by me, “No one”
Star Wars Fall of the Sith Empire
By Kevin J Anderson
5000 BBY
Synopsis:
Naga Sadow prepares to lead his Sith forces into Republic space to achieve the Sith dream of galactic conquest! Meanwhile, Jori Daragon makes her way back to warn the Republic and Empress Teta of the impending doom. But doing the right thing for once won’t be easy, to do so she must avoid arrest for the list of crimes she committed before leaving Cinnagar. Before beginning the battle, Sadow makes preparations for war (see Star Wars Crosscurrent also) by rallying the Sith Empire to his cause, and training Gav Daragon in the ways of the Sith.
Sadow leads his banner across several Republic worlds unleashing the horrors of war, enhanced by his use of a meditation sphere and Sith Battle meditation. Several Jedi aid the Rpublic’s defenses but even that is barely sufficient. Luckily an embittered Gav Daragon has seen the error of his ways and disrupts Sadow’s meditation, turning the tide of battle in favor of the Republic.
As the Sith forces are in retreat, Naga Sadow flees to Yavin Four, where he bides his time and begins constructing some mysterious temples. Jav Daragon rebuilds her life by starting a repair shop in honor of her fallen friend Aarrba the Hutt’s name.
Review:
This one was a lot better than the first half of Golden Age of the Sith, and about the same as pt2 of the same story. For one, the art as a whole was better, Dario Carrasco Jr.’s pencils be thanked for this. Though overall the art was better, I still don’t care for most of the fashion of this era. I don’t exactly get what they were going for. It looks kind of Roman, but kind of Egyptian, and pretty raggedy.
Despite the fact that Fall was better than Golden Age in parts, I still get a feeling that it’s more or less just a Tales of the Jedi potboiler. I don’t know why. Outside of Odan Urr and Yavin Four, there’s not much that connects this to later TOTJ stories. I guess those two are fairly critical to TOTJ but still. There are connections to later stories with Korriban, ZIost and the meditation spheres, but those are fairly recently. More like they’re going back here to make this seem like less of a potboiler by taking a few good things.
It was also cool to see the ancient Coruscant. Even 5000 years before the movies, the senate hall exterior looked somewhat familiar.
Storywise, the action was a lot better, though kind of messy. There was a lot of battles being fought and it was a bit overwhelming having that many battlefronts. Coruscant, Kirrek, Cinnagar come to mind, though there may have been more.
There are a few events which I would like to point out. The first is the parallel to Order 66. Naga Sadow has the Massassi slaves kill the commanding Sith lords on each ship. It seems the Sith seem to reuse some of their strategies. At least they waited 5000 years.
We also we here Odan Urr’s passion for old knowledge has a twofold part to play. One, he creates the library of Ossus. And Two, he has the Sith Holocron that will ultimately lead to Exar Kun’s reign of terror. Regarding Ossus, I realize that there are thousands of years between TOTJ and the prequels, but wouldn’t the prequel era Jedi have known about Ossus? I guess we’ll find out more once we get further into the TOTJ.
Another key thing that appears is the Sith Meditation sphere ship. It’s good to see it in use so that’s easier to visualize in the Legacy of the Force series. Though it brings up the question, would a starship still function after 5000 years?
Not much else to say regarding the review as it’s a comic and kind of hard to review the way a novel is. Not say that it’s less of a story, it’s just easier to critique a 300 page novel than 50-100 page comic. Also, 5000 years BBY is not exactly my favorite era. Even the old TOTJ series isn’t that good until Dark Lords of the Sith. Though that is the case, I have more to say about it. TOTJ was more exciting for me because there was more anticipation. Maybe it’s my attitude, or the fact that I’ve grown, but I’ve always had a hard time getting into Golden Age and Fall.
Overall this one wasn’t bad, but certainly not essential reading, sorry KJA. I guess it was good to read this, and Golden Age once, but once you know the essentials it’s OK to put that in the back of your mind and let it just have a pleasant rest as just back story. I’d say the biggest take away would be that Naga Sadow basically was a true Sith, he tried to achieve his goals and failed miserably because he didn’t have a decent plan. He was no Palpatine. The other thing to take away from this is that the Sith had some downright dangerous knowledge, but most of them didn’t seem to know how to use most of it. It wasn’t until Exar Kun and Darth Revan that the Sith started becoming more dangerous. They seem to have uncovered and built upon the knowledge that these Sith forgot.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Golden Age of the Sith
Golden age of the Sith
5000 BBY
Synopsis:
Down on their luck explorers Gav and Jori Daragon are trying to make their big mark upon the galaxy. Their job, to find new hyperspace routes in the hopes that they can find a route that leads to a great trade opportunity or allows the merchants to travel to other systems more quickly. The Daragons make one more hyperspace jump in the hopes that it will lead to their big break. Of course they botch it up and then damage their ship.
The Daragons end up back on the planet Cinnagar, waiting for their repairs to be finished, and trying to find a way to pay for them. While reflecting upon their downturn, matters grow worse when they run afoul of bounty hunters. Having nothing to lose but their lives, they steal their repaired ship and make a random jump into the unknown. And end up in the heart of the Sith empire.
In the Sith Empire, Marka Ragnos has just died leaving Naga Sadow and Ludo Kresh to squabble over the remains of the empire. Kresh is content to enjoy the decadence and luxury of the empire while Sadow sees the Daragons as his opportunity to control the galaxy. After taking advantage of the (nonexistent) outside threat of the Republic, Sadow assumes control of the Sith and subdues Kresh’s forces, and allows Jori Daragon to escape to the Republic. Gav is left behind and begins learning the powers of the Sith.
Review:
I’m not terribly fond of this story. The Daragons aren’t especially likable characters. They are screw ups, never doing anything right, but that’s not the only issue. They’re also kind of whiny and deceitful as well. Sort of like a morally questionable Ep IV Luke Skywalker. Aarbah the Hutt on the other hand is kind of a likeable character, breaking the gangster stereotype and his design is pretty cool. The purple hat is probably what makes his image.
We are also introduced to some Jedi, Odan Urr and Memit Nadill. Master Ooru, a motherbrain looking guy, who actually appeared on cracked.com’s worst Star Wars character list. He was kind of cool, but to each his own. The archaic lightsaber was interesting as well, having it attach to a power supply on the belt really makes it look old fashioned.
Overall, most of the art/design of the book isn’t really that appealing, at least in the Republic. I understand it’s supposed to be thousands of years before Skywalker, but everyone is wearing mismatched or tattered toga-ish robes. Odan Urr actually isn’t bad, his armor looks cool and his Jedi robes actually look somewhat contemporary. Once we see the Sith Empire though, that’s when things look cool. Korriban, and the valley of Dark Lords is cool. Marka Ragnos’ tomb is just as it looked in the Jedi Academy game. It’s cool to see where that came from. The rest of the Sith Empire was cool, the ships, the architecture, even what they wore.
Story wise, I have to say it wasn’t anything exceptional, despite being written by one of my favorite authors, Kevin J Anderson. The best parts happened in the Sith Empire. The double crossing that the Sith do to each other, clearly showing why Bane’s rule of two is essential. Naga Sadow double crosses other lords and even kills his former mentor, Simus (who at this point is just a desiccated head), and manipulates a threat to assume power.
So first half of the story, I would give one or two stars, but the Sith half four or five out five. The story does shine light on the origins of the Sith, which is nice but not wholly necessary.
5000 BBY
Synopsis:
Down on their luck explorers Gav and Jori Daragon are trying to make their big mark upon the galaxy. Their job, to find new hyperspace routes in the hopes that they can find a route that leads to a great trade opportunity or allows the merchants to travel to other systems more quickly. The Daragons make one more hyperspace jump in the hopes that it will lead to their big break. Of course they botch it up and then damage their ship.
The Daragons end up back on the planet Cinnagar, waiting for their repairs to be finished, and trying to find a way to pay for them. While reflecting upon their downturn, matters grow worse when they run afoul of bounty hunters. Having nothing to lose but their lives, they steal their repaired ship and make a random jump into the unknown. And end up in the heart of the Sith empire.
In the Sith Empire, Marka Ragnos has just died leaving Naga Sadow and Ludo Kresh to squabble over the remains of the empire. Kresh is content to enjoy the decadence and luxury of the empire while Sadow sees the Daragons as his opportunity to control the galaxy. After taking advantage of the (nonexistent) outside threat of the Republic, Sadow assumes control of the Sith and subdues Kresh’s forces, and allows Jori Daragon to escape to the Republic. Gav is left behind and begins learning the powers of the Sith.
Review:
I’m not terribly fond of this story. The Daragons aren’t especially likable characters. They are screw ups, never doing anything right, but that’s not the only issue. They’re also kind of whiny and deceitful as well. Sort of like a morally questionable Ep IV Luke Skywalker. Aarbah the Hutt on the other hand is kind of a likeable character, breaking the gangster stereotype and his design is pretty cool. The purple hat is probably what makes his image.
We are also introduced to some Jedi, Odan Urr and Memit Nadill. Master Ooru, a motherbrain looking guy, who actually appeared on cracked.com’s worst Star Wars character list. He was kind of cool, but to each his own. The archaic lightsaber was interesting as well, having it attach to a power supply on the belt really makes it look old fashioned.
Overall, most of the art/design of the book isn’t really that appealing, at least in the Republic. I understand it’s supposed to be thousands of years before Skywalker, but everyone is wearing mismatched or tattered toga-ish robes. Odan Urr actually isn’t bad, his armor looks cool and his Jedi robes actually look somewhat contemporary. Once we see the Sith Empire though, that’s when things look cool. Korriban, and the valley of Dark Lords is cool. Marka Ragnos’ tomb is just as it looked in the Jedi Academy game. It’s cool to see where that came from. The rest of the Sith Empire was cool, the ships, the architecture, even what they wore.
Story wise, I have to say it wasn’t anything exceptional, despite being written by one of my favorite authors, Kevin J Anderson. The best parts happened in the Sith Empire. The double crossing that the Sith do to each other, clearly showing why Bane’s rule of two is essential. Naga Sadow double crosses other lords and even kills his former mentor, Simus (who at this point is just a desiccated head), and manipulates a threat to assume power.
So first half of the story, I would give one or two stars, but the Sith half four or five out five. The story does shine light on the origins of the Sith, which is nice but not wholly necessary.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Long, Longer ago in a Galaxy...
A little intro on me. I grew up in the 80's on the original trilogy. In the 90's I got hooked on reading the EU with Tim Zahn's stuff, then Kevin J anderson. Beyond those I have read one off stories here and there, and the occasional trilogy. Then i kind of gave up thinking the quality was starting to suck. I was also upset that there was no real continuity/timeline.
Then the New jedi Order came, with a timeline, and I began reading and enjoying those. I went back and bought almost all the books I was missing, and new stuff when I can find it on the cheap. As the NJO dragged on, and the prequels were coming out, i began to lose interest in the NJO, especially once Anakin Solo died. So, i read the post NJO stuff, I am beginning to lose interest as they are covering ground that has been covered before. Hmm, Jacen Solo (Anakin Skywalker's grandson) becoming a Sith! Oh, Obi-Wan duels a jedi who survived order 66 and he becomes a Sith (Darth Krayt)!
So why should you read this? mainly because I want to look at everything as a whole and just go through it in some sort of order. Also, in giving my opinion/review of a given story, you can decide for yourself if it's worth your time. And I am going to read all these, and have already started, so why not write about it?
So to start, the furthest back I have read is Golden age of the Sith, and Fall of the Sith Empire. I have not yet read Golden Age, but I have read Fall of the Sith. before saying anything about this, I will review if possible. My local library should have both. Then I will be going into the Tales of the Jedi series which i recall having enjoyed, despite the ancient looking art. for the time, it wasn't bad.
I actually have read the TOTJ, but I also listened to an audio drama of TOTJ, Freedon Nadd Uprising, and Dark Lords of the Sith. I will conclude the first review with the Sith War TPB.
My memory at the moment was that all of this stuff came out in the mid 90's and at a time I was waiting for the prequels to come out. Looking back, it's not the best, but it's certainly better than some stuff out now, which I will cover later. (thank you Legacy and Legacy of the Force.)
Look for this update in the next week or so...
Then the New jedi Order came, with a timeline, and I began reading and enjoying those. I went back and bought almost all the books I was missing, and new stuff when I can find it on the cheap. As the NJO dragged on, and the prequels were coming out, i began to lose interest in the NJO, especially once Anakin Solo died. So, i read the post NJO stuff, I am beginning to lose interest as they are covering ground that has been covered before. Hmm, Jacen Solo (Anakin Skywalker's grandson) becoming a Sith! Oh, Obi-Wan duels a jedi who survived order 66 and he becomes a Sith (Darth Krayt)!
So why should you read this? mainly because I want to look at everything as a whole and just go through it in some sort of order. Also, in giving my opinion/review of a given story, you can decide for yourself if it's worth your time. And I am going to read all these, and have already started, so why not write about it?
So to start, the furthest back I have read is Golden age of the Sith, and Fall of the Sith Empire. I have not yet read Golden Age, but I have read Fall of the Sith. before saying anything about this, I will review if possible. My local library should have both. Then I will be going into the Tales of the Jedi series which i recall having enjoyed, despite the ancient looking art. for the time, it wasn't bad.
I actually have read the TOTJ, but I also listened to an audio drama of TOTJ, Freedon Nadd Uprising, and Dark Lords of the Sith. I will conclude the first review with the Sith War TPB.
My memory at the moment was that all of this stuff came out in the mid 90's and at a time I was waiting for the prequels to come out. Looking back, it's not the best, but it's certainly better than some stuff out now, which I will cover later. (thank you Legacy and Legacy of the Force.)
Look for this update in the next week or so...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Analyrical – First Date
by Brett Reese
Sometime victor of national rap battleground “Grind Time,” Eau Claire Battle Champion, one of the founding members of the Background Noise Crew and 2009’s Twin Cities Hip-Hop Awards’ “Best Kept Secret” are all notches in local rap star Analyrical’s belt. And he’s about to add one more: first solo album. With a title like First Date, you can bet Analyrical will be taking us out for than just dinner and a show.
To compare Analyrical’s First Date to an album by say, Eminem, wouldn’t be fair. Eminem can only manage one or two good songs per album. Most of the songs on First Date on the other hand, could easily find their way into my rotation. The strongest component First Date's songs is by far the music. From the standard rap style in “Sky Is Burning,” “Tick-Tick” and my favorite track, “Cruisin’” to the deeper electronica of “Pre-Game” and pensive tones of “Poet Laureate” and “More Than.” First Date pulls off a wide variety of styles, yet has a cohesive feel to it.
A couple of general observations about style. There was one point where I was listening to my album shuffle, and I heard “Sky is Burning” from First Date. I had to check to see what the name of the song was, as I had been listening to the Gorillaz prior to this album. “Sky” came on, and I seriously thought I heard Damon Albarn’s 2-D character singing background. The rest of the album has some similarities to the BNC Everybody Does This but stretches into many other styles. Stylistically both in terms of rap and music, it's as if someone has pieced together Royksopp, Eminem, Ludacris and Sir Mix-a-Lot. Seriously. Analyrical’s flow and sometimes background music has a style, confidence and playfulness that somehow seems like a functional mélange of these styles and more. This lends the album accesiblity and makes it enjoyable.
As far as lyrics go, it’s easy to see how Analyrical’s been able to hold his own when battling. There’s no hint of hesitation in any of his rhymes. He has some fascinating lyrical choices, such as a very descriptive and erotic song in "The Panther" and some Star Wars references elsewhere. The words “Padawan” and “Jedi Knight” are always a nice surprise, though it has been done before. The variety in the vocabulary is also pretty diverse as well, and thankfully not too far into GMAT territory.
First Date appears to be a good foundation for a relationship with Analyrical’s music. Strong music and concrete rhymes make for an album that I can listen to all the way through and also makes for an album that should appeal to a wide audience. If you’re a fan of any of the above mainstream artists it’s worth checking out. It’s not an exact match by any means, but the comparison is close enough.
Analyrical has made a name for himself by opening for other local stars: Brother Ali, Tech N9ne and Big Quarters. First Date comes out on December 15 and will be followed by a CD release party on December 19.
Sometime victor of national rap battleground “Grind Time,” Eau Claire Battle Champion, one of the founding members of the Background Noise Crew and 2009’s Twin Cities Hip-Hop Awards’ “Best Kept Secret” are all notches in local rap star Analyrical’s belt. And he’s about to add one more: first solo album. With a title like First Date, you can bet Analyrical will be taking us out for than just dinner and a show.
To compare Analyrical’s First Date to an album by say, Eminem, wouldn’t be fair. Eminem can only manage one or two good songs per album. Most of the songs on First Date on the other hand, could easily find their way into my rotation. The strongest component First Date's songs is by far the music. From the standard rap style in “Sky Is Burning,” “Tick-Tick” and my favorite track, “Cruisin’” to the deeper electronica of “Pre-Game” and pensive tones of “Poet Laureate” and “More Than.” First Date pulls off a wide variety of styles, yet has a cohesive feel to it.
A couple of general observations about style. There was one point where I was listening to my album shuffle, and I heard “Sky is Burning” from First Date. I had to check to see what the name of the song was, as I had been listening to the Gorillaz prior to this album. “Sky” came on, and I seriously thought I heard Damon Albarn’s 2-D character singing background. The rest of the album has some similarities to the BNC Everybody Does This but stretches into many other styles. Stylistically both in terms of rap and music, it's as if someone has pieced together Royksopp, Eminem, Ludacris and Sir Mix-a-Lot. Seriously. Analyrical’s flow and sometimes background music has a style, confidence and playfulness that somehow seems like a functional mélange of these styles and more. This lends the album accesiblity and makes it enjoyable.
As far as lyrics go, it’s easy to see how Analyrical’s been able to hold his own when battling. There’s no hint of hesitation in any of his rhymes. He has some fascinating lyrical choices, such as a very descriptive and erotic song in "The Panther" and some Star Wars references elsewhere. The words “Padawan” and “Jedi Knight” are always a nice surprise, though it has been done before. The variety in the vocabulary is also pretty diverse as well, and thankfully not too far into GMAT territory.
First Date appears to be a good foundation for a relationship with Analyrical’s music. Strong music and concrete rhymes make for an album that I can listen to all the way through and also makes for an album that should appeal to a wide audience. If you’re a fan of any of the above mainstream artists it’s worth checking out. It’s not an exact match by any means, but the comparison is close enough.
Analyrical has made a name for himself by opening for other local stars: Brother Ali, Tech N9ne and Big Quarters. First Date comes out on December 15 and will be followed by a CD release party on December 19.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Review of Elephant Vanishes
This collection of short stories is like that clichéd box of chocolates. There are stories that are rich with just the right flavors, and then there are those ones that don’t taste all that good yet they get eaten anyways because they’re chocolate. Overall most of the stories were fun to read leaving just one or two that were not so much fun to read. All of the stories are unique and full of original ideas and thoughts.
The stories that didn’t work so much for me were Sleep and The Last Lawn of the Afternoon. Sleep is the story of a housewife who suddenly becomes unable to sleep and fills her extra time drinking brandy and reading Anna Karenina (a staple of many Murakami characters). Sleep had no breaks in it, and was a rather long, short story. Reading it was almost like experiencing sleeplessness myself, growing crazy with that mind numbing, cannot sleep feeling. What it did well though is show how monotonous two weeks without sleep would be like. The difficult parts of reading this story also made it more real, but it is a story I wouldn’t read again.
The Last Lawn of the Afternoon is another similar story, giving many frivolous and repetitive details, this time about lawn mowing. Details about this young man’s obsessive-compulsive need to no only cut the lawn, but get in with shears for a perfect length. Potentially this character could have been interesting or funny with his desire, but instead he is just a normal guy cutting lawns. Having mowed many lawns in my time, I found I could care less about this obsessive compulsive lawn cutter.
What the rest of the stories do well is offer a fairly wide range of characters that are fairly unique from each other. Even similar characters react in different ways. There are several young single guys, with somewhat similar morals, but they all treat their girlfriend and themselves in different ways. The housewives or single women all act in different ways as well. What all of these characters have in common is they are generally average people who find themselves in unusual and repetitive situations yet bring an original point of view forth. The name Noburu Watanabe also seems to pop up here and there for no apparent reason, but it provides a common thread through the stories, even if Mr. Watanabe is never the same being.
The Elephant Vanishes is also full of imagination. Almost every story is strange somehow, some are funny and one or two are kind of sad. I have never seen such a wide range of events outside of the Twilight Zone. The stories I liked best were: The Wind up Bird and Tuesday’s Women, a story about a man in search of his cat, but the man runs afoul of unusual and often times frustrating women. I found this story playful and fun. The Second Bakery Attack, another fun story about a couple that holds up a McDonald’s for food yet pays for their soda. To contrast, On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning was quite heart warming and almost made me cry at the lost love. The Silence was another tense story that I enjoyed.
The Dancing Dwarf is about a man that works in a factory that makes elephants. Real elephants. In this same story, he submits himself to a fairytale-esque bargain with a dwarf to win the heart of a beautiful woman. The tale takes enough directions to be interesting and the descriptions of working in a factory that makes elephants was an interesting feature. The story’s twist ending would be perfect in the Twilight Zone.
TV People was for me one of the most interesting stories. TV People (who are about 20% Xerox copy-esque smaller than normal people) deliver TVs to people and are ignored by everyone except the narrator. The TV’s pick up nothing but static, and the TV people are bizarre themselves. When the narrator brings them up, he is ostracized or ignored by others. Is there some sort of symbolic meaning here? Is the author saying that people who watch TV get nothing of value and if you realize it you become an outcast? The narrator never reveals the answer, ending instead on a bizarre program and an ambiguous ending. Sleep, mentioned earlier, has an ambiguous ending making me wonder if Murakami ended these stories that way on purpose or just wanted to make us think. Both stories imply a bad ending but it is never explicit.
While reading Murakami’s stories I have to admit I wasn’t looking for any hidden meanings or symbolism, though I am sure it is there. I would have to read it again several times. If I had to guess, I’d say there were a few that could be fairly obvious. The McDonald’s robbery begins with a husband and wife’s ravenous hunger. Could this hunger be related to some unfulfilled need in each other?
The stories that didn’t work so much for me were Sleep and The Last Lawn of the Afternoon. Sleep is the story of a housewife who suddenly becomes unable to sleep and fills her extra time drinking brandy and reading Anna Karenina (a staple of many Murakami characters). Sleep had no breaks in it, and was a rather long, short story. Reading it was almost like experiencing sleeplessness myself, growing crazy with that mind numbing, cannot sleep feeling. What it did well though is show how monotonous two weeks without sleep would be like. The difficult parts of reading this story also made it more real, but it is a story I wouldn’t read again.
The Last Lawn of the Afternoon is another similar story, giving many frivolous and repetitive details, this time about lawn mowing. Details about this young man’s obsessive-compulsive need to no only cut the lawn, but get in with shears for a perfect length. Potentially this character could have been interesting or funny with his desire, but instead he is just a normal guy cutting lawns. Having mowed many lawns in my time, I found I could care less about this obsessive compulsive lawn cutter.
What the rest of the stories do well is offer a fairly wide range of characters that are fairly unique from each other. Even similar characters react in different ways. There are several young single guys, with somewhat similar morals, but they all treat their girlfriend and themselves in different ways. The housewives or single women all act in different ways as well. What all of these characters have in common is they are generally average people who find themselves in unusual and repetitive situations yet bring an original point of view forth. The name Noburu Watanabe also seems to pop up here and there for no apparent reason, but it provides a common thread through the stories, even if Mr. Watanabe is never the same being.
The Elephant Vanishes is also full of imagination. Almost every story is strange somehow, some are funny and one or two are kind of sad. I have never seen such a wide range of events outside of the Twilight Zone. The stories I liked best were: The Wind up Bird and Tuesday’s Women, a story about a man in search of his cat, but the man runs afoul of unusual and often times frustrating women. I found this story playful and fun. The Second Bakery Attack, another fun story about a couple that holds up a McDonald’s for food yet pays for their soda. To contrast, On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning was quite heart warming and almost made me cry at the lost love. The Silence was another tense story that I enjoyed.
The Dancing Dwarf is about a man that works in a factory that makes elephants. Real elephants. In this same story, he submits himself to a fairytale-esque bargain with a dwarf to win the heart of a beautiful woman. The tale takes enough directions to be interesting and the descriptions of working in a factory that makes elephants was an interesting feature. The story’s twist ending would be perfect in the Twilight Zone.
TV People was for me one of the most interesting stories. TV People (who are about 20% Xerox copy-esque smaller than normal people) deliver TVs to people and are ignored by everyone except the narrator. The TV’s pick up nothing but static, and the TV people are bizarre themselves. When the narrator brings them up, he is ostracized or ignored by others. Is there some sort of symbolic meaning here? Is the author saying that people who watch TV get nothing of value and if you realize it you become an outcast? The narrator never reveals the answer, ending instead on a bizarre program and an ambiguous ending. Sleep, mentioned earlier, has an ambiguous ending making me wonder if Murakami ended these stories that way on purpose or just wanted to make us think. Both stories imply a bad ending but it is never explicit.
While reading Murakami’s stories I have to admit I wasn’t looking for any hidden meanings or symbolism, though I am sure it is there. I would have to read it again several times. If I had to guess, I’d say there were a few that could be fairly obvious. The McDonald’s robbery begins with a husband and wife’s ravenous hunger. Could this hunger be related to some unfulfilled need in each other?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
RANT: Star Wars books
Hi,
I’ve been reading star wars books since they first came out and have overall enjoyed them. There were some dry spots in the 90’s, towards the later parts, but the New jedi Order really was (in some spots) good. I went back and bought all the old books I missed, really cheap at the used book stores, and full price paperbacks when I couldn’t find those. To keep up I started buying some of the NJO and then Legacy of the Force series in hardcover thinking those were a rare event for me to buy those.
Well, LOF was kind of a let down, I mean another jedi (anakin’s grandson no less) turning to the dark side. Big surprise. Why? Anyways. My rant is that the series was more or less supposed to stop and let the Legacy Comic series take over for a time.
Well then comes Fate of the Jedi. These books have great cover art, but seem kinda short on content. the first three books came out really quickly, but they ARE ALL IN HARD COVER!!!! WHY???? Not just this series, but even stand alone novels like Matthew Stover’s and Luceno’s new books are 2. In the last year, maybe 8-9 star wars books came out (that’s already a lot) but they are all HC! How can anyone afford that?
This has helped me realize that however fund SW is, it is really just a vehicle to make more and more money for whoever is making money on it. I love Star Wars, but can we 1) stop making every flippin book a hard cover? 2) can we just end the series at some point? Or at least can we have like a 2 year hiatus on Star Wars? The market is flooded with SW books and I will never catch up!
Now I understand why lucas says the 6 movies are all there is. It’s a lot easier and cheaper!
And don’t get me started on Death Troopers! OK, I started. Zombies. In SW. OK. Not only was this done once in the Galaxy of Fear series, but of course one of the “big three” gets pulled along for the ride. If SW novels must persist, can’t we get some original characters and storylines? Why not someone not involved with the big three, something like Peter David’s New Frontier Star Trek series?
Any way, that’s all I got.
I’ve been reading star wars books since they first came out and have overall enjoyed them. There were some dry spots in the 90’s, towards the later parts, but the New jedi Order really was (in some spots) good. I went back and bought all the old books I missed, really cheap at the used book stores, and full price paperbacks when I couldn’t find those. To keep up I started buying some of the NJO and then Legacy of the Force series in hardcover thinking those were a rare event for me to buy those.
Well, LOF was kind of a let down, I mean another jedi (anakin’s grandson no less) turning to the dark side. Big surprise. Why? Anyways. My rant is that the series was more or less supposed to stop and let the Legacy Comic series take over for a time.
Well then comes Fate of the Jedi. These books have great cover art, but seem kinda short on content. the first three books came out really quickly, but they ARE ALL IN HARD COVER!!!! WHY???? Not just this series, but even stand alone novels like Matthew Stover’s and Luceno’s new books are 2. In the last year, maybe 8-9 star wars books came out (that’s already a lot) but they are all HC! How can anyone afford that?
This has helped me realize that however fund SW is, it is really just a vehicle to make more and more money for whoever is making money on it. I love Star Wars, but can we 1) stop making every flippin book a hard cover? 2) can we just end the series at some point? Or at least can we have like a 2 year hiatus on Star Wars? The market is flooded with SW books and I will never catch up!
Now I understand why lucas says the 6 movies are all there is. It’s a lot easier and cheaper!
And don’t get me started on Death Troopers! OK, I started. Zombies. In SW. OK. Not only was this done once in the Galaxy of Fear series, but of course one of the “big three” gets pulled along for the ride. If SW novels must persist, can’t we get some original characters and storylines? Why not someone not involved with the big three, something like Peter David’s New Frontier Star Trek series?
Any way, that’s all I got.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
"The Elephant Vanishes" by Haruki Murakami
Coming soon is a paper I wrote for Murakami's "The Elephant Vanishes." I would have posted it, but the version on this PC is the wrong one. later!
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