Fall of the Sith Empire

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.

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.

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...

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.

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?

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.

"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!

gold parachute social commentary joke

enjoy

Music Review for T.Q.D.

Music Review of T.Q.D.’s “Clench, Grit, Breathe”
By Brett


Proving that hip hop and rap doesn’t have to be ear busting loud, T.Q.D.’s (short for The Quiet Dude) new album “Clench, Grit, Breathe” is full of subtle sounds and smooth rhymes. But don’t listen to it without a decent sound system or you might miss some of the catchier beats and background melodies.

When I first listened to this disk, it was on my cheap PC speakers, and I didn’t really hear much beyond some of the higher melodies and the lyrics. This album didn’t come alive until I played it in the car or with my headphones. There the restrained beats and finer elements came to life. Many of the tracks have a much deeper sound and in some cases revealed an emotional edge that wasn’t there before. Once the finer points present themselves, the album becomes a pleasant surprise.

Without judging T.Q.D. by his previous albums, his vocals on “Clench, Grit, Breathe” are solid and consistent. For much of the album his vocals are fairly smooth and laid back, which complements the music. His voice also has intensity on a few songs when it needs to. T.Q.D. has a good voice that rhymes with authority and offers no apologies. It is what it is, and it fits the music more often than not.

Looking at some of the tracks more closely, “Baby Boy” and “Fall Asleep” offer up smooth vocals while “Fall Asleep” has a lonely melody that is quite catchy. “Contradiction” later in the album has a similar feeling while staying fresh. Continuing with the more emotional tracks, “Second Fiddle” carries on the emotional tone with lyrics rather than music, being about a misfit son surviving while the favored son has passed on. It evokes the tragic feelings of Anthony Hamilton’s “Georgie Parker” while doing something new.

Bringing on the intensity, “Hide & Seek” has a tough beat with haunting background vocals, while bringing out a touch of Dr. Octagon in the last part of the of the song. Followed by the song “Speed Bump” probably the rawest track. The vocals have plenty of pain and anger while the music is reminiscent of Ennio Morricone at times. “Pity” also has strong vocals with another excellent melody. By far though, “Saunter” is the most memorable track. The mournful cry of the cello provides a great contrast with the vocals and adds to the gravity of the song.

“Clench, Grit, Breathe” brings out some strong emotions for those who listen deep. A decent sound system is a must for this album, or you’ll miss the good parts of this album. T.Q.D.’s style is unique and befits the moniker of “The Quiet Dude.” Quiet dudes may be hard to hear at times, but when you hear what they have to say it’s usually worth listening to.

http://www.myspace.com/tqdraps

5-7-09

Hello, I've been gone awhile toiling under the lashes of this thing called school. Not much time for reading, but I have been writing some music reviews for Rift Magazine. Check'em out. more book reviews eventually.


http://www.riftmagazine.com/?s=brett+reese

Update 3/1/09

So, it's been a little while since my last post. OK a long while. Well, I haven't been totally sloughing off it's been a rough go at school, very busy. In addition to the avalanche of school related things, i have also been reviewing CD's for Rift Magazine. here are the links if you are intereseted. Don't mind the fact that my pen name is different.

There will be a third one soon, and not long after that possibly a 4th and a 5th depending upon what the editor says.


http://www.riftmagazine.com/?p=474

http://www.riftmagazine.com/?p=470

Update 10/27/08

Hello everyone, I have finally finished the foloowing novels, and will be writing up reviews like crazy as soon as I can.

Blades of Mars
Barbarians of Mars
Tithe (YA novel)
Extremly Loud and Incredibly Close (class assigned, one of the reasons I am busy)
Record of Lodoss War Graphic Novel (pt 2 & 3)

Updates

Hi everyone, things are quite busy at the moment, so future updates may be a little while coming. I have alot of reading for school to do this week, as well as some proposals. Proposals are not my favorite thing to write, but you do what you got to do.

Any ways, just letting everyone know that I am still active and will be posting when I can. Upcoming titles will be:

Blades of Mars

Barbarians of Mars

Tithe (YA novel)

Extremly Loud and Incredibly Close (class assigned, one of the reasons I am busy)

Record of Lodoss War Graphic Novel (pt 2 & 3)

Star Wars: Force Unleashed Graphic Novel

Blankets (Graphic Novel)

and many more as time permits.

Again, sorry for the lack of updates, but sadly work before play. Unless you can make your play your work, in which case it is no longer play.

“Warriors of Mars” by Michael Moorcock (aka Edward P. Bradbury)

Annotation:

Physicist Michael Kane finds himself inexplicably transported to an ancient Mars. With no way back to Earth he resigns himself to his fate, forever changing the face of Mars.


Summary:

The author, “Mr. Bradbury” happens upon one Michael Kane while on an ocean cruise. Kane seems disturbed, and opens up to the author about why he seems out of sorts. Michael Kane proceeds to tell the author about what has happened. This same exact plot device was used by Edgar Rice Burroughs in The Moon Maid, but since this a pastiche of/tribute to Burroughs, it works and it makes the vital connection to suspend belief for the audience.

As he relates his tale, Michael Kane finds himself upon Mars, or Vashu as the locals call it, and makes the acquaintance of the beautiful (most Martians appear human) Shizala, princess of the city-state Varnal. She tutors him in the Martian dialect and customs, soon Kane falls in love with her. It is not to be however, as she is betrothed to the prince of an allied kingdom. Kane has little time to sulk though, as the Argzoon, 12-foot tall, blue giants lay siege to the Green City Varnal.

After much fighting and swashbuckling, Kane presses the attack to the giant’s camp using an ancient flying machine only to find out that a human woman is somehow coercing the giants to attack Varnal. No sooner does she get away, than Kane discovers that Shizala has been kidnapped. On he presses to the caves of the blue giants.

After several more capture/escape/capture/escape scenarios, Kane rescues Shizala, reveals that her betrothed was actually a traitor, and is about to marry her, when he is somehow returned back to present day Earth by his colleagues.


Review:

Let’s establish this from the beginning, this is not Moorcock’s finest work, but it isn’t meant to be. It knows what it is, a tribute to pulp sci-fi Mars stories. That said the book is fairly enjoyable as a pure adventure story.

The book starts off with realistic, in-story technology and ideas. The transportation to a Mars millions of years ago is original and allows for greater creativity by escaping the contemporary Mars which would have been overshadowed by Burroughs’ Barsoom stories. The creatures, people, and cultures are fairly interesting, and the Argzoon (blue giants) are also an interesting addition.

The addition of an ancient and advanced race, the Sheev and the Yaksha, that disappeared from ancient Mars even further back adds to the mystery of the planet. Unfortunately these threads are never fully explored.

Ratings system:

I would like to have a 5 star rating system, but I don’t know how to put the stars on here yet, so instead I will give a score out of 5 until I figure out the stars. I will also justify my rankings. If you disagree, please comment, I won’t change my rating, but it will be fun to discuss these things.


1) Readability/Pace - Warriors of Mars was a fairly quick read, and interesting enough to finish rather quickly. 5/5 Stars. The language is also fairly easy to understand, and the text is not too dense. It was pretty enjoyable read.

2) Plot – There was not a large amount of plot, more or less it borrowed many plot devices from the pulps. The outlander assimilating into the alien culture, falling in love (usually with a princess), and having many captures and escapes. He also manages to befriend an enemy in typical fashion, this friend ends up to assist the hero at the most unexpected time. All in all, a pretty good take on a very Burroughsian plot.

For fans of the Sword and Planet Genre, or someone who has never read one, I would give this 3.5/5, but for anyone looking for a great piece of literature probably 2/5. It’s an adventure story through and through, don’t expect anything else.

3) Characters – Michael Kane’s only real growth is in learning the customs of Mars. His background is also fairly interesting since it explains how he happens to be an expert swordsman. Michael Kane is not terribly well developed character-wise, he is somewhat of a typical action star in a Schwarzenegger movie. Characterization, I’ll give 2.5/5 because many characters seem to fit into the genre’s archetypes.

4) Random Trivia – Since this is a tribute to Burroughs, theoretically, one could pull a “Den Valdron” and even mesh this story in with Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom, especially with information given in later novels.

Firstly, Michael Kane is a scientist working on a sort of teleportation machine. Now in Burroughs’s actual stories, I did not see any such device, but in Mahars of Pellucidar by John Eric Holmes, there is a teleportation machine that is being made. Could they be related? It would be interesting to further explore the links.

Secondly, the main character relates his “true” story to the author, who then publishes it as fiction due to the unbelievably of the tale. In this case, Kane meets “Bradbury” on an ocean cruise, much like in Burroughs’ Moon Maid.

Lastly, the riding animals that are used, daharas, are described as something like an ape-like creature. Since this Mars is millions of years in the past, one could argue that evolution causes these creatures to become the Rykors used by the Kaldanes in Burroughs’ Thuvia Maid of Mars. This is speculation at this point.

There could be more trivia related to other Mars fiction, so if you can point it out, that’d be great to see.

NEXT TIME: Blades of Mars

Still Under Construction!! Futher Details

All of the reviews will be based on my own opinions. I admit that I have a particular bias, so there are going to be points where you and I disagree. Here is a break down of what this Blog will accomplish:

Title of the Book

annotation: Brief, catchy description of the book's plot

Brief summary of story

Review, discuss what I like, and did not like.

Rating of the following pieces. This will be on either a 1-10, 10 being the best, or a 5 star scale.

1) Readability/Pace - Did the book keep my interest? Was it fast paced? Did it seem to take forever to read it.

2) Plot - how was the plot?

3) Characters - Are the Characters interesting? Annoying? Do they have growth?

4) Interesting Facts/Trivia - ANy interesting trivia that I can find

See you soon!

!!!Under construction Notice!!!

Hi everyone, thanks for checking out my blog, and hopefully past blogs as well. I have just finished my Young Adult Literature class, hopefully with a good grade. That said, I will continue to review books on this blog, but the format will change. I will start to focus on several facets of greatness while writing a review. Here's what you can hope to expect soon:

* a wider focus on novels apart from YA titles. There will still be review of those, but there may be less.

* I plan to read a wider variety of novels, but for a time at least, I will be focusing primarily on Science Fiction, fantasy novels with a particular focus on Sword and Planet, Star Wars, and Vintage 1930's - 1970's Science fiction.

* I will also review comics. This includes undiscovered talents from the online comics world, because darn it, they need to be recognized!

* I will also try to squeeze in actual literature as well.

* I may be doing other blogs about restaurant reviews, movie and music reviews, and Other things.

* I will also try to review up and coming undiscovered gems.

* Lastly, things being reviewed will not necessarily be the latest and greateset, but will also encompass "Blasts from the Past," and underappreciated releases from a while ago that you may have missed.

OK, that's it for now. I will be contemplating review criteria, if you have any suggestions for a review criteria, let me know. I have some ideas, but nothing solid.

See you soon!

Passionate Plea Fiction

I most passionately plea that you read and vote for Jumper, by Steven Gould. Each page that you turn, will only pique your interest to read the next one. Gould’s narrative keeps you guessing, and raising the stakes ever higher. As Davy gains control over his powers, his challenges become greater. He first escapes from his father’s abuse and from being raped by truckers by teleporting accidently. But as he learns to control his powers, he escapes from police detection, robs a bank and eludes detection for a time. At this point his biggest risk is his girlfriend or the police discovering his ability. During this time, he is also growing from a young man to full self sufficiency as he consciously decides to stop relying on his father’s support (Davy uses his power to facilitate food theft) and hack it on his own.

After a family catastrophe, Davy trains to develop his powers to take on terrorists, but as he becomes a nigh unstoppable force for vengeance, the NSA begins to hunt him down. As this part of his growth unfurls, his girlfriend is held hostage to ensure his compliance. In the midst of all of these breathtaking events, Davy struggles to find his identity and independence. He searches for maturity, and struggles with his morality.

Jumper is as much about Davy’s growing up, and leaving the shadow of his abusive past as it is about his ability to teleport. Jumper hits the highest amount of developmental flags of all the books I’ve read this semester. It’s also got the protagonist going against steep odds, and a large sense of uncertainty. Read Jumper, you won’t regret it.

Passionate Plea Non-Fiction

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor truly has it all. Being Bruce Campbell’s autobiography, his voice rings true when reflecting on his younger years while successfully bringing us to his adulthood. Bruce begins with his childhood in suburban Michigan highlighting some of his adventures from childhood and adolescence. Along the way, he hits several of the developmental areas, chief among them being independent at such an early age. Some of his hijinks include an elaborate fort/tunnel system, wanton destruction of green army men, and using paper lanterns to create a UFO sighting. These adventures lay the foundation for his further life, that of becoming an actor.

During his adolescence, he and his friends over come the odds and make an 8MM film for their local community. With their quasi success, they are inspired to go further and make an actual feature film in their early adulthood. Bruce and Co. raise money, find actors, film in grueling conditions, lose actors, and must gain more money to distribute the film. In short, they overcome huge odds to make and sell their film, Evil Dead. The remainder of the book focuses on Bruce’s struggles to make a living as an actor.
While the early half of the book focuses on the developmental areas, and becoming independent, the second half serves as a great roleplaying experience for teens to read. Acting is not always glamorous and it’s definitely not easy. Reading about it from the eyes of an “everyman” like Bruce Campbell, with a relatable growing up experience, Bruce makes the life of an actor something anyone can relate to.

"Witness" By Karen Hesse

Annotation:

Small town in Vermont takes on dramatic changes when the KKK slime their way into authority by using their most common weapons. Fear and intimidation. Perseverance, and mercy are the only weapons to fight back with.

Justification for a Neutral Stance:

Leanora Sutter, and Esther Hirsch; African-American, and Jewish teens respectively are already eyed suspiciously by the townspeople, except a few kind souls in the town. When the KKK worms their way into town, they become the targets of hate, and discrimination.

The Klan also affects many other people in the town, many do not wish to be a part of it, but some jump at the chance. One, a grocer, decides to join as a way to boost sales in his store, despite his wife's protest. The other, the local Reverend of all people joins for his own reasons.

Through several plot twists, an unlikely assassin makes an attempt on Esther's father, while another is ordered to poison the well water at Leanora's place, but due to an attack of conscience cannot bring himself to do it. The insanity of the Klan's reign of terror come to an abrupt end when Calvin Coolidge is elected president.

This book I can neither reject, nor nominate for several reasons. First I will do the unpleasant thing, and announce it's shortcomings. The story of "Witness" is a bit hard to follow, it's obvious how the Klan comes to town, but I could not really determine why. Second, the Klan leave with no reason that I could discern in one reading. Third, as a YA novel, it does not delve much into the adolescent developmental process. Lastly, the story didn't really "grab me." It's a good story, but in my opinion it was not great.

The things this book does well, is it offers up a few interesting characters, and there are some themes that while not Young Adult themed, should be learned by YA. First, the characters, Iris Weaver, the local booze runner, is interesting as a free spirit but appears to have no actual purpose in the story, or with the Klan.

Merlin van Tornhaut is kind of sympathetic, but not very. He gets implicated as a murder suspect in a shooting case, but he couldn't have done it. He was about to poison some body's well that night, luckily he didn't make it. His only redeeming quality is that his cnscience kept him from being an effective Klan member.

The preacher was just a creep, mainly because a Christian man should be preaching peace, but he was a hatemonger, and pedophile.

Esther, by far my favorite character, was incredibly innocent, and she was just an endearing presence of love in a maelstrom of hate.

I think the themes in this book also are a redeeming quality, and may be of interest to YA. Firstly it will allow them to explore how ignorant racism is, and show that victims of hate could be someone like you or me. Second, "Witness" shows what happens when peer pressure gets out of control until reason has left everyone.

Although there are some good themes addressed in this book, and some of the characters are of note, "Witness" is a good book that could have been better. The characters and situations are a great start for a great story, but the story feels like it's missing a few things. It failed to draw me into the story in any significant way, and resolved events too cleanly and quickly. I cannot nominate this book for our award because it lacks many qualities that it should possess, but nor can I reject it because it does bring up some pertinent issues.


Genre: Verse novel, Historical fiction

“Fat Kid Rules the World” by K.L. Going

Annotation:

Super-self conscious “Fat Kid,” meets apathetic skinny street-rat. Skinny Kid saves Fat Kid and hi-jinks, near beatings, illness(s), and punk music ensue.

Justification for Nomination:

Troy Billings, New York “Fat Kid” extraordinaire is tired of people laughing at him for being fat, so he decides to do something about it. He contemplates suicide by jumping into the path of a subway, but is rescued by quasi-homeless Punk Rock genius, and fellow student, Curt McCrae. The two discuss things over dinner, and before long, a friendship has grown. Troy’s father at first doesn’t approve, but decides to give Curt a second chance. Soon, Curt decides he wants Troy as a drummer.

Curt smooth-talks Troy into skipping school on Mondays to go practice, their first session takes them to the home of Curt’s mother. They listen to old albums until it begins to get dark. Curt bolts out of the house leaving Troy alone in a strangers house. Troy barely escapes without being caught. Throughout the next few weeks, Curt is somewhat unreliable nearly getting Troy into trouble. Eventually real practice starts, and Troy must balance doing the right thing by going to school, and meeting Curt’s random schedule for practice. They eventually play a gig, with not-so-good results.

Troy sinks into depression and refuses to have anything to do with music, until he finds out that Curt has been sleeping on the streets near him. He finds Curt, and agrees to get back together for the band, but Curt soon falls seriously ill. Troy helps Curt to get well, and overcome his drug addiction, leaving only time to tell if Curt truly recovers, and they go on to become punk rock legends.

Nearly everything in this book is Troy’s narration, or observation, and he is incredibly honest. Troy has a self deprecating wit, and seems to have come to terms with who he is as “Fat Kid.” He even has come to a point where he can laugh at himself, and is not afraid to describe himself when he huffs, and sweats. He is very real, and as such it is easy to relate to him, and empathize with him.

Troy’s father deserves some credit, being an ex-marine, and into athletics, especially with his active son Dayle. He decides to support Troy’s decision to get into music, despite not approving at first. He eventually caves in and even buys Troy a drum set.

This book is nomination worthy because it hits many of the developmental YA areas. Troy is aware of who he is, but at the same time is discovering things about himself that never dreamed of, such as his ability to play drums. Troy also has an idea of who he is in relation to everyone else; to other kids, he is a joke; to his dad, a disappointment; to girls, a repulsive sight; to his younger brother, an embarrassment. Despite this, he also discover something new about himself like his ability to play drums, to “live” the unpretentious punk life, to actually be popular to others because of his talents.

“Fat Kid” also hits the point of a quest, in that Troy has a quest to become a sufficient drummer. Troy doesn’t seem idealistic, at least in the sense that he can “do anything,” quite the opposite in fact, he is convinced that he has no redeeming points. He does however stick to what he believes in. He stops skipping school for practice, and desires to at least respect his father. To me, that is pretty idealistic in our day.

Troy also has incredibly high awareness of his sexual development, noticing just about every hot girl, which shows that he is developing. Troy is also extremely self conscious, and introspective. Troy also tries to solve Curt’s problem of homelessness and illness, is uncertain about his musical ability, and eventually overcomes the odds to become a decent drum player. In short, Troy is a very realistic teen character that I found easy to empathize with.

Suggestions for improvement:

This book is pretty good, but the amount of swearing was pretty high, in addition Curt’s possible drug use was kind of alarming. In a sense though, this is art imitating life, and Going definitely uses these two points to make believable characters. Descriptions of things could have also been better, but since it’s the observations of a teen, who is preoccupied with a lot of other stuff I think it’s excusable. In this case, I name Troy an unreliable narrator, and cannot place the fault on the author.