Tag: Star Wars Books Review

Ominous words under any circumstances, but all the more so when uttered by Emperor Palpatine. On Batuu, at the edges of the Unknown Regions, a threat to the Empire is taking root—its existence little more than a glimmer, its consequences as yet unknowable. But it is troubling enough to the Imperial leader to warrant investigation by his most powerful agents: ruthless enforcer Lord Darth Vader and brilliant strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn. Fierce rivals for the emperor’s favor, and outspoken adversaries on Imperial affairs—including the Death Star project—the formidable pair seem unlikely partners for such a crucial mission. But the Emperor knows it’s not the first time Vader and Thrawn have joined forces. And there’s more behind his royal command than either man suspects

I need to admit here that this book is easily the best star wars book I’ve read so far this year. But of course I will explain my thoughts and opinions about this book in this review, so if you are interested then keep reading. 

First of all, I need to admit here that I am such a big fan of Thrawn, because for me he is such an underrated character in the star wars universe. And I would personally love to see him in future star wars movies or shows and not only in books or comic books. 

This book follows two timelines. But both involve Thrawn, the first timeline involves Thrawn and Darth Vader in the present and the second timeline involves Thrawn and Anakin in the past during the clone wars era of star wars. 

To be honest I found the second storyline in this book to be more interesting than the first storyline. Because even thou I’m a huge Darth Vader fan, I find the clone wars period of star wars to be very very interesting. 

But both of these storylines in this book are very interesting, enjoyable and engaging. Which really made me give this book some extra points for doing. 

The biggest thing which I loved about this book is that it has the 1970s Star Wars feel to it like the original star wars trilogy. Which I remember watching on repeat as a 8 year old kid in 2010, so it was very nostalgic for me and huge aspect why I feel in love with star wars in the first place. 

The writing style in this book is very good, because it plays very well with the storylines of this book and it is very fitting for the star wars universe.

I need to also admit that Timothy Zahn is easily my favorite star wars author so far at least. And just reading his star wars books gives me a huge nostalgia to my first time watching star wars movies. 

The characters in this book are very well written. Because they have the things which makes them unique and they have all those things which made me at least fall in love with them in the movies. Which again made me give this book some extra points for doing. 

We can also very easily feel the tension and the back and forth between Darth Vader and Thrawn which really shows how much these 2 hate each other. But also we see that Darth Vader and Thrawn are in a competition with each other constantly and trying to outdo each other in front of Darth Sidious.

This book a lot of action, suspense, intrigue and character development which really makes it so good in my opinion and is the reason why I said at the beginning of this review that this book is easily the best star wars book I’ve read so far this year. At the same time this book has a lot of backstory because part of this book takes place during the clone wars so it servers as a little extensions of what happened during the clone wars.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

The Republic is decaying, even under the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who was elected to save the galaxy from collapsing under the forces of discontent. On the tiny but strategic planet of Ansion, a powerful faction is on the verge of joining the growing secessionist movement. At the Chancellor’s request, the Jedi Council sends two Jedi Knights, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli, along with their Padawans Anakin Skywalker and Barriss Offee, to stabilize the planet’s population. To succeed, the Jedi will have to fulfill near-impossible tasks, befriend wary strangers, and influence two great armies, stalked all the while by an enemy sworn to see the negotiations collapse and the mission fail.

Once again we are talking about another Star Wars book, I gotta say I had some high hope for this book. But to be very honest here this book didn’t live up to most of my expectations I had for this book. 

In this book we Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luminara Unduli, Anakin Skywalker and Barriss Offee are send on a mission and we follow the 4 of them in this book. 

I gotta admit that Obi-wan and Anakin don’t feel as developed and well made characters in this book as in the movies. Which really disappointed me a lot in this book. Because as some of you might know, Obi-wan and Anakin are one of my all time favorite characters from the Star Wars universe.

And the new characters we get in this book as Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee don’t leave a lasting impression as the OG character from Star Wars universe. 

Both Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee feel like mediocre characters, with not a lot of personality and depth into them which made it difficult for me to invest in their story.

The writing style in this book lacks the aspect of what makes Star Wars, Star Wars. The writing style is average to be honest. My main problem with the writing style is that it doesn’t have the depth and uniqueness which other Star Wars books have.

The descriptions in this book sometimes feel very generic and drags at times because they feel like they would fit better a fantasy book rather than a star wars book. 

The plot in this book while interesting and enjoyable lacks the immersive quality and the star wars vibe which the majority of star wars books have.  

I Give This Book 2 / 5

Javul Charn is the most famous pop star in the galaxy—and the runaway bride of a violent lieutenant in Black Sun, the crime syndicate commanded by Prince Xizor. Or so Javul says. Soon after Dash Rendar, broke and desperate, agrees to be Javul’s bodyguard, he realizes that openness is not her strong suit—and that murder is stalking her tour. Between the discovery of dead bodies in a cargo hold and an attack by an unidentified warship, Dash and co-pilot Eaden Vrill desperately try to understand who is terrorizing Javul’s tour and why. When Han Solo suddenly joins Javul’s road show, the stakes are raised even higher. Now Dash, who has a history with Han and an even worse history with Prince Xizor, follows his instincts, his discoveries, and Javul herself—straight into a world that may be too dangerous to survive.

I gotta say that this book is far from being one of the best Star Wars books I’ve read. Sure I haven’t read a lot of star wars books yet but after reading some of them I gotta say that this book is okay. 

This book has a very unique premise and plot when it comes to the Star Wars universe. Since the plot in this book follows the biggest pop star in the Star Wars universe. And this premise for a plot is the first book I come across which in the star wars universe which follows a pop star in the universe. 

The plot in this book also involves a fair share of shooting action and spacecraft action which really makes this book fun to read. But the action here isn’t as fun as in some other Star Wars books I’ve read which really didn’t impress me much in the “action” category.

After reading this book I need to say that this book feels more like a Sci-Fi Neo noir rather than a star wars books. Because there is no real star wars politician struggle, lightsaber battles, sith lords, jedi knights and all of the other stuff which makes Star Wars. 

The only connection this book has to star wars other than being part of the Star Wars book universe is that this book mentions the Rebel Alliance once and Han Solo appearance in the story in the second half of this book. Other than that there are no connection indicating that this book is in fact a Star Wars book universe.

The plot in this book feels at times very long and unnecessarily longer than it needed to be. My opinion is that this book could have cut out at least 50 pages or so and it would make this book longer. Because of the fact that this book drags for far too long at times.

The characters here are okay for the most part. We get very few characters in this book but those we get are very average characters. The characters here are okay but there isn’t a lot of depth to them and they don’t have the same feeling like the OG characters from the Star Wars which made us fall in love with them from the moment we saw them. 

The writing style in this book is pretty okay but it has the feeling that it was written by multiple authors which of course is the case in this book. The feeling of this book being written by multiple authors is the duality of this book because during the action moments the writing style feels like being written by a man (Michael Reaves) and during other moments the main character Dash gets very emotions and goes on those 5 pages long monologs like a female would do which makes the writing style feel like it was written by a woman (Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff).

However if you are looking for a stand alone star wars book to read then this book could be a good choice. Since this book is easy to read, its a quick read and it doesn’t have a connection to other books you should have read before reading this book.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, Master and acolyte, target the galaxy for domination–and the Jedi Order for annihilation. But can they defy the merciless Sith tradition? Or will the desire of one to rule supreme, and the dream of the other to live forever, sow the seeds of their destruction?

This book gives us background information which takes place before “Revenge of the Sith” movie. And we finally learn all about the “Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise”.

I gotta say that after reading this book Darth Plagueis. I gotta admit that he became one of my favorite characters from Star Wars. Because there are a lot of aspects about him that makes him deserve his own show.

If you have read the Darth Maul books and Star Wars comic series you will notice that this book reuses information about Darth Plagueis rather than giving us some new info about Darth Plagueis. But this book book gives us this information in its unique way so dont worry this book doesn’t feel like reading Darth Maul books. 

The writing style in this book is very good. It feels like the author knew what words to use to completely grab your attention and not let it go until the very end. The writing style played very well with the plot and action of this book which really made me give this book some extra points for doing that.

The ending of this book is very very good. Its very satisfying and it is something we as the readers deserved after reading the entire book. The ending of this book also gives us a lot of potential of sequels of this book and like this could be a part of a series about Darth Sidious.

This book involves a lot of characters we already know about like Darth Maul, Count Dock and it mentions characters like Anakin, Padme,  Obi Wan, Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda but we also get some more of the characters we can see in the movies and series. 

This book is very slow and it contains a lot of political intrigues and action rather than the lightsaber action. We get real Sith action at the end of this book but other than that the real action is Darth Sidious as Sheev Palpatine doing his political schemes. 

If you want to learn more about Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious than this book is the go-to here. Because this book is about Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious. But it also shows us how Sheev Palpatine become THE POLITICIAN in the star wars universe. 

This book is also a good stand alone book, even thou it has the potential to become the first book of a series of books. 

I Give This Book 5 / 5

This book is a collection of two books about Obi-Wan, I already reviewed one of the books included in this collection, and the review for the second book in this collection will be published soon on this website. But until then lets talk about this book. 

But since I already written the reviews for both of the books included in this book, I’m gonna talk about this book as a whole and make some short and quick comments of each of those 2 books included in this book. 

Both of the books included in this book were pretty decent. I liked the first book in this book named “The Approaching Storm” better than the second book named “Kenobi”. But overall I think that both of them are pretty decent and a fun read if you are already deep into the Star Wars book universe. But if you are just starting this journey than maybe wait with this book or the two books included in this book for a while until you have already started that journey. Since after reading this one I gotta admit that both of those book which are included in this book aren’t the best starting point into the Star Wars book universe.

But at the same time I need to say that in a way this book (or at least the two books included in this book) are a must read for Star Wars book readers since it expends the Star Wars universe in a way. It gives us action we haven’t seen before, in the first book we get a Jedi knight and her Palawan which we don’t get in the movies (or at least I don’t remember them from the movies) and in the second book we get to learn more about what Obi-Wan was doing in the desert of Tatooine right after the events of the Episode 3. 

And I need to admit that this book is very stunning, both the cover of it and the inside of it. Its a collector’s edition and I gotta admit that those collector’s edition books are my great weakness when it comes to how books look. 

I Give This Book 4 / 5

In this original novel set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi comes to the aid of the residents of Tatooine during his exile. But he struggles with his new mission when he realizes that protecting Luke Skywalker-the last hope of the galaxy-means setting aside his compassion and his Jedi warrior training, for the future of the galaxy lies not with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but with a mystical desert recluse known only by the name of Crazy Old Ben.

I gotta admit that this one isn’t the best star wars books I’ve read. This book is okay and somehow fun to read because we get to see more of what Obi-Wan was doing on Tatooine after the events of Episode 3. But other than that it has some other fun moments but for the most part. However I gotta admit that this book had disappointed me in a way.

The thing I found most disappointing in this book is that I thought it will be about Obi-Wan, since its named “Kenobi” and it has Obi-Wan on the cover but the majority of this book isn’t even about him. He is in the book yes, but he pops up every couple of pages. And I gotta say that he was in around 20% of this book but the remaining 80% of this book was not about him. But Obi-Wan being at Tatooine is critical to the events in this book but we don’t get to know his thoughts and opinions about the actions unfolding in this book. Because we as the readers we only get very few and short passages from his point of view. Which really got me angry on this book and on the author in a way because I bought and read this book to read about Obi-Wan and not some Tatooine hillbillies.

I gotta admit that this book is more like a desert western rather than a star wars book, even thou it has a lightsaber moment at the end of this book. But I gotta admit that a part of me liked this in a way because for me it was like taking a unique approach to the Star Wars universe, even thou I don’t want to see that happening often when it comes to Star Wars universe.

The pacing in this book was over odd for me personally in this book. Because it was like the first half of this book was building into this big climax and then when we get into the second half of this book we get a new path and the book and the plot itself builds back up again for a new climax and for the real conclusion of the book.

The characters here are meh to be honest, even Obi Wan in this book feels more like a watered down version of himself from Episode 3 which happened very short time before the plot in this book begins. 

The characters are very not memorable, and really I didn’t remember their names after I finished this book which really shows me personally at least how mediocre and average “Joe”s the characters were in this book. 

We follow the plot from the new characters point of view in this book, and because of this a lot of this story isn’t spend on the Obi-Wan we know and love but rather the local people seeing the new guy in town and wondering who is and where he came from. And of course the new guy in town is “Ben Kenobi” which might explain what I said above about Obi-Wan having a feeling like he is a watered down version of himself.

The writing style in this book was very average and not a lot to talk about. It didn’t feel like it was a good choice for a star wars book, because the writing style felt like it would do better in a western themed book rather than a star wars book. It focused heavily on the gun action and the schemes aspects rather than what you would expect from a Star Wars books. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5

On May 21, 1980, Star Wars became a true saga with the release of The Empire Strikes Back. In honor of the fortieth anniversary, forty storytellers recreate an iconic scene from The Empire Strikes Back, through the eyes of a supporting character, from heroes and villains to droids and creatures. From a Certain Point of View features contributions by bestselling authors and trendsetting artists.

So this book is a collection of 40 short stories which is released what we saw in The Empire Strikes Back.

If you want me to be very honest here, most of those stories in this book were good but they were okay. But surprisingly there were 2-3 very good shorties which really made me be kinder to the stories I didn’t like as much in this book. 

Its important to say that each short stories comes from a less known character from that movie. And we don’t get Luke’s, Leia’s or Han’s perspective but rather from the side characters from the movie. With actually worked very well for this book. Because we get to see the iconic trio through different perspectives rather from their own perspectives. 

To be honest I cant talk about the writing style of this book, because almost all 40 short stories in this book have been written by different authors which of course their own witting styles. 

I think that this book is a nice book to read if you want to expend your star wars knowledge and see the events of The Empire Strikes Back from different perspectives than the iconic trio’s perspectives. But of course this book is very far from being a “must read” in the star wars book universe. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5