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David McK (3562 KP) rated Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Villains in Books

Sep 8, 2019

Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Villains

Greg Pak | 2019 | Comics & Graphic Novels

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

While the Star Wars Extended Universe has been (unofficially) doing this for years now, Disney has finally come out and given each of the current 3 distinct eras in the films their own 'name's: 'Age of Republic' (The Prequel Trilogy), 'Age of Rebellion' (Original Trilogy) and 'Age of Resistance' (Sequel Trilogy)

This, therefore, is set during the middle - arguably best - of those three, and is really a collection of short stories, each focusing on a given villain from that era: Grand Moff Tarkin, Boba Fett, IG-88, Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader himself. As such, the stories are a bit hit and miss, with some forgettable while others adding nuance and depth to the characters. I may pick up the 'Age of Rebellion: Heroes' companion when it comes out, but probably won't be rushing out to buy it.

Kudos

A Country Road, A Tree

Jo Baker

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

From the best-selling author of Longbourn, a remarkable imagining of Samuel Beckett’s wartime...

historical fiction

Milleen (47 KP) rated All the Light We Cannot See in Books

Nov 14, 2018

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics

8.4

(14 Ratings)

Book Rating

This is another novel from 2015 that just keeps gaining popularity. During World War II a blind, french girl, Marie-Laure is forced to flee Paris for Saint-Malo hiding a jewel from her father’s museum. At the same time we learn about a german orphan Werner Pfennig, naturally adept at fixing radios and enlisted to use his skills to fight and find the French Resistance. Doerr interweaves the two characters lives with skill and attention to detail. His prose is beautifully crafted, drawing you into the past with flair and aplomb. This book took ten years to write and every page shows that not a word was wasted, Doerr rightfully received the Pulitzer Prize for this tome. A beautiful novel that deserves your full attention.

Kudos

Endgame (Sirantha Jax, #6)

Ann Aguirre

9.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Regret nothing. Sirantha Jax has the J-gene, which permits her to “jump” faster-than-light...

David McK (3562 KP) rated Star Wars: Bloodline in Books

Jan 30, 2019

Star Wars: Bloodline

Claudia Gray | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry

8.0

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

By and large, most of the Star Wars books to date (including in the old EU), have pretty much belonged to the 'boys club', dfocusing more on the male characters (Han, Luke, the X-Wing pilots, etc) than on their female contemporaries.

I think that's to be expected, given the predominantly male targer audience of the film series - an expectation that Disney themselves are trying to shake up, both in the new films (both of which - The Force Awakens and Rogue One - , so far, have female leads), and in the wider media, as can be shown by their 'Princess Leia' series of comics.

This follows(?) (or did it come first?) in the latter footsteps, with nary a sign of Luke and Han only popping in to give Leia a hand towards the climax of the novel.

Set in the period between the end of 'Return of the Jedi' and the start of 'The Force Awakens', this also seeks to bridge the gap between those two films, providing a bit of background to the history of The First Order and explaining why, if Leia was part of the Rebellion which toppled the Empire, just why she is now a key member in The Resistance - the Resistance to what, I hear you ask? This answers that question.

It's not a bad read by any strecth of the imagination - according to Goodreads own rating system, 2 stars is a 'I liked it'; I just personally found this a slower, somewhat heavier read than [a:Claudia Gray|1192311|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234643683p2/1192311.jpg]'s other Star Wars title: '[b:Lost Stars|25067046|Lost Stars (Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462731623s/25067046.jpg|44751860]';. And yes, I'm aware that this is aimed at a different audience.

How best to put it? I didn't find myself reading this quite so much in my spare time on the bus on the way to work!