Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts

2/19/2013

Star Wars Jedi Apprentice Series (18 Volumes) Review

Star Wars Jedi Apprentice Series (18 Volumes)
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My Son devoured this set of 20 books 1-18 and the 2 special editions I believe from what I have read that Adults and kids will enjoy reading this series. The storyline and situations aren't too complex, but the books give us a revealing insight into the training process of Jedi Knights. The point of view switches between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi; these books are really about BOTH knights and the things they teach each other on their journey. The next series Is Jedi Quest I believe.

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2/17/2013

Rogue Star (Warhammer 40,000) Review

Rogue Star (Warhammer 40,000)
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Andy Hoare dabbles on both sides of Games Workshop's product lines: game development for the Warhammer 40,000 (W40K) tabletop miniatures game, and in the Black Library fiction upon which it's based. He's done numerous short pieces, and this is his second novel, though clearly the first of a series. This work is more of a lengthy prolog to the series than a stand-alone book. The main characters include: Lucian Gerrit, the brash and insensitive dynastic father; Korvane, the bookish obedient son; and Brielle, the rebellious intuitive daughter.
The book abruptly, some might say inelegantly, thrusts the characters into their assigned roles. You know the personalities of the main characters before finishing the first chapter, and they don't deviate from those patterns for the rest of the work, even when there's clear evidence that to do so would be in their best interest. They form what is clearly the most dysfunctional family in the Imperium. The father blusters, issuing orders without any explanation, and even revels in the concept that his children won't understand his commands. The son, the heir apparent of the dynasty, is blindly obedient to his father and sullenly hostile towards his sister. The daughter is overtly rebellious and completely without consideration for anyone beside herself.
Action scenes provide welcome respite from the Gerrit family affairs, and both the personal- and starship-level conflicts are well written and agreeably paced. However, M. Hoare seems to have based much of his starship terminology from the age of sail, slightly at odds with previous 40K material. The helmsman turns the wheel to steer; Lucian is constantly referring to the drives as "the mains." Any reader of either Horatio Hornblower or Jack Aubrey novels will begin to wonder if they're in the 40K universe or somewhere else.
The plot flows loosely from event to event without building much of a climax, which given the book's purpose as a lengthy prolog to latter works might be forgiven. The "resolution" at the end only serves to prepare the reader for the next installment: Star of Damocles. However, if you're looking for a satisfying, stand-alone story without having to read the rest of the series when it comes out, you might want to look elsewhere.
In short: somewhat clumsy in execution, it does have redeeming features. 40K completists will want to own a copy, but others might wait to see if the rest of the series proves any better than the prolog.

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Rogue Trader Lucian Gerrit learns the true meaning of profit and loss! Andy Hoare presents an epic adventure in his debut novel for the Black Library. Lucian Gerrit is a rogue trader - a starship captain granted ancient trading rights along the Eastern Fringe of Imperial space. But his family's fortunes have been steadily declining for many generations and his inheritance amounts to little more than a pile of debt and misery. In a final desperate gamble to restore his family's former glory, Gerrit strikes a deal on a forgotten Imperial world to aid its commander in a long-standing war with his rival. As Gerrit commits his family's assets to the escalating conflict, he may lose more than his livelihood!

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Star Wars The Saga 2011 Oversized Wall Calendar Review

Star Wars The Saga 2011 Oversized Wall Calendar
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What more can you ask for?
Star Wars theatrical posters on a 16 month calendar.
What's not to like except maybe the size?
If you wanted the larger 14" x 18" size from the 2006 series, inflation has cut down the size to a modest 11" x 17" - which is perfect for me since I am out of wall space.

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Spiral-bound 16-month oversized calendars feature 13 exclusive posters. Perforated edges make them easy to remove. Boost your collection of Star Wars memorabilia with this oversized calendar, featuring artful posters from all six films. The posters are perforated, so it s easy to remove them and show off your favorite episode.

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2/02/2013

Revenge of the Sith Movie Storybook (Star Wars) Review

Revenge of the Sith Movie Storybook (Star Wars)
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I love Star wars.So this book is great.It shows the high light of the movie.It is very sad but I can read it over agin and agin
and it still is great.I read it in about one day.I started around 2:00pm and finshed around 10:00Am and I got a good night sleep to. I just Love'd it so much. I can't wait to see the movie.
Yoou will proble want to read it first.I don't want to tell you about it you should read it your self.I read it by my self and I'm only 11. I was just great.I just had to tell some buddy.It has great picters too.That's about all I can say and are great things.
I hope this helps you.

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Fully illustrated with the most exciting color photographs from the movie, the Star Wars: Episode III Movie Storybook follows the story from beginning to end with easy-to-read text. It's the perfect collector's item for Star Wars fans of all ages!

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1/31/2013

Star Wars: Blood Oath Review

Star Wars: Blood Oath
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What the KRIFF happened to this book? Where did it go? Finally, a book about a character OTHER than Luke or Han Solo, and they toss it! Zekk played such a big role in the previous Dark Nest, and Legacy of the Force series, making him stand out as a possible future Jedi Master. Troy Denning leaves you wondering what happened to him at the end on Invincible, but I guess we'll never know what happened for sure. Fierfek!
P.S. The Clone Wars cartoon series sucks.

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1/25/2013

System Guide to Aegis (Alternity Sci-Fi Roleplaying, Star Drive Setting) Review

System Guide to Aegis (Alternity Sci-Fi Roleplaying, Star Drive Setting)
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The System Guide to Aegis was a very informative book on the governments and powers that run the system and a few adventure hooks too. All in all a rather good book to add to your shelf of alternity books, it provides much information about bluefall (the system's water dominated planet) and the deepfallen (bluefall's sentient race). If you have the cash, then get the book. The only thing i didnt like was the art, but the info was great.

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The Aegis system is the heart of the Verge, the political center on the very edge of explored space. The Aegis sourcebook reveals more information about the entire star system, from the mysterious origins of Bluefall and the secrets of the Deepfallen to the astonishing moon-system of the gas giant Redcrown.

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1/19/2013

The Complete Star Wars Trilogy, Episodes IV, V, & VI Review

The Complete Star Wars Trilogy, Episodes IV, V, and VI
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If you love Star Wars - and not just the special effects - get THIS set (if you can 'cause they only made 7500). It is really great! The ultimate theater IS the MIND and this set PROVES it - no question. The ULTIMATE (that is the complete set all together not in sets) listening experience. I wish Brian could have lived to see his project completed. I wish they would reprint the books.

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Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, slipcased.When this series was first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981, it generated the largest response in the network's history:50,000 letters and phone calls in a single week, an audience of 750,000 per episode, and a subsequent 40-percent jump in NPR listenership.This landmark production, perhaps the most ambitious radio project ever attempted, began when Star Wars creator George Lucas donated the story rights to NPR an affiliate.Writer Brian Daley adapted the film's highly visual script to the special demands and unique possibilities of radio, creating a more richly textured tale with greater emphasis on character development.Director John Madden guided a splendid cast--including Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels, reprising their film roles as Luke Skywalker and the persnickety robot See Threepio--through an intense ten day dialogue recording session.Then came months of painstaking work for virtuoso sound engineer Tom Voegeli, whose brilliant blending of the actors' voices, the music, and hundreds of sound effects takes this intergalactic adventure into a realm of imagination that is beyond the reach of cinema.

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1/18/2013

A Forest of Stars (The Saga of Seven Suns) Review

A Forest of Stars (The Saga of Seven Suns)
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In this chapter of the Saga is where the meat of the story really gets going. All the ground work laid in the previous books begins to pay off with. Great Battles and political intrigue and some new unexpected allies are on the horizon. This was not a let down.

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Five years after attacking the human-colonized worlds of the Spiral Arm, the hydrogues maintain absolute control over stardrive fuel...and their embargo is strangling human civilization. On Earth, mankind suffers from renewed attacks by the hydrogues and decides to use a cybernetic army to fight them. Yet the Terran leaders don't realize that these military robots have already exterminated their own makers - and may soon turn on humanity. Once the rulers of an expanding empire, humans have become the galaxy's most endangered species. But the sudden appearance of incredible new beings will destroy all balances of power. Now for humans and the myriad alien factions in the universe, the real war is about to begin...and genocide may be the result.

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1/05/2013

Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters Review

Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters
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Dick Staub makes some very good points and conections to the training of a Jedi in the ways of the Force in Star Wars and the walk of a Christian following God in life today. However, he does misquote and misinterpret many quotes from the Star Wars movies, and I even found a misquotation from the Bible. He makes good points, but these details were distracting to me as I read. I am not yet finished and will leave more once I am done.
After finishing this book it occured to me that Dick Staub needs to take some time to do a couple of things. First he needs to re-read the Bible and get facts correct (He quoted Moses as saying something to Joshua, but Moses was dead at the time and God told it to Joshua). Second, he needs a simple commentary for the passages he misinterprets (He says David had Uriah killed to be the only one Bathsheba loved, He had Uriah killed to cover up his sin). Third he needs to re-watch the Star Wars movies and not bend the quotes of the characters to fit his book (He talks about Obi-Wan asking Yoda for help in Episode II and portrays the event differently than it happens, as well as bends Yoda's reaction to fit what he is trying to show). This book is not what I thought it was, and any Christian who is young in their walk should not read this.

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1/03/2013

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Invincible Review

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Invincible
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My son and I enjoyed this final book in the series and the ending was bitter sweet. My son thought that it was getting a bit corny but we liked it anyway. Not to sure how Janyna pulled it off but you can see how the saga may continue...

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No war can last forever. Now, in the long and punishing battle between the defiant champions of the New Jedi Order and the juggernaut that is the Galactic Alliance, the endgame is finally at hand. The rebel cause is losing ground under the twin blows of Admiral Gilad Pellaeon's assassination and the death of Mara Jade Skywalker. At the same time, the Galactic Alliance, with the extraordinary power and dark brilliance of newly ascendant Sith Lord Darth Caedus at its helm, may be unstoppable. Tormented and torn between the call of duty and the thirst for vengeance, Luke has searched the Force and beheld an unspeakable vision of the galaxy enslaved under tyranny more monstrous than even Palpatine's. Now it seems that the last, best hope lies in mobilizing the scattered Jedi for one decisive search-and-destroy mission. The objective: eliminate Darth Caedus. It's a plan that will be as difficult and dangerous to execute as it is daring. For Caedus is a scion of both the Skywalker and Solo bloodlines whose command of the Force surpasses even that of his grandfather Darth Vader. There is only one who is bound by destiny to stand against him in what will surely be a duel to the death, only one with an outside chance of bringing down the dark lord who was once Jacen Solo.The furious final moments between power and peace are here, and whoever confronts Darth Caedus will decide the outcome–and the fate of those left standing.

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12/28/2012

Star Wars Imperial Sourcebook, 2nd Edition (Star Wars RPG) Review

Star Wars Imperial Sourcebook, 2nd Edition (Star Wars RPG)
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This book is best used in conjunction with the Rebel Handbook and the Star Wars Sourcebook. Between the three of them most information is covered. (maybe this one DOESN'T cover TIE stats, but there's a nice chart in the Sourcebook that has all the different starcraft lined up.) Good flavor. Excellent illustrations, in words and in pictures. I recommend this book the the serious Star Wars fan.

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12/27/2012

Seikai: Crest of the Stars, Vol. 2: A Modest War Review

Seikai: Crest of the Stars, Vol. 2: A Modest War
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Crest of the Stars: A Modest War picks up right where the first novel, Princess of the Empire, left off. Which is a good thing since Princess of the Empire ended off with a cliffhanger: Jinto and Lafiel were being held captive by Baron Febdash, who captured them when their desperate escape from the United Mankind fleet brought them to his orbital palace hoping to obtain fuel and supplies. Princess Lafiel has decided to take matters into her own hands and has started a rebellion among the Baron's vassals.
Just to give a quick recap, Seikai is an immensely popular space-opera series by Japanese author Hiroyuki Morioka. Anime and manga adaptations have been available in English translation for some time, but this is the first time the original novels have been translated into English. It was well worth the wait.
In the second novel we get more insight into the psyche and culture of the Seikai series' primary focus: the Abh. They are genetically engineered warriors who have made space their home, disdaining the planets inhabited by "landers." Over centuries they have built a massive empire based on both conquest and trade. We learn more about their history, including the terrible "original sin" which burdens the prideful Abh.
The real delight of this novel is to see the blossoming relationship between Princess Lafiel and Jinto, the "accidental noble" lander who had his Abh title thrust upon him when he was a young boy. Brought together by chance, they now find themselves fighting for their lives and their freedom as both war and treachery threaten them at every turn. They become refugees, trying to hide and survive in enemy territory. Though their friendship grows and they are able to work together, their radically different backgrounds too often get in the way. They are very much an odd couple, and old prejudices threaten to tear them apart. But each comes to find unexpected sources of strength in the other, and they are able to persevere together for another day.
The Crest of the Stars trilogy will conclude with the third novel "Return to a Strange World." But that will be just the beginning of a long epic, hopefully we will see the rest of the story that is still being released and enjoyed in Japan.
I enjoyed the second novel as much as the first. The adventure and conflict is peppered with delightful moments of humor and irony. Fans of the anime or manga series should note that it is in the second novel where we really start to see a great deal of material which never made it into the adaptations. We finally get the story complete and unabridged.

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Jinto and Lafiel escape from Baron Febdash's orbital palace only to fall into the clutches of the Human Unification Army. Thrust into the middle of an ugly battle for intergalactic supremacy, the lander noble and the Imperial princess must learn to work together if they want to survive.

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12/26/2012

Han Solo's Revenge (Classic Star Wars) Review

Han Solo's Revenge (Classic Star Wars)
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Picking up not too long after Han Solo at Stars' End, maybe a couple of months later, Han Solo's Revenge continues Brian Daley's chronicles of some of Han Solo's more daring early exploits. In this next volume of the Han Solo Adventures, the author continues to uphold the high standards set in the first book and gives us another rousing, fast-paced yarn set in the Star Wars Universe. Han, Chewie, and the Falcon are all completely in character throughout the book, and in fact this is one of the few Star Wars novels ever to actually use Chewie for something other than a set piece.
Han and Chewie start this novel pretty much bankrupt, and so they take a shady job promising them 10,000 credits. Unfortunately, things turn sour when the job turns out to be slave running, which carries with it an automatic and summary execution if caught. Han manages to outwit the slavers and escape, but he figures he's still owed 10,000, and so he decides to head to his rendezvous and collect. But when the Corporate Sector Authority gets involved, things start getting more dangerous.
While this book isn't quite as memorable as its immediate predecessor, it is in many ways a superior book. First of all, it has more of a plot rather than just a mission that the characters are undertaking. In addition, while there is not quite as much action in this installment as the previous one, there's a lot more dialogue and character development. There's a character in this book who is amusingly and completely unintimidated by Chewbacca, and my favorite droid duo, Bollux & Blue Max, returns as well. Moreover, we get to see Chewie sing, we get the first ever swoop race, almost twenty years before Shadows of the Empire came along with that novel idea. Chewie gets to go flying without benefit of a ship, Han gets to do a lot more seat-of-the-pants flying, and there are more, and more interesting, ancillary characters in this book than in Stars' End. In addition, in this book Gallandro, a gunman with possibly an even quicker draw than Solo, is introduced. There are pirate boardings, run-ins with various high-ranking individuals, great and innovative escape, you name it...
Overall, this is another more than worthy, if somewhat short, addition to the Star Wars mythos. Highly Recommended.

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RISKY BUSINESSLured by a profitable venture, freighter captain Han Solo took the job--no questions asked. It was after he and Chewbacca made planetfall and picked up their living cargo that they discovered they were committing a capital crime. And the punishment for slave trading was mandatory execution.Thanks to quick thinking by Blue Max, the computer-partner to Han's 'droid Bollux, Solo and Chewbacca rapidly turned the tables on their notorious employers. But that left them out of work--and figuring someone still owed them ten thousand credits. So Han decided to keep his scheduled meeting with the trader's shadowy leader. But the person he met didn't fit his idea of a slave trader.With good reason.And the truth meant real trouble . . . --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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12/25/2012

Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races (Star Wars Roleplaying Game Supplement) Review

Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races (Star Wars Roleplaying Game Supplement)
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A true must-have for those tired of playing Human characters in an Universe as diversed as Star Wars. It is specialy good in giving written explanations for the Attribute Stats, from all the SW books I've read, this, like none other, gives insighful explanations to the alien's species.

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12/23/2012

A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker Review

A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker
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I really enjoyed this book. I have followed all of the Star Wars series books from Scholastic (Jedi Apprentice, Jedi Quest, Last of the Jedi, and Rebel Force)and I believe this book links into those stories as well as what happened before, and after the movies. For those who haven't read the Star Wars comics, Have you ever wondered what Luke was doing prior to the events in Star Wars: A New Hope? Have you ever wondered about his relationship with Owen Lars? Do you want to know how the rebels found Hoth? Do you want to see Luke uncover information about Anakin Skywalker? All of these events are depicted in this book. The only negative thing about this book is that the events prior to The Empire Strikes Back are briefly cover. I would have liked to have had this area explored in more depth. Other than that I really enjoyed this book. A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker

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12/19/2012

Star Wars: Darth Maul: Saboteur Review

Star Wars: Darth Maul: Saboteur
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Darth Maul: Saboteur is an eBook, or rather an eStory, which was publicized as a digital prelude of sorts to Michael Reaves' novel Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. In fact, though, it takes place more than six months and probably close to a year before the novel, shortly before the Darth Maul comic, and it chronicles Maul's first solo assignment. Written by James Luceno, the author of a duology set in the New Jedi Order series, as well as a forthcoming prequel-era novel, 'Cloak of Deception,' Luceno continues his high standards of writing and delivers a piece of quality entertainment.
In this story, which in terms of length is worth approximately fifty printed pages, Darth Maul is sent to disrupt a couple of corporations mining lommite ore, a substance needed for the production of transparisteel. With these corporations devastated, the Neimoidian Trade Federation will pick up the pieces, and the profits, helping to cement their trust in Darth Sidious.
This story shows us a more restrained side of Maul than we have seen before. In the comic, he was a killing machine, plain and simple. In the novel, he was a ruthless hunter. This story was able to show us his ability to be patient when necessary, to cover his tracks, to deceive rather than simply all-out attack. Of course, there is a cool lightsaber fight, but the appeal of this story is in his other abilities. In addition, in this book we meet Lieutenant Governor Tarkin of Eriadu. Yes, the same Tarkin who later dies in the movie, and the same Tarkin who will be a main character in 'Cloak of Deception.' I love the way Luceno is able to tie things together.
Overall, this is a very fun story. Is it worth two dollars? Yes. Unfortunately, without the ability to print the eBook format means staring at a computer screen for around an hour, which really detracted from the experience for me. Nevertheless, if you like Star Wars, or are a 'Mauloholic,' this book is worth the buying.

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