Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Donald F. Glut - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

You know a lot of people I think tend to discount novels based on movies, I mean it is true that movies based on books are usually not as good, but can it be true that books based on movies are as good?

Well I am hear to say that some times yes they are and some times they are not...

I hate to say it, but Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back just isn't one of them... Don't get me wrong, this novel is not all that bad, the problem is, is that Donald F. Glut did not bring anything new to this story!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="200"] This book just is not as good as the movie![/caption]

What I mean by this is the fact that he did not answer any questions that people may or may not have had about the movie, and the story was basically the same...

So well I guess if you love the movie, then you might like this, I know I did enjoy it some, despite the fact that it is not inherently original, and if you give it a try you might enjoy it as well!

 

The Truce At Bakura (1993) - Kathy Tyers - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

As times goes on, more and more people who are discovering Star Wars for the first time are discovering the, 'pre-quel' series of movies that George Lucas (Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace) started making  at the tail end of the 1990s... I find this to be a shame!

Don't get me wrong, there are more then plenty truly great moments in the pre-quel series to be had by all, but there is just nothing like watching the exploits of Luke, Leia, Han & Chewie as they travel through out the universe stopping the plans of the evil Emperor, and his side kick, 'Darth Vader'!

The reason that I mention this is because when I was in High School, I got really in to reading these novels, and enjoying the latest exploits both pre and post the time when the Rebellion has finally destroyed the evil, 'Emperor', and the latest exploits that this truly awesome team gets involved in, in their continuing struggle to restore the, 'Republic' to it's former glory!

There was one book, 'The Truce At Bakura', by: Kathy Tyers, that I found particularly interesting... Well simply put, because at the time, it was unheard of to bring, 'Imperials' together to fight alongside the Rebellion that is kicking their asses!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="643"] Luke, Leia & Han will find an unexpected ally when they decide to help the dying Empire save one of their garrisons![/caption]

 

Well other then that, the truth is, is this novel which tells the story of how after receiving a distress call from a distant Imperial garrison that had been meant for the Emperor... Luke Skywalker and his rebel forces, whom after the celebration of the death of the Emperor and Darth Vader & the defeat of the second Death Star before it could be built, decide to help what remains of the garrison on, 'Bakura' and stop the invasion of an Alien race!

Now the truth is, is there is nothing particularly wrong with this novel, the problem is that I think you need more then an uncommon teaming up of unlikely allies to make a great novel... And the truth is, is where as there was nothing particularly exception beyond what I mentioned before, there is also nothing particularly wrong with the novel either... To be honest it is just sort of one of those ones you read and enjoy it while you can, but in the end turns out to be pretty unmemorable afterward!

Young Adult Horror Novels... Why They Are Fun For Adults As Well

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604"] A great example of a fun young adult, 'horror' novel![/caption]

Young adult novels, rather they be the, 'Sweet Valley High' novels, some of the 'Star Trek' novels, or even the, 'Goosebumps' series of novels... These novels generally are written with the idea of teenagers in mind, (i,e... Leaving out a lot of the adult themes that come with novels from such authors as, 'Anne Rice' & 'Stephen King'...)

Well I am here to say that these young adult novels... Despite the fact that they generally tend not to have the size-able portions of adult themes that authors put in to their more adult novels... There are definitely a decent sized portion of young adult, 'Science Fiction' novels, and young adult, 'Horror' novels that are definitely fun!

Now don't get me wrong, Like any category, there are some good and there are some bad... And in the case of young adult novels, you will have to discover for yourself which ones you are either going to like or dislike... But there are some truly fun ones out there!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="260"] A fun example of a young adult, 'Science Fiction' novel![/caption]

A great example of a novelized series that I found to be an awful lot of fun is the, 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' novels... There are a couple reasons for this:

A: Despite the fact that these novels were generally written with the idea of teenagers in mind, most of the stories that I have read thus far from this series of novels, has kept to the core values of what made, 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' a truly amazing TV series, including: genuinely cruel big bad guys, that the authors oft times go in to fun detail as Buffy and the Scooby Gang have to fight off the monsters.

B: They also have the relatively easy to kill vampire.

C: Last but not least they go in to the legitimate drama and tackle as many of the issues that they can, that people the age of Buffy and her team would normally face...

And Buffy is just one example of some of the great horror novels for young adults that are out there!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="118"] Christopher Pike... A great author who has produced some awesome, 'young adult' horror novels![/caption]

A great example of young adult Science Fiction novels happens to be the, 'Star Wars' & 'Star Trek' series!

A couple of examples of this are:

A: In both series, the author generally does good by these 2 series by maintaining the basic overall stories of these series, really quite nicely!

B: Reading these novels and going through as we continue on with the saga of these characters in my opinion is like imagining an episode of, 'Star Trek' or a new, 'Star Wars' movie in your head as you are reading one or the other!

C: The adventures that the characters have in their respective series, are both entertaining, and remain true to the forms upon which they were originally made, (Being the various TV series of, 'Star Trek' and the various movies of, 'Star Wars'.)

So the next time you are in the book store or looking for something to read on your, 'e-Reader', don't skip past the, 'young adult books' you might find one that will keep you both entertained, and maybe even at the edge of your seat as you read through it!

Star Wars (The Thrawn Trilogy Volume 2): Dark Force Rising (1992) - Timothy Zahn - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignright" width="307"] Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Believe it or not, I have actually been a fan of Star Trek novels for quite a few years, (long before I had ever become a fan of Star Wars novels.) You see Star Trek novels, despite the perceptions of them by a lot of people. Star Trek novels, like their big or small screen representations, are novels that kind of give a positive view of humanity that from what I can see, it generally seems that humanity really believes could happen... But not just that, but it also continues the Star Trek universe in such a way that some times the movies or the TV shows couldn't expand in to... And so knowing that is the case with Star Trek novels, you would think that it would be the same thing with Star Wars novels right? Wrong... For me, for some reason I was under the preconception that Star Wars novels would not only not be fun, but that they would also be kind of cheesy as hell, and that the novels that could be closely related to an, 'Adult' novel, would be more like the young adult novels... Boy was I wrong! You see, I was given a Star Wars novel called, 'Dark Force Rising'... Now at this time I didn't know that this was a trilogy in and of it's self, but the truth is, is I found this novel to be quite fascinating... It was fun to see where, Luke, Leia, Han & the gang were at years after, Star Wars Episode 6: Return Of The Jedi (1983) ended up at...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="607"] Luke, Leia, Han & the gang celebrating the battle that took down, ‘The Emperor’, ‘Darth Vader’ and, ‘The Death Star’.[/caption]

You see this novel is actually the second in a series of 3, and tells the story of how years after the fall of Emperor Palpatine. Darth Vader & the Death Star in, 'Return Of Jedi', A New Republic is born, and the old Empire has been routed to a small corner of the Galaxy... But during this time the last of Palpatine's major warlords, 'Grand Admiral Thrawn' has marshaled the remnants of the Imperial Military...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Some of the, 'Imperial Navy'.[/caption]

Well in this story it turns out that the Old Republic had created a fleet of Dreadnoughts (the predecessors of the, 'Imperial Star Destroyers'... This would be a huge boon for either side if they could get their hands on them, due to the fact that despite a virus that killed the living element of these ships, that for the most part are automated and would require very little people to control! Well the good news is that Talon Karrde (A smuggler who played a major role in the previous novel and would become an important figure in the expanded universe), had found out their location years ago... The only problem is that not only does Talon know about it, but Grand Admiral Thrawn also has found out where they are and has sent a clone army after the ships! During this time Han and Lando are trying to recruit a veteran former Republic Senator who after a falling out with one of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance and later the, 'New Republic', has been fighting his own private war against the Empire... But the interesting thing is that this guy apparently seems to have control of at least some of the, 'Dreadnoughts.' And also during this time, Leia, Chewie, C3PO, and R2D2 go on a mission that will expose a plot that will help get a new race to join the, 'New Republic'... But in the end, it turns out that Grand Admiral Thrawn, whose forces seem to be growing, also now has the majority of the Dreadnoughts! And it will be up to Luke, Leia, Han and the rest of their gang to stop Grand Admiral Thrawn, before Thrawn has the chance to restore the Empire to it's former glory!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="200"] This book is a blast, but I do recommend starting from the first in the series... It will make more sense![/caption]

In the end, this book was a total blast... I mean you maybe wondering why I mentioned this book as the first one before I mentioned Book 1... Well the truth is, is this is the first Star Wars book that I had ever read, and the truth is, is it was so good that it has given me a life long love of those novels that I still enjoy today!

Star Wars: From The Adventures Of Luke Skywalker (1976) - Alan Deane Foster And George Lucas - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Now you may not think this to be the case, but it is quite true... You ever hear the old saying, 'a movie based on a novel is never as good as the book'? Well I will be honest and say that, that statement is not always true, as a matter of fact I would say that there are a few Tom Clancy novels that I have read that tended to be better in movie form then they were in book form!

Despite that it is mostly true that novels that were turned in to movies tend usually to be better in written form then they are in movie form, with that said though, I hate to say it, but some times the reverse is not true (some times it is as well), but in the case of the novelization of the Star Wars movie, the movie in my opinion was better then the book!

You might be wondering why this is, I mean after all this book is based on the movie and should have the same story line and everything right? Well the truth is, is that this novel does actually have the same story line as the movie, the problem with this novel is that for me it lost the enchantment that comes with being able to envision the world that you are reading about in your imagination!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The novelization of the movie, 'Star Wars' may not be as good, but if you haven't seen this movie yet, then it maybe a good place to start![/caption]

With all of this in mind though it is a fun book, and if you happen to have not seen the Star Wars movies yet at all... Or haven't at the very least seen the first movie in the original series, then I think you guys might find it to be interesting... Story wise this story has a lot of myth and wonder, suspense, action and heck even romance...

So if you haven't dived in to this series in movie form yet, or at the very least haven't seen the first movie yet, then check this out, you might find out that you really enjoy it... And it may even help introduce you to the movies as well!