Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two I finished Bane’s second outing yesterday, and it was even more enjoyable than the first! Drew Karpyshyn is really coming into his own, and with the third book in the series on the way (the title has been recently released, and it is Dynasty of Evil) we’ve been practically guarunteed that the book will be an excellent climax to Bane’s story!

This book follows Bane and his new, young apprentice immediatly following the climax of Path of Destruction; they are still on Ruusan, the planet that saw the deaths of thousands on Jedi and Sith when Lord Kaan released the most devastating Force-weapon I’ve ever seen: the thought bomb. In the aftermath of it being released, Bane in the only Sith Lord still alive, but that’s part of the plan - he looked upon the Sith and saw them as weak, and knew that the Order would need to be broken and then recreated into a force (pardon the word) capable of destroying the Jedi and taking over the Galactic Republic. Sound familiar? Yes, Bane was the Sith Lord that began the Rule of Two, and if it wasn’t for him, Palpatine (Darth Sidious) would probably never have existed.

So, Bane has survived but is suffering terrible headaches, and is also seeing visions of two of the Sith Lords he betrayed and murdered - yes, Kaan did release the thought bomb, but Bane was the one who convinced him to do it. Bane has found Zannah, and after a detour back to the caves to see the remnants of the thought bomb (and someone from Zannah’s past), Bane leaves for Dxun, the planet orbiting Onderon where the tomb of the ancient Sith Lord, Freedon Nad, is; he leaves Zannah on Ruusan, without food or shelter, and tells her that her first important test is to travel to Onderon and meet him there - how she does so is up to her. This sets the stage for the steep learning curve that all Sith before Sidious and up to Bane must have gone through, and throughout the book Drew puts Zannah through hell - but it makes sense, in terms of who the Sith are, what they represent, and what their ultimate goal is.

The book is an easy, enjoyable read - what I mean by this is that there are no passages that slow you down, nothing to get stuck in, and no re-reads of any portion of the text because you didn’t understand what was written. Drew’s style is fluid and engaging, and you’ll find that you’ve finished three or four chapters before you realize the world is out there! The action scenes are pure Star Wars - and because of Drew’s time on the Knights of the Old Republic PC game, also something more; when Drew’s character’s fight or duel, it’s never just combatants moving around each other and twilrling blades, and he also writes the scenes in a way that make them seem very possible.

I did, though, find myself becoming a bit irritated with Zannah - for a Sith, she seems a bit too undecisive, and the choice (and its ramifications) that she makes at the book’s climax somehow didn’t seem strong enough to really sell it to me.

Other than that, I’ve got no problems at all with the book; it’s a solid read, an excellent Star Wars novel, and a great way of really understanding the differences between the Sith and the Jedi - put it this way; read Path of Destruction and Rule of Two and you’ll understand Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, Darth Vader, Darth Lumiya and Darth Caedus a bit more. Sith are incredibly interesting creatures, and I for one am very glad that Drew Karpyshyn is the one who was chosen to tell their story!

8/10

Star Wars Republic Commando Order 66

If anyone knows whether someone has ever died of a heart attack from reading a book, please let me know: because after reading A Game of Thrones and now Order 66, I’m starting to worry a bit. To put it lightly, these two books, more than any I’ve read since I began this blog last year, have had my heart pounding so hard and fast that I’m really worried I might just keel over and leave this plane of existence with images of the Starks and Lannisters and Republic Commandos and Jedi spinning through my head as I fade away…

Order 66 was an incredible book.

I’ve been following Karen’s adventures in a ‘galaxy far, far away’ since her first Republic Commando novel, Hard Contact, as well as the brilliant work she’s done in the Legacy of the Force series, and I can honestly say that she has become stronger with each book!

At first, it was a bit strange for me to be immersed in a Star Wars universe that was grittier and darker than what I was used to, but I had been prepared for that by The New Jedi Order series - and I still think that it would have been insanely brilliant (instead of just brilliant) if Karen Traviss could have been a part of that series. Why do I say that? Well, the power of Karen’s characterization, for one.

It seemed a wonderful case of serendipity that I had read GRRM’s fantasy epic before reading Order 66, because it became clear to me that Mr Martin has some major competition in the living-and-breathing-characters department. Karen is amazing at getting you into the heads of her characters! Whether they be Jedi, Commandos, Mandalorians, or even Strill ( ) Karen leaves you with the feeling that these beings actually live and breathe somewhere, that you know them intimately, and just as that knowing them keeps you reading, she can still surprise you with how the characters react - but they still react in ways that are true to who they are.

Okay, here’s a bit of a intro to the series (for those unfortunate enough not to have read the previous Republic Commando books or any of Karen’s books): We all know that old Count Dooku, acting on Palpatine’s orders, placed an order for clones with the Kaminoans, that the material from which the clones were created came from Jango Fett, and that these clones formed the Grand Army of the Republic in a time when the Republic had no standing army at all. (And if you didn’t know this, leave that cave - this is Episode Two Attack of the Clones guys and girls)

But did you know that Jango arranged for select numbers of the clones to be trained by Mandalorians? We’ve seen these clones before - they are the ARC (stands for Advanced Recon Commando, Master Kenobi) troopers in the Clone Wars cartoon, and they guys from the First-Person Shooter Star Wars Republic Commando. These kids were almost ‘terminated’ by the Kaminoans because they were failures - they didn’t toe the line as the millions of others did, and would have all died if not for some of the Mandalorian Cuy’val Dar (those who Jango had brought in to train the clones) who stepped in and saved them. One of these guys, Kal Skirata, is now one of my favorite non-existant people. Ever. Get Ned Stark and Kal Skirata in a room… man, sorry for Palpatine and the Lannisters!

Anyway, Kal saves the clones he can save, and teaches them everything he can that could possibly ensure their survival. Because, you see, these clones are human beings to him; human kids who have been given the very short end of the stick; they have no choice in any aspect of their lives. None. Period. Not only does Kal believe in them, but he treats them as his own sons.

Then Geonosis happens, and the Clone Army is thrown into combat. Our two main Commando-groups emerge - Omega Squad and Delta Squad (Delta are the guys from the game), and we follow these two groups through the four books that make up the Republic Commando series. Along the way, we’ll meet the Jedi, and some of them will begin to see just how human these clones are; foundations are shaken and destroyed, let me tell you. If you ever wondered how the Jedi could just use a slave-army and stand for all they stand for… well, lets just say that some of them deserved the culmination of Order 66.

But good along with the bad: the books are also populated with characters who you all know - people who are selfless and stand by their convictions, people who love without reservation or judgment, people who reach out a hand to these poor men who fight and die for them.

And you’ll be in the thick of the action, too: running battles, suicidal attacks, guerilla warfare, it’s all there. And there are also touching moments, moments where you might just spit out you coffee while swearing or cheering unexpectedly. Every book in this series is amazing!

And I thought that The Force Unleashed was the only book that made me see the Star Wars saga in a new light? Well, Order 66 did that, too. I’ll just say this: Jango Fett was one clever and ruthless barve, no doubt.

So, if you want to see Star Wars through a different (but no less incredible, breath-taking) lens, read Order 66. And if you haven’t read the previous Republic Commando books, read them too. Savor these books, because Karen Traviss is an incredible writer, and the Star Wars saga needs more writers like her. This lady knows her stuff, and then knows the stuff behind the stuff, too.

Star Wars The New Jedi Order Star by Star by Troy Denning was my all-time favorite Star Wars novel; Mr Denning, you’re going to have to inject something huge into the Fate of the Jedi books you’re writing, because Order 66 has over taken what you did for us there. Order 66 rocks!

10/10!

Be fantastic!

Trailers like this make me wish that

1. That I was willing to pay for the most comprehensive cable plan, and that I could watch this any time soon.
2. That I had nothing better to do but watch British Sci Fi like this and Dr Who
3. 2 again.
4. 3 again.

via Next Read

The cross over between the video and on line gaming world to the Science fiction world is bound to happen now and again as both the gaming and sci Fi run along the same fantastical lines.
Eric Nylund seems to be at home in both worlds.
As Wiki says

Nylund is the author of three novels set in the Halo universe: Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. He is employed as a writer for Microsoft Game Studios. His duties include the development of story bibles and other such fictional assets, the preparation of materials for marketing, and coordination with Microsoft localization, legal, and geopolitical departments.

In the 1990s he was hired by Microsoft to help rewrite and edit portions of Microsoft’s multi-media encyclopedia. Since then, he has written several novels based on Microsoft-published games, including the aforementioned Halo novels, and Crimson Skies, which was written collaboratively with Eric S. Trautmann.

Nylund has written many original novels as well, including Signal to Noise, A Signal Shattered and Dry Water

His latest book Immortal Coil, is waiting in the wings, to be released on February 3rd and sounds quite fascinating.

It is part one of a five part series, and this, the first book has no less than 608 pages an 82 chapters. Unlike other fantasy books, it is set in our modern world but deals with mythology like topics.

In a nutshell - it is about 2 15 year old twin teenagers that are being raised by their grandmother and her stark rules (very many of them - 106 to be exact). It seems as if all is not as simple as the initial layout, because the twins are the result of an affair between an immortal goddess and a fallen angel, and in order to keep them safe, there grandmother has to disguise them, and keep the truth from them. She manages in this task till their 15th birthday, at which point their Identity is disclosed, and both families get involved - trying to pull them over to their side (obviously they change the power balance - because until that point - those to groups - the gods and the infidels kept away from each other)
I have not read the book, only Robert Thomsons mouth watering review on Fantsay Book Critic, and I sugest you do the same.
You can read Eric Nylund’s official blog here.

This can’t come quickly enough for me. I somehow must have missed the book, but will rectify that shortly. No Matter how old I get, I will always love children’s fantasy, and always have.

To bad this wasn’t around when I was a child.

via Chris Roberson