Got a couple of TPBs

My wife was out in town with her mother for some window shopping expedition. Since she was having fun at my expense, I asked her to moosie down over to Kino to have a look-see if there are new Star Wars comics. My luck came in when she bought for me Vector vol 1 and Legacy 5. Doing a lot of reading this weekend. hehehehehe

Al about the books

There are 2 book news but I will only present one of them. The sequel to the Darth Bane duology has a name! It is called The Rule of Two. Simple and iconic to the Sith doctrine. Errr ... still trying to find the paperback of the 1st book. I can't believe it hasn't arrive here yet after 2 weeks of searching. The second news was to be the back cover of the next book in the Legacy of the Force series, Inferno. It contains spoilers/revelations from the present book out now that is Sacrifice. But since I haven't read that book or rather still trying to find it in good ol Singapore, I will have to delay putting up the cover page so as not to spoil my own reading. Sorry chaps. You want to know about the cover, please click on this link.

Review : Allegiance

The premise of 5 rogue stormtroopers sounds great at first but it was not to be. That's what Allegiance is all about, a story of the 5 rogue troopers intertwining with three sub plots, first of which being the story of Mara Jade (the Emperor's Hand) on a trail of treason, second of Han/Luke/Chewie on a pirate hunt and lastly, Leia on a recruiting mission for the blossoming rebellion. The troopers story stitching all plots together and closes them nicely on a little planet called Shelkonwa. That's Star Wars tale for you... After one of the stormtroopers accidently killed an ISB officer due to a clashing ideologies of what the Empire was to be and has become. La Rone and 4 other stormtrooper witnesses ended up being fugitives. While making their escape, they stole a freighter, chockful of ISB armament and what nots. What I didn't like was the voice of reasoning that was batted to and fro amongst them, in whether to hide or become vigilantes for the Original Empire doctrines that they signed up for. On some situation, they debated in earnest of running away and disappearing in some backwater planet. However on most times, they ended up gallivanting across the galaxy going on a crusade of sorts to right things from wrongs and even naming themselves the Hand of Judgment. To me everything was too neatly put into place. I mean for all military training that the 5 troopers had, all of them closed a blind eye to Han and Luke even though they knew they were rebel sympathizers and trying to rescue another rebel in Shelkonwa. Not a peep to inform other stormie outfit, Mara Jade or even Vader. What? You telling me that just because of the episode of civilian massacre, they opted to hunt down the person who ordered it and just couldn't care a hoot ass on the rebellion. And showing Mara in having a sympathetic heart was also quite off. I mean she is the Emperor's Hand. She should be ruthless and sorts. I give this 3.5 out of 5. It's the allegiance I have for Timothy Zahn.

Review : Exile

I've finished Exile written this review but plain forgotten to publish it. IMO, this was not a good continuation to the Legacy series. There was no impactful event to carry on into the next book. There are 2 big storylines in this, first was the hunt for Alema Rar and second was the trial of Ben Skywalker. Although both featured saber fights, but there was no … oomph! … in both. It was lackluster the very least. Even the space battle scenes was a letdown. The first one was over by the time you turn over the next page ... duhhh!!! The hunt was fairly weak, it happened in Booster's RED star destroyer which is now a casino/entertainment vessel. With 5 jedis that includes 3 masters and a handful ex-smugglers that shoot from the hip, Alema still manages to escape. Double duhhh!!! Ben's trial was even worst. Jacen, under the Sith Lady's insistence, puts Ben on a bogus mission to test him for sith apprentice material. Ben eventually gets marooned on a deserted sith planet called Xiost. He kills a man following his mission parameters and ends up with an orphaned girl. Here, alone and weak due to hunger and exhaustion, the dark powers around him cajoles him to kill the girl and even asks him to eat her to gain enough strength to find the enemies hunting him down. Awww man ... what a stupid idea to put through. He ends up with a sith vehicle (controlled by dark powers) which was described just like the roving planet, Zonama Sekot. Ben, now clearly bad material for a sith, returns to Jacen after completing his bogus mission. This is definitely a 3 of 5.

Book News 2

More news from the Legacy of the Force series. It's the book cover for the 7th book of the series, Fury. Slated to be published in the month of November, Jacen's destiny is now fulfilled and nothing can stop his determination to bring peace with a glorious Galactic Alliance victory -- whatever the price. Jacen's face full of determination and a lighted saber. What could be more menacing than that? Oh, and another thing, the last title of the Legacy novel series is also provided. Invincible, out in June 2008.

Book News

The official site has announced the book cover for Inferno. This novel being the 6th book of the Legacy of the Force series. The face of an ageing Luke with a flaming inferno in the backdrop. This paperback is due to come out in August 07. Will Jacen ultimately sacrifices his parents to become the next sith lord? I can't wait.

At last, the Complete Dictionary ...

With Kino giving a 20% discounts on all books, I've bought the Star Wars Complete Visual Dictionary. This book has been on my radar for so long. Only the 20% catalyst was needed due to the book "expensive" nature. And since I was there, I hunted for the Legacy Vol 1 tpb. But it had not arrived. However, the force still prevails because I found the second part of the Kotor TPB series. So that's another book at 20% off. My wallet suddenly feels very light.

That's not a moon!!!

The official site has announced the cover of novel Death Star. This hardcover is co-written by Steve Perry and Michael Reeves and is slated for release this September. Hmmm ... even a space station gets it's own story. Well, with a jumbled history on its creation, from the designer Bevel Lemelisk or to Tarkin stealing the plans. The mixed backstory was eventually put to right with Episode 2 Attack of the Clones which showed the Geonosians being the initial architect of the Death Star.

Review : Rebellion vol 1

Rebellion Vol 1 was a visual feast. Shadows and muscle-toned body were drawn with artistic aplomb. However, the images drawn were sometimes, crossing over into the restricted adult section of imagination … hehehehe. Or maybe it was just my wild imagination in seeing something which is not there … [big grin]. Don’t believe me … look at these and make up your own mind. These aside, this collection is a good follow up of the last Empire series on Janek Sunber. Torn by the revelation that his best friends, Luke and Biggs, had joined the rebels and causing much discourse in the galaxy, Janek sought an audience with Vader and was mixed-up in an elaborate plan to destroy the rebels once and for all. Meanwhile another mole in the form of Jorin Sol, the tech that was rescued in Empire 7, has his own plans laid out for him by agents of the empire that would cause massive destruction to the rebel fleet. I rate this book 3.5 out of 5. And now I leave you with a picture of Princess Leia that we have never imagined or seen before since her slave girl costume in Return of the Jedi. She must have stopped working out to become this??

Exile in the bag

I've finally found Exile in San Bookstore. But you see, as I said earlier in a previous entry, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've just finished the John Connor Chronicles (a Terminator 2 book) and I've got 3 unread books waiting. The comic tpb (trade paperback) that is Rebellion, the hardcover Allegiance and now the paperback Exile. I think I'm starting the comic first get it out of the way and then Exile and afterwards slowly start on Allegiance. That sounds like a good plan. wouldn't you think so?

Better Book News

But the best news is the announcement of a new guidebook. Its called The Essential Guide to the Force. And the placeholder cover for it is below; The official blurb on it; Learn the history of the Jedi and their enemies -- from the most ancient battles of light versus darkness chronicled within the recesses of long-lost Holocrons to more contemporary conflagrations recounted by heroes such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Leia Organa. Discover the myriad ways to contemplate and use the Force. Wield a lightsaber through different forms of combat, and for the truly brave, tread the path of the dark side and study the secrets of the Sith. This guide book is scheduled to be release in November 2007. I hope the doctrine of the Sith would be fully revealed. You know the anti-thesis of "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to Suffering" thingy as said by Yoda. Maybe for the Sith to turn to the light side ... it would be "Valor leads to peace. Peace leads to love. Love leads to contentment." ... duhh! thats bad, I know.

Book News

A slew of book news was announced by the official site. First off the block, a very strange "book cover" of the 6th Legacy book, Inferno. This, I'm sure, is what they called a placeholder cover. A "substitute" photo to get consumers to go ga-ga for the upcoming novel. But the best bits are the text describing what's happening in the book; On August 28, 2007, all hell breaks loose in the Legacy of the Force series with the release of Inferno by Troy Denning. The galaxy has exploded into an all-out civil war, and casualties are mounting on both sides of the conflict. Here, I would interject with a Guns N Roses lyric; What's so civil about war, anyway?

My Brother, My Enemy

While searching for Exile, the 4th book in the Legacy series, I've chanced upon another new comic TPB which is on my list of getting. It's the Rebellion vol 1 : My Brother, My Enemy. It's the continuing story of Janek Sunber of Empire vol 7 : The Wrong Side of the War. This is bad, so many books so little time. What am I gonna do? I'll have to put this on the shelf until I finish Allegiance, which I haven't even started reading yet ... duhhh!!!

I pledged Allegiance by Zahn

I've finally bought myself a copy of Allegiance. After a whole lot of nitpicky decision, I saved about $4 buying the hardcover from Kino at Taka. Well, a penny saved is a penny earned. Got to do that since Exile, the 4th book of Legacy is coming out this week too. I'm also gonna take my time reading Allegiance, cause I'm in the middle of reading Terminator 2 : The John Connor Chronicles Book 3. So don't bust a gut if the review doesn't come out sooner. Sorry.

Review : Empire vol 7

I liked it. It's about friends lost and found. The decisions we make in life. The principles we believe in. The course of action we take. I rate this collection Empire vol 7 : The Wrong Side of the War, 4 out of 5. In a rebel mission to rescue an important tech from an Imperial stockade, Luke meets up with Janek Sunber, or Tank as he was called, from the days of Tattoine, Biggs, and their "garage" days. Now an officer in the Imperial Navy, Tank is getting disillusioned with the way the empire has turned out to be. Everything in his beliefs has been put to questioned. At he moment when Luke had to execute the rescue mission, it became clear to Janek that Luke was a rebel against the Empire and had to be stopped. Luke realised that he could not turn his fried to join the rebels because even though Janek was discouraged with the affairs of the empire, his principles does appear in line with the imperial way of order and discipline to the galaxy. In the end, the question arises on who is on the wrong side of the war.

Luke Skywalker novel

It's everywhere. News regarding a new novel to be published by Del Rey has been in most Star Wars site I've been. Here's a line from the official website; Due out in February 2008, Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor tells the tale of the Alliance's efforts to stop Lord Shadowspawn and his black-clad legions of shadow stormtroopers shortly after the destruction of the second Death Star. All the classic heroes return -- Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, Threepio, Artoo and the pilots of Rogue Squadron -- in a thrilling adventure of good versus evil, with the fledgling New Republic battling the stubborn remains of a splintering Galactic Empire. This hardcover will be penned by Matthew Stover. He has got a few other Star Wars stories under his belt for example Shatterpoint. I liked Shatterpoint. This story was about the great Jedi Master Mace Windu during the early months following the breakout of the Clone Wars. So, Matt's track record is good from my view. But what irks me is the title itself. Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor It is so retro. So 70's. Why do I say that? Well just look at these titles about Han and Lando that was published during those times. Han Solo at Star's End Han Solo's Revenge Han Solo and the Lost Legacy Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of Thonboka Change the title please!!!

Another Broken Legacy

I've found a new cover for the Legacy : Broken collection from Darkhorse vault. Here it is; Comparing it with the Hardcover version; Well, the hardcover looks better right? The TPB version looks like rock band poster with the members posing with their guitars or something ... Duhhh! But since the insides are the same ... who cares right?

Force Unleashed : The Novel

Word has just got in about the Force Unleash novel. Random House has a page on its website; Star Wars(r) The Force Unleashed Written by Sean Williams Category: Fiction - Science Fiction Format: Hardcover, 304 pages On Sale: September 25, 2007 Price: $25.95 ISBN: 978-0-345-49902-8 (0-345-49902-6) There was no cover though. Don't worry, all in due time. Amazon Books has an even cryptic note on the Force Unleash entry; Untitled Del Rey MM #1 (Hardcover) by Ballantine (Author) Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Del Rey (September 25, 2007) Language: English ISBN-10: 0345499026 ISBN-13: 978-0345499028 MM #1? Hmmmm ... will there be a sequel? Another book from the Unleash storyline? ... Hmmmm

Empire Vol 7 in the bag

In my search for the hardcover Star Wars : Allegiance, I found something else. It was the comic TPB (trade paperback) of Empire vol 7 : The Wrong Side of the War. I wasn't really impressed with the cover. I hope this is the case of not judging a book by its cover. I hope to read this in next few days and give a review by next weekend.

True Colours

The official site has just announced the book cover of the third book in the Republic Commandos series. Scheduled for release this August, it comes as a paperback. Here's a blurb from the site; In the Grand Army's desperate fight to crush the Separatists, the secret special ops missions of its elite clone warriors have never been more critical... or more dangerous. A growing menace threatens Republic victory, and the members of Omega Squad make a discovery that shakes their loyalty. As the lines continue to blur between friend and enemy, citizens -- from civilians and sergeants to Jedi and generals -- find themselves up against a new foe: the doubt in their hearts and minds. The truth is a fragile, shifting illusion -- and only the approaching inferno will reveal both sides in their true colors. I just hope this is better than Triple Zero. Nice cover though.