Tales from the GFFA: Aliens (Book Review)

Just prior to the release of The Force Awakens, a series of eBook short stories were published. These stories are part of an anthology called Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens. Each book was $2-3 dollars, so this was an obvious marketing ploy to make a lot of money off the publishing hype machine that was the Journey To The Force Awakens. That being said, I was one of the voluntary suckers who bought all the stories and read them prior to the movie. I must say they are entertaining!

Below are my notes on each of these stories. Please note that like all my book reviews, this blog post will be filled with SPOILERS!

The Face of Evil

This story is set on Maz Kanada's resident world of Takodana. The tale features two creatures of the Frigosian race: Thromba and Laparo. They are covered in yellow fur, wear breathing apparatuses, and remind me of characters from the imaginations of Sid & Marty Krofft. Their homeworld is Tansyl 5. The live in in the highest tower of Maz's castle where they do experimental surgery, modifying creatures in ways that would turn Dr. Frankenstein green with envy. Their occupation is called cryptosurgery. They have a hunchbacked Snivvian called Drix Gil.

The criminal Balosar, BeeLee Amdas, betrayed and killed her partner Biggleston (cringe!). She agreed to have her appearnace altered, which the Frigosians made into Biggleston. She tried to escape at the nearest trading post, the town of Andui, before being captured by Republic authorities.

All Creatures Great and Small

This is the story of the first practical effect creature we saw, as unveiled by J J Abrams himself. He is a Crittermonger/Storyteller by the name of Bobbajo. He is a long-necked and wizened member of the Nu-Cosian race. Most of the creatures he carried were actually pets:

• gwerps - lean frog-like creatures with protruding tusks and horns
• pishnes - long-necked, soft-mouthed, generously feathered creatures that were an odd combination of avian and mollusk.
• lonlan - a bulbous mammal of a sort that resembled a large, semi-inflated, mud-colored balloon
• zhhee - a brilliantly colored and especially boisterous species of winged lizard.
• worrt - named J’Rrosch that seemed to travel everywhere with the wizened old wanderer.
• thwip - a tiny six-legged mouselike mammal

The story is set in a town called Reestkii—a word that, loosely translated into Basic, meant “the leftover". Reestkii was located near the equator of the desert world, and the only settlement on the planet worth noting—Niima Outpost—was over four hundred kilometers away.

High Noon on Jakku

This is a western style story featuring the gray-skinned Kyuzo known as Constable Zuvio. It takes place in Niima Outpost, which sits near the equator of Jakku, not far from the mountain ridge known as the Fallen Teeth, to the south. At Fallen Teeh, there was an abandoned attempt at a settlement out there that pirates sometimes used to hide smuggling ships when they didn’t want to pay docking fees.

For Jakku, it was a relatively comfortable and temperate zone, with conditions that were mostly survivable.

Zuvio was a stern-looking individual, with most of his features perpetually covered by bandages that helped his sensitive respiration system cope with the climate. The secret truth of the matter was that Zuvio suffered from vision problems, common in Kyuzos, and his expression was formed from years of squinting slightly to see better. He was a Kyuzo, a species that originated from a gravity-heavy world. That meant his muscles were more developed than those of the average bipedal species

Zuvio was permitted part-time use of Niima’s lone secretary droid, CZ-1G5. The droid was over three hundred years old. CZ had served the town since the first colonists landed.

Zuvio had an archaic preference for paper when reading. He had two cousins, Drego and Streehn.

Lovas owed gambling debts to the Irving Boys.

CZ said, his left eye twitching. The other eye had been destroyed in the standoff and was now roughly patched over with metal until a suitable replacement optical sensor could be found. Come along, Bee-Thirty-Three. We have work to do.” So CZ and his new assistant embarked on their rounds to help the citizens of Niima.

The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku

This story I found to be the most interesting. It is a swashbuckling pirate tale involving the following characters:

• Sidon Ithano - A tall and thin cloaked figure who wears a red Kaleesh mask. Also known as the Crimson Corsair. (He appears in The Force Awakens) He has a nasty habit of making things personal. "...the most dangerous pirate ever to sail the Lost Clusters beyond the Outer Rim, the most feared fighter of the skirmish of Adratharpe 7, the most notorious thief of his species...."

• Quiggold - a Gabdorin pirate (He appears in The Force Awakens). The first mate. He always carries prayer beads

• Pendewqell - an Ishi Tib

• Reeg Brosna - An Arcona

• Reveth - a red-skinned female Twi'lek

• Squeaky - an axe-weilding but surprisingly friendly Gamorrean

The pirates are on the planet Ponemah

Interesting:

“Lightsaber crystals. Ripped from the weapons of the fallen Jedi during the wars. Even one is worth a fortune, and Count Dooku is said to have collected them"

The missle the Shrike had fired wasn’t just any missile; it was a rare and highly illegal piece of hardware known as a kinetic disruptor.

I love this dialogue:

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” muttered the Ishi Tib. Quiggold glared at Pendewqell. “You have a bad feeling? Really? Now of all times you suddenly have ‘a bad feeling’?” The Ishi Tib looked a bit defensive. “It’s just a figure of speech….” “Well it’s stupid! Of course you have a bad feeling! We’re in the middle of a derelict warship that’s half-buried at the heart of a sand maelstrom, filled with droids programmed to kill intruders! We all have a bad feeling about this!"

Quotes about clone trooper Kix:

Apparently, the clone had been the last being to speak to a well-known Republic traitor and was believed to be in possession of vital information—not that he had been willing to confess said information to his droid interrogators. So under strict orders from Count Dooku, the clone had been frozen in stasis, and no one else, not even the droids, were to speak with him further. Not until Dooku himself could question the clone directly.

“I’m a medic,” he said between gasps of air. “And I…I learned something…something horrible. Fives knew….He’s the one who figured it all out after Tup…and it got him killed. But I kept investigating. They said it was a virus... A chip in our heads. In all the clones’ heads! And an order. A command to betray…kill…and it comes from the Chancellor!”

“Get me General Skywalker! He’ll help. We can save…save the Jedi…save the Republic!” “What’s your ID, trooper?” Quiggold asked the recently unfrozen soldier. “CT-6116.” The trooper coughed. “Kix. They call me."

“It’s…it’s a Separatist cruiser’s memory core,” answered Kix. “These were designed to self-destruct. But this one…it must have malfunctioned.” The clone looked up. “This cube carries a complete map to every hidden droid factory ever built by the Separatists. Secret bases. Weapons warehouses...and we just happen to have an expert in Clone Wars–era military installations and their security systems on hand. Welcome aboard, Kix."

Moving Target (Book Review)

Moving Target is one of the trilogy of Adventure books that is part of the Journey to the Force Awakens publishing event. It was released on Force Friday (9/4/2015). Each of the Adventure books features one protagonist from the Original Trilogy. This book features Princess Leia.

You can find plenty of book reviews, so I will keep mine short and sweet. This is yet another excellent book in this series.  I highly recommended all these books to any Star Wars fan. The major plot line of a small team of rebels going on a mission against the Empire really feels like what Rogue One could shape up to be. If so, I think that movie will be excellent - even without any Jedi! This books seems to wipe away the EU Legacy novel Shadows of the Empire. I am perfectly fine with that!

Comparing this to the other two books of this Adventures trilogy that I have already read, Weapon of the Jedi and Smuggler's Run, I am glad I save this book for last. You can see the trajectory of the new character, Ematt, even though he makes just brief appearances in the Prologue/Epilogue and the main story.

This book has the most tantalizing hints to what may be in The Force Awakens. I speculate that Mon Mothma has disbanded the military after the Empire was defeated. The Resistance is a special task force created solely as a check against the growing threat of the First Order. I suspect the job of this task force is containment and I expect them to fail, which leads to Episodes VIII and IX.

What I really want to capture here in this blog are the major elements of the story for future reference. Part of the marketing of these books is that hints about The Force Awakens have been planted in the story. So here it goes!

Prologue:

• Leia: "We are on the brink of war again - one we may not survive"
  
• "You are the leader of the Resistance, a critical check on the designs of the First Order. You are a symbol of the Resistance and an inspiration to all soldiers...." [Perhaps no organized military. This is a task force to counteract this growing threat]

New Depths for Legacy Characters:

• Leia - has tingling feeling she has learned to trust - it means action
• Nien Nunb - helped Leia save the remaining Alderaanians, former smuggler. Team pilot.
• General Madine - strategist chief (heads up commandos)
• Mon Mothma - Alliance Chancelor from Chandrila
• Admiral Ackbar - Leader of the fleet. mentioned only.

New Depths for Legacy Story:

• Threepio belongs to Luke, which he loans to Leia
  
• After Hoth, Mon Mothma decided to break up the Alliance into several smaller task forces.
  
• Having to fight against Imperial propaganda
  
• The Empire plans to destroy Chandrila and Mon Cal with Death Star II. Willing to destroy a people based on the opinions of a few.

New Characters:

• PZ-4CO - female droid, writing memoir for Leia, "Peazy"
• Major Ematt (first appeared as Lt Ematt in Smuggler's Run). A man Leia has fought alongside for so many years.
• Kidi Aleria - Cerean race. Team communications.
• Major Lokmarcha - Dressellian race. Team commando
• Antrot - Abednedo race. Team tinkerer and demoltions expert
• Captain Khoine - Imperial in charge of Corva Sector.
• ___Yom
• x Pirates
• Lt. Ematt - brief appearance
• Admiral Naatz - (mentioned only)
• Admiral Vassa - green skinned Duros (mentioned only)
• General Veertag - (mentioned only)
• General Tantor - (mentioned only)
• General Cracken - intelligence chief (mentioned only)

New Locations:

• Zastiga - on the edge of the Outer Rim. Secret meeting of top level Alliance
  
• Sullust - Homeworld for Nien Nunb. Secret S thread boosters exist to create a hyperspace route to the Galactic edge, including Endor. This "Sanctuary Pipeline" is an important military secret of the Empire.
  
• Corva Sector - On the opposite side of the galaxy from Endor. Made up of several systems including Basteel, Sesid, Jaresh, and Galaan.
  
• Galaan - Mostly unformed system with a yellow moon.
  
• Basteel - Mountainous. Covered in caves.
  
• Sesid - Water world. Resort and pharmaceuticals.
  
• Jaresh - Wooded/plains? Founded by religious enclave.
  
• Shieldmaiden - Star destroyer of Capt. Khoine

Plot Notes

• The theme of duty, without emotion
  
• Scatter protocol mentioned again (as in Weapon of the Jedi)
  
• The theme of rebels sacrificing their lives to protect Leia
  
• The theme of old codes and new codes (mentioned in ROTJ as the Rebels try to sneak onto Endor). Intentionally using codes that are suspect to have been broken.
  
• Book is set a few weeks after the Bothans acquire the Death Star II information
  
• Operation Yellow Moon (named after the Galaan system)
  
• Torture droid programmed to continue without listening to confession. Keeps going until told to stop.
  
• Mellcrawler - space yacht used for mission
  
• Rebels steal shuttle Tydirium from Shieldmaiden before it self-destructs! (One would think that this would have tipped off the Empire that this shuttle shows up. But perhaps tied up in bureaucratic inefficiency. Also, the Emperor *wants* them to land, so that would have been smoothed over anyway.)
  
• Conclusion: Yes, duty but also love for others (Mon Mothma suggests as well - can't live just for duty). Must be balanced.
  
• Unanswered question: Peezy memoir of Leia's childhood on Alderaan.

Epilogue:

• Poe Dameron - needs to learn balance between duty and love for others. Old enough to hear Leia but no enough to listen. Best pilot in the Resistance
  
• News of Jakku? Major Ematt says yes.
  
• General Leia is in center of actions and she likes that.

Smuggler's Run (Book Review)

Smuggler's Run is one of the trilogy of Adventure books that is part of the Journey to the Force Awakens publishing event. It was released on Force Friday (9/4/2015). Each of the Adventure books features one protagonist from the Original Trilogy. This book features Han Solo and Chewbacca, although the Millennium Falcon itself has a prominent role as well.

You can find plenty of book reviews, so I will keep mine short and sweet. This was a lot of fun! Rucka's characterization of Han and Chewie were right on the money.

Comparing this to the first book I read in this series, the Weapon of the Jedi, the content is a bit heavier. There is one scene in particular where some rebels commit suicide or assisted suicide rather than be captured by the Empire and forced to divulge sensitive information. Aside from this one scene, the book is otherwise in the younger end of the YA spectrum.

What I really want to capture here in this blog are the major elements of the story for future reference. Part of the marketing of these books is that hints about The Force Awakens have been planted in the story. So here it goes:

Prologue:

• Han tells the story to a group of gangsters

New Depths for Legacy Characters:

We know that a Han Solo spin-off film is in the works. There are a few tantalizing details at the beginning of the books. It leaves the door open for Han having been an Imperial before meeting Chewbacca, which I think would make for a great story.

• After the Battle of Yavin, only 2 X-Wings and 1 Y-Wing left
• Chewie was 180 during the Clone Wars
• Chewie refers to Han as the Corellian
• Han calls his selfishness "enlightened self-interest"
• After Han and Chewie met they fled to the Outer Rim
• Reward for rescuing princess and fee promised by Obi Wan more than enough to pay off Jabba
• Yavin IV a temple to gods long by people long dead or forgotten
• Han: "Got an old friend who's fond of saying that truth is greatly dependent on your point of view."

New Depths of the Falcon:

• YT-1300 is a common space ship
• Engines are overpowered for its size, even without modifications
• Sensitive controls require both a pilot and co-pilot to fly her
• The Falcon is a "gas guzzler" - half of the credits they earned went into the ship
• Multiple computers, developed their own dialect and sometimes feuded with each other
• Gravity emulators cut out during sharp maneuvers so must strap in
• FAST

New Characters:

• Lt. Ematt - leader of the Shrikes: rebel base location hunters
• Shrike is a bird of prey
• Shrikes commit suicide rather fall into hands of Empire. Only Ematt escapes.
• Shrikes ambushed at Tanaab by the ISB. ISB following Emperor's orders to sieze all rebel sympathizers. ISB had been quietly tailing the Shrikes. Rebels and sympathizers are to be shot on sight.
• Comander Alecia Beck (Imperial Security Bureau)
• Commander Hove of the Star Destroyer Vehement
• TK-828 "Torrent" is one of the last remaining clones. Very efficient.
• Delia Leighton - Captain of Miss Fortune, a starship-based cantina. Miss Fortune used to be called Durese by the original Duros owner (Serendipity). Redhead. Used to wait tables at a cantina on Lothal.
• Curtis - Delia's co-pilot and bouncer

New Locations:

• Cyrkon - 6 planets, on the edge of Hutt space

Plot Notes & Other Things:

• Imperials are anti-alien and pre-dominantly male
• Tractor beam described as a wave. Not instantaneous.
• The moon is referred to as "Yavin 4" instead of "Yavin IV"

Epilogue:

• The gang never heard of Cyrkon. Perhaps all made up?
• Gang may belong to the Irving Boys, Guavians, Ducain. - they want the Falcon.
• Han: "You tell Ducain, you tell the Irving Boys, you tell all of them this: we're not afraid of them."
• The unanswered question - What happened to Beck?

Weapon of the Jedi (Book Review)

Weapon of the Jedi is one of the trilogy of Adventure books that is part of the Journey to the Force Awakens publishing event. It was released on Force Friday (9/4/2015). Each of the Adventure books features one protagonist from the Original Trilogy. This book features Luke Skywalker.

You can find plenty of book reviews, so I will keep mine short and sweet. This was a lot of fun! Fry did a great job capturing the character of Luke as still a kid trying to deal with the world just after his victory against the Death Star.

What I really want to capture here in this blog are the major elements of the story for future reference. Part of the marketing of these books is that hints about The Force Awakens have been planted in the story. So here it goes:

Prologue/Epilogue

The book is "bookended" by a conversation between Blue Squadron pilot Jessika Pava and Threepio. This takes place after Threepio gets his red arm, so it is well into story territory beyond ROTJ.

Prologue Notes:

• Threepio now knows "almost seven million forms of communication" as opposed to "six million"
• Jessika Pava is known as Blue Three
• According to Jessika: "...everybody knows Luke Skywalker. He defeated the Emperor, and they say he's the best star pilot in the galaxy" [nice homage to Obi-Wan's reference to Anakin]
• Jessika also indicates that Artoo-Detoo is famous for being the droid to accompany Luke in the trench run

References to Battle of Yavin :

• Red Squadron was made up of 12 X-Wings for the Battle of Yavin IV
• Only two X-Wings survived: Red 3 Wedge and Red 5 Luke
• The Red Squadron leader replacement was Commander Narra (male)

Locations:

• Red Squadron protecting a freighter evacuating underground leaders from planet Giju
• The Force calls Luke to come to planet Devaron, near Giju, to the Temple of Eedit
• The closest town to the temple is Tikaroo
• Sarco suspects there are vaults under the temple

Luke & the Force

• Luke does not know how to influence minds as Obi Wan did on Tatooine
• Ben has not talked to Luke since the Trench Run
• Luke has force vision of Jedi swimming and breathing underwater - Kit Fisto?
• Luke's first time hearing Ben's voice again after the Trench Run is when he is in the temple
• The Jedi are considered evil sorcerers by the indigenous people (encouraged by the Empire)
• Ben tells Luke that anger and fear lead to the dark side (before Yoda)
• Threepio and Artoo mention that they found recordings of lightsaber training/battles?
• Luke trains against two remotes...then three remotes
• Key training learned - Let Go.
• Luke uses lightsaber for first time against eight stormtroopers & Imp officer (aided by Sarco)

Plot Points

• pikhrons - large but passive herbivores hunted for their skin
• The Empire placed a sensor perimeter around the temple to guard against people entering it
• Luke is blinded and deafened in battle against Sarco

Sarco Plank

• Sarco weilds an electrostaff that he said was made to kill Jedi
• Sarco falls down pit, but Luke senses still alive
• Luke kicks electrostaff down the pit 

Random Musings

• Scattered/randomized jumps to keep from Imperial tails - but increases risk of encounter - which happens to Luke and forces him to abandon mission that Mon Mothma assigned him (led by the Force?)

Epilogue Notes

• Luke vows to return to the temple
• Threepio confirms he did - when Farnay grown woman (highly likely post-ROTJ)

A New Dawn Book Review

Earlier this month we had the release of John Jackson Miller's novel, A New Dawn. It was an historic moment in that this was the first novel released under the approval of the Lucasfilm Story Group. In the past there was much uncertainty as to how all of the works outside of the films, called the Expanded Universe (EU), officially fit in the timeline. George Lucas himself said he considered the films were officially canon whereas all the supplemental books, graphic novels, video games, and so forth were their own separate thing. After the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, it was announced that all material would be reviewed and approved by the Story Group. This means that everything from this point onward is all part of one official canon. A New Dawn is the first novel in this new canon.

Considering all this, I was a little surprised how much this book was like the previous EU books. I suppose I should not have been though. I imagine the Story Group is more focused on the characters and locations while giving some free reign to the authors to flesh out the details and pacing of the story. Yes, there is even a mention of "caf"!

I really enjoy John Jackson Miller's writing style. I particularly liked the very short chapter lengths. Most of them are only a few pages long. It is an up-tempo storytelling approach and very helpful for me since the times I have available to read are erratic and short. This book tells the story of how two of the main protagonists of the Star Wars Rebels animated series, Kanan and Hera, meet.

We get a pretty good view of Kanan's back story while Hera's character is left slightly more mysterious. The principal villain, Count Vidian, is a strong character - think Darth Vader mixed with Gordon Gecko. I won't rehash the story since you can find that kind of thing elsewhere. What I will say is if this is worth your time.

I have read many EU books over the years but I am not a big EU fan. There are some books that are excellent, but also many that are "eye-rollingly" bad. If you are new to reading Star Wars books, this is a great one to get started with. Miller's writing does not expect you to have much Star Wars knowledge heading into this book. I would also recommend this book to EU readers as well. It is a great opening salvo for the new Star Wars canon.

Now we wait for Tarkin by James Luceno!

- - - 9/18/2015 UPDATE- - -

Now that is has been almost six months since the first New Canon book was released, and with so much new content about to this market, I thought it would be good to have some formal structure to my reviews of these new Story Board-approved works. I am going to try to keep up with all this expanded universe stuff as best I can, so I hope this will be a good reference to you:

PREREQUISITES?
None. It is a good gateway novel.

WHO SHOULD READ IT?
Those who are interested in the rise of the Rebellion and particularly Star Wars Rebels.

WHEN DOES THIS TAKE PLACE?
Aside from a short look during the time of Episode II / The Clone Wars, the story takes place between Episode III and IV and is a prelude to the Star Wars Rebels television show.

GFFA IMPACT?
Minimal, so far as I know at this point. The novel is pretty self-contained and provides more of a character development and background of Kanan and, to a lesser extent, Hera.