The Force Awakens Soundtracks (Yes, That Is Plural!)

I am a huge John Williams fan, and if you haven't been listening to the Rebel Force Radio podcast, which is a *must*, then you must at the very least be listening the Star Wars Oxygen on the same podcast feed. They do a deep down analysis of every major motif in each of the films.

I am particularly excited to have learned that Disney has released an alternative set of tracks for consideration of awards like the Oscars. This album has been dubbed For Your Consideration (FYC) and each track is available to download free! You can find the track on this John Williams fan site: The Force Awakens - For Your Consideration.

In the forums of this site, someone has gone to a lot of trouble to breakdown and analyze each track along with the original soundtrack (OST). Here are the results: Detailed track breakdowns

Below I have summarized what new material you get in the FYC version as compared to the OST version:

• No main title on FYC.
• FYC 03 The Scavenger - The first 35 seconds of The Scavenger (OST 02) is omitted
• FYC 05 I Can Fly Anything - The first 60 seconds are new (vs. OST 05)
• FYC 06 Finn's Trek - All new!
• FYC 09 Snoke - All new, though choral track is same as OST 17
• FYC 10 You Got A Name? - The first 45 seconds are new (vs. OST 10)
• FYC 11 I'm No Hero - Extended new material by 54 seconds (vs. OST 10)
• FYC 13 Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle - Extended new material by 14 seconds (vs OST 13)
• FYC 14 The Resistance - All new!
• FYC 17 The Bombing Run - All new!
• FYC 18 On the Inside - The first 48 seconds are new (vs OST 18)
• FYC 20 The Ways of the Force - The first 80 seconds are new (vs OST 20)

You can find the details in the track breakdown list above, but here is a summary of how you can make your own The Force Awakens playlist that follows very closely to the order of the film using tracks from both of these releases. Enjoy!

CONCERT ARRANGEMENTS

OST 06 Rey's Theme

OST 16 March of the Resistance

OST 17 Snoke

OST 21 Schero for X-Wings

FILM

OST 01 Opening Title/The Attack on the Jakku Village

OST 02 The Scavenger

FYC 05 I Can Fly Anything

FYC 06 Finn's Trek

FYC 07 Follow Me & The Falcon

OST 08 That Girl with the Staff

OST 09 The Rathtars!

FYC 09 Snoke

FYC 10 You Got A Name?

FYC 11 I'm No Hero

OST 11 Maz's Counsel

FYC 12 The Starkiller

FYC 13 Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle

FYC 14 The Resistance

OTC 14 The Abduction

OTC 15 Han and Leia

FYC 17 The Bombing Run

FYC 18 On The Inside

FYC 19 Torn Apart

OST 20 The Ways of the Force

FYC 21 The Journey Home

FYC 22 Farwell and The Trip

FYC 23 The Jedi Steps and Finale

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?