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3.19 AVERAGE
3.19 AVERAGE
This was fun. It’s really just the movie but with some extra details. Neat to get to know the characters a bit more, and the audiobook production was great; more like a radio drama with sound effects and music. If you don’t like Star Wars, there’s no point trying to get into this.
I'm a big Alan Dean Foster fan, so I was surprised to find myself not enjoying this. This was pretty light on action and very heavy on Star Wars politics. I would have liked more of Luminar and Barriss too. Sadly, I think this is one to pass on.
We discus it in depth on a special episode of the All the Books Show:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-245-star-wars-day-book-club
You can find my interview with the author here:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-225-interview-with-alan-dean-foster
We discus it in depth on a special episode of the All the Books Show:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-245-star-wars-day-book-club
You can find my interview with the author here:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-225-interview-with-alan-dean-foster
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a very good book. It takes place right before Attack of the Clones.
There is a great bit of knowledge of the variety of the Force here. The 'proof of a soul' for lack of a better term that all four of the Jedi participated in, in widely different ways, I found extremely interesting. There is also an interesting political concept explored on this planet with the city dwellers and the nomads.
Although Legends, the only conflict with Canon here is Barriss. They have her as a human and the same age as Anakin. They do still have her as a Healer, matching her Canon Force focus.
Definitely would recommend for a fellow Star Wars fan.
There is a great bit of knowledge of the variety of the Force here. The 'proof of a soul' for lack of a better term that all four of the Jedi participated in, in widely different ways, I found extremely interesting. There is also an interesting political concept explored on this planet with the city dwellers and the nomads.
Although Legends, the only conflict with Canon here is Barriss. They have her as a human and the same age as Anakin. They do still have her as a Healer, matching her Canon Force focus.
Definitely would recommend for a fellow Star Wars fan.
No spoilers.
But this was just so great. There are voices and sound effects that make such good use of the audiobook medium. And it was so interesting to read after the movie because there are deleted lines and scenes. But also it gives a different slant on some of the scenes that were the same, because you get to hear what characters are thinking, and also sometimes the way things are described gives more insight to some aspects of the plot of the movie.
I am usually a very staunch book-before-movie person. But in this case I do recommend the movie first. The story was written to be a movie and while the book is great and I highly recommend it, I recommend it as a follow up to the movie. So many of the twists and turns are surprises are meant to be experienced visually and I think something would be lost from the experience in this particular case from reading the book first.
But do read the book. And especially if you can, in audiobook format.
But this was just so great. There are voices and sound effects that make such good use of the audiobook medium. And it was so interesting to read after the movie because there are deleted lines and scenes. But also it gives a different slant on some of the scenes that were the same, because you get to hear what characters are thinking, and also sometimes the way things are described gives more insight to some aspects of the plot of the movie.
I am usually a very staunch book-before-movie person. But in this case I do recommend the movie first. The story was written to be a movie and while the book is great and I highly recommend it, I recommend it as a follow up to the movie. So many of the twists and turns are surprises are meant to be experienced visually and I think something would be lost from the experience in this particular case from reading the book first.
But do read the book. And especially if you can, in audiobook format.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
so…
i figured out my problem with star wars novels: they focus more on plot then characters. im not saying that there arent strong charcater moments in this (and other sw books), but they are often set aside for the plot, battles, world descriptions, etc. this was my problem with revenge of the sith, but ultimately the characters + tragedy of that book pushed it to a 5 stars. for this…for the approaching storm…there just weren’t enough character moments for me to love this. there were some small scenes that i really loved, but i wish we had more time to explore character dynamics, especially bc i picked this book up bc someone said the obi-wan and luminara dynamic is great in this. it is good…for like the 4 scenes we got of them. i just want MORE…i’ve come to realize that im more of a character reader than plot, but it’s more like a 60% over 40%, so i still like a good plot. this book wasnt bad, but i will say it was a bit slow. i just want more exploration of character dynamics!!
if i were to go back and rate all the sw books, i would probably drop some of them down .5 rating, but i wont do that rn bc im lazy.
this book made me fall in love more with luminara she’s a queen
i figured out my problem with star wars novels: they focus more on plot then characters. im not saying that there arent strong charcater moments in this (and other sw books), but they are often set aside for the plot, battles, world descriptions, etc. this was my problem with revenge of the sith, but ultimately the characters + tragedy of that book pushed it to a 5 stars. for this…for the approaching storm…there just weren’t enough character moments for me to love this. there were some small scenes that i really loved, but i wish we had more time to explore character dynamics, especially bc i picked this book up bc someone said the obi-wan and luminara dynamic is great in this. it is good…for like the 4 scenes we got of them. i just want MORE…i’ve come to realize that im more of a character reader than plot, but it’s more like a 60% over 40%, so i still like a good plot. this book wasnt bad, but i will say it was a bit slow. i just want more exploration of character dynamics!!
if i were to go back and rate all the sw books, i would probably drop some of them down .5 rating, but i wont do that rn bc im lazy.
this book made me fall in love more with luminara she’s a queen
SLOW, oh my god this book was so slow!
This first novel (in-Universe chronology) establishes a pattern that existed if not through the Clone Wars era novels, then at least through the ones that were written before the Clone Wars movie and TV series came out (real-world chronology). That pattern is to take a Jedi we are familiar with from the movies and pair him with another one that we wanted to know about and focus on both together. I'm reminded of a common criticism of The X-Files and Supernatural TV shows which was "monster of the week", except here it is minor Jedi of the novel.
In this novel, since there were two main Jedi, master and apprentice, Obi-Wan and Anakin, there are two minor Jedi, master and apprentice, Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee. Like most of the novels surrounding Episode I (and to a lesser extent Episode II and The Clone Wars) the emphasis is on politics. In this novel the dispute is between traditional, nomadic people and modern, urban people. Unfortunately, to make matters even worse, the novel doesn't even deal with the politics of the situation. The whole story is the Jedi trying to get to the nomads and having to overcome nature.
It is sad and surprising because [a:Alan Dean Foster|11735|Alan Dean Foster|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207233026p2/11735.jpg] is the original Star Wars author- he wrote as [a:George Lucas|3231|George Lucas|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1206644649p2/3231.jpg]'s ghost writer for [b:Episode IV: A New Hope|599090|Star Wars, Episode IV A New Hope (Star Wars, #4)|George Lucas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1408936775s/599090.jpg|123227]'s novelization and the first Expanded Universe author, [b:Splinter of the Mind's Eye|35204|Splinter of the Mind's Eye (Star Wars)|Alan Dean Foster|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402056438s/35204.jpg|1107902]. And now he's been given the reigns of the new trilogy and given the novelization of [b:Star Wars: The Force Awakens|25387202|Star Wars The Force Awakens|Alan Dean Foster|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1450520344s/25387202.jpg|45137868]. Of the ones of those I've read they have all been very good and so it was surprising that this novel was so slow. The world it describes is complex and interesting, but the plot is lacking.
This first novel (in-Universe chronology) establishes a pattern that existed if not through the Clone Wars era novels, then at least through the ones that were written before the Clone Wars movie and TV series came out (real-world chronology). That pattern is to take a Jedi we are familiar with from the movies and pair him with another one that we wanted to know about and focus on both together. I'm reminded of a common criticism of The X-Files and Supernatural TV shows which was "monster of the week", except here it is minor Jedi of the novel.
In this novel, since there were two main Jedi, master and apprentice, Obi-Wan and Anakin, there are two minor Jedi, master and apprentice, Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee. Like most of the novels surrounding Episode I (and to a lesser extent Episode II and The Clone Wars) the emphasis is on politics. In this novel the dispute is between traditional, nomadic people and modern, urban people. Unfortunately, to make matters even worse, the novel doesn't even deal with the politics of the situation. The whole story is the Jedi trying to get to the nomads and having to overcome nature.
It is sad and surprising because [a:Alan Dean Foster|11735|Alan Dean Foster|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207233026p2/11735.jpg] is the original Star Wars author- he wrote as [a:George Lucas|3231|George Lucas|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1206644649p2/3231.jpg]'s ghost writer for [b:Episode IV: A New Hope|599090|Star Wars, Episode IV A New Hope (Star Wars, #4)|George Lucas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1408936775s/599090.jpg|123227]'s novelization and the first Expanded Universe author, [b:Splinter of the Mind's Eye|35204|Splinter of the Mind's Eye (Star Wars)|Alan Dean Foster|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402056438s/35204.jpg|1107902]. And now he's been given the reigns of the new trilogy and given the novelization of [b:Star Wars: The Force Awakens|25387202|Star Wars The Force Awakens|Alan Dean Foster|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1450520344s/25387202.jpg|45137868]. Of the ones of those I've read they have all been very good and so it was surprising that this novel was so slow. The world it describes is complex and interesting, but the plot is lacking.
Really really pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I was skeptical, because the Rise of the Empire/Prequel era is so fraught with missteps and landmines, especially when Anakin is involved. But this was great. A lot of Star Wars books get dry too easily, and this was not the case at all. Very exciting and full of great new characters. Absolutely recommended.
I loved the movie, and was hoping to enjoy reading the story through the book... but I gave up a few chapters into it, the writing is that bad! Do not buy this book!
The author must have set himself the challenge to never use the same word twice, but rather use every word in the thesaurus. This results in long-winded and boring descriptions and characters saying things that are out of character. He also kept changing point of view in the middle of paragraphs, making it hard to follow what is happening.
I repeat, do not but this - save your money for something else!
The author must have set himself the challenge to never use the same word twice, but rather use every word in the thesaurus. This results in long-winded and boring descriptions and characters saying things that are out of character. He also kept changing point of view in the middle of paragraphs, making it hard to follow what is happening.
I repeat, do not but this - save your money for something else!