Specter of the Past

Author: Timothy Zahn
Format: Print

Oh no! Thrawn is back! I didn't like this Zahn book as much as his first trilogy, I guess I'm done with Star Wars novels for a while. I'll look forward to the third Drew Karpyshyn Bane novel, but other than that I think I'm done for a while.

Jedi Search

Author: Kevin J. Anderson
Format: Print

Great. Han goes back to Kessle, home of the infamous "Kessle Run." Luke finds some Jedi students to begin training, the Empire has yet another super weapon that the New Republic takes care of. Excited to read Dark Apprentice, the next in the duology.

Allegiance

Author: Timothy Zahn
Format: Print

Pretty good. Neat to see what Mara Jade (a character created after the movies) was up to during the timeline of the movies. Katie bought me this book for my birthday. :)

Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two

Author: Drew Karpyshyn
Format: Print

Also very good. I read this one very fast as well. Stealth, cunning, lies, trickery, these are the ways of the dark side... Just when I thought they were done for those foolish Jedi get punked (i.e. remind blind to the presence of the Sith). Great ending, but we were totally set up for a sequel. I can't wait to read it, so hurry up Karpyshyn!

Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

Author: Drew Karpyshyn
Format: Print

For some reason I got really excited about this book. A whole history before the start of the Star Wars films really intrigued me. I read this book very quickly which is unusual for me to do, usually I set printed books (as opposed to audio) down for a while then pick them up from time to time. This book though had me so interested and excited about the plot that I used mostly every free moment I had last week to read it. Needless to say at this point, the book was great! It was amazing how in the beginning of the novel I established a connection with the character, I understood him and could empathize with him. Then, I hung on to this connection with him even in spite of the horrific things that he did. I had to take a moment to "snap out of it." Had I fallen to the dark side? Bane's transition certainly made a lot more sense to me than Annakin's, Annakin's allegiance seemed to come out of the blue even though it was clear how Palpatine was playing him. I also like how even though it takes place about 1000 years before the movies a clear connection is made between this novel and the movies.

Favorite line: "Did your master give you that lightsaber when he died?" "No I killed him and took it." Those silly sith make me chuckle.

Dark Tide II: Ruin

Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Format: Print

I got through this one quickly once I finally started going, mainly because I was excited to get to the "Darth Bane" series which I've now started. I thought with the title "ruin" the New Republics demise would be more complete, but I guess there are still a lot of books in the series. I started to like Shadoa Shai by the end of the book, I look forward to meeting more of the Yuzhan Vong throughout the rest of the series. This was a great read full of some great ideas and adventure that kept me turning the page.

Dark Tide I: Onslaught

Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Format: Print

Very good. What's really great are the characters, not only do we have the old favorites like Luke who busts out with the dual light sabers to kick some extragalactic amphistaff, but we have the Leia and Han's children who I would imagine will become more and more important as the series progresses. These compelling characters keep me reading, I already have Dark Tide II on my night stand and look forward to reading it.

Star Wars New Jedi Order: Vector Prime

Author: R. A. Salvatore
Format: Print

An extragalactic invasion! Great opening to what looks to be a great series (New Jedi Order). It's clear that the challenges will be fighting this alien species which has an amazing set of anticomputer technology and rounding up the jedi and reforming the council. Another interesting thing about this book: a major character died! Great book.

The Last Command

Author: Timothy Zahn
Format: Print

The conclusion to the Trawn trilogy. Took me long enough to finally finish it. It was good. Ever wonder what happened to Luke's severed hand that was cut off by Darth Vader? Find out when you read this book...

Tatooine Ghost

Author: Troy Denning
Format: Audiobook

This novel fills in some of the details of Anakin and his mother's life on Tatooine. It features the newly married Han and Leiah as they learn about Anakin's past while trying to prevent the Empire from acquiring an important artifact. Again, Star Wars audio does a really great job with sound.

Star Wars: Shatterpoint

Format: Audiobook

Not all that great. Didn't hold my attention as well as the other Star Wars audio. Star Wars audio does an amazing job with sound, it isn't distracting but enhancing, this book was no exception to that rule. I learned that there are 7 jedi fighting styles and Mace Windu invented one, I guess this makes him pretty cool.