Smuggler's Run Review

Star Wars: Smuggler's Run is, by far, my favorite novel released during the Force Friday event on September 4, 2015.  As far as the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens novels go, I have read Star Wars: Aftermath and Star Wars: Lost Stars with Star Wars: Weapon of a Jedi and Star Wars: Moving Target still sitting on my list of "to-read" novels.

Minor spoilers below, so read at your own risk.

Smuggler's Run was a fun, action packed adventure following Han Solo and Chewbacca on a mission for the Rebellion to the planet Cyrkon to rescue Ematt, a rebel who had information on where the rebels would and could relocate their base to and the contingency plans if they ran into trouble.  Basically a person, who, if captured by Commander Alecia Beck (the main villain) would spell disaster for the Rebellion.

First thing I loved about the book was the way that the prologue (and later I found the epilogue too) are set during the time period of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  You meet Han Solo as an "old man" in the prologue and it's pretty obvious that this "old man" is none other than the one Han Solo, about to tell a story regarding the speed of the Millennium Falcon.  The prologue is enough to get anybody who is a fan of Han Solo and Chewbacca hooked into the story that follows.

Greg Rucka does an amazing job at capturing the dialogue with Han.  Every time Han spoke I could hear Harrison Ford's voice, especially between him and Chewie.  Also, when Han kept referring to Princess Leia by a variety of nicknames including "Your Shining Royalness" it sounded as if it had been taken out of deleted scenes from A New Hope.  Han knows how to get Princess Leia worked up and he does so wonderfully, which is totally in his character.  Two thumbs up for Rucka on this!

Han's character also goes through some character development, which is always a great thing to include in a novel. It adds depth to the story and makes the novel more than just a fun adventure; it reveals a deeper meaning to life.  A great novel will not only tell a fun story, but comment on and suggest to the reader a deeper meaning to life.  In this novel, trust is revealed as containing deeper meaning than Han originally understands.  Han learns a bit about how to trust, something he's never been good at.  At a certain point in the story, Han and Ematt are discussing how the bounty hunters found them and Ematt points out it might not only be by betrayal (even though unfortunately it was, sort of).  The following dialogue is my favorite out of the whole book:

"Betrayal isn't the only option."
"Yeah, well, it's the one I'm used to."
"I feel sorry for you, then.  Trust is as precious as it is rare, but you only get it by giving it."
Ematt was sounding an awful lot like the old man had.
"Trust isn't given, it's earned," Solo said.  "Like friendship."
"You must be very lonely," Ematt said.
Solo didn't respond.
(excerpt taken from page 119, emphasis added)

This is part of Han's growth as a character and we see this growth in The Empire Strikes Back when Han is way more trusting (in Luke and in Princess Leia) than he ever was in A New Hope.

Last thing I want to mention about this book is that my favorite character in the book is someone I was not expecting.  I, of course, love Han and Chewie, but they weren't my favorite characters in this book.  My favorite character was Torrent.  I loved meeting Torrent.  Torrent (or TX-828) was a stormtrooper in Commander Alecia Beck's company.  He was a clone, probably one of the very few who was based off of the original Kamino-produced template (Jango Fett).  I enjoyed the fact that we were introduced to his character and rather than just being a normal stormtrooper, we got to see him take off his helmet, reveal his nickname from his off-time in the barracks, and pretty much rock his job as a stormtrooper; he even was a good shot unlike most of the other stormtroopers.  Torrent brought humanity and personality into the stormtroopers and that was fun to read.

Star Wars: Smuggler's run is a must-read for anyone interested in the new novels as we Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  I give it my whole-hearted approval.

Lost Stars Review

My first few thoughts as I picked up Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray:  A young-adult (YA) Star Wars Romeo and Juliet novel?  Am I too old for this?  Well, I read The Hunger Games and they are in the YA genre, didn't I?  Yes.  How is this different?  Hmm...well, this story is focused around a romance and I'm a guy.  Does that matter?  Only if the story isn't good, then it would definitely matter.  So...do I want to risk it?  YES, it's Star Wars!  And then I dove right in.

Note: Spoilers are discussed below so if you haven't read the book and don't want to read spoilers, don't read any further.  Finish the book and then come back to read my review.

Immediately I found I cared deeply for the characters, which is a high mark for the book already.  If an author can create believable characters that tug at my heart, then I'm sold.  From the first page, I felt like I could relate to Thane and smiled as the events of Thane meeting Ciena for the first time were portrayed.  It brought me back to my own time in Elementary School.  As I journeyed with Thane, I felt his pain as if I was a friend standing by that couldn't do anything as his father physically abused him and, conversely, cheered for him and Ciena as they grew to be good friends and awesome pilots.

I was pleased to see them head off to the Academy on Coruscant so we could get a glimpse of life on the famous planet.  I found myself relating their time in the academy to my own experience of high school (and I imagine to most peoples' experience in high school).  The academic competition, the awkwardness of hormones, the fragility of friendship that isn't rooted deeply, and the broken friendship which would take years to heal were all things that I had also, to some degree, experienced in my own life.  Because of this reality, I was hooked even more deeply into this story because I wanted to see how Thane and Ciena dealt with the brokenness of their pasts.  Thane had authority issues stemming from his broken relationship with his father.  A reality that many have in our world today!  To that extent Thane struggled to believe in the goodness of those in authority over him at the academy, almost pushing too hard and risked getting himself and Ciena dismissed from the Academy.  Ciena had a more wholesome family life growing up, rooted deeply in the honor of her culture.  Honor meant everything to her, which played a role in how she viewed and acted in the novel.  This honor prevented her from the seeing the corruption that was in front of her because she believed the Imperial authorities also had the same honor (which most didn't).  This honor ultimately led to her never-wavering decision to be an officer in the Empire, even after seeing its corruption.  Thane, on the other hand, couldn't bear the atrocities he witnessed and eventually joined the rebelling, putting him and Ciena on opposite sides of the war, unable to be together.

This was such a great setup to the Romeo and Juliet archetypal story that Claudia Gray was writing.  Rather than put them on opposite sides of the conflict to begin with (which happens in Romeo and Juliet), Gray had Thane and Ciena grow up together, become close friends, and then find themselves drawn to opposite ends of the war, while still trying to love each other.  Thane and Ciena were friends first and not only friends, but best friends.  This is the way a romance should be.  Romance should never be divorced from friendship (not that all friendships are romantic because most are not, but a relationship leading to marriage should always be grounded in a friendship).  I was very pleased to see this relationship start as best friends.  In writing a Romeo and Juliet type of story, it also meant that Gray had to reconcile (or try to reconcile) the fact that these two people love each other and the galactic conflict is keeping them apart.  In Romeo and Juliet there were only a few outcomes of their personal situation: running away (getting out of the system that is preventing the relationship), revolution (change the system that is preventing the relationship), or suicide (the removal of oneself entirely from the system).  Romeo and Juliet, of course, try to run away, but they both end up committing suicide (the Shakespearean tragedy).  For Thane and Ciena, running away isn't an option because Ciena lives a life of honor and running away would be dishonorable.  Suicide seems to be an option (Ciena accepts this as her way out near the end of the novel, but Thane prevents her in the nick of time).  So, ultimately, suicide is not an option.  Revolution, lastly, seems to be the answer for Thane and Ciena.  They must change the system, overthrow the Empire (at least Thane believe so).  The end of the novel leaves this last piece of the story in limbo and we don't find out what eventually will happen to Thane and Ciena (not yet anyways).  Although Ciena is away from the Empire, she is a captive held by the New Republic when the story ends still leaving these two star-crossed lovers on opposing sides of the continuing war.

I really enjoyed this novel, it was written at a quick pace that kept my attention and the characters were believable.  I loved the many cameos and insights into the events in the Original Trilogy!  I kept grinning every time one came up (opening scene aboard the Devastator, the imperials sent to Dantooine, Hoth, Wedge Antilles, Dak Ralter, Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar to name a few).  I also really appreciated the fact that this novel brought humanity to the Imperials.  The Imperial officers and pilots had names, backgrounds and their own stories, which made me much more empathetic to the Empire as a whole and recognize there were good people in the Empire.  It made the conflict between the Empire and Rebellion not as black and white as I used to view it.

Another aspect of the novel that was great was the implicit reference to God.  Ciena points out one of the ways in which we know that God exists, through the natural world (she is, of course, referring to the existence of the Force, not God, but the same principle is applied to God).  Ciena says, "Believing in something greater than ourselves isn't crazy.  It's proof we're sane.  Look how vast the galaxy is.  Don't you have to admit we can't be the greatest power within it?"  (pg. 292).

Lastly I want to briefly address some of the issues I had with this novel because there were some.  I did not like the passing reference to Thane perhaps being gay (even though it was in the context of a joke), the passing reference to gender change and the explicit references (not obscene) to the sexual act.  These things in the novel added nothing to the story and are not needed whatsoever to tell a compelling story about the relationship between Thane and Ciena; sex is not needed to tell the story.  Additionally, it spoiled the characters' purity before marriage, which our culture doesn't care about anymore.  The sexual act itself is not something that (to my knowledge) has never been directly referenced in Star Wars novels (it's of course implied, but never directly like it was in this novel).  The direct reference to the sexual act is unfortunate, in my opinion, because Star Wars is supposed to be this fun, innocent and magical galaxy, telling the story of good versus evil that is appropriate for all ages.  With the sexual act being casually thrown out there as if it were ordinary, it damages the sacredness of the marital act within marriage where it is supposed to be (Thane and Ciena were not married).  None of these topics should be referenced this casually in this galaxy far far away (I took similar issue with Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: Aftermath novel).  Because of this, I am worried about the direction of the new Star Wars novels.  If sex and sexuality are going to be a continuing theme (even if it's only in passing) in the novels, I will have to start to think twice about reading them.  Star Wars is not the place for this and I am disappointed with the seeming agenda in these new Star Wars novels to promote sex outside of marriage and the LGBT identity as commonplace and normal.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book.  If I could cut out the 5-6 sentences that referenced sexuality, it would be a fantastic, wholesome, novel.  The characters were great, I related deeply to them and rooted for them.  I also loved the revelation we got at the end as to how the Star Destroyer ended up crashed on Jakku.  It adds a whole new light to the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Well done!

Aftermath Thoughts

Star Wars: Aftermath, with such incredible hype and expectation among Star Wars fans everywhere, I need not even say I was excited for this book, but I was excited for this book.  Excited enough that I pre-ordered it on Amazon and on #ForceFriday I couldn't wait for it to be delivered so I ended up going to Barnes & Noble to buy it before the box was delivered.  My intention is to give the Amazon ordered book to my friend and fellow Star Wars blogger of this blog, Sean Heller (ironically the Amazon shipment experienced a transit delay by 1-2 days so it worked out that I went ahead and bought a copy).  I finished reading Star Wars: Aftermath last night.

This post is a review of the Star Wars: Aftermath with mainly just my stream of consciousness regarding the novel.  I did not read any reviews before reading Aftermath, the only hint I had in what was to come was the sanctioned preview that StarWars.com gave us in July.  This post may contain minor spoilers, so read at your own risk.  In this post I do not wish to be harsh and negative but I plan to speak my mind. All opinions are my own and the truth is the truth. 

First thing I noticed about Aftermath is Chuck Wendig's writing style.  He writes Star Wars: Aftermath in the third person present tense and uses short pointed sentences with many colons, parenthetical notes, and similes.  From what I've gathered from other reviewers, this seems common to Wendig's writing style in general.  I have to admit that I found it jarring and didn't appreciate it.  I have never seen the present tense used in Star Wars literature before and rather than settling into the tense and feeling the urgency it created (which for many readers it accomplished just that and was successful), I kept stumbling over the tense and did not like it.  I also am used to a longer, more fluid and descriptive writing style, so Wendig's short blocky structure also threw me off.  I felt like I was reading stage directions and had to reorient myself each chapter (which was very often).  That being said, I don't wish to be harsh, I'm sure Wendig's style works amazingly well in his other novels (I have not read them) and it did add a sense of urgency, which I did pick up on as well.  I just didn't feel it worked well for this book.

I was hoping to see more of Luke, Han, and Leia.  Han and Chewie show up very briefly and I wanted to follow them, but couldn't.  Wendig introduced us to so many new characters that I had trouble keeping up and there was typically only small references to Luke, Han, and Leia.  I wanted to follow their stories post-Return of the Jedi, like the Legends novels did.  In the end this novel was great in that we got introduced to a variety of new characters and I got to try to guess which characters would play into the stories of the others and was pleased to see them all connect to the greater plot in the novel.  I would have liked to have gotten more character development, however, because I still don't feel like I know the main characters very well and I lack an emotional connection to them.  In other words, I didn't care about them.

Now for my biggest issue with Aftermath.  I did not appreciate the introduction of the LGBT characters whatsoever.  Being a Catholic Deacon heading into priestly ordination in the Catholic Church I have spent many years studying Theology, studying sexuality as seen in God's plan (which is reflected in the natural order of the world; in nature) and interacting with and being really good friends with those who struggle with same sex attraction who are trying to live lives of chastity and in accord with God's plan (celibacy).  That being said I understand well the reality of same sex attraction in many in our world today.  It is very real thing and must be understood properly in order to bring those persons true joy and happiness.  True joy and happiness is found in authentic love, which can never ever be equated to a sexual relationship, which our culture tends to suggest.  Authentic love as revealed by Jesus Christ is this: "Greater love has no man this, that a man lays down his life for his friends." (John 15:13, RSV).  Those who have same sex attraction are called, just like everyone in this world, to love authentically (which may or may not include a hetero-sexual physical relationship).  Authentic love does not mean sex.  Marriage as God intended it to be is between one man and one woman and it has, by its very nature, a unitive and a procreative aspect.  Marriage unites a couple and produces children.  Neither can be separated or else marriage becomes selfish.  Gay marriage breaks the essence of marriage; gay marriage is not, and can never be, life-giving (it ceases to produce children).  I preached a homily about this reality of marriage, and you can read it here to understand more.

Now I am not suggesting that those who have same sex attraction should never be included in novels, because I'm not.  That is a reality in our world that can be real in novels too.  I am saying that those who have same sex attraction in novels should not be used in a way that promotes an agenda, I do not know Wendig's reason for including them so I am not implying Wendig has an agenda here.  But what I do see is that Wendig portrays a gay marriage (two women) as completely normal and natural.  He also reveals that one of the major male heroes of the novel is not attracted to women.  Both of these aspects of Aftermath seemed to be awkward and not at all necessary to the story.  They seemed to be added only as a way of revealing that gay marriage and a gay hero exist in Star Wars.  It seems to be a way of "normalizing" gay marriage and the gay identity as something normal, even admirable.  I mean, it's in Star Wars and isn't portrayed as wrong or out of the ordinary, so it must be good, right?  No.  This is not healthy.  Same sex attraction is a very real thing, but it is not natural and shouldn't be admired, nor promoted as something healthy and normal (again with the proper understanding that in itself the same-sex inclination is not sinful, but acting out on the inclination is; also recognizing that same-sex attraction is a disordered desire, just as a lustful inclination in any sense, heterosexual or homosexual, is a disordered desire).  I was disappointed to see that in a Star Wars novel.  Star Wars should be a magical place in a galaxy "far far away" and this just brings it closer to earth and less magical.  Even the seemingly obvious reference to a Star Wars Settler's of Catan board game in the novel seemed too close to home.  I want to go to a galaxy far far away, not stay here on Earth.  

Anyways, long story short, I didn't hate the book, in fact, I liked many parts of Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig.  I loved seeing the galaxy after Return of the Jedi, in little bits and pieces from many different stories.  I am excited we are moving toward Star Wars: The Force Awakens and I'm hoping I caught some of the hints that point to the movie (I may or may not have).

This blog post is not meant to attack Chuck Wendig or hurt his reputation. I think he is a good author and I just had thoughts on his novel, Star Wars: Aftermath, that I wanted to share. In no way do I condone or encourage attacks on Chuck Wendig as an author because Aftermath is not the Star Wars EU or for any other reason. That is malicious and unwarranted and I want everyone treated with the dignity and respect they deserve as human persons who are uniquely creative as authors too.