Tristan

Wilhuff Tarkin Is Cooler Than I Thought

Revisado: 11-20-20

Everybody has watched A New Hope, and seen Grand Moff Tarkin destroy the planet Alderaan in a show of force to quell rebellion. At the time his character wasn't much, and died within the movie he was introduced. Years later, he showed up in the animated Clone Wars and Rebels shows, along with his uncanny valley role in Rogue One. Despite this, he still wasn't very fleshed out and was more of a background character that was used for "remember Star Wars?" moments. This book changes all that.

James Luceno did not give Tarkin the Plagueis treatment. He didn't chronicle a long line of events and machinations like he did with the Sith lord. However, this novel sheds more light on Tarkin's rough upbringing, and how he isn't merely a man who is all talk. He teams up with Darth Vader to locate a group of dissidents, and the adventure is fun. Well, mostly.

The dissidents themselves were forgettable, and their parts were fairly boring. The only part I can say was good with one of them is in the final chapter. Tarkin himself is meticulous, calculating, and honestly pretty cool. I'd love a trilogy about Tarkin's exploits in the vein of Zahn's Thrawn books.

Euan Morton was a new narrator to me, and he didn't disappoint. His voices for each character were great and distinct, and his Tarkin voice was perfect. This was definitely worth a listen.

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Vader And Cham Syndulla Get Depth

Revisado: 11-19-20

As many have stated, the title "Lords of the Sith" is a little inaccurate. Despite Vader and Sidious having a large role - and a very entertaining one at that - the novel is more focused on Cham Syndulla and the Imperial Colonel Belkor Dray. This didn't detract from the book, but besides Cham and his right-hand Isval, the other members of the Free Ryloth Movement were quite forgettable.

To be honest I found myself rooting for Belkor, whose goal was to undermine the lazy, spice-addled Moff Delian Mors by feeding information to Cham and his movement. If his plan came to fruition, he would likely rise to become the next Moff. He was a likeable character, and his relationship with Cham was interesting. Cham himself was reminiscent of how he was portrayed in the Clone Wars show. Serious, determined, and brilliant, he leads the movement towards the uncertain road of something greater: rebellion. I think we can safely say that this book marks the beginning of the rebellion that would later inspire the creation of the Alliance.

Vader was explored more, and his relationship with his master was tested on the planet's surface. Having thoughts about his past and inclinations to kill Sidious tested his resolve.

Jonathan Davis never fails to brighten these stories with his performance, but you didn't need me to tell you that.

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Better Than The Movie It's A Prequel To

Revisado: 11-19-20

To be fair, that's not saying much considering Rogue One is one of the weakest movies in the franchise, but in this case it's a compliment. At first I was skeptical due to the movie being fairly subpar, but I tried anyway. The beginning is slow, and the events happening when Galen Erso is imprisoned (and before) are quite dull and forgettable. However, when Orson Krennic rescues his friend from captivity - and me, in turn, from boredom - the story gets more interesting.

Krennic steals the show in this novel. He is an interesting character, whose ambitions drive him to manipulate and achieve until he rises in the ranks. You know his fate from the movie, and how at odds he is with his rival, Tarkin, but did you know how the Death Star project began? All of Krennic's parts were a fun listen, and the Geonosian connection was honestly cool.

Galen himself was quite bland, but he had his moments. His personality is at fault for that, but maybe I just enjoyed Krennic too much.

The narration of course was top notch, Jonathan Davis is king of this art. Don't let my complaints about the beginning and such dissuade you, it's still worth a listen.

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Ahsoka Tano ASMR? Hot dog!

Revisado: 11-17-20

No, but seriously this was a great book. Being the only literary content of Ahsoka besides her minor appearances in a few Clone Wars novels, this was a nice change of pace. The story, while fairly slow-paced and involving only a few characters who I found interesting, was all around enjoyable. We learn of Ahsoka after the Jedi Purge, and how she has to change - much like Obi-wan does - into a different person. Of course, like her former master's master, she can't help but assist when people are in need, and when the occupation of the Empire looms over her new home, she can't not stand against them.

What makes this book even better is the narration. Ashley Eckstein returns as Ahsoka, bringing the character to life yet again, and it's awesome. At first, I was thought it sounded odd when she did male voices, but at the same time I grew to like it. It seems like Ahsoka herself is telling the story to a listener, and I immersed myself in that. As much as I love the narrative prowess of Jonathan Davis, Marc Thompson, and Jeff Gurner, I wish more audiobooks were like this one. It's much more immersive when the VA voices it (Jeff Gurner was great because he mimicked voices pretty well). Can you imagine an Obi-wan novel narrated by Ewan McGregor or James Arnold Taylor? Or a Palpatine novel read by Ian Mcdiarmid? It sounds like a dream.

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A Great Look Into Obi-wan Post Order 66

Revisado: 11-17-20

While it is obvious that this is a book about Kenobi himself, and fans of his character will like it solely because he's amazing, this is about a community as well. Never before have I listened to a Star Wars novel about an important character like Obi-wan and been able to say that I also loved the characters within the book that will never appear again. The settlers of Dannar's Claim - Annileen and Kallie Calwell especially - were very interesting to learn about. They had personality and depth, and I honestly wanted Obi-wan to settle down with Annileen, despite knowing that he would never do that. If not for his mission to safeguard Luke, I find it entirely possible that he might have.

Within this book we learn of Obi-wan's struggle to become Ben. As of now, despite his overwhelming urge to disappear, must venture to society for necessities, and can't seem to avoid going out of his way to help people. I found it funny how in every social situation, Obi-wan was incredibly uncomfortable and wanted to be anywhere else.

The narration was top notch as usual, but you should know that when it's Jonathan Davis. Sometimes I forget a man is doing all the female voices. One complaint about the audio is not on the narration, but the sound design. Chapter 3 was the worst in this, as I'm pretty sure the entire section was a part in the store. Come on guys, did the background noise really need to be the ambient sounds of Wal-Mart? The constant "boop" from scanning barcodes at a register got annoying pretty quick. Other than that, excellent book all around.

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A Look At Vader's Agony and A Post-ROTS Galaxy

Revisado: 10-20-20

This book was a nice extension from the events of Episode III, showing Jedi on the run from their own troops, Vader showing up as an unknown Imperial enforcer, and Bail Organa's efforts on Alderaan. Vader's regrets regarding Padmé, his hatred for his painful prison of a suit, and his realization that he lost everything while Palpatine gained everything are explored. While important to the story, the Jedi feel more minor than anything, as the entertaining parts usually feature Vader, Bail Organa, or both.

Jonathan Davis was great as always, if you know him, you'll love him.

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You Will Never Look At ROTS The Same Again

Revisado: 10-20-20

Holy moley, this was insanely good. I had heard it expanded a lot on the movie, but by how much I was unaware. An extra plotline for the senators, Dooku discussing the plan with Palpatine on the Invisible Hand, many scenes that better explain Anakin's fall and Palpatine's influence on him, giving Bail Organa more of a connection with Yoda and Obi-wan, expanding on the ending, this had it all. It was so masterfully written, I don't know how much I can say besides to just listen.

Jonathan Davis was amazing as usual, and he uses the same Gennedy-esque Grievous voiced as he did in Labyrinth of Evil (which this book references). All and all a stellar performance.

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Fun Listen For Fans of The Show

Revisado: 10-20-20

If you're looking for unique stories, this isn't your book. It is a retelling of many Clone Wars episodes from specific points of view, read by cast members. While that was great, there are some gripes of mine.

Several of the episodes picked for stories were fairly boring ones. The first episode where Yoda worked with three clones, for example. We've all seen it many times, and it never stood out. Dooku being kidnapped by Hondo, Padmé in one of her senatorial episodes, Anakin saving the senators... There are many episodes they could have used, yet used the less fun ones. Sure I love hearing Matt Lanter read about Anakin, but I'd prefer if he was reading a retelling of the Mortis arc, so we could delve deep into Anakin's thoughts during it. It was great hearing the voice actors, but mostly the stories were okay, and were only enjoyable due to the cast. Like come on, the episode with the younglings, narrated by one of them? That was pretty bad.

However, there was some fun to be had. Cad Bane's point of view of the Obi-wan Undercover arc (one of my favorites) in first person storytelling was fantastic.

The book comes with an extra story at the end, and to be honest? I don't even remember the details, because it was so boring I fell asleep.

All in all the cast did great, but this isn't a book to get if you want a new experience.

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Interesting Way To Lead Into Revenge of the Sith

Revisado: 09-02-20

This story was interesting, in that it tells the events that lead up to the beginning of Episode III. With the seventh season of Clone Wars, parts of this story may be retconned, but the book seems to take inspiration from the 2003 Gennedy Tarkovsky Clone Wars special.

The story is interesting, but I have to admit, a lot of what happens in the first half I found... boring. Obi-wan and Anakin are just tracking down a mechnochair's manufacturers to find a trail to Sidious, which had entertaining points, but for the most part fell flat for me. However, when the invasion of Coruscant (from the opening of ROTS) happens, they seem to toss that plotline aside like it didn't exist.The invasion itself was pretty cool, especially the parts with General Grievous. I also really liked the part when someone saw Sidious' true identity as they died.

Jonathan Davis of course did great, and surprised me with a Grievous voice similar to the one used in Gennedy's Clone Wars. All and all a good performance, though I can't say it stood out compared to his other work.

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Vos And Ventress Like You've Never Seen Before

Revisado: 08-22-20

Wow. Just wow. I knew I'd enjoy this book, especially knowing that it is based off of the scripts for cancelled Clone Wars episodes, but this was one of the best Star Wars books I've had the pleasure of listening to.

Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress were two interesting Clone Wars characters who never got a lot of attention. Ventress had some story arcs, but rarely did we see much character depth beyond her leaving Dooku and losing her Sisters. With Vos we got even less, since he only had a single episode. This book brings both characters in the spotlight with so many twists and turns, that you'll get dizzy. Obi-wan and Anakin get to shine a little too, as a bonus. Very rarely has a Star Wars book made me actually FEEL, and this one did that in strides. The Jedi and their relationship with the failed Sith Ventress was interesting, and in the end I was happy with how her character was handled. All in all I will probably listen to this one again and again.

You all know Marc Thompson, he's amazing, and he amplified this book with his performance. Not much I can say beyond that. Just purchase this book already.

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