My Entertainment Update for June 2025

Hello friends! I hope your summer (or winter, if you’re in the southern hemisphere) is going well. There’s been a lot of rain and steamy weather where I am (New England), so a lot of time for reading, watching, writing, and a bit of drawing. Let’s get started! (As usual, SPOILERS!!! ahead).

Trials of the Jedi, by Charles Soule. This is the last novel of the ambitious High Republic project (initially called Project Luminous) and it is luminous, indeed. It’s not perfect–I had my nitpicks–but it brought all the multiple threads of this vast story to a satisfying conclusion.

One of my nitpicks (and not just about this particular book, but the High Republic as a whole) is that a lot of the story is told through comics. I tried to read the comics from the first phase, but there were so many I knew I’d never keep up. And oftentimes, elements or storylines or characters from the comics cropped up in the books, and whenever I ran across this I was left wondering, Okay, where did that come from? What does this mean? Who is this person? Etc., etc. The authors try to catch you up within the book, but it’s still disorienting.

So anyway, In Trials, a group of Jedi that comes to be known as The Nine (it’s got a Lord of the Rings kind of ring to it, doesn’t it?) must travel to Planet X, the Nameless home world, so they can release some Nameless creatures that they’ve captured. Their hope is that by bringing them home, it will stop the Blight that is ravaging the galaxy and bring balance back to the Force. With them, they have an ancient relic called The Rod of Ages. I had no idea what that thing was or where it came from, but apparently, it’s super important in controlling another relic Marchion Ro has–the Rod of Power, which I also have no idea how he got or where it came from–which controls the Nameless. Ah, the comics, I thought. Whatever, I’ll just roll with it.

So of course, the mission goes south almost immediately. The Veil they must pass through is vicious and they crash land. Some native creatures immediately attack them. The Nameless escape their cargo hold. And naturally, Marchion Ro has followed them. And he’s determined to not just kill the Jedi or defeat the Republic–he wants to end all life in the galaxy (he’s fundamentally nihilistic, get it?), and he’s in a pretty good position to do it.

While the Nine (Avar Kriss, Elzar Mann, Reath Silas, Bell Zettifar, Burryaga, Terec, Torban Buck, Ty Yorick, and Azlin Rell) fight to save the galaxy on Planet X, a battle with the Nihil has been raging on the planet Eriadu. The RDC (Republic Defense Coalition) and the Eriaduans (led by several noble houses, one of which is Tarkin) fight off the Nihil once the Stormwall comes down. This happens when Marchion Ro blows up his own ship the Gaze Electric, from which the Stormwall is held up. This is another weird inconsistency–in the YA and middle grade books that came before Trials (Into the Light, A Valiant Vow) the Stormwall was down, but it was never explained how it happened. It was a bit confusing.

Anyway, a few threads are wrapped up outside of the Planet X storyline: Jedi Knight Porter Engle finally kills the Mirialan Nihil General Viess, the woman who was responsible for his sister taking the Barash Vow and disappearing centuries ago. I don’t know the whole story (again, the comics–The Blade of Bardotta), but Viess has been his nemesis all this time and he finally killed her, realizing that he could have done it a long time ago; but that would have meant letting go of the memory of his sister.

On X, Bell confronts Marchion and defeats him, getting justice (revenge?) for his master Loden Greatstorm’s death (he doesn’t kill him but he REALLY wants to); Reath, Ty, and Azlin use the Rod of Ages to stop Marchion’s Rod of Power from destroying the Nameless; And Azar and Elzar figure out how to save the galaxy and bring balance back to the Force: they both must stay on X until the planet heals itself, which will take many decades (and with no way off the planet and its existence a secret, even then they can never leave). It’s kind of weird and complicated, but Avar will be the Light to the darkness, and Elzar will be the darkness to the light. Like this:

They will be separated, with Avar down below ground in the darkness, and Elzar on a mountaintop. I had feared their relationship (which they finally accepted and consummated in Temptation of the Force) would end in tragedy. This isn’t so much tragedy, as them sacrificing their love and their lives together for the galaxy. Because in the end, they are Jedi.

The back-up team, which includes Vernestrah Rwoh (who was mostly absent in this book, but it’s okay since she got her own book in Wayseeker last month), picks everybody else up and brings them home. Marchion Ro stands trial and is sentenced to life in solitary confinement, alone in a prison cell on an asteroid. He spends the rest of his natural life alone, unable to hurt, manipulate, postulate to, or lord over anyone else, and this, above all things, is what defeats him. He dies an old, sick, pathetic being whose actions in the galaxy ended up meaning nothing. Or did it mean nothing? I think it’s safe to say that the Nihil conflict was the beginning of the end of the Jedi–it changed the Jedi, it changed the Order’s relationship with the Republic and allowed it to weaken enough for the Sith to destroy them. I think perhaps Marchion Ro, if he had known, would be triumphant at their eventual downfall. But he didn’t know, and that’s his personal tragedy.

Reath takes off to search for Azlin Rell, who had slipped away from Planet X on an old, abandoned ship where he finds a lightsaber. It belonged to a Jedi named Barnabas Vim, a name that sounds familiar to me and I’m sure he was in Phase 2 at some point, but I can’t quite remember, lol. Anyway, Rell bleeds the crystal, and he has a red lightsaber. I think at this point it doesn’t mean he’s a Sith or anything, just a rogue darksider, and Reath feels responsible for him. I hope we get a story later about what happens with these two.

And Chancellor Lina Soh makes a speech about the Republic and mentally ruminates on its relationship with the Jedi moving forward. She understands that the Jedi just saved the entire galaxy and is therefore very powerful indeed. The Republic and the Jedi up to this point were partners in a peaceful galaxy; now, after the Nihil conflict, the balance of power has changed, fundamentally if not openly. It sets the stage for the Republic getting into Jedi affairs and vice versa as the prequel era looms ahead.

So this High Republic initiative has ended, and I have to say it’s awesome and I loved every minute of it. I’m sad to see it end, but it ended satisfactorily, with the hope of more High Republic stories to come. In the meantime, I can maybe read all the other High Republic stuff I skipped (those darned comics!), some manga, and a few audio dramas. It’s not goodbye forever, thank the Force.

Gifts, by Ursula K. LeGuin. I read LeGuin’s Earthsea Trilogy many years ago and really enjoyed them but haven’t read anything by her since then. I came across this book at a used bookstore and decided it was time to revisit this author. This is a YA book, but this old person thought it was great anyway. Here’s a blurb from Amazon:

In this beautifully crafted novel, the first of the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, Ursula K. Le Guin writes of the proud cruelty of power, of how hard it is to grow up, and of how much harder still it is to find, in the world’s darkness, gifts of light.

Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability—with a glance, a gesture, a word—to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness.

The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill.

LeGuin is a wonderful writer and I’m glad I revisited her, but now I have to get the other two books of the trilogy: Voices and Powers. The TBR list grows!

The Giver, by Lois Lowry. My daughter read this book several years ago in middle school, and I thought it sounded like a good read. I put it on my mental list, and when I saw it at a library book sale recently, I picked it up and decided to read it. Here’s a synopsis from Amazon:

In Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal–winning classic, twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community.

Life in the community where Jonas lives is idyllic. Designated birthmothers produce newchildren, who are assigned to appropriate family units. Citizens are assigned their partners and their jobs. No one thinks to ask questions. Everyone obeys. Everyone is the same. Except Jonas.

Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Gradually Jonas learns that power lies in feelings. But when his own power is put to the test—when he must try to save someone he loves—he may not be ready. Is it too soon? Or too late?

Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.

Would you give up true emotions, choices, even color, for peace? When I look around at the world right now, the hellish mess it’s in, and all the hell humanity has gone through, it’s tempting. Some freaking peace wouldn’t be a bad thing. But of course, I don’t mean it. What’s life without love? Without art, without true relationships, without joy? It would be a stale affair. The problem is, we have to accept the bad with the good–the differing points of view, the crimes of passion. Hatred and war. It’s the quintessential conundrum of being human, and this book explores it simply but effectively. There are three other books by Lowry in the “quartet” and I have them on my shelf, but I won’t get to them for a bit. Looking forward to them.

The Giver, Movie (2014). So of course, I wanted to watch the movie version of the book. The movie was…fine. It changed a few things, naturally, but I’m fairly flexible about that as long as it works. The cool thing was seeing a young Cameron Monaghan in it as Jonas’ friend Asher (our very own Cal Kestis of Jedi: Fallen Order fame. See? Monaghan is obviously a screen actor, so let’s get him in a Star Wars show or something!)

Station Eleven, Series on HBO Max. Station Eleven, the novel by Hilary St. John Mandel, is one of my favorite books of all time, so I was excited to see some time ago that there was an adaptation of it. However, when reading about it, I was put off by what I saw as major deviations from the book and so didn’t bother trying to get the channel to watch it. But once I got Max to watch The Last of Us, I saw it there and decided to give it a try.

And I’m glad I did. Yes, there are some major changes to the book, but once I started watching, it drew me in anyway. And I decided that I actually liked the biggest change, which puts two characters together that only met briefly in the book. In fact, I never knew I wanted that until I saw it onscreen, and I ended up loving this show.

The premise is that humanity is depopulated by a super-flu-type virus. Kirsten, one of the survivors, is a member of The Traveling Symphony, a group of musicians and actors who travel “the Wheel,” an area around Upper Michigan near Chicago (though they never go into the city). Their motto is “Survival Isn’t Enough,” and they put on concerts and Shakespeare plays for the few small settlements that are left. The “present” of the story takes place twenty years after the flu, and there are flashbacks to the beginning of the flu and various characters that are central to the plot.

Kirsten was eight years old and playing young Goneril in King Lear when the flu struck. Lear is played by Arthur Leander, a character that dies of a heart attack on stage the night the flu exploded, and one that ties all the other characters together. When Arthur collapses on stage, Jeevan Choudhary, who is in the audience, leaps onstage to help, though it’s too late. He meets Kirsten and decides to get her home, as no one else is around.

Jeevan gets a call from his sister, a doctor, who warns him about the flu and insists he go to their brother, Frank. When Kirsten’s parents are nowhere to be found, he takes her to Frank’s with them. (This is where it deviates from the book; in it, he meets Kirsten at the theater but goes to Frank’s alone. He ends up somewhere in Virginia with a family and never meets any of these other characters). These three–Jeevan, Frank, and Kirsten–spend the next several months together in Frank’s apartment as the flu ravages the population. Kirsten has with her a special comic book called Station Eleven, which was written and drawn by Arthur’s first ex-wife Miranda. There are only two copies; Kirsten has one, given to her by Arthur, and Arthur’s young son Tyler has the other. The two children become obsessed by the comic book, which is about an astronaut who finds himself on a space station (Station Eleven) after Earth has been invaded by aliens and has become uninhabitable. There’s some war going on within the station between factions, and it’s kind of vague and confusing, lol. But the theme is that of damage, isolation, of not belonging. Of trying to find home.

In the meantime, Arthur’s friend Clarke ends up stuck in the Severn City airport, as he was traveling from England to go to Arthur’s funeral, but the flu grounded the plane. Arthur’s second ex-wife Elizabeth was on the plane as well, with their son Tyler. The people on the plane end up forming a community there, and Clarke starts a “Museum of Human History,” putting cell phones and driver’s licenses and what not from the time before, as a sort of homage. The problem is, Tyler is a troubled boy and causes trouble, and ends up leaving the group, faking his own death in a fire. But he shows up later as “The Prophet,” someone the Traveling Symphony must deal with years later.

There’s a lot of complicated threads and intertwined characters, so it’s hard to succintly summarize. This post would go on forever if I wrote about all of them, but trust me, it’s a great show and I enjoyed it, in a different way than the book. I loved the book because its themes of art, memory, grief and connection spoke to me. It was different than any other “apocalyptic” book I’d ever read, and the show did a good job translating those themes, even if they changed some things to make it work onscreen.

My drawing of the month:

Sadly, I’ve only done one drawing since last month, as I’ve been busy with the blog, shows, and reading. But it’s a good one, I think!

I intend on continuing to draw, but at a lesser pace right now, as I get back to writing in various forms for the time being. I’m hoping for at least one with each monthly update.

So that’s it this month. What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Update for May 2025

Hello friends! It’s been a busy month with books and shows, so let’s get started.

(Please be awere there are SPOILERS for everything I talk about below.)

The Acolyte: Wayseeker, by Justina Ireland. Despite the mixed reactions to The Acolyte, I’m one of the people who enjoyed it and was looking forward to this novel featuring Vernestra Rwoh and Jedi Knight Indara. And though it wasn’t particularly a page-turner, nor did it add anything of interest to the current lore, I enjoyed the book for its character insights and some information on what became of some other characters during the High Republic. The book takes place maybe 15-20 years before The Acolyte, but decades after the time of the High Republic books. Vernestra is closing in on 100 years old (she was 15-20 during the Nihil conflict in the books) and Indara is a youngish Jedi Knight, about late twenties.

The plot involves the illegal manufacture of nullifiers, bracelet-like devices that can power down a lightsaber or blasters (different from cortosis, which we saw in The Acolyte). Vernestra Rwoh, who has been a Wayseeker for the past ten years (a Jedi who spreads the Light of the Force on their own, outside of the Order itself), has been called back to the Order to investigate the problem. They send Indara to fetch her back, and it takes a while for the two Jedi to like and understand each other. Indara is a capable Jedi but has been isolated in the Archives for over a year since a mission gone wrong damaged her confidence. Vernestra has been on her own for quite some time, and is a bit cynical about the Order, believing it has gotten too involved in Senate business. Her cynicism shocks Indara, but she is still loyal to the Order, and the two investigate a lead concerning a murdered Senator.

They eventually track down the manufacturer of the nullifiers, Nillson, the spice-addicted son of a wealthy planetary leader, but it’s how they get there and the little details along the way that interested me. Vernestra has, since her youth, had Force visions during hyperspace, and that has only gotten more intense as she’s gotten older. As she travels with Indara, she has Force visions of her former master, Stellan Gios, who gives her clues, advice, and warnings along the way. As they pursue a wayward scientist, they visit Avon Starros’ son, Felix, and we learn that Avon had passed away several years ago. It was the same with Imri Cantaros, Vernestra’s first Padawan, who had become a Jedi Philosopher. Vernestra had holos of both Avon and Imri, as well as of Stellan, on her ship (named the Cantaros). Indara wondered if these holos were examples of attachment, but Vernestra explained that fondness and remembrance was not obsession and did not constitute attachment.

During their investigation they found help in Ty Yorick, another figure from the High Republic. Ty showed up mostly in the comics, but she did make an appearance in The Rising Storm. She had left the Order and become a “monster hunter” and at some point, rejoined the Jedi until retirement; now she was quite old and used a repulsor chair, although still quite capable.

There are a few other cameos I liked: Yaddle, in particular, and members of the High Council, including Yoda, of course, and Oppo Rancisis. Vernestra, whose chapters are in the first person (while Indara’s are in the third person), briefly mentions a former Padawan that had gone awry; we’re to assume that this is Qimir from the Acolyte. I’m dying for more information about that story, but we don’t get much here; I’m hoping we’ll get another book or maybe comic that covers that painful incident in Vernestra’s life.

Anyway, they finally catch up with Nillson; he gets killed and the nullifiers are destroyed. Indara decides she wants to become a Wayseeker, and I assume she does for a time, although she’s back in the Order in the flashbacks in The Acolyte. Vernestra stays on Coruscant, putting an office for herself in the Senate building, as a liaison between the Order and the Senate. She feels the two entities are getting too intertwined, and this way she can keep an eye on their interactions. This is the Vernestra we see in The Acolyte, and it seems to make a bit more sense now.

Anyway, if you enjoyed The Acolyte, I think you’ll like this book. I do hope we get more books in this era, with Vernestra, Qimir’s story, perhaps Plagueis, a mention of a young Palpatine, leading up to the Prequels? I’d love it!

A Valiant Vow, by Justina Ireland. Yes, Justina Ireland published TWO books in May on the same day! But they’re both fairly short, so maybe not so overwhelming as we might think? And slightly connected, in that this one focuses on Imri Cantaros, Vernestra’s first Padawan.

This is the final middle-grade book of the High Republic, and though it was fairly short and the plot simple, it did hit some emotional spots. Imri has been on the planet Aricho with fellow Jedi Knight Yacek Sparkburn at the Jedi Outpost there. There had been some doings in a comic book story that I have not read, mainly that Imri and friends helped the people on Aricho fend off the Nihil. He liked it enough to stay there, teaching younglings and basically living a very simple, contented life. He had lost his lightsaber some time ago but doesn’t feel any need to replace it, feeling the Force is all he needs.

But then the President of Aricho asks Imri and Yacek to investigate several ships that had crashed on the planet, and they discover that they had been attacked by scav droids, a leftover of the Nihil attack. Then the President goes missing, and things get a little complicated as they find out she’s been making deals with the Hutts for the planet’s glaka root.

In the meantime, Zenny Greylark, the daughter of a Senator, and youngling Tep-Tep make their way to Aricho to help their friend Churo, a young Hutt that broke away from his criminal family to study plant science. He and his scientist mentor have gone to Aricho to study glaka root but got attacked by the scav droids. Churo sent out a message for help before they crashed, and Tep-Tep managed to hear it at the Temple.

Anyway, all the friends are reunited on Aricho and have to deal with angry Hutts, scav droids, and the Blight, which is spreading fast on the planet. Churo manages to broker a deal between the Jedi and the Hutts, as it’s his sister that has come to the planet; Zenny and the Jedi deal with the scav droids; and everyone gets evacuated before the Blight can take over, as well as before a huge storm descends on them. Zenny and her sister find their missing Dad, and Tep-Tep becomes Imri’s Padawan. It’s all very sweet and satisfying, and I have to say that Churo is one of my favorite middle-grade characters (honestly, there aren’t many, lol, considering the age group we’re talking about, but this guy is seriously sweet).

A solid last entry in the middle-grade category, following the last YA book Into the Light; now all we’re waiting for is the last adult book, Trials of the Jedi, which comes out next month. Can’t wait to see how it all wraps up!

Tales of the Underworld. I’ve really enjoyed the Tales Of series, after Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire. I was kind of hoping for Tales of the Rebellion or something, and I was a bit underwhelmed when I heard about Tales of the Underworld. Ventress, sure, I was interested in, but Cad Bane? Meh, not so much.

But ironically, it was Bane’s stories that I enjoyed more than Ventress’s. I did like the Ventress arc, but I still have questions, lol. It was the Bane arc that really hit me emotionally. Not so much Bane himself (the jerk), but the other characters. His friend Niro, who grew up under the same conditions as Bane (or Coby, as he’s called), but took a different route. He bettered himself, bettered the community he lived in, did the right thing. In cleaning up his city, he killed Lazlo, Bane’s mentor, and so of course Bane had to get revenge. Niro took up with Bane’s old girlfriend, who turned out to be pregnant with Bane’s child, so he ended up raising his friend’s kid. It’s all very soapy, lol, and I kind of like it.

As I said, I liked Ventress’s arc, especially the dynamic between Ventress and Lyco, but the episodes weren’t particularly interesting to me. They finally made it to the Path, but Ventress didn’t go with Lyco. Of course, I wanted to see a reunion with Quinlan, but for some reason, she ran away. Why? I’ve seen the explanation that she didn’t feel like she’d earned it, that she needed to do more to atone for her past. I don’t buy it. The woman DIED for Quinlan. What else does a girl have to do, geez. No, I think it’s because she knew it was a condition of her resurrection. Mother Talzin did say that in order to come back, she’d have to “give up her heart’s desire.” Maybe she thought if she met up with him, she’d die again? Or he would? As I said, I have questions, lol. But I’m hoping we see more of Ventress in future projects that may answer them.

The Book of M, by Peng Shepard. I noticed this book when it came out several years ago and put it on my mental list. I finally found it at a library sale for a buck, lol, so it was time to read it. Here’s a blurb:

WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE UP TO REMEMBER?

Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.

One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.

Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too.

Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the shadowless.

As they journey, each searches for answers: for Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force growing in the south that may hold the cure.

Like The Passage and Station Eleven, this haunting, thought-provoking, and beautiful novel explores fundamental questions of memory, connection, and what it means to be human in a world turned upside down.

I really enjoyed this book; its premise was original and had me turning the pages to see what would happen. Definitely worth the dollar I paid, lol.

The Last of Us, Seasons 1 & 2. When I heard about this series based on a video game, it sounded pretty interesting–mushroom zombies! I’m in, lol. But I didn’t have HBO at the time and figured I’d wait a bit. I saw that the first season was available on Youtube, so I bought it and dived right in.

And holy fungal infection, this show! I binged it in days, and then realized Season 2 was wrapping up that very weekend, so I had to bundle HBO Max with my Disney/Hulu subscription to watch it, ‘cuz I wasn’t gonna wait, lol.

I’m not a gamer, so I’m not familiar with the game, but the show is outstanding. Ultra-violent, predictably, but deeply emotional and morally intriguing. The premise is that the cordyceps mushroom has found a way to infect humans, taking over the brain and controlling their actions, with fungus growing out of their heads and bodies. It’s even creepier when you know that cordyceps already does this in real life in insects, which is horrifying enough. Anyway, the Outbreak occurs, and everything goes south. The story takes place mostly twenty years later. There are quarantine zones in the major cities, ruled by FEDRA, an outbranch of the federal government that has turned quite fascist in trying to keep control. A group called the Fireflies is in opposition to FEDRA.

Joel is emotionally distant after the death of his daughter early on in the Outbreak; it took protecting Ellie to open him up and find a purpose in life again. Season One is Joel trying to get Ellie to the doctor in Salt Lake City who may be able to make a cure, as Ellie is immune. They encounter all manner of obstacles, and it always ends with blood and death, but they make it. But to make the cure, Ellie has to die. Joel was having none of it. When he walked through that hospital killing everyone he encountered, it was brutal, but I don’t blame him for it. Look, I’m gonna say it, I love my kid more than all of humanity put together, so I would have done the same.

Of course, there’s a price to be paid. That’s what Season Two is all about. Joel knew he would probably pay the price someday, so when the doctor’s daughter, Abby, comes along for revenge, he doesn’t beg, plead, or explain. He accepts it with a nod; but Abby wants to make him suffer, and he does. Ellie witnesses some of it, and when it’s over and Joel is dead, she plans her own revenge, going to Seattle with her girlfriend Dina to find Abby. They find themselves in the middle of a war between the Fireflies (Abby’s group) and a strange cult they call the Scars. Their war is brutal and bloody, filled with bitterness and hatred; who knows who started it or why, and it doesn’t really matter.

And so you can’t help but contrast that with Ellie’s need for revenge. Yes, Joel’s death was awful, and she’ll never get over it. But Abby feels the same way about her father. The revenge killings could go on and on forever, starting a war between the two communities, between Seattle and Jackson. And how does that help humanity? It doesn’t, of course. Should Joel have allowed the doctor to kill Ellie for a cure? Maybe. Probably. But he killed for love. Abby killed for revenge, but it was also for love for her father. Yet, Joel’s death didn’t bring him back. It just started a chain of death that, at the end of Season 2, leaves Ellie devastated at killing a pregnant woman, the death of her friend Jesse, and who knows who else.

This show just gutted me in so many ways. The evolution of Joel and Ellie’s relationship in Season One, and Ellie’s sense of betrayal in Season Two, is the emotional backbone of the series. The little side-trip with Bill and Frank was touching and sweet; the flashbacks with Joel giving Ellie her birthday presents were heart-wrenching (Joel forgot his daughter’s cake on her birthday before the Outbreak; he never forgot Ellie’s cake in Jackson). Joel and Ellie’s tear-soaked conversation on the porch the night before he died made me shed a tear or two.

And oh, yeah, mushroom zombies! Lol. The fact that they’re evolving, getting “smart” and sneaky, and spreading the spores through the air, bodes for some more scariness in the future. Anyway, now I’m sad I have to wait, probably a year or two, for Season 3.

So I think this post has gone on long enough, so I’ll share my latest drawings in a separate post. (And I’m still working on my Andor thoughts, too).

What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Update for March 2025

Hello friends, happy Spring! Here’s what I’ve been up to for the last month or so:

Reign of the Empire: Mask of Fear, by Alexander Freed. If you like the political maneuverings of Andor, you’ll like this book. It takes place mere weeks after Order 66, when Palpatine takes control and declares himself Emperor. It focuses on Mon Mothma and Bail Organa, mostly, with some Saw Gerrera and a new character called Soujen. Mon Mothma is determined to curtail the Emperor’s power by legislation and keeping the Senate relevant in this new Empire (I know, good luck with that, Mon). Bail, meanwhile, is obsessed with what happened to the Jedi and is convinced that if the truth about their slaughter was known, it would ruin Palpatine (again, good luck with that, Bail). The two central figures of the Rebellion are not seeing eye to eye at this point. Saw is just out doing his thing when he and his group discover Soujen, a Separatist soldier who had been put in hibernation before the war ended as a contingency plan. Soujen has been surgically altered with implants to make him into a deadly warrior, and when he wakes his only thought is to continue the war against the Republic. When he’s apprised of the new situation, he still wants to continue his mission somehow and bides his time with Saw.

It’s a big, dense, political book but I didn’t find it hard to get through at all. Both Mon and Bail need to come to terms with how they deal with this new Empire–Mon figures out just how little power she has as a Senator but decides to continue to persevere anyway; Bail learns that he has to let the Jedi go in order to move forward; Saw continues to do what Saw does best: sow chaos; and Soujen finds that he’s obsolete in this new world order.

I’m eager to see what the next book in this series will offer, which will be written by Rebecca Roanhorse (who wrote Resistance Reborn, a favorite of mine) though I don’t think we have a release date for that yet. Can’t wait, though!

The Clone Wars: Gambit: Stealth, by Karen Miller. I started this one on my e-reader (a new Nook from B&N). It’s the first book in a duology, and I found the second hard copy book in my local comic store. I’ve read Karen Miller before (Wild Space, with Obi-Wan and Bail Organa) and I quickly realized why her writing style is slightly annoying: the characters are always arguing, quibbling, contradicting, and otherwise getting on each other’s nerves. And I mean ALWAYS. I get that there needs to be tension in a book, and between characters, but this goes above and beyond, like badly written fan-fiction, lol. Aside from that, her stories are usually pretty interesting. In this one, Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent on a clandestine mission to a planet called Lanteeb to find out if the Separatists are making a bioweapon there. I’m about halfway through, and besides the annoying arguments, it’s a pretty good book so far. I’ll report back next month.

Upcoming: I’m waiting for my copy of Into the Light by Claudia Gray, the next High Republic novel in the final wave of books. I should be getting it tomorrow, and I can’t wait! I’ll have my thoughts on that one next month.

Tales of the Underworld. On May the fourth, we’ll be getting Tales of the Underworld, focusing on Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane. I was hoping we’d get more Tales in this series, and while these characters are unexpected, they’re not unwelcome. Especially Ventress; with her appearance in the Bad Batch, I wanted more of her story: how she survived, what she’s been up to, how she’s atoning for her Sith ways, etc. And where’s Quinlan Voss??? So many unanswered questions, lol. Bane I’m not so interested in, but I’ll take it, and it all looks very exciting.

Drawings: Since March was Women’s History Month, I decided to draw the women from Star Wars. I have a few more in my sketchbook, but I’ll share those next month.

Now I can get back to some of the boys, lol. It’s been really fun learning how to draw portraits and I think with each one I get a bit better at it. It’s also been good for my mental health, as I get so absorbed I forget everything else (I’m in the US, so…yeah, there’s that, lol). Eager to share more sketches with you!

What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Entertainment Update for February 2025

Thrawn: Alliances, by Timothey Zahn. I love Thrawn as a character, particularly in Rebels and the Ahsoka show, but I’ve never been a big fan of the books. I just don’t have the patience for his Sherlock Homes-style exposition that makes my eyes glaze over. I thought I’d try this one, though, because the premise seemed interesting: Thrawn and Darth Vader have a mission together, and it flashes back to when Thrawn met Anakin Skywalker and they did a mission together as well. Put Padme in there, too, and I’m intrigued enough to check it out. There was still plenty of tedious Thrawning, but was just interesting enough to get me through it.

The Emperor sends Thrawn and Vader on a mission to investigate a big disturbance in the Force he’s feeling. The flashbacks deal with Padme going to Batuu to meet up with one of her handmaidens who’s discovered something important. She turns up dead, though, and Padme investigates a Separatist factory on a planet called Mokijve. Anakin hasn’t heard from Padme and goes to investigate her whereabouts and encounters Thrawn, whose mission on behalf of the Chiss is a bit vague. They decide to work together, however, to find Padme.

Meanwhile, Thrawn and Vader inevitably clash, as their leadership styles are decidedly different. Vader is constantly questioning Thrawn’s loyalty to the Emperor and the Empire. It becomes quite clear that Thrawn–naturally–has figured out that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, and he walks that tightrope for most of the book. They deal with a group of Grysk (enemies to the Chiss in the Unknown Regions) who are, it is revealed, kidnapping female Chiss children who are Force-sensitive. These children are what allow the Chiss to travel across space, as they have no hyperdrive navigational systems. Ironically, they are called “Skywalkers.”

Anakin, Padme, and Thrawn find that the Separatists are manufacturing droids and clone armor with cortosis, which are impervious to blasterfire, as well as lightsabers. They work together to destroy the factory, and Thrawn gets the intel on something or other he’s after for the Chiss (he takes some piece of equipment, idk, lol). Vader and Thrawn retrieve the Chiss girls and come to some sort of stalemate and truce, as well as mutual respect.

The book was fairly entertaining, but I doubt I’ll read any other Thrawn book. I’ll take my Thrawn in animation and live-action.

Comics: Legacy of Vader, and Ghost Agents. If you know me you know I’m not a huge comic book fan, but you also know I’m a huge Bad Batch fan. So when it was announced that there would be a comic run with the Batch, I knew I’d check them out. So I walked down to my local comic book shop and found the first issue. Kylo Ren is another special interest, so I thought I’d pick up the new one with him, too.

Ghost Agents takes place during the Clone Wars, so no Omega or Echo, just the original Batch. They’re sent on a mission by Mace Windu to find someone who stole a list of Republic secret agents. They descend into the lower levels of Coruscant and almost find the culprit but run into the bounty hunter Embo, who is also after the list. As a result, the suspect gets away. Stay tuned.

Legacy of Vader takes place between The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker. Snoke is dead, and Kylo force-throws his corpse off the ship into space and tells Hux to make him a throne, lol. But even after killing his father and Snoke, he still feels trapped by the past, which includes Vader. He decides to go to Mustafar to…I’m not really sure, but he runs into Vader’s old assistant, Vanee, who is a head in a fish bowl with a robotic spider-like body. Kylo was going to kill him, too, but Vanee tells him that Vader was strong because of his past. Kylo is intrigued, and we’re left waiting until the next issue to see what sorts of stories Vanee tells him.

I’d never been to my local comic store, and it was a great little place with lots of comics and other things, too. I picked up a book–Clone Wars: Siege, by Karen Miller–while I was there, too. I would have stayed longer, but it was stifling in there and had to get out, lol. But I plan on returning to get the subsequent issues of these stories.

Non-Star Wars entertainments:

Pride and Prejudice (1995). I was rooting around in my new Hulu subscription and came upon this gem. It had been years since I last watched it and decided to indulge in it once again. This is the golden standard of Jane Austen adaptations and it truly is a delight.

Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James. Since I was in an Austen kind of mood, I decided to read this one I had on my TBR pile, which I’d found in a free little library a few months ago. It takes place six years after the events of Pride and Prejudice. Preparations for Lady Anne’s ball at Pemberley is interrupted by tragedy: a murder has taken place on the Pemberley grounds. The victim is Captain Denny, a friend of Wickham’s. The prime suspect is Wickham himself, who, along with his wife Lydia, had been in the carriage with Denny on their way to dropping Lydia off–uninvited, of course–at Pemberley. When Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and a young lawyer named Alveston investigate, they find Wickham–quite drunk–bent over his friend proclaiming that he’d killed his best friend. What exactly happened that night is the central mystery as the book covers the inquest and trial of Wickham. If you like mysteries, as well as Austen and Regency England, this one’s for you.

As promised last month, here are my drawings for the rest of the Bad Batch:

I posted my drawings of Tech, Hunter, and Crosshair last month, so if you’d like to check those out, they’re here.

Here’s a bonus drawing of Ahsoka from the live-action show:

What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Update for January 2025

Skeleton Crew. I really enjoyed this one. I thought this show about four kids getting lost in the Star Wars galaxy would be a bit kiddie, and it’s certainly appropriate for the whole family, but I was surprised by how much I liked it. It did take a few episodes to pull me in all the way, but once I was invested, I was all in.

The 80’s kids-on-bikes-having-adventures vibe made it fun, and although suburban Star Wars felt a bit jarring, it soon fell into classic Star Wars mode, with lots of cool aliens, pirates, and space action. The whole mystery surrounding At-Attin was cool, the kids were great, and Jude Law as Jod was fantastic. It wasn’t my favorite live-action show, but it was certainly enjoyable and I’m all for a Season 2, if it happens.

Last Shot, by Daniel Jose Older. I tried reading this book back when it first came out (it was one of the first crop of canon books that came out), but after a few chapters, I just couldn’t go on. This writer is terrible, I thought. I have no idea what’s going on. And I was sad, because I really wanted a Han and Lando adventure to enjoy. So I thought maybe I’d try again someday and I’m glad I waited this long, as I’m 1.) more familiar with Daniel Jose Older’s style from the High Republic, and 2.) more familiar with some other canon lore that is subtly referenced in the book, such as the Aftermath Trilogy, and the movie Solo (I hadn’t seen it yet). So, this time when I picked it up, it was much easier to get into and enjoy.

That’s not to say it was a great book, but it was fairly enjoyable. It takes place a few years after ROTJ, as Ben Solo is two years old at the time. Han feels distinctly out of place as a husband and father, so when Lando comes around demanding he help him with something, he’s ready to go. That something is finding out where the Phylanx Redux Transmitter is, as Lando had been attacked by a droid-like being who demanded he find it. See, the last person who had seen it was the owner of the Millenium Falcon, and this person thought it was Lando. But guess who it really was? And what, exactly, is a Phylanx Redux Transmitter? They don’t really know, but they figure they better find it.

So then we go back fifteen years when Lando and L-3 still have the Falcon and L-3 drags Lando on some secretive mission involving droids; then we go back ten years when Han, Chewie and Sanna Starros (I’m still a little fuzzy on who she is, but Leia had referred to her as Han’s “other wife.” Okay.) are on Takodana and Sanna convinces Han to help her with some score, going after a device that is very valuable to many different people. Then we go back twenty years to Utupau, where a doctor there is kidnapped by thugs, his friend is killed by other thugs along with many others, but there are plenty of droids around. He’s so traumatized that he decides droids are the superior beings, and outfits them with the limbs of dead people.

Confused yet? Yeah, me too, but I was determined to make it through this book. It shuffled between all these timelines, and we finally figure out the Phylanx is a device created by that Utupaun doctor that, once activated, will cause all the droids in the galaxy to turn on their masters. Yikes!

This book was sloppy, confusing, and I’m still not fond of Jose Older’s writing style (his HR books are usually my least favorite). BUT–I did like the banter between Han and Lando, seeing L-3 again, seeing little Ben Solo, and seeing Lando fall in love with a Twilek woman named Kaasha Bateeen. I’m assuming this is the mother of Lando’s child who got kidnapped, presumably by the First Order when she’s two years old (who we learn about in the book Shadow of the Sith). So ultimately, I am glad I read this book, but it’s easier to read if you’re familiar with other canon material.

Announcement: A Bad Batch Novel coming in August 2025!

I’m super-excited about this news, as some of you know I’m a huge Bad Batch fan. There are some upcoming comics with the BB (“Ghost Agent,” a Clone Wars mission story) but as I’m more of a book person, this is great news. Here’s the synopsis:

Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Omega gamble on a mission to help rebuild Pabu in this thrilling adventure for The Bad Batch.

A good soldier knows that life is all about change — whether it’s on or off the battlefield. Surviving, living, means adaptation. Hunter is well acquainted with this lesson. He’s on the run from the Empire, Echo’s off on a mission with Captain Rex, and Crosshair is . . . still Crosshair, but amidst all the change, Hunter still has Tech, Wrecker, and Omega.

And it seems that his small family might have finally found a safe place to land, far from the increasingly vigilant eyes of the Empire: Pabu. But their potential new island home is in desperate need of resources if there is any hope for the fledgling community to recover from a devastating sea wave. That’s where Phee Genoa, self-proclaimed liberator of treasures, comes in, with a couple of jobs she swears will get them the funds they need. Despite Hunter’s concern with Phee’s precarious plans, the rest of the crew is fine following her lead.

Things go wrong almost immediately, as Phee’s droid blows the crew’s cover at a high-stakes auction, and they barely make it out with the relic they’d been paid to acquire. Hunter insists they finish their first mission and deliver the relic before taking on more work, but Phee and the others push forward with a second job: ferrying a couple on the run, one of whom is due to give birth at any moment. Hunter worries what they’re risking, especially when their mysterious new passengers cling to lies and secrets that trace back to an Imperial Security Bureau officer hot on their trail.

As Hunter tries to get the crew back on a stable, safe path far, far away from anything to do with the Empire’s watchdogs, their overlapping missions only invite more danger and chaos. On the verge of failing both their desperate passengers and their community on Pabu, the Batch must remember that the only way they succeed, the only way they survive to fight another day, is by trusting each other.

I was kind of hoping for a post-finale story, but I’ll take this, as at least we have Tech back (and I’m hoping for a bit of Tech/Phee flirtation, lol). The drawback is no Echo or Crosshair. Also, I have to wait until August to read it. 😦 But I’m very happy it’s on the Star Wars book horizon.

So I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been getting back into drawing and practicing portraits, mostly because I want to draw Star Wars characters. I’ve made some progress, though I have a long way to go. I do like this Obi-Wan Kenobi drawing I did a little while ago:

Yes, the top of his head is not there, lol, as the photo reference cut it off and I didn’t dare fill it in at the time. And yes, that’s an envelope at the top covering up some comments for improvement I made. But otherwise, I like it. I drew a lot of other SW live-action characters, but I’m not particularly happy with them; I need to improve a bit before I share them.

However, I have been drawing some Bad Batch characters, as they’re animated and already 2D, so I thought I’d have an easier time with them. I wouldn’t say they were easier, but they did come out better than the live-action characters. Here’s what I have so far:

I’m happy with these. Omega is up next, as well as Wrecker and Echo. I’ll share those next month.

Lastly, here are some non-Star Wars books I’ve enjoyed lately:

Wool, by Hugh Howey.
The End of Men, by Christina Sweeney-Baird.
Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich.

That’s it this month. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Update for April

The Bad Batch S3. We’re just one episode away from the conclusion of The Bad Batch as a series, and I’ve got mixed emotions about it: anticipation, dread, excitement, sadness, and curiosity about how the heck they’re going to wrap everything up in one final episode based on where we are right now. There’s been some speculation that the last episode (titled “The Calvary Has Arrived”) will be longer than the usual 25 or so minutes, but I’ve also heard it’s just going to be 22 minutes. So who knows?

There’s also speculation that the finale will introduce the beginnings of a new animated series about the Clone Rebellion, led by Rex, Gregor and Wolfe and perhaps Echo; but again, we don’t really know. Bad Batch fans are just holding their collective breath to see how this story ends, who might die, who lives to fight another day, and darnit, who’s CX-2? Is it Tech? Cody? Just another clone? There’s so many questions that need to be answered. And, ready or not, we’re going to get them (hopefully) next week. I’m planning on writing a post after the finale for my final thoughts. What are your predictions?

Tales of the Empire. I’d been hoping for a Season 2 of Tales of the Jedi, but this will definitely do. All six short episodes drop on May 4th with three focusing on Morgan Elsbeth, and three on Barriss Offee. It will be interesting to see Morgan’s beginnings with the witches of Dathomir and how she became Thrawn’s ally; but I think we’re all a bit more excited about seeing Barriss for the first time since her arrest in Clone Wars. Questions about her fate have been swirling in the fandom for years, and now finally we’ll get some answers. Based on the trailer, she’s obviously been recruited to become an Inquisitor after Order 66, but will she ultimately commit to the dark side? Can’t wait to find out!

The Living Force, by John Jackson Miller. I’m not quite done with this book but I’m getting close, less than a hundred pages left. It takes place just before The Phantom Menace; Qui Gon Jinn has offered a challenge to the Jedi Council: to reconnect to the Living Force, get out of the Council chambers and away from their focus on the Cosmic Force (the big picture), and “Just help one person.”

So they do. All eleven members of the Council decide to meet up on the planet Kwenn. The Jedi Temple there, manned since the High Republic, has been slated for closing, a common occurrence at this time. During the High Republic, the Jedi established Temples on a great many planets, to send a message to the people that “The Jedi Stand With You.” Since then there aren’t many Jedi outposts left, as the Jedi increasingly retrenched to the main temple on Coruscant and made decisions in close concert with the Senate and the Republic. The Jedi Council, in particular, have lost touch with the common people of the galaxy, who increasingly don’t trust the Jedi or know very little about them.

Anyway, off they go: Ki-Adi-Mundi, Yarael Poof, Plo Kloon, Saesee Tiin, Even Piell, Eeth Koth, Mace Windu, Adi Gallia, Yoda and Yaddle. Depa Billaba is also a member of the Council at this time, but she’s on a mission. Mace becomes concerned when she goes missing, and his part of the story is trying to find her and what her mission involves, while the others arrive on Kwenn and soon become enmeshed in helping the locals with solving their problems. Kwenn’s society has been declining in recent years and has seen an influx in pirate activity, which in turn has led to less tourism, and the corporations operating there leaving the system, which impacts everyone living there.

While they’re helping various people and groups, they’re also planning a big celebration where they invite all the citizens of Kwenn to show their solidarity with them. The problem is, the villain of the book, a pirate named Zilastra who has kidnapped Depa Billaba, plans on consolidating her power in the sector and killing all the Jedi at this celebration.

John Jackson Miller does an admirable job switching back and forth between all these characters and their individual missions, while making the story fun and lighter than most other books. There’s quite a bit of humor, and we get to know these lesser-known characters and their personalities better. It’s kind of sad, knowing the fate of all these characters at the hands of either the Separatists, Sidious, or Order 66 (Yoda being the only survivor). Because of this, I’m glad of the opportunity to get to know them better.

Star Wars and Philosophy Strike Back, by various contributors. I was browsing through a Barnes and Noble store recently and came upon this book in the philosophy section, so of course I had to get it! I don’t usually read a lot of nonfiction about Star Wars but I want that to change and this seemed like an interesting place to start. I haven’t gotten into it yet because I wanted to finish The Living Force first, but it addresses questions like:

Should droids be free? Should clone troopers?

What political and ethical ideas ground resistance and rebellion?

What’s wrong with the way women are portrayed in Star Wars?

Does Han Solo have a philosophical worldview?

Was Galen Erso responsible for the destruction of Alderaan?

Should you eat Baby Yoda?

I’m not sure what that last question is all about, but I’m certainly curious, as I am about all of them. There’s a total of thirty-six essays addressing some deep questions presented by Star Wars, written by various philosophers, and I’m looking forward to delving into them.

That’s about it for this past month. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Update for February 2024

Hello friends! It’s been a busy month and there’s a lot to cover, so here’s an update of what’s been entertaining me lately:

The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker. I finally finished this big book, and absolutely loved it. It’s the story of a female golem, a supernatural creature made out of clay by Hebrew magic, and a male jinni, a creature of light and fire from the Syrian desert. These two form an unlikely friendship in 1900 New York. The story of how they came to be and how they met is a long, complicated one, but it turns out the man who made the golem is also the reincarnated version of the man who trapped the jinni in a bottle a thousand years ago. The soul of the man’s many lives is bound–and cursed–by the spell he wove so long ago, binding his soul to the jinni. By circumstance and serendipity, the golem and the jinni find themselves trying to fit into the human world they’re trapped in, and eventually escape the clutches of their nemesis, Joseph Schall. This is a very simplistic summary; the story is richly told, the setting of Little Syria and the Jewish neighborhoods in New York in 1900 is intricately detailed, and the cast of supporting characters is fantastic. It took me a few months to read it, and I loved every minute of it. I just found out there is a sequel called The Hidden Palace, and I’ve promptly ordered it; I’ll be voicing my thoughts on that on my next update.

Escape from Valo, by Daniel Jose Older and Alyssa Wong. This is the first middle-grade novel for Phase 3 of the High Republic. It takes place on Valo, where the Republic Fair took place and was attacked by the Nihil in the book The Rising Storm, from Phase 1. Valo is the home planet of Ram Jomaram, a Padawan who had adventures and battles against the Nihil in previous books. Since the attack on the Republic Fair two and a half years ago, the Nihil put up their Stormwall and took control of Valo. They killed many adult Jedi with the Nameless, and Ram is hiding out in the abandoned Jedi Temple, and masquerading as the “Scarlet Skull,” making strikes against the Nihil and broadcasting his rebellious messages on various channels.

He comes across three Jedi younglings–Gavi, Kildo, and Tep Tep–who had been hiding in the mountains for a year but have been inspired by the Scarlet Skull and have come back to Lonisa City to fight the Nihil. Thrown into the mix is a Zabrak youth called Zyle, a pirate who has come to Valo to find bacta on the sunken ship the Innovator. Together they cause trouble for the Nihil commander, Vark Tarpalin, and hatch a plan to retrieve the bacta.

Another player is Driggit, Gavi’s former best friend who has joined the Nihil, initially to help protect her parents and Valo. She had thought her former Jedi friends had been killed, but when they show up again attacking the Nihil, she inexplicably becomes enraged. I didn’t really understand or like this character. I thought her stint with the Nihil was just a ruse and she wasn’t really one of them, but when her friends come back, she blames them for making things worse and is actually willing to kill them later on in the story, and she feels very much like an actual Nihil. I felt her character was a bit contrived for drama’s sake.

Other than that, I enjoyed the book and thought it a fine addition to the High Republic middle-grade collection. It’s got a lot of heart and deals with Jedi relationships and attachments, their connections to the Force, and of course, learning to deal with fear, to accept risk, and to grow.

The Legends of Luke Skywalker, by Ken Liu. This was a pretty fun book. It takes place during the Sequel era, when Luke Skywalker is still in hiding, and very much just a legend for most people. A crew on a transport ship are heading to Canto Bight for a delivery, and they amuse themselves with stories they’ve heard about Luke Skywalker. Most of the stories are entertaining (even though their knowledge or ideas about the legendary Jedi are garbled at most, and ignorant and ridiculous at worst). There was only one story I thought particularly stupid, and that one’s about a flea-sized sentient creature hanging out on Luke and giving him directions on how to fight the rancor and Jabba’s henchman. Are you kidding me? But maybe that’s the point: these stories about Luke can beggar belief; it doesn’t take long for facts to get mixed up, for feats to be exaggerated, for truth to become tall tales. But I like how in one of the stories, Luke himself, after listening to some woman relate ludicrous tales about Luke Skywalker, say that he doesn’t mind the inaccuracies. The whole point of the war and the New Republic was partly about freedom of speech; people can say what they want without fear of being imprisoned or killed. Luke’s actions weren’t about being celebrated as a hero, but about fighting for what’s right. As long as that was accomplished, it doesn’t matter what people say about him. I thought that was a great touch. Anyway, an entertaining read.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. I’ve had my eye on this book for a few years now, as I am an avowed introvert. As I suspect is the case with most introverts, I’ve always felt out of place in this loud world and that perhaps something was wrong with me. I even feel that my introversion has held me back in my life and I’ve missed opportunities that might have made me more successful. While this might be true, it’s gratifying to know that I’m not alone, that introversion is not a kind of deviance or disease, and that we can learn to work with our personality traits to navigate successfully through life. I’ve just started this book, and the beginning is filled with scientific studies, both biological and psychological, and it’s fascinating. I do hope we move on from all the studies and possibly learn some strategies in making life a bit easier for those of us who don’t wish to throw ourselves into the spotlight. At least not all the time, lol.

I love how Omega looks like a tough little cookie here, lol.

The Bad Batch Season 3 Premiere. The Batch is finally back, and the first three episodes didn’t disappoint! I’m working on a separate post of my thoughts for the episodes, but until then let me just say I’m loving it already and am excited for the next episode! Stay tuned.

Assembled: The Making of Echo. These behind-the-scenes docs are always fun to watch, and this one’s no exception. I was impressed that the entire cast and a lot of the crew learned sign language before filming began, to make things flow easier for the deaf star, Alaqua Cox. They also asked for input from the Choctaw Nation, to be as authentic as possible in their Native representation on screen. I adored this series; there were no global stakes or huge super-hero powers at work, just a woman caught between two worlds who’s trying to make sense of who she is and who she ought to be. All while being very kick-ass, of course, lol.

Upcoming: Temptation of the Force, Tessa Gratton. This book was just announced for release on June 11th. It’s the second adult High Republic novel of Phase 3, and I can’t wait for it!

Forbidden love…it’s going to be disastrous, and it’s going to be great!

Here’s the blurb:

For over a year, Jedi Masters Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann were kept apart by the Nihil’s Stormwall. After Avar makes a daring escape from inside the Occlusion Zone, the star-crossed Jedi are reunited. But while the physical distance between them has evaporated, their shared grief over their failure to protect the galaxy from the Nihil threat remains.

To rally the Jedi Order and the Republic, Avar and Elzar cling to their belief in serving Light and Life. Together, they lead a daring mission into Nihil space to liberate the planet of Naboo and show those trapped behind the Stormwall that the Jedi will never abandon them. Now back within close orbit of each other, the two Jedi Masters can no longer deny the bond that has always drawn them back together and made them stronger.

After finally embracing their true desires and imbued with renewed purpose, Avar and Elzar devise a plan to turn the tide of the conflict with the Nihil once and for all. Accompanied by Jedi Knights Bell Zettifar, Burryaga, and Vernestra Rwoh, the Jedi begin their hunt for Marchion Ro. But to seek out the Nihil’s dangerous leader, the Jedi will have to survive the Nameless terrors that thus far they have been powerless to stop.
Temptation of the Force

Can’t wait for this one, but first comes Defy the Storm, the next YA novel coming out March 5th, so plenty of High Republic to keep me happy!

What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Update for January 2024

Hello friends and welcome to my entertainment update for January! Here’s what’s been entertaining me lately:

The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker. This book caught my eye when it first came out in 2013 and has been on my mental book list ever since. I found this used edition at my local Salvation Army for a few bucks and decided it was time to read it. It’s about two magical creatures from two different cultures: a golem from Jewish tradition and a jinni from Arabic culture. A golem is a being made from clay in human form and brought to life, meant to protect their master. A jinni (genie) is, well, you know; but my understanding of these spirit creatures is being expanded by this book.

The “present” of the novel takes place in turn-of-the-century New York City, but we get flashbacks of the Jinni’s long life in Syria, though he doesn’t remember how he was put into the flask in which he is found by Arbeely, a tinsmith in Little Syria. Turns out he was imprisoned by a wizard a thousand years ago. The golem, on the other hand, is very new, having been created by an old rabbi wizard named Shalmaan in Poland for a man named Rotfeld, who wanted a wife and companion as he embarked on a journey to the New World. Unfortunately, Rotfeld died on the ship over from a burst appendix, and the golem is left alone. In the city, a Rabbi named Avram recognizes what she is and takes her in to help her. Both creatures must learn to navigate this bewildering new world.

It’s a big book (over 400 pages) and it’s a slow burn; I’m about a fourth of the way through and they haven’t met yet. I’m reading it rather leisurely, but it’s very intriguing and compulsively readable. I’ll check in again when I finish it, hopefully at next month’s update.

Cobalt Squadron, by Elizabeth Wein. This is a junior novel that takes place between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, centering on Rose Tico and her sister Paige. I’ve been in the mood for more sequel stories, and this is one I hadn’t gotten to yet. We see Paige Tico die at the beginning of The Last Jedi in the bomber run against the First Order, and Rose later grieving for her. We are led to understand that they were very close, but we don’t get to see that in the film. So we get it here in this book, as they serve together on the bomber Hammer of Cobalt Squadron. The bombers of Cobalt and Crimson Squadrons are on a mission to help Atterra Bravo, a planet that’s being blockaded by The First Order. They must perform a series of supply drops to the planet while evading asteroids (some of which are armed with automatic cannons) and First Order TIE fighters. The bomber supply runs are dangerous and nerve-wracking, but Rose remains brave and determined as long as her sister Paige is in the gunner turret. In fact, Rose can’t imagine going on a mission without her sister. By the end of the story, she’s ready to be separated from Paige, after the destruction of Hosnian Prime puts them on different ships–Rose on Amilyn Holdo’s Ninka, and Paige on the Hammer, where she’ll be killed. It’s a sad foreknowledge, but I enjoyed this book where they could serve together one last time.

What If… S2. I’ve been a bit picky about the Marvel projects I’ve watched lately, having skipped most of the live-action shows and only viewing the latest movies (the notable exception being Loki Season 2). I enjoyed the first season of the animated show What If…? but when I saw that Season 2 was out, I thought, meh. I don’t know why, I guess I just wasn’t ready. But once I finally watched the first episode, I was hooked all over again. Each episode just got better and better. While the episodes explore variations of our heroes (and villains) in several different multiverses, there is an over-arching story arc involving Peggy Carter aka Captain Carter, continuing on from Season 1. I wasn’t particularly interested in her at first, but she’s grown on me. I loved every single episode here; they’re super fun, often hilarious, and could be heartbreaking as well. I also love how at the end of the last episode, the multiverse here is somehow connected to the World Tree multiverse that Loki is now holding together, though only vaguely. I’m hoping we’ll get more information on that in a Season 3.

Echo. This series is billed as a “Marvel Spotlight” as it’s only five episodes long, just long enough to focus on Maya Lopez, a character introduced in the Hawkeye series. While that series didn’t wow me as much as I’d have liked, I was intrigued by this character who is deaf and has a prosthetic leg. That doesn’t stop her from being totally badass, of course. There’s plenty of action here, but the heart of this series is Maya’s story. We got a little bit of it in Hawkeye, but it’s expanded on here, and let me tell you: it’s fantastic.

Maya comes from a long line of gifted Chocktaw women, and her Native heritage is front and center in this show. The crux of Maya’s story is her need to choose between her birth family in Oklahoma (which includes her estranged grandmother Chula, her cousin Bonnie, another cousin named Biscuits, and her uncle Henry); and her uncle in New York who happens to be the villain Kingpin. I don’t know much about Kingpin, other than he runs a criminal empire. He also loves Maya very much (or what seems to serve as love, for him). After her father died, he took her into his organization and she became an integral part of it, doing a lot of his dirty work. Fueled by rage and a sense of abandonment by her birth family, it took Hawkeye to open her eyes to her uncle’s ruthlessness. Oh, and he killed her father. At the end of the Hawkeye series, she shoots Kingpin in the face, believing him dead.

But of course he’s not. He pursues Maya to Oklahoma, presumably to kill her, but really to try to make amends and bring her back into the organization. But Maya’s having visions of her ancestors and must decide who she wants to be and where her loyalties lie.

I didn’t think I was going to watch this series, but I’m so glad I did! Don’t sleep on this gem if you can help it.

In Star Wars news, we got some pretty exciting announcements lately, such as:

The Mandalorian and Grogu movie, Ahsoka S2 announced. On top of the three movies that have been talked about the past few months (the Rey New Jedi Order movie, the James Mangold Dawn of the Jedi movie, and the Dave Filoni Mandoverse movie), suddenly out of nowhere we get an announcement stating there will be a movie about Din and Grogu called, originally enough, The Mandalorian and Grogu. There was some debate about whether or not this movie will replace a season four of The Mandalorian, but I think the consensus is that it will not. There will be a S4 of The Mandalorian and this movie. At some point. There are no anticipated release dates for any of these films or shows, including the near-afterthought announcement of an Ahsoka Season Two. I was happy to hear about that. Of course, as is always the case, things may change. I’m just going to sit back and wait and see what they bring us and not hold my breath for anything, lol.

Bad Batch S3 Trailer. And of course, we got the first trailer for The Bad Batch Season 3, which I’m super-excited about, as you may imagine. I posted a brief reaction to the trailer the other day and am just counting down the days to February 21st when it premieres.

So that’s it this month. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

High Republic Highlight: Avar, Stellan and Elzar

If you know me, you know I’m a big High Republic fan and share information on the books whenever I can. I thought I’d do a High Republic post once a month or so, highlighting an aspect of this era of Star Wars for those who are unfamiliar and are curious.

This post I’d like to focus on the three main Jedi characters that have been introduced: Avar Kriss, Stellan Gios, and Elzar Mann. It seems every Star Wars story has a trio of main characters consisting of two men and a woman. The OT has Luke, Han and Leia; the PT has Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme; and the ST has Poe, Finn and Rey. So why not the High Republic?

This trio happens to be all Jedi, which I find intriguing. They were Padawans together, the best of friends, growing up in the Temple and becoming Jedi Knights. By the time of the first book, Light of the Jedi, Avar and Stellan are Masters, while Elzar has yet to achieve that rank. Elzar is…a bit different. Let’s get into the character of each here.

Avar Kriss. Avar is prominent in the first HR book Light of the Jedi, but then shows up in the comics for most of Phase 1, where she often fights the Drengir (plant monsters, lol), often with the help of the Hutts, with whom she has made a temporary treaty. In time she becomes the Marshal of Starlight Beacon, the High Republic’s much-touted space station. Every Jedi in this era connects to the Force in their own particular way. Avar “hears” it as a song, and every living being exudes a different note. As Padawans, she and Elzar had a, ahem, relationship; this wasn’t expressly forbidden in the Temple at the time, but not exactly encouraged, either. Once they became Jedi Knights, they moved on from the relationship and focused on their Jedi duties. Well, Avar did, but Elzar is having trouble with his lingering romantic feelings for Avar.

Stellan Gios. If there ever was a poster boy for the Jedi Knights, Stellan is that Jedi. Handsome, charming, good at public relations, and dedicated to the Order, he’s dazzling in so many ways. Stellan sees the Force as a constellation of stars (as his name suggests), and Avar and Elzar look up to him and consider him their “polestar.” He’s the only one of the three who has trained a Padawan: Vernestrah Rwoh, a gifted Mirialan and the youngest Jedi to become a Knight in a very long time, at fifteen. Stellan plays a large role in the Battle of Valo against the Nihil and becomes an even bigger hero by saving the Chancellor, Lina Soh. While Avar is away from Starlight Beacon on her quest to find Lourna Dee, a Nihil leader, Stellan steps in and takes her place. Stellan believes Avar is becoming obsessed and perhaps starting down a dark road (and this may be true, but I haven’t read the comics, in which this story is told). Avar becomes rather resentful of Stellan stepping in and criticizing her; so by the time of The Fallen Star, they’ve had a kind of falling out. But it’s in this book that Stellan finds out who he truly is, beyond the shiny image of the Perfect Temple Jedi. Trapped on the doomed station, without the Order to guide him, without his Force powers (as the Nameless runs rampant on the station), he must dig deep within and find resources he never knew he had. Stellan ends up sacrificing himself to save others, going down with the station. I’ll admit, I got teary-eyed, lol.

Elzar Mann from the cover of Light of the Jedi.

Elzar Mann. Elzar is the most conflicted of the three Jedi, at least as the story goes on. Elzar, unlike his friends at the beginning of the story, is not a Master yet. The Order is a little hesitant to bestow that title on him, as Elzar has proved to be rather “experimental” in his Force abilities, trying things that aren’t sanctioned by the Order. He’s powerful, but they feel he’s a bit reckless, or at least, unpredictable. He reminds me a lot of Anakin, and I think he’s supposed to, the difference being in how the Order deals with such things. During the Battle of Valo, Elzar draws on his rage at the Nihil, using the dark side of the Force to pull a Nihil ship out of the sky. Afterward, he feels terribly guilty, and the Order sends him to an island with Orla Jareni, a Wayseeker (another way the Order is different from the prequel Jedi: a Wayseeker is a Force-user from the Temple who operates independently, outside the strictures of the Order). Orla helps him reconnect to the Force, stressing patience and persistence. Elzar sees the Force as an ocean, its powerful waves and its deep, quiet depths. Elzar struggles with his feelings for Avar; he respects her and their duties as Jedi, yet it’s still there. By the time of The Eye of Darkness, they’ve become closer in their grief over Stellan, and once the Stormwall is up and they’re separated, feelings on both sides have intensified. They’re reunited at the end of the book, and I see a passionate forbidden affair in the works, one that could ultimately lead to tragedy (sound familiar?).

So these are the main three Jedi introduced into the High Republic, among many, many Jedi, lol. I’ll occasionally do a post on other Jedi from the High Republic, as well as many other people, events, and concepts that I find interesting.

For Light and Life!

I rank the Star Wars books that came out in 2023

Since I’m on a roll with ranking Star Wars content, I thought I’d give my highly subjective ranking of the Star Wars novels that came out in 2023. From most to least favorite, here’s my list:

The Eye of Darkness, by George Mann. It was a close contest between this one and Rise of the Red Blade, but this one was more anticipated by me and didn’t disappoint. It begins Phase 3 of the High Republic, getting back to many beloved characters from Phase 1 after the destruction of Starlight Beacon. Marchion Ro has erected a “Stormwall” around a section of the galaxy that is called The Occlusion Zone. This area is inaccessible to the rest of the galaxy, trapping many worlds behind it, along with many Jedi and Padawans. These Jedi, among them Avar Kriss and Porter Engle, are trying to help those trapped under Marchion’s rule, as well as finding a way through the Stormwall; on the other side, the Jedi, particularly Elzar Mann and Bell Zettifar, and the Republic are trying to find a way through as well. I loved every minute of it.

Rise of the Red Blade, by Delilah Dawson. Delilah Dawson is one of my favorite Star Wars authors. In her own words, she loves to write about “violent women,” lol. She wrote about Phasma’s origins in Phasma, and the Resistance spy Vi Moradi in Black Spire, which I greatly enjoyed. This one tells the story of Iskat Ikaris, a Jedi Padawan who, after Order 66, becomes an Inquisitor. Most of the book chronicles her experiences in the Jedi Order and how they, let’s say “mishandled,” Iskat and her dark side tendencies. We spend most of the book witnessing her frustration at being held back and not allowed to use her strengths in the Force. She seems to be made for battle, and her skills are extraordinary. But the Jedi are keeping secrets from her, and Iskat feels alienated and angry. We come to sympathize with her, while at the same time dreading her descent into the dark, which of course we know is coming. Very compelling story of a woman caught between worlds.

Cataclysm, by Alyssa Wong. This is an adult novel of Phase 2 of the High Republic and was a stronger installment for me than its predecessor, Convergence. It highlights the renewed violence between the two planets Eiram and E’ronoh, and the part played by the Path of the Open Hand in the war. But the main character arc is that of Axel Greylark, the disgraced son of the Chancellor, who is approached by Jedi Knight Gella Natai for help in the conflict. Axel must ultimately decide if he wants to truly help the Republic (represented by Gella, who he’s developed feelings for, and his mother, the Chancellor) or remain a part of the Path of the Open Hand–and the supposed “freedom” the group offers from the weight of his past and family name.

Path of Vengeance, by Cavan Scott. This is the companion Young Adult novel to Cataclysm, and here we get to see more closely the machinations of the Path of the Open Hand through its mysterious leader the Mother, as well as what happens with Marda and Yanna Ro, ancestors of Marchion Ro of the villainous Nihil. We see the Battle of Dalna from multiple viewpoints, both Jedi and Path members, and witness the Mother’s unleashing of the terrifying Nameless–creatures that can turn Force-users into ash. Marda’s story, in particular, is of interest, as it’s she who sows the seeds of the future Nihil. Her path from sweet, gentle believer in the Path to a cold, ruthless leader is chilling.

The Battle of Jedha (Script), by George Mann. I’m generally not into audiobooks. I know some people love them, but I have to read a book rather than listen to it to fully absorb its story. I’d much rather read the script than listen to it, and that’s what I did with the Battle of Jedha, since I didn’t want to miss the story it tells. Representatives from the warring planets of Eiram and E’ronoh have gathered on Jedha to sign a peace treaty, but it’s sabotaged by the Path of the Open Hand with an explosion. The two enemies blame each other, and their forces begin fighting in the streets. To add to the confusion, a Nameless creature has escaped and is destroying many Force-users present in the Holy City. Jedi Master Creighton Sun and Jedi Knight Aida Forte, with the help of the Guardians of the Whills, try to stop the battling armies as well as investigate who caused the explosion in the first place. This is my first audiobook script, and I enjoyed reading it; it’s like reading the script of a play, that’s all.

Tales of Light and Life, by various authors. This is a book of short stories taking place in the High Republic. Some occur during Phase 2, and some are “prequels,” of sorts, to Phase 3. I liked all of them, though some were better than others. The most important, from a plot standpoint, is “After the Fall,” by Claudia Gray, which tells a story about Bell Zettifar soon after the fall of Starlight Beacon in Phase 3, and which reveals the fate of the Wookiee Jedi Burryaga. My favorite story, though, is “A Closed Fist Has No Claws,” by Tessa Gratton, which is about what Mardo Ro is up to after the events of Phase 2, and how she sets the remnants of the Path toward their destiny as the Nihil.

Crimson Climb, by E.K. Johnston. This book is about Q’ira from the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story. I wrote about it here in one of my Updates if you’d like to read it, but basically, it’s about what happens to Q’ira after Han escapes from Corellia, but she doesn’t. It chronicles her rise through the Crimson Dawn ranks and how she becomes Dryden Vos’ lieutenant. I enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t as if I tore through it eagerly. I do think it might be the first part of a trilogy, which would be great and I’d be here for. Despite all the stories of Q’ira taking place in the comic world, I think there’s more room for her in novels, as well.

Quest for Planet X, by Tessa Gratton. The middle-grade books of the High Republic have been consistently good, nearly on par with at least the young adult entries. This one is pretty good, but not one of my favorites. It takes place during Phase 2 concurrently with the young adult book Path of Vengeance; as is often the case, it focuses on some Jedi Padawans or other young people and their stories. This one stars Jedi Padawan Rooper Natani; Skye Graf, a young member of the powerful Graf prospecting family; and Dass Leffbruck, the son of an independent prospector. Dass and Sky recruit Rooper to help them on a race between the Grafs and the San Tekkas to chart new hyperspace lanes; however, their real mission is to find the mysterious Planet X (where, incidentally, the Nameless creatures are from). However, they run into some members of The Path of the Open Hand and must decide if they’re going to help the Jedi during their fight on Dalna.

Jedi: Battle Scars, by Sam Maggs. This one excited me at first; I’m not a gamer, and so felt like I was missing out on some important Star Wars lore with Cal Kestis and his crew. I so badly wanted a novel with these characters, so I, too, could participate in their coolness, lol. But this book falls short of what I was hoping for. It wasn’t terrible; it just wasn’t that great. The romance between Merrin and the female Imperial deserter was cringe-worthy at best. I’m all for romance in Star Wars, but this was like really bad fan-fiction (and I’ve written fan-fiction, lol). The rest of the plot was fine, I suppose, but I guess I was hoping for more characterization of the main characters, probably because I don’t play the games and didn’t really know them that well. Cere, in particular, really interested me, but I was left wanting. Very much my least favorite book of the year.

So these were the Star Wars novels that came out in 2023 and my thoughts on them. Did you read any of these books? Which was your favorite? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!