My Entertainment Weekend Update

Hello friends, and happy weekend!

What’s been on my mind mostly this past week is the Obi-Wan Kenobi finale, but I think I have a to say about that, so I’m going to do a separate post for that. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I’ve been reading Black Spire by Delilah Dawson, and it’s enjoyable. It takes place after the Battle of Crait, but before The Rise of Skywalker. I like this time period because it shows how the Resistance slowly regained allies after their devastating defeat during The Last Jedi. The story takes its time with the world-building of Batuu, which is understandable since it showcases the main venue of Galaxy’s Edge theme park. It’s fun, though.

A live action Vi Moradi from Black Spire, presumably at Galaxy’s Edge.

I also finished Stories of Jedi and Sith, the middle-grade book of short stories that came out a couple of weeks ago. These were some great stories that starred a multitude of familiar characters, including Qui Gon Jinn, Asajj Ventress, Maul, Luke Skywalker and several others. The one I want to talk about is the Luke one, called Luke On the Brightside, by Sam Maggs.

This story takes place on Hoth, when the Rebels are just beginning to set up their base. Luke and another male character, Sergeant Reye Hollis, are about to work on digging some tunnels, when a cave in nearly buries them. Hollis barely tolerates the sunny Skywalker, but now they have to work together to get out of their mess. The interesting part is that the author implies the two, while bickering, are secretly attracted to each other.

The two are always noticing each other’s bright smiles and nice eyes, and the smell of their hair. Not normally something two men would bother to notice about each other unless they’re attracted to each other. It’s subtle but it’s there.

And let me be clear, I have no problem with this at all. I’m just surprised no one else in a particular part of the fan base has noticed and freaked out about it. Or really anyone in the fandom at least raising their eyebrows. Because this is canon, and let’s be honest, this isn’t some new or minor character. This is Luke freaking Skywalker, lol. To suggest that he’s gay or bisexual is a BIG DEAL. It’s huge. I’m waiting for the outrage, but I haven’t seen it. Maybe because it’s a middle grade book and not many “older” fans–the ones who might take offense–have seen it. Maybe it’s going to take a bit of time, but I have no doubt it will make its way into the land of Star Wars controversy. Me? I kind of like the idea. Bravo for the LF Storygroup going there.

Anyway, if you’re a Legends fan, their are some more new editions to some classics:

I actually have an older cover edition of Revan because I thought I might like to read some Old Republic stuff (I couldn’t get into it), and also an older copy of The Bacta War I found in a used bookstore (haven’t read it yet). These covers are beautiful, though. Yes, it’s a new way to get our money, but I don’t think many serious SW book collectors will complain too much.

That’s it, besides the Obi-Wan finale. I did see that Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is already on Disney+. It just came out a month or so ago, so I’m wondering why I bothered to go to the movie theater, lol. I can’t believe the turnaround time. I may not even bother going to the theater for the next Thor movie. But maybe I will, lol, we’ll see.

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

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Hello friends, and happy weekend!

Still reading through Dark Force Rising in small increments. I’m finding it a bit dull, but maybe it’s because I’m reading it in fits and starts. Now that Luke has finally met the crazy clone Jedi Joruus C’Baoth, it’s a bit more interesting. I’m about halfway through the book, so maybe it will start to ramp up a little bit.

I’ve finished Queen’s Hope, and I really enjoyed it. It’s not just about Padme; it’s also about Sabe and Sache, two of her handmaidens from previous novels. It also mentions other women of Star Wars, like Shmi and Beru (who are working with Sabe on Tatooine to help free slaves with a group called the White Suns), and (briefly) Breha Organa. The plot is pretty thin, but it’s not the whole point, really. These books have always been an extended character study of Padme, and that suits me just fine.

Until Brotherhood comes out on May 10th, I’ve been dipping into the short stories from From A Certain Point of View. I bought this book a while ago, but had only read a couple of stories, being sidetracked by other books. Now was a good time to get back into it. I’m not reading it from beginning to end (the stories take place chronologically along with the events of A New Hope). Just skipping around, seeing what interests me. I’ve read some wonderful stories about Obi-Wan (Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, Time of Death by Cavan Scott) and one about Yoda on Dagobah (There Is Another by Gary D. Schmidt). Oh, and one about Bail and Breha Organa’s last moments on Alderaan before it’s destroyed (Eclipse by Madeline Roux). 😦 I’m now reading one about R5D4, who purposely malfunctioned so that R2D2 would end up sold to the Lars family, after a heartfelt plea from R2 (The Red One by Rae Carson). These are great stories, taking place in the cracks of the movie, and adding to the richness of the story and the characters. And there’s an Empire Strikes Back version, too! I’m going to follow the logic and assume there’s a ROTJ version coming soon, too.

I did finally finish my rewatch of Rebels. Now I can’t wait for the Ahsoka show; she and Sabine need to hurry up and find Ezra! But the show isn’t coming out until next year, and I’m guessing they won’t find him right away, at least not until the end of the season, if that. So a long wait for the missing Ezra. 😦

I was browsing around a local used bookshop the other day and found some treasures: The Art of The Force Awakens and The Art of the Last Jedi. Gorgeous hardcover books with the concept art of both movies, at a great deal. They usually retail for about $40 each, but I got them both for $30. I was fascinated to discover that originally Rey was going to be called Kira and Finn was going to be called Sam. I love that they recycled the name Kira into Q’ira for Solo: A Star Wars story. You learn something new everyday in the world of Star Wars!

There were also cover reveals for some Legends reissues:

I haven’t read any of these, and probably won’t in the near future, but I love how they’re handpicking particular Legends books (I’m guessing they’re fan favorites) and giving them new, gorgeous covers. If I ever do get to any of them, I’ll probably get the new covers.

In Marvel, Episode Four of Moon Knight (The Tomb) was probably my favorite one so far. It definitely had the Indiana Jones vibe going on, and then it got into some horror territory, and then it just went full-on trippy, lol. I am so loving this show and its weirdness; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

Finally, we got a Thor: Love and Thunder teaser trailer:

Besides the new Dr. Strange movie, I can’t wait for this one. It looks fun and funny, and seems to delve into the character of Thor a bit more–basically, where he’s going from here. And there’s my Starlord and the GotG crew, and oh, yeah, Jane as the Mighty Thor. Looks like a real fun trip, and I can’t wait. It releases July 22.

Phew! I think that’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it.

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Hello my friends, and happy weekend!

So I finally finished Heir to the Empire and began the next in the series, Dark Force Rising. I just started it, so I don’t have too much to say about it yet. But I’m enjoying the series so far.

I’m continuing my Rebels rewatch, and am in the third season. Governor Pryce is introduced, as well as the Bendu. I think I read somewhere that the Bendu was a concept that George Lucas came up with early on, but never used in the films. Not necessarily as the creature we see in Rebels, but an idea of something in between the Light and the Dark side of the Force. If anyone knows more about it, please share!

In some Star Wars news, we’ve learned that the Obi-Wan series has been moved moved up to Friday May 27th, instead of Wednesday May 25th, and that the first two episodes are dropping at once. So even though we have to wait two more days for the show, we get two episodes instead of one for our patience. I’ll take it!

In other Obi-Wan news, Starwars.com has released an excerpt of the Obi-Wan/Anakin novel Brotherhood by Mike Chen that comes out May 10th. In the excerpt, Obi-Wan is on Cato Neimoidia for an investigation of some kind of accident, and meets Asajj Ventress for the first time. I thought it was a little dull, to be honest, lol, but I am looking forward to reading the book.

In other book news, Queen’s Hope is finally coming out next week! It was originally supposed to come out last November, but was pushed up to April 5th of this year. I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time, and can’t wait to start reading it! If you don’t know, Queen’s Hope is the third in a trilogy about Padme Amidala. I love that Padme has her own book trilogy, since she kind of got short shrift in the movies, in my opinion.

In Marvel, Moon Knight premiered this past Wednesday, and if you care to read my thoughts on it, take a look here. It was as weird and entertaining as I thought it would be!

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

My Star Wars Weekend Update

So I’ve been mostly absent this past week, just reading and commenting on other people’s blogs. I’ve been cheating with another franchise, as I’ve wanted to catch up with some MCU movies as I watch the Disney+ show Loki. Certainly not all of them, but just the ones with Loki in them (which is 6 two and a half hour movies, at least, lol).

And they’re super fun, and seriously, if you haven’t checked out Loki, do so now, because it’s a real treat. It’s actually been good for me to take a break on the Star Wars and get into something new. I’ve been going full steam on the blogs for about a year now, and it felt good to have a little vacation.

But now it’s time to get back to work, lol. And I haven’t been completely ignoring Star Wars, either. I finished re-reading Claudia Gray’s High Republic book Into the Dark, and have started reading E.K. Johnston’s Queen’s Peril, about Padme Amidala. I was trying to wait until the paperback came out just before the third book in the series, Queen’s Hope, comes out in November, but I noticed Amazon offered it on Kindle for just $4.99. So I’m reading it on my Kindle, but will probably buy the paperback when it comes out to put on my shelf next to the paperback of Queen’s Shadow, the first in the series. Cuz I’m like that, lol.

Binding: Hardcover (288 pages) Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm Press (June 2, 2020) Author: E. K. Johnston ISBN-10: 1368057144 ISBN-13: 9781368057141

Of course I’ve been keeping up with The Bad Batch; I didn’t do a review of last week’s episode, Reunion, but will probably do a brief review of it in this week’s episode review.

I actually had an afternoon to myself this Friday, and decided to go to this great used bookstore a couple towns over called the Montague Bookmill. I’ve always liked browsing books there, but they don’t often have many Star Wars books in their Fantasy/Science Fiction section (although I see plenty of Star Trek books). I managed to scour around and found a couple of middle grade books, which I don’t usually read, but hey, they’re Star Wars and I figured I’d just add them to my collection: Jedi Apprentice #15–The Death of Hope (a series with Qui Gon and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi) by Jude Watson (a series I’d actually like to read), and the young reader’s version of The Phantom Menace (with pictures from the film in the middle!) by Patricia C. Wrede.

I also found The Making of The Phantom Menace by Laurent Bouzereau and Jody Duncan, which is pretty cool. I don’t have many reference books in my collection–in fact, I don’t have any, lol, and this is a great first. I got them all for twenty bucks.

So that’s about it. Looking forward to getting back to Star Wars (but can’t wait until next Wednesday to see how Loki and Sylvie get off that doomed planet, lol).

Happy weekend, and let me know what you’ve been up to lately in the comments!

Book Review: Kenobi

Maybe it’s because I’m excited about the upcoming Kenobi series on Disney+ (although we have to wait until 2022); or maybe it’s because, after 20 years, I’m starting to warm to the prequels. Whatever the reason, I’m really starting to love the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

So in my Star Wars book perusal, I knew I had to read this one. It takes place right after Revenge of the Sith, when Obi-Wan delivers baby Luke to the Lars’ on Tattoine, with the intention of starting his long watch over the boy.

Beyond that, there isn’t much of Luke or Owen and Beru Lars; instead, we get Obi-Wan getting involved in some local drama between moisture farmers and Tusken Raiders. It sounds a bit dull, and it did take a while to get going. But Miller was laying the groundwork for a superb story, in my opinion.

The novel isn’t told from Obi-Wan’s point of view. Rather, we see him as the strange newcomer in the eyes of the locals. After all, we already know who he is and why he’s there, but they don’t. Like any isolated, small community, they’re all over “Ben,” peppering him with questions that he expertly evades, which only makes him more mysterious.

One of the point of view characters is Annileen Calwell, a widow with two teenage children. She runs her late husband’s store, Danner’s Claim; she’s a feisty, capable woman who takes an interest in the new arrival. She runs the store in honor of her late husband, Danner, but once upon a time she dreamed of something more.

Another POV character is Orrin Gault, a moisture farmer and entrepreneur, and a family friend of the Calwells. Orrin has created a defense system called the Settler’s Call, a kind of alarm and rescue organization to help any settlers attacked by the Tusken Raiders. But Orrin has secrets, and he’s willing to do whatever he has to in order to protect them.

The third POV character is a leader of one of the Tusken clans (or “Sand People”, as the locals call them) named A’Yark. It was interesting to get into the mind of one of these beings who I never really thought about before. Through A’Yark, we get a sense of their culture, how they think, and why they do the things they do. A’Yark becomes a principal player in the story thread that is expertly woven by Miller, and I was drawn in completely.

We do get to hear Obi-Wan’s voice in the form of occasional “Meditations” at the end of chapters, where he “speaks” to Qui Gon Jinn, his former master. If you recall, at the end of Revenge of the Sith, Yoda had told Obi-Wan that he would tell him how to contact the Force Ghost of Qui Gon. These meditations are Obi-Wan’s attempts at just that, but Qui Gon never answers. Obi-Wan speaks to him anyway, telling him what’s happened to him since his arrival, and his failure at trying to remain obscure.

Notably, he’s still upset about what happened with Anakin, and obsesses about how he might have prevented Anakin’s fall. But being Obi-Wan, he doesn’t allow himself to wallow too long. He finds himself in the center of a conflict between the settlers and the Tuskens, and applies his Jedi skills (discreetly, of course) to navigate the fallout.

“Kenobi” is labelled as “Legends” rather than the new canon, but no matter. I don’t think it changes or contradicts anything that has come before or may come in the future; it can simply be seen as one of Ben Kenobi’s adventures during his long tenure on Tattoine.

I loved this book; I loved its parallels to a Clint Eastwood kind of spaghetti western; I just love Obi-Wan Kenobi. If you do, too, I recommend this book highly.