Well, still slogging through Dark Force Rising. I hate to put it that way, but it’s kind of true. I really liked the first book, Heir to the Empire, but this one just isn’t grabbing me. Also, I’m not thrilled about how Mon Mothma is being portrayed, as if she’s possibly a selfish, power-hungry politician; and there’s something about Han that’s not ringing true for me. I don’t know. I’m determined to finish it, though. Just slowly, lol.
In the meantime, I’m eagerly awaiting Brotherhood, by Mike Chen. It’s about Obi-Wan and Anakin on an adventure during the Clone Wars. There are plenty of these in Legends, but I think I’m more of a canon-person. This one comes out May 10th. May is shaping up to be a big Obi-Wan month–this book, the new Obi-Wan comic, and of course, the new show. It’s an Obi-Wan Kenobi fan’s dream!
Marc with “Dr. Harrow.” This show is continuing to impress me on every level.
In Marvel, I watched Episode 5 of Moon Knight (“Asylum”) and…wow. Just wow! I’ve been loving each new episode even more than the last. It started out weird and confusing, but intriguing. Then it got entertaining and downright swashbuckling. This latest episode just knocked my socks off with Oscar Isaac’s performance (and Ethan Hawkes is pretty fantastic too in his role), and the delving into Marc’s past. Turns out Marc is the original personality and he created Steven to help deal with his heartbreaking childhood. I’m wondering, though–I read somewhere that there is a third personality (Jake, I think?), at least in the comics, and if that personality will also show up here. I’m remembering the third sarcophagus that was shaking, as if someone was in it, from Episode 4, but Marc ignores it. Was this just an Easter egg of that third personality, just a wink wink to those in the know? Or will he actually show up? I can’t wait to find out–and how all this will wrap up–in the final episode next Wednesday.
I’m also excited for Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness opening next Friday, May 6th! I probably won’t see it right then, but hopefully within the first week of it being out.
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
I’m continuing my slow reading of the original Thrawn trilogy, and am currently about a third of the way through Dark Force Rising. I usually read the Kindle at work, during breaks or slow moments, but it’s been pretty busy lately. Seriously cutting into my reading time! Lol.
At home, I’m reading Queen’s Hope, the third in the Padme series by E.K. Johnston. I really liked its predecessors, and have been enjoying this one. I did think it would cover a larger time period and maybe get into Revenge of the Sith territory, but it only covers a sliver of time just after Attack of the Clones. Oh well, still worth the read.
My Rebels rewatch continues with Season 4, and I just recently watched Episode 12, “Jedi Knight.” If you’re a Rebels fan, you know what I’m talking about. 😦 And even though it’s my third rewatch, tears were still shed. This show is some of the best Star Wars ever.
Recently saw this, a cover reveal for the next Phase of The High Republic, a YA novel called Path of Deceit:
I love this cover! No idea who those people are, but it looks great.
There’s also new concept art for a new character, a relation to the Nihil villain Marchion Ro:
She doesn’t look very villainous.
I’ll be on the lookout for more cover reveals for Phase Two of the High Republic, which begins coming out later this year.
I also heard a rumor that we’ll be getting more Visions sometime this year. I have no idea if it’s true or not, but I wouldn’t be averse to it at all. I liked almost all of the anime shorts, but I had a few favorites (The Elder, The Ninth Jedi, and The Duel being my top three). I’d love to see some sequels to these stories; but if not, new stories will be just as welcome. We’ll see if the rumors are true.
Moon Knight Episode Three (“The Friendly Type”) was a fun ride on Wednesday. I just love how weird this show is, lol. And I love the Egyptian mythology it’s taking inspiration from. I’m definitely getting “Layla is going to fall for Steven” vibes, and I’m on board for that, lol.
Marc’s got everything under control.
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
I’m continuing my reading of the Legends book Dark Force Rising, by Timothy Zahn. I’ve been enjoying the series, and find it interesting that Zahn often shows Thrawn through other people’s eyes. Here in Legends, it’s through Captain Pellaon; in canon, at least in the first book (which I only half read) it was through Eli Vanto. I’m not sure if this is true in any of the other canon Thrawn books; anyone know if we ever get a Thrawn point of view? Just curious.
A character to sink into.
I’ve received my copy of Queen’s Hope, and have started reading it. I’ve always liked these books; some people complain they’re just overly long character studies on Padme and her handmaidens. Maybe, but that’s what I like. Star Wars books are fun, and half the fun are the battles and the action, but sometimes it’s nice just to get into a character’s head and life for awhile. Sometimes I get a little tired of all the techno-babble and military strategy and whatnot. Give me Padme and her girlfriends and relationships and emotions and you know, girl stuff for awhile, lol. It’s even got pink binding! I love it. As for the plot, I just started it so I don’t have much to go on, and honestly…I don’t care, lol. Padme and Anakin are getting married, that’s all I need to know. I’ll give a more thorough summary when I finish it, I promise.
I’m continuing with my Rebels rewatch, and recently began Season 4. But I know what’s coming concerning a particularly favorite Jedi Knight, and I’m dreading it already. 😦 But it’s also a beautiful thing, and S4 is fantastic. The lothwolves are my favorite Star Wars animals, I think.
Gorgeous beasts.
I watched Episode 2 of Moon Knight, and it answered a few questions, while bringing up even more. There’s a LOT going on in this show already, and it’s a bit confusing, but I am enjoying it. It’s crazy and different and I love Oscar Isaac, so I’m in. I had planned on writing my thoughts for each episode in a separate weekly post, but as always, my plans change, lol.
Steven and Arthur have a civilized conversation. At first.
Basically, I’ll be going back to just my weekly Entertainment Update post on the weekends. I have other projects I want to work on, namely drawing and fanfiction. It figures; just as all the new books and shows and movies will be coming out, with so much to write about in the blog, I veer into a new direction. Oh well. I will be touching on all of them in the weekly post.
I’m particularly excited about the drawing. I used to love drawing years ago, but decided to focus more on writing and let the drawing go. But my interest has been reignited lately. I’ll be honest, I’ve been seeing so much Star Wars fan art and loving it, that in my secret heart I’ve been thinking, I want to do that, too! So I’m going to. I have to go back to the basics first, of course, and practice, practice, practice. But someday I’ll be ready, and I’ll honor my love of Star Wars in images as well as words.
Anyway, that’s what’s been going on this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Week nine of my Inner Jedi Notebook journey. This week is about new experiences.
The prompt:
I like firsts. Good or bad, they’re always memorable.
Ahsoka Tano
What are some new things that you would like to experience? These can be starting a new job or learning a new hobby.
My answer:
“Hmm, new things. Well, I’d like to get back into the fan fiction I had started a few months ago (and naturally set aside). Fan fiction is something new to me, and something I’d never considered before. But as a writer and a Star Wars fan, it makes sense.
Art is another area I’d like to explore. I used to love drawing, and I’d love to get back into it. Art in any form, really. I’m homeschooling my daughter (which is also new) and there’s an art component. I’m going to do all the art projects with her, just for fun. We did some watercolor the other day, and next we’re going to do a mixed media project, which should be fun. Art for art’s sake, and just to have fun and spend time with my daughter.
I’d like to do different things with the blog, but I’m not sure what yet. It’s always evolving and changing. I like to try different things, come up with new and different ways of celebrating Star Wars. It keeps things from getting dull and rote, and sometimes I discover new things, about Star Wars and about myself. And always, the focus is to have fun.
So all three things I’ve noted here–fan fiction, art and blogging–all focus on just enjoying myself. This is relatively new to me, when I think about it. Always before, if I ever wrote or did anything creative, the end game was always to hopefully get published, make money, be “successful.” Those things never really happened, so I just threw up my hands and thought–to hell with it. I’ll do these things because I love them, and that is enough.”
I’ve taken to listening to meditation music while I’m meditating. I have a favorite one that is very soothing and calming. It’s one of those “432 Hz” music pieces that are supposed to be good for your soul or something, lol. My husband has been watching some Youtube videos about Tesla and his discoveries, and one of them was about the 432 Hz frequency. All I know is that I love the music and it helps me focus during meditation.
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!
With Moon Knight premiering on Disney Plus today, I thought I’d showcase Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron in some fan art. I found some really cool pieces, so enjoy!
Jake Bartok is always a favorite with me, and here he has Poe as part of his Medieval series. I love how he made BB-8 an orange and white cat!
Jake Bartok on Twitter
The Ace pilot. Yeah, he’s a handsome devil, lol.
Charlie Griak
Noooooo!
First Order Poe by Brilcrist on DevientArt.com
This is more like it. Poe with his buddy BB-8.
rubbish78.tumblr.com
Classic Poe with his X-Wing. I love the style here.
WisenailArt on DevientArt.com
These are the ones that stood out to me. What do you think of these images? Are you looking forward to Moon Knight? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Week eight of myInner Jedi Notebook journey. This week continues the exploration of meditation.
The question:
Having practiced meditating for a few minutes every day this past week, reflect on your experience of it. What are some challenges you faced? Have you experienced any positive outcomes?
My answer:
“After initially struggling with it, I find I look forward to my few minutes of quiet stillness every day. It’s downtime, yes, but also a time when I don’t have to do or be anything–just be. To just be conscious in the world, and of the world. To examine your own mind. Although sometimes I worry I’m just daydreaming, lol. But I do consciously try to let thoughts go and refocus on the present moment. It’s amazing how we’ve trained ourselves to be everywhere except the present moment, and it’s a struggle to unlearn that (“You must unlearn what you have learned,” as Yoda said to Luke). It comes naturally to babies and animals, and it’s fascinating to watch them. They are effortlessly in the now, and are unaware of anything else. It’s delightful.
One thing that surprised me about meditation is that you’re having a relationship with your mind–it’s not a boring, static thing–it’s dynamic. You get to see how your mind works, what it focuses on, how one thing leads to the next–it’s fascinating, in a way. You have to get to know it, in order to calm it.
As far as positives–I’ve always been a calm, collected sort of person, and not necessarily reactive (although sometimes I am). But it’s helpful to fall back onto the memory of quiet time, to be able to retrieve that sense of calm during stressful situations. If it’s busy at work and I’m feeling stressed, with a thousand things going on, I can find my center and power on. I’ll think, these moments will pass, and later it will be just me and the candle and the (meditation) music and the thoughts, and the letting go. There will be peace.
Meditating is the act of practicing peace. So during stressful times, you can automatically reach for that peace.”
I’ve been rewatching Star Wars Rebels, and although this is my third rewatch, I’ve never looked into the various symbols I’ve noticed in the show until now. So here’s a few of them and their possible meanings:
Starbird or phoenix on Ezra’s jacket: Ezra has a very obvious symbol on the back of his orange and yellow jacket. With a little snooping around on Google, I found that it’s been compared to the Skywalker Sound symbol, below. Kind of like a little easter egg to those in the know.
Ezrra’s jacket symbol.
Skywalker Sound logo.
By the way, the Skywalker Sound symbol can be found in Attack of the Clones, on Coruscant during the speeder chase.
Attack of the Clones
Ezra’s jacket symbol could also be a precursor to Sabine’s phoenix symbol, below.
Sabine’s phoenix symbol: Perhaps Sabine was inspired by Ezra’s jacket, or she came up with this herself, but it’s the symbol that came to represent the Ghost crew Rebels, as well as Phoenix Squadron later.
Sabine’s Pheonix
The Rebel Alliance later adapted the phoenix symbol into their own, below:
Kanan’s armor: It’s been suggested that the symbol on Kanan’s shoulder armor is reminiscent of the symbol for the Jedi Order, below. It makes sense that Kanan would want to honor his former Order, without calling attention to himself as a Jedi.
Secret allusion?
Jedi Order
Kanan’s symbol is also found on the forehead of the lothwolf, which I never noticed before I looked it up. Kanan has a deep Force-level connection to this animal, who calls himself Dume (which is Kanan’s real name: Caleb Dume). The name Dume, while spelled differently, is an obvious foreshadowing of Kanan’s fate, although I don’t care for the connotation. Kanan selflessly sacrificed himself for those he loved; that’s far from being doomed, in my opinion.
Dume
Kanan’s mask: I often wondered about the symbols on Kanan’s mask after he was blinded. Clearly they look like some sort of eyes, and I thought maybe they were meant to represent wolf eyes, since he’s connected to the lothwolf.
Jaig Eyes
After some Google research, I was surprised to learn that some clones, including Rex, were bestowed with the symbols on their helmets after distinguishing themselves on the battlefield. They’re called “Jaig Eyes,” which I never knew. I love it when I learn something new about Star Wars!
Those are the most obvious symbols that I’d wondered about. I already knew Fulcrum’s symbol, the Empire symbol, etc. I thought it was pretty cool to learn about these (finally!)
Did you know what these symbols meant, or is it new to you? Any I missed? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
So I’m almost done with Heir to the Empire. I’m so close, lol, but not quite done at the time of this writing. I’ve made it to the big battle of the Sluis Van Shipyards, and am in the middle of that fight right now, which is right at the end. I’ve been reading this book in fits and starts, so it’s taking me a little bit of time to get through it. But it’s been entertaining and fun; and I love how canon has been borrowing stuff from Legends. For example, in this book Thrawn has some aliens called the Noghri working for him to find Leia, and one in particular, Ruk, serves him; in Rebels, Thrawn has a single Noghri working for him–also Ruk–to find the Ghost crew. Neat.
These two.
I’ve been continuing my rewatch of Rebels and am almost done with Season Two. On my first viewing Ezra kind of annoyed me, but now I just love that kid, lol. I love them all, but Kanan remains my favorite (big surprise). It’s wonderful to see his arc of reluctant teacher who doesn’t want to get involved to devoted Master and selfless Rebel. My rewatch has been why I haven’t done as much reading lately. 🙂 I’m working on a post about the symbols in Rebels that I hope to publish on Sunday, so stay tuned.
I was excited to see an excerpt and cover reveal of the upcoming canon novel Shadow of the Sith from Starwars.com. If you haven’t read the excerpt, do yourself a favor and go here to read it. There’s a surprise in there that will blow your mind! The book releases June 28th of this year.
Here’s the cover:
Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, and Ochi of Bestoon. Great cover.
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
It’s no secret that I LOVE the High Republic era of Star Wars. My favorite aspect of Star Wars has always been the Jedi, and the High Republic focuses on the Jedi of this time period–who they are and what makes them tick. It’s awesome.
Having said that, I do have favorites out of all the adult and young adult novels of Phase One that have come out this past year, and in this post I’m going to rank them and give my reasons for their position on the list.
I thought it would be fun to show the alternate covers of each book (if there are any), instead of the usual, often dorky, covers of Jedi holding lightsabers. Let’s get started!
The Fallen Star, by Claudia Gray (Third adult novel)
The Fallen Star alternate cover. This is such a powerful image.
The Fallen Star is the third and final adult novel of Phase One, and it’s my favorite because 1. Claudia Gray is a fantastic storyteller, and 2. it’s a nail-biting, heartbreaking finale where the Jedi obviously lose in a big way, leaving you wondering where they’ll go from here. There are some painful deaths, a terrifying threat (to the Jedi themselves), some very sticky situations to get out of, and some really wonderful relationships that are explored. It’s truly a satisfying culmination to Phase One, while still leaving you breathless for more.
2. Into the Dark, by Claudia Gray (First YA novel)
I haven’t seen any alternate covers for Into the Dark.
Again, Claudia Gray is at the top of my list, because she just handles the characters and the story so well. It’s hard to impress me with a YA book, but she does so here. Maybe it’s because Reath Silas is my favorite Padawan, and he is heavily involved in the storyline in this book. It’s also the only book that deals directly with the Drengir (a threat that is mostly dealt with in the comics). The Drengir are carnivorous, evil tree-beings, and have the potential to be very silly (and hence work best in the comics), but she handles them well here, at least as well as they can be handled. She also introduces the Vessel crew in this book, and Leox and Geode are some of my favorite minor characters in the whole era.
3. Light of the Jedi, by Charles Soule (First adult novel)
Light of the Jedi alternate cover. I love how Ember is front and center.
The very first adult novel, and first High Republic book to come out, is a great read and does a fantastic job at introducing this new era and its Jedi. It’s clear we’re in a very different time period here, and have Jedi who are very different from the prequel Jedi; Soule does a wonderful job bringing them to life in this story. The book begins with the Great Disaster and the fallout from that event, as well as introduces the new villains, the Nihil.
4. The Rising Storm, by Cavan Scott (Second adult novel)
The Rising Storm alternate cover. Striking, but busy.
For some reason, it was hard for me to get into this book on my first read; but on my second read, I loved it. This book deals with the Nihil attack on the Republic Fair on the planet Valo. It’s executed quite well, and I love Elzar Mann’s story arc. There’s a lot going on here, with multiple points of view, but it all comes together wonderfully.
5. Midnight Horizon, by Daniel Jose Older (Third YA novel)
Midnight Horizon alternate cover. Not bad, but I think the original is way cooler.
I was excited for this book, as it starred Reath Silas again (among others), but I found it to be a slow start. It was well into the third act before it suddenly got very, very good. I suppose you could call it a slow burn leading up to the explosion, lol. It concerns Reath and his master, Cohmac Vitus, along with Jedi Master Kantam Sy and Padawan Ram Jomoram going to Corellia to investigate a possible Nihil threat there. One thing Older did very well is characterization, and the relationships between the characters. As throughout all of the High Republic stories, this one’s central theme is how the Jedi should deal with attachment and love, and their struggle with their emotions. Oh yeah, and the Nihil threat, lol. (Check out my review of the book here).
6. Out of the Shadows, by Justina Ireland (Second YA novel)
Out of the Shadows alternate cover, which shows some Nihil, in particular Lourna Dee, instead of the usual Jedi.
I had a hard time with this one. I’m guessing it’s because it didn’t mainly concern the Jedi; rather, it was about a young woman named Sylvestri Yarrow, a cargo pilot who lost her ship to the Nihil and who goes to Coruscant, first to tell the Republic about the Nihil activity, and second, to try to get her ship back. She gets pulled into a scheme involving a wealthy young man from the Graf family, a Nihil plot to create some kind of gravity weapon, and how her missing and presumed dead mother is involved in it all. The only interesting part was when she and Vernestra Rwoh run into Mari San Tekka, and the old woman gives Vernestra some coordinates that are still a mystery.
I’ve read the middle-grade books of Phase One–A Test of Courage, Race to Crashpoint Tower, and Mission to Disaster. They’re all quite good, but I don’t really have a favorite out of them. I’d rank them equally.
By the way, here’s a few more alternate covers I found:
The Rising Storm additional alternate cover. Again, I love Ember up on the rock! (But it’s still kind of dorky, lol).
Out of the Shadows additional alternate cover. More Nihil.
I can’t wait for Phase Two, which reportedly takes place 150 years before the events of this phase. It kind of threw me at first, but I’m confident the creators know what they’re doing and there’s a very good reason for this. I believe Phase Two starts in October of this year.
Your source for everything Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is the companion blog to the @AllThingsKenobi Twitter. Because our love doesn't always fit into 280 characters.
Star Wars and Other Obsessions 