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Tag: Claudia Gray
WWW Wednesday – 12 January 2022
On January 12, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday2 Comments
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they've recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):
So, let's get to it.
Beastslayer by William King (Paperback)
I was in the mood for something fun so I decided to check out another awesome entry in the Gotrek and Felix series of Warhammer Fantasy novels with Beastslayer. Following on from the first four books in the series, Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer and Dragonslayer, this fifth entry follows the series' protagonists to a besieged city as they attempt to throw back the forces of Chaos. I have already made a fair bit of progress on this novel and I should finish it off really soon. I love the thrilling and action-packed narrative contained in Beastslayer and this is proving to be quite an entertaining read.
Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray (Audiobook)
I also recently started the latest book in the Star Wars: The High Republic range with The Fallen Star. Following on from the main High Republic novels, Light of the Jedi and The Rising Storm, this intense entry sees the Jedi bastion, Starlight Beacon, under threat from a ruthless and dangerous monster. I am really enjoying the cool story contained in this book and I cannot wait to see what happens with it, especially as it is likely to be one of the defining moments of this period of High Republic fiction.
Never by Ken Follett (Audiobook)
I have made no progress on this audiobook since last week as I dived into the new Star Wars book. I am planning to really get into Never next and I want to finish it off soon.
The Maid by Nita Prose (Trade Paperback)
Unforgiven by Sarah Barrie
That's it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I've made on my reading and what books I'll be looking at next.
WWW Wednesday – 5 January 2022
On January 5, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday4 Comments
I just started reading this intriguing debut from Nita Prose today and I am really enjoying it. The Maid is a unique novel that follows a socially awkward maid at a fancy hotel who, after finding the body of an infamous guest, finds herself stuck in the middle of a murder investigation. This book has a compelling central protagonist and Prose has already set up some cool twists and plot points. I look forward to seeing how this book turns out and I know I am going to have an outstanding time with it.
Never by Ken Follet (Audiobook)
I have not made that much progress on Never since last week, mainly because I listened to another audiobook that I needed to check out first. I am hoping to get into it a bit more this week, although I might pause it again to listen to the next Star Wars novel first. Despite this slow progress, Never is an interesting book and while it is a little slow at the moment, once the pace increases I reckon it will be a great read.
The Judge's List by John Grisham
Warhammer 40,000: Steel Tread by Andy Clark
A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K. J. Parker
Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray
Top Ten Tuesday – Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2022 (non-fantasy)
On January 4, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn List7 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For the first Top Ten Tuesday of 2022 participants get to list their most anticipated upcoming books for the first half of the year. This is a regular post I do each year and I always look forward to highlighting the most awesome looking books for the start of the year. I am actually planning to do two versions of this list, this one and another that will focus on some incredible upcoming fantasy novels, so make sure to check that out as well.
Despite only just starting, 2022 is already shaping up to be an epic and exciting year for books with a huge range of impressive and highly anticipated novels due for release in the next 12 months. This includes exciting debuts, anticipated sequels and the latest entries in beloved bestselling series. The first half of the year is looking particularly awesome, with a substantial number of incredible upcoming releases that I am deeply looking forward to.
Even though I excluded fantasy books, this ended up being a rather difficult list to pull together due to all the awesome releases coming out in Australia between 1 January 2022 and 30 June 2022. There were way too many extraordinary upcoming books that I could have included, and I ended up having to make some very tough calls and cutting several novels that have an immense amount of potential. Despite this, I am rather happy with the eventual choices that I made, and I think that this list reflects the upcoming novels and comics I am going to have the most fun reading. I have mentioned several of these books before in my weekly Waiting on Wednesday articles, and some of them also appeared on my recent Summer TBR list. However, there are also some interesting new books that I am discussing for the first time here, so that should give this list a bit of variety. I am also excluding a couple of upcoming books with real potential, mainly because a lot of details about them haven't been released yet, such as the third book in Conn Iggulden's Athenian series. So let us get to my selections and find out which upcoming novels are my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2022.
Honourable Mentions
Road of Bones by Christopher Golden – 25 January 2022
A fun and intriguing horror thriller.
Warhammer 40,000: Day of Ascension by Adrian Tchaikovsky – 1 February 2022
One of the best sounding upcoming Warhammer 40,000 novels by impressive science fiction author Adrian Tchaikovsky.
City of the Dead by Jonathan Kellerman – 8 February 2022
Another fantastic Alex Delaware novel from leading crime fiction author Jonathan Kellerman, that follows on from his last amazing novels, The Wedding Guest, The Museum of Desire and Serpentine.
Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher – 28 June 2022
There are several interesting new Star Wars novels coming out in 2022 and one of the more intriguing ones is Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher (no cover available yet). Set in the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, Shadow of the Sith follows Luke and Lando as they attempt to uncover ancient Sith secrets and identify the new threat rising to destroy the New Republic.
Top Ten List:
Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray – 4 January 2022
The impressive new High Republic subseries of Star Wars novels continues with The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray. Continuing the main storyline contained in previous novels Light of the Jedi and The Rising Storm, The Fallen Star looks set to contain an intense and captivating story as the Nihil launch their most devastating attack yet. I am hoping to start The Fallen Star this week and it should be a pretty epic read.
Dark Horse by Gregg Hurwitz – 8 February 2022
The seventh book in Hurwitz's action-packed Orphan X series, Dark Horse has a great sounding story and is easily going to be one of the most exciting books of the year.
Usagi Yojimbo: Tengu War by Stan Sakai – 15 February 2022
One of my favourite comic series, Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai, has another great volume coming out early this year. Tengu War, the 36th volume, looks set to feature several really cool stories in it and I already know I am going to love every page of this exceptional comic.
Sierra Six by Mark Greaney – 15 February 2022
Another epic thriller, Sierra Six will be the 11th novel in the Gray Man series by amazing author Mark Greaney. I have deeply enjoyed the last few Gray Man novels (One Minute Out and Relentless were particularly good) and I am really looking forward to seeing how this incredible series continues.
The Misfit Soldier by Michael Mammay – 22 February 2022
After deeply impressing me with his debut Planetside series (made up of Planetside, Spaceside and Colonyside), science fiction author Michael Mammay has a cool new novel up his sleeve with The Misfit Soldier. The Misfit Soldier will follow a conman and thief turned futuristic soldier as he attempts to pull off a heist in the middle of a warzone. I love the sound of this book and The Misfit Soldier should be an outstanding read.
An Empty Throne by Robert Fabbri – 1 April 2022
One of the most entertaining historical fiction authors in the world today, Robert Fabbri, will continue his amazing Alexander's Legacy series with the third book, An Empty Throne. Following on from To the Strongest and The Three Paradises, An Empty Throne will explore the unique chaos that occurred following the early death of Alexander the Great and should be a lot of crazy fun.
Desperate Undertaking by Lindsey Davis – 7 April 2022
Another cool and entertaining historical fiction series continuing this year is the Flavia Albia series by veteran author Lindsey Davis. Set in ancient Rome, this cool series sees its titular protagonist investigate several strange murders around the city, often in hilarious circumstances. Several of the recent books, including Pandora's Boy and The Grove of the Caesars, have been exceptional reads, and the new upcoming novel, Desperate Undertaking, has a great sounding story about a serial killer obsessed with architecture. Sure to be a gripping and clever read, I cannot wait to check it out.
Star Wars: Brotherhood by Mike Chen – 10 May 2022
Another awesome upcoming Star Wars novel is Brotherhood by Mike Chen. Set at the start of the Clone Wars, this novel will place Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in a dangerous situation as they attempt to uncover who is behind a terrorist attack on an alien planet. With some cool action and an interesting look at the relationship between former master and apprentice, this will be a great read, especially as it will likely tie into the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi television series.
Kingdoms of Death by Christopher Ruocchio – 17 May 2022
Impressive science fiction author Christopher Ruocchio will continue his massive Sun Eater space opera series this year with his fourth book, Kingdoms of Death. Following on from the outstanding Empire of Silence, Howling Dark and Demon in White, this latest novel will continue to chronicle the life of the universe's greatest heroes and villains as he fights for humanity's survival in the stars. This will be an incredible and powerful science fiction read and I cannot wait to see how Ruocchio continues his epic series.
The Omega Factor by Steve Berry – 7 June 2022
The final book on this list is another cool and impressive thriller by the legendary Steve Berry. Berry, who is best known for his Cotton Malone novels (such as The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol and The Kaiser's Web), is introducing a new protagonist in The Omega Factor, who is thrust into a deadly historical conspiracy involving a missing piece of artwork. Set to expose a war between the Vatican and a secret order of nuns, this sounds like an awesome novel, and I am very excited to dive into another enjoyable Steve Berry novel
That is the end of this list. I am extremely happy with how my latest Top Ten Tuesday article turned out and this list contains an intriguing collection of upcoming books that should prove to be incredible reads. I think that nearly every one of these books has the potential to get a full five-star rating from me and I cannot wait to see what amazing and exciting stories they contain. While I am waiting to get my hands on these books, why not let me know if any of the above interest you, as well as what your most anticipated releases for the next six months are in the comments below. Also, make sure to check out my other Top Ten List with the top upcoming fantasy books of 2022.
Waiting on Wednesday –2022 Star Wars Tie-in Novels
On December 9, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel, Waiting on Wednesday3 Comments
Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can't-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week's Waiting on Wednesday, I check out four awesome Star Wars novels guaranteed to dazzle me in early 2022.
It has been a pretty awesome year for Star Wars novels, and I have had a wonderful time reading some of the fantastic 2021 books that tie into the elaborate Star Wars extended universe. Well it looks like 2022 is going to be just as incredible as there are even more Star Wars novels on the way, with several great new entries in the franchise set for release in the next few months. As all the relevant details of the earlier releases are available I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight them, especially as many are likely to become some of my favourite reads of the new year.
The first book I want to feature in this article is the exciting and fantastic sounding new entry in The High Republic range of Star Wars novels, The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray. The High Republic books are a massive interlocked multi-media project that seeks to expand the canon universe by focusing on a range of interesting storylines from the High Republic era of Star Wars History, hundreds of years before the Skywalker Saga. This series has already featured some exception novels, comics and audio dramas, and I am deeply excited to see what happens in the High Republic storylines next, especially after some recent compelling developments.
The Fallen Star looks set to be a particularly intriguing read, as it is continuing some of the main High Republic storylines that were set out in the epic preceding novels, Light of the Jedi and The Rising Storm. The Fallen Star currently has a release date of 4 January 2022 and I think it has an immense amount of potential, especially as it is written by the talented Claudia Gray, who did such a wonderful job on her previous Star Wars novel Master & Apprentice.
In this gripping sequel to Star Wars: The Rising Storm, the light of the Jedi faces its darkest hour.
Time and again, the vicious raiders known as the Nihil have sought to bring the golden age of the High Republic to a fiery end. Time and again, the High Republic has emerged battered and weary, but victorious thank to its Jedi protectors-and there is no monument to their cause grander than the Starlight Beacon.
Hanging like a jewel in the Outer Rim, the Beacon embodies the High Republic at the apex of its aspirations: a hub of culture and knowledge, a bright torch against the darkness of the unknown, and an extended hand of welcome to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. As survivors and refugees flee the Nihil's attacks, the Beacon and its crew stand ready to shelter and heal.
The grateful Knights and Padawans of the Jedi Order stationed there finally have a chance to recover-from the pain of their injuries and the grief of their losses. But the storm they thought had passed still rages; they are simply caught in its eye. Marchion Ro, the true mastermind of the Nihil, is preparing his most daring attack yet-one designed to snuff out the light of the Jedi.
I really love the sound of this cool upcoming novel, and I think that The Fallen Star will end up being one of the best Star Wars books of 2022. It is clear from the plot synopsis that the Nihil, the High Republic's fascinating main villains, are planning to attack Starlight Beacon, which has served as a central location of the previous novels. Considering some of the chaos that the Nihil have already caused in the previous High Republic books (the attack on the Republic Fair was just plain crazy), this will no doubt be a major and devastating event, and I am expecting a pretty dangerous death toll. There has been some cool official artwork released that shows a falling satellite, hinting at a massive cataclysmic event occurring within the book, and I for one cannot wait to see what happens there.
I am also extremely invested in some of the amazing characters that have been introduced in previous pieces of High Republic fiction, and who will no doubt be strongly featured in The Fallen Star. These characters have been extremely well set up and most of them have gone through some substantial development and devastating moments. I look forward to seeing what happens to some of them in The Fallen Star, and I am particularly keen to see how the Jedi survivors of The Rising Storm are faring after that novel's terrible events. I have heard rumours that one of the Jedi characters may potentially fall to the Dark Side of the Force, and I will be interested to see if or who it will happen to (there are at least two potential options). Whatever happens, I think we are in for a wild ride with The Fallen Star and I am planning to read it the moment it comes out.
The next Star Wars novel I want to discuss is Midnight Horizon by Daniel José Older. Older is a talented author who has been contributing several great novels to the Star Wars canon ever since his 2018 novel, Last Shot. Midnight Horizon will be a young adult High Republic novel that will follow some younger Jedi and their masters as they attempt to defeat another Nihil threat.
After a series of staggering losses, the Republic seems to finally have the villainous Nihil marauders on the run, and it looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel. Until word comes of a suspected Nihil attack on the industrial cosmopolitan world of Corellia, right in the Galactic Core.
Sent to investigate are Jedi Masters Cohmac Vitus and Kantam Sy, along with Padawans Reath Silas and Ram Jomaram, all fighting their own private battles after months of unrelenting danger. On Corellia, Reath and Ram encounter a brazen young security specialist named Crash, whose friend was one of the victims of the Nihil attack, and they team up with her to infiltrate Corellia's elite while the Masters pursue more diplomatic avenues. But going undercover with Crash is more dangerous than anyone expected, even as Ram pulls in his friend Zeen to help with an elaborate ruse involving a galactic pop star.
But what they uncover on Corellia turns out to be just one part of a greater plan, one that could lead the Jedi to their most stunning defeat yet….
This sounds like another extremely fun novel from Older and I am very excited to see what cool adventures happens here. Set for release on 1 February 2022, Midnight Horizon will follow on from some of the previous High Republic young adult novels such as Into the Dark and Out of the Shadows, especially as it follows the character of Padawan Reath Silas and his master who have appeared in both of these books. It also serves as a continuation of Race to Crashpoint Tower, with the character of Ram Jomaram, also being featured here. I cannot wait to see what happens to these characters in Midnight Horizon, and I think it will turn out to be another awesome adventure. I am also curious to see the High Republic version of Corellia and it will be fascinating to see what sort of attack the Nihil can pull off here. Midnight Horizon is another High Republic novel that I think has a lot of potential, especially with its fantastic cover up above and I look forward to reading it.
I also wanted to mention the upcoming junior High Republic novel, Mission to Disaster by Justina Ireland. While I do not usually tend to read some of the junior or young reader Star Wars books, I may make an exception for Mission to Disaster. This is because it will follow on from Ireland's last novel, Out of the Shadows, and features the fun team of Vernestra Rwoh and Imri Cantaros. I look curious to see what happens to these two characters next, and I will probably quickly read Mission to Disaster to continue the interesting storyline they had in their last book.
The Jedi think the dreaded Nihil marauders have been all but defeated. Their leader is on the run and their numbers have dwindled. Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh hopes this means she will finally have time to really train her Padawan, Imri Cantaros―but reports of a Nihil attack on Port Haileap soon dash those hopes. For not only have the Nihil attacked the peaceful outpost, they have abducted Vernestra and Imri's friend, Avon Starros. The two Jedi set off for Port Haileap, determined to figure out where the Nihil have taken their friend. Meanwhile, Avon must put her smarts and skills to the ultimate test as she fights for survival among the Nihil―and uncovers a sinister plan. Can Vernestra and Imri find their friend before disaster strikes?
The final book I want to talk about here is the amazing sounding Brotherhood by Mike Chen. Rather than another High Republic book, the early May 2022 release, Brotherhood, will instead focus on the team of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker must stem the tide of the raging Clone Wars and forge a new bond as Jedi Knights in a high-stakes adventure set just after the events of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
The Clone Wars have begun. Battle lines are being drawn throughout the galaxy. With every world that joins the Separatists, the peace guarded by the Jedi Order is slipping through their fingers.
After an explosion devastates Cato Neimoidia, the jewel of the Trade Federation, the Republic is blamed and the fragile neutrality of the planet is threatened. The Jedi dispatch Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the Order's most gifted diplomatic minds, to investigate the crime and maintain the balance that has begun to dangerously shift. As Obi-Wan investigates with the help of a heroic Neimoidian guard, he finds himself working against the Separatists who hope to draw the planet into their conspiracy—and senses the sinister hand of Asajj Ventress in the mists that cloak the planet.
Amid the brewing chaos, Anakin Skywalker rises to the rank of Jedi Knight. Despite the mandate that Obi-Wan travel alone—and his former master's insistence that he listen this time—Anakin's headstrong determination means nothing can stop him from crashing the party, and bringing along a promising but conflicted youngling.
Once a Padawan to Obi-Wan, Anakin now finds himself on equal—but uncertain—footing with the man who raised him. The lingering friction between them increases the danger for everyone around them. The two knights must learn a new way to work together—and they must learn quickly, to save Cato Neimoidia and its people from the fires of war. To overcome the threat they face they must grow beyond master and apprentice. They must stand together as brothers.
This sounds like another pretty fantastic Star Wars novel and I am extremely keen to get my hands on this one. I love the entire Clone Wars period of Star Wars history (if you have seen The Clone Wars animated series you know why) and I am very keen to explore more of it here. I love the idea of two Jedi attempting to solve a crime on a hostile Separatist World, which will no doubt result in much conflict, suspicion and political treachery. I am also really keen to see the author's take on the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. These two characters have always had an interesting and well-defined dynamic (when they're not trying to kill each other), and I am curious to see how much this changes in the immediate aftermath of Anakin becoming a Jedi. No doubt some of this tension and conflict will tie-into the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi television series that is coming out soon, and it is possible that Brotherhood might be connected to the planned show in some way. Throw in an early sighting of Ventress, the awesome Dark Side assassin, and I think that Brotherhood is going to be a pretty exceptional read.
Well that is about it for upcoming Star Wars books at the moment. There are a few other novels that have been announced for later in the year like Shadow of the Sith and Padawan, but I might wait until the covers are released before I cover them in a Waiting on Wednesday article. E. K. Johnston's third and final Padmé Amidala novel, Queen's Hope, is also due for release in April after it was delayed, although I have previously covered that before. I am deeply, deeply excited for all these cool upcoming Star Wars novels and I cannot wait to see what outstanding adventures happens within all of them.
Top Ten Tuesday – Books on my Summer 2021-22 TBR
On November 30, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn List12 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official Top Ten Tuesday topic for this week was around Bookish Memories, however, I decided to instead move up my quarterly post about the best upcoming books to be read (TBR) for the following three months. This is a regular post I do at the start of each season, and as this is the first week or Summer (Winter for you folks up North), this is the ideal time to put this up.
For this list, I have come up with 10 of the most anticipated novels that are coming out between 1 December 2021 and 28 February 2022. There are quite a few very cool novels set for release in the next few months that I am very excited for, including some highly anticipated reads. I was eventually able to whittle these down into a Top Ten list (with a few honourable mentions). I have primarily used the Australian publication dates to reflect when I will be able to get these awesome novels, and these might be somewhat different to the rest of the world. I have previously discussed a number of these books before in prior Top Ten Tuesdays and Waiting on Wednesday articles and I think all of them will turn out to be some really impressive and enjoyable reads. I am incredibly excited for the next three months as there are some incredible novels coming out, several of which I already know are going to be amongst the best books of 2021 and 2022.
The Liar's Knot by M. A. Carrick – 9 December 2021
Outcast by Louise Carey – 25 January 2022
Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham – 22 February 2022
Top Ten Tuesday (by release date):
Armored by Mark Greaney – 9 December 2021
The Starless Crown by James Rollins – 4 January 2022
Over the last year, some of the best Star Wars novels have been part of the awesome High Republic publication range. Set hundreds of years before the films, High Republic fiction covers a whole new era of the Star Wars universe and has an extremely distinctive feel and some great new antagonists. The Fallen Star will be the third adult novel in this series and will continue the major storylines set up in Light of the Jedi and The Rising Storm. I am really looking forward to this new novel, especially as the plot suggests that the villainous Nihil will be launching an attack on the Jedi stronghold of Starlight Beacon, which will force the various characters into a desperate life and death struggle. I cannot wait to see how this book plays out, and I am excited to see another book from author Claudia Gray, especially after how her impressive last two novels, Into the Dark and Master & Apprentice (one of my favourite Star Wars books).
A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K. J. Parker – 11 January 2022
I had to include the third and final entry in K. J. Parker's brilliant Siege trilogy, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World, on this list. The Siege trilogy features three loosely connected fantasy novels that depict the comedic defence of a besieged city through unconventional tactics. This outstanding fantasy comedy series has so far featured Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City (one of the best books of 2019) and How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It (one of the best books of 2020). While there are only minimal details about this novel now, I already know that I am going to laugh myself silly reading it and that it will be one of the most entertaining novels I will check out in 2022.
Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 36: Tengu War! by Stan Sakai – 15 February 2022
The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan – 22 February 2022
Well that is the end of my Top Ten list. I think it turned out pretty well and it does a good job of capturing all my most anticipated books for the next three months. Each of the above should be extremely epic, and I cannot wait to read each of them soon. Let me know which of the above you are most excited for and stay tuned for reviews of them in the next few months. In the meantime, it looks like I have quite a few books to get through soon and they should all be pretty awesome.
Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Star Wars novels
On May 4, 2021 May 4, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, List, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel6 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week's Top Ten Tuesday, the official task participants were given were to list their ten most recent reads. While I rather liked this official topic, I have instead done something very different. Rather than come up with one list, I am instead going to do two separate, but similar lists that revolve around May the Fourth.
As most of you are probably aware, May the Fourth has officially been designated Star Wars day (May the Fourth be with you!), which is something I am rather passionate about. I absolutely love Star Wars, and you only need to check out my Star Wars tab on the right of this page (go on, you won't regret it), to see how much I deeply enjoy the franchise's novels and comic books. There is an impressive and rich collection of Star Wars tie-in fiction out there, and I have had a wonderful time over the last couple of years reading and reviewing many amazing examples. As a result, I thought that May the Fourth would be the perfect opportunity to highlight what I consider to be the best Star Wars novels and comics out there. This is a bit of a continuation of a list I put up last Star Wars day, which was a combined list of novels and comics. While I think that my last list came up pretty well, I decided that this year I would be better served featuring two lists, this one for novels and another for comics.
In order to fill this list, I had a thorough look through all the Star Wars novels I have read in recent years to choose the absolute best ones. This proved to be a fun and enlightening experience, although I did have a hard time deciding on my favourites from an amazing collection of books. In the end, I was able to come up with a good Top Ten list with my usual generous Honourable Mentions section. I cheated a little by combining some trilogies together into one entry. However, as these books are supposed to be read together, I think that this was the best way to feature them. This ended up being a varied and intriguing list, featuring a great range of very different authors and Star Wars settings. While most of the featured novels are from the current Disney canon, I have also included a couple of Star Wars: Legends books which have some great stories. So let us see which awesome books made the Top Ten List.
Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber
A fun and fantastically crazy Star Wars: Legends novel that sees Han Solo and Chewie go up against a load of deadly zombies aboard an abandoned Star Destroyer. A wild and scary ride, this was a great Star Wars novel and one of my favourite horror books.
Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston
A compelling and fast-paced novel that follows the adventures of Ahsoka Tano, one of the best characters introduced in the animated television series, between the events of The Clone Wars and Rebels. This is easily my favourite Star Wars novel from E. K. Johnston (Queen's Shadow and Queen's Peril are also pretty good), and I loved how the audiobook was narrated by the voice of Ahsoka, Ashley Eckstein.
Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott
An impressive retelling of the early life of Count Dooku, showing some of the events that led up to him becoming a Sith Lord. This is best enjoyed in its audio drama format, which features an epic voice cast of Star Wars audiobook narrators.
Doctor Aphra by Sarah Kuhn
Another great audio drama, Doctor Aphra is an amazingly funny and clever story, featuring a unique and memorable protagonist. While I really enjoyed this great book, I left it off my main list as it does not contain an original story; instead it is a retelling of several comics (such as Vader, Shadows and Secrets and Vader Down), which will be featured on my other Top Ten list.
Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn
The first entry on this list is the deeply impressive and clever Thrawn trilogy from one of the leading authors of Star Wars tie-in fiction, Timothy Zahn. This series retells the origin story of one of my favourite characters in the entire Star Wars canon, Grand Admiral Thrawn. This series contains three epic novels, Thrawn, Alliances and Treason, all of which are pretty damn amazing (especially the first novel, Thrawn). This entire series comes together extremely well, and I love the in-depth look at this outstanding character, as well as the focus on his awesome tactical brilliance.
Alphabet Squadron trilogy by Alexander Freed
The other trilogy that I needed to include on this list is the intense and powerful Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed. Made up of Alphabet Squadron, Shadow Fall and Victory's Price, these books follow a group of damaged pilots fighting in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi. This is a complex and captivating character-driven series with some amazing examples of space fighter combat, and I love Freed's compelling and emotionally rich narrative. All three books in this series are really impressive, but I really have to praise the final entry in the series, Victory's Price, which did an amazing job wrapping up this superb trilogy.
Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn
In addition to his Thrawn trilogy above, Zahn has also written a fantastic prequel series, known as the Thrawn Ascendancy books. These novels follow a young Thrawn as he fights to preserve his species in the unexplored spaced outside of the Republic/Empire. Featuring a narrative rich in fascinating lore, this is a great story for the hardcore Star Wars fan, who will love this dive into an awesome character's background. I loved Chaos Rising, and I am looking forward to enjoying the next two entries in this series, Greater Good (which has just been released) and Lesser Evil (out in November 2021).
The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
Next up on this list is the first entry in the compelling High Republic multimedia storyline, Light of the Jedi, by bestselling author Charles Soule. Set 200 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga, the High Republic novels follow the Jedi at the height of their power as they fight against a dangerous and insidious new opponent. Light of the Jedi was a fantastic first book in this storyline, perfectly introducing the setting and key events of the High Republic, while also containing a compelling and action-packed story. A highly recommended book and a must-read for anyone interested in checking out the other entries in the High Republic range (such as Into the Dark by Claudia Gray).
Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray
If you love the two Jedi protagonists in The Phantom Menace, than you have to check out Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray. Gray has crafted together an exciting and emotionally powerful novel that follows Qui-gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi on one of their early adventures. This was an outstanding and incredible Star Wars novel that is really worth checking out.
Dark Disciple by Christie Golden
The extraordinary Dark Disciple, by master tie-in author Christie Golden, utilises the scripts of several unproduced The Clone Wars episodes, showing the fates of fan-favourite characters Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos during the Clone Wars. This is another touching and captivating character-driven novel, and readers will quickly become engrossed in this unique tale of love, betrayal and inner darkness.
Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn strikes again, and I have no choice but to feature yet another one of his books on this list. Scoundrels, which is set in the Legends canon, is an excellent and wildly entertaining heist novel which follows Han, Chewie, Lando and several of their friends as they try to pull off an impossible theft. I loved this amazing blend of Star Wars and crime fiction elements, and this was a very fun book to read.
Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp
Two of the best villains of all time, Darth Vader and the Emperor, team up for the next entry on this list, the action-packed thrill ride, Lords of the Sith. Paul S. Kemp created a really fun and exciting book which follows these two outstanding characters when they are stranded on a hostile planet and find themselves under constant attack by rebels, monsters and traitors. While the focus is in the cool action, Kemp also takes the time to explore the complex relationship between dark master and apprentice, and readers are in for an excellent time with this great book.
Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber
The next book is actually the latest Star Wars novel I have read, Maul: Lockdown. Set in the Legends canon years before The Phantom Menace, Lockdown follows the always awesome Darth Maul as he finds himself trapped in a dangerous prison and forced to fight in a series of death matches. This is a dark and captivating read, and I loved the fantastic and clever narrative that Schreiber came up with for this amazing book. A highly recommended read that has convinced me to check out even more entries in the Legends range.
Tarkin by James Luceno
The final entry on this list was the excellent Tarkin by James Luceno. Tarkin is an intriguing book that examines amazing Imperial antagonist, Grand Moth Tarkin. Featuring a great split narrative that explores the character's younger exploits while also following an adult Tarkin as he hunts for rebels with Darth Vader, Tarkin is an outstanding read, and I deeply enjoyed this clever dive into this complex Star Wars character.
Well, that is this latest Top Ten Tuesday list done. I had an outstanding time pulling this article together and it was fun trying to determine which Star Wars novels were my absolute favourite. All of the above novels come very highly recommended and are a lot of fun to read, especially in their audiobook format. I am planning to make this top ten list an annual occurrence every Star Wars day. I imagine this list will look very different next time, as not only are there several great new Star Wars books coming out soon but I am also planning to go back and explore some other awesome-sounding entries in both the current canon and the Legends range. Make sure to come back in a year to see which Star Wars books I recommend then, and in the meantime, check out at my other Top Ten Tuesday list of favourite Star Wars comics. And May the Fourth be with you!!!
Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray
On March 10, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, LGBT+, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel, Young Adult8 Comments
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio (Audiobook – 2 February 2021)
Series: Star Wars – The High Republic
Length: 11 hours and 11 minutes
My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
The journey into the new era of Star Wars fiction known as The High Republic continues as acclaimed author Claudia Gray presents the next entry into this sub-series with the young adult novel, Star Wars: Into the Dark.
The High Republic is a fantastic Star Wars multimedia project made up of novels, comics and other pieces of Star Wars expanded universe fiction, set hundreds of years before the events of the films, showing a completely different period of Star Wars history. This project started in January 2021 with the excellent novel, Light of the Jedi, which served as an impressive introduction to the period and the turmoils facing it. Into the Dark, which runs somewhat concurrently with the events of Light of the Jedi, is the first young adult High Republic novel and presents an intriguing new adventure with a great group of new characters. This young adult novel was written by the amazing Claudia Gray, author of the Evernight series, who has been making a real splash with Star Wars fiction in recent years. Not only did she write the awesome-sounding novels Star Wars: Lost Stars, Star Wars: Bloodline and Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan (all three of which I fully intend to read in the future), but she also wrote the outstanding 2019 novel, Star Wars: Master and Apprentice, which is one of my absolute favourite Star Wars novels of all time. As a result, I was quite keen to see Gray's take on The High Republic era and she did not disappoint with a captivating and fascinating novel that was a lot of fun to read.
Jedi Padawan Reath Silas is about to have the adventure of his life, whether he wants it or not. Apprenticed to the powerful Jedi Master Jora Malii, Reath is happy with his life on Coruscant where he can pursue his academic and scholarly interests. However, his master has just accepted a dangerous new posting aboard the Starlight Beacon, a gigantic Republic-controlled space station on the frontier of the Outer Rim, far away from everything Reath has ever known.
However, fate has a funny way of changing even the best laid plans. Reath, leaving Coruscant a few weeks after his master's departure, finds himself caught up in the disaster sweeping through the galaxy. Travelling aboard the unusual spaceship known as the Vessel, Reath and three other Jedi, each of whom have their own reasons for leaving the Jedi Temple and journeying into the wilds, encounter a mysterious disturbance out in hyperspace, as the remnants of the ship know as the Legacy Run, splinter out at lightspeed, destroying everything in their path.
To avoid the high-speed fragments, the Vessel makes an urgent jump out of hyperspace and finds itself trapped in an isolated portion of space with several other ships. Forced to seek shelter in a seemingly abandoned space station, the Jedi and the Vessel's crew attempt to work with the other ships to find a way to survive until hyperspace can once again be travelled safely. However, great danger lies in wait aboard this station, as the various crews fight for resources and each of the Jedi are forced to fight their own inner demons. But there are things far darker and more ancient aboard this station, and Reath and his colleagues will soon be forced to face off against a deadly foe whose reappearance could change the galaxy forever.
Into the Dark is another epic and enjoyable Star Wars novel from Claudia Gray that takes the reader on a fantastic and exciting character driven adventure. I have been really enjoying the new High Republic pieces of Star Wars fiction and Into the Dark ended up being an awesome and compelling young adult feature that not only contains a great story, but which dives into some fascinating subjects through the eyes of its amazing characters.
Gray has come up with an excellent and enjoyable narrative for Into the Dark which not only ties in nicely with the previous entries in the High Republic line but which also sets several fantastic new characters on a captivating and emotionally trying adventure. The author starts the story off well, introducing all the key characters in quick succession (indeed six main characters get introduced in one extended sequence), providing some hints at their compelling backstories before sending them on their way into space. It does not take long before they get wrapped up in the chaotic events that featured in the previous High Republic novel, Light of the Jedi, forcing them to explore the main setting of the abandoned space station. This naturally leads to a lot of exciting and intriguing events as the characters are forced to survive for a time on the station with the crews of several other ships. During this time, a lot of story threads start to appear, such as mysterious statues, dangers from the other crews, strange writings on the wall that have significance to one key character and a lingering sense of darkness that assaults the Jedi.
At the same time, the author dives into several of the main characters' motivations and the events of the past that drive them, including through a series of interesting flashbacks that have some curious connections to modern day events. The middle of the novel keeps up the excitement where, after a major event, the characters return home, only to continue to be assailed by the mysteries of the station. There are several good twists at this part of the book, including a significant reveal about a side character that I really should have seen coming. Eventually, all the characters reunite and return, only to get drawn into a dangerous confrontation on the station as gathered forces finally show their hand. All of this results in an explosive and impressive conclusion that leaves some interesting story arcs open for the main characters while also ensuring that the reader gets some satisfying closure about the events of the book. I really enjoyed this great narrative, which is filled with some clever story threads which come together extremely well into a fast-paced and compelling young adult tale that readers will get through extremely quickly.
Into the Dark is an interesting read which I felt had a wide range of appeal to a lot of different audiences. This latest book has been marketed as a young adult novel and teenage Star Wars fans will enjoy it. Not only is this a great Star Wars adventure but the book also features a couple of great teenage characters taking charge and attempting to initiate change, for better or worse, as the universe changes around them. While primarily a Star Wars novel, Gray does try to make it a little more relevant to teenagers, with some discussions about relationships, drugs and sex that you wouldn't typically see in a Star Wars novel but which fit the tone of the book quite well. Like many Star Wars young adult novels, Into the Dark is a book that older readers will also enjoy, especially as it is tied into the main events of the High Republic era. While I think readers unfamiliar with The High Republic could easily enjoy this book, as Gray makes the text extremely accessible, I would say that Into the Dark is probably best enjoyed by those who have read some of the previous entries in the media project, especially the opening novel Light of the Jedi. Into the Dark has a lot of connections to Light of the Jedi, especially as a major event impacting the main protagonist of this book occurs in this preceding novel, and this latest book ties in well with the rest of the franchise while also enhancing it. In addition, Star Wars fans will really appreciate the author's attempt to explore deeper elements of the Force, with the Jedi characters engaging in complex rituals to combat the Dark Side energy they encounter. The author does an amazing job examining some of the roots of the Force, as well as the mentality and abilities of the people who manipulate it, and it is a fascinating addition to the narrative. As a result, Into the Dark can be enjoyed by a large range of people who are guaranteed to have a lot of fun with it.
Easily one of the best highlights of this book is the amazing group of new unique characters who Gray has populated this story with. The author has come up with a great group of intriguing point-of-view characters, each of whom plays a major part in the book's plot and who Gray spends substantial time introducing and providing some compelling development as the book progresses. The main character of Into the Dark is Padawan Reath Silas, the bookish apprentice of a great Jedi Master. Reath is a fantastic young adult fiction protagonist, being a teenager who is thrust into a dangerous adventure against his will and who must find his inner strength to survive and thrive. The author does a great job developing Reath throughout the novel, especially as he experiences substantial loss and trauma that he must overcome and which changes his entire outlook on life. This character also provides some fascinating insight into the experiences and troubles of a Jedi apprentice, especially when they encounter great uncertainty about their path. All of this results in some excellent character moments, and it was a lot of fun to see how Reath developed.
Another major protagonist of this book is Affie Hollow, the young teen co-pilot of the Vessel. Affie is another great young adult character, although, as she is more worldly (or the outer space equivalent of worldly?) than the somewhat sheltered Reath, she has a bit more common sense and a heck of a lot more sass. Affie has a pretty intriguing story arc that sees her investigate the mysterious involvement of her shipping guild, which is run by her adoptive mother, with the space station that the Vessel ends up on. This investigation, and her own stubborn determination, places her in the middle of some dangerous situations, and she ends up having to make some emotional and ethical choices towards the end of the book.
Other major characters in the novel are two of the Jedi who accompany Reath aboard the Vessel, Orla Jareni, a Jedi set on becoming a Wayseeker, a Jedi independent of the Council, and Cohmac Vitus, a noted and hooded scholar, both of whom are leaving for the frontier for different reasons. Orla and Cohmac are an interesting pair who are bound together by a long history and a shared trauma in their past. The events of this novel impact both severely, as it reminds them of the first mission they completed together, which is shown to the reader through a series of intriguing flashbacks. Despite being fully-fledged Jedi, both Orla and Cohmac are filled with doubts about their order and their purpose, although for very different reasons. This makes them quite a fascinating pair to follow, as they admit their problems to each other and attempt to come to terms with what it is to be a Jedi Knight and the difficulties that all of them face. There is also Dez Rydan, a younger Jedi knight who has a close connection to Reath due to them sharing the same master. Dez is a hotshot, adventure-driven Jedi who, while fun to follow, does not get as much focus as the others, mainly due to the events of the book. However, he goes through a substantial amount of trauma, which results in some intriguing sequences, and I quite enjoyed seeing his story progress.
While the above group of characters are all interesting and well developed, I have to say that my favourite two characters have the be the hilarious and comedic team of Leox Gyasi and Geode, the other two crewmembers of the Vessel. Leox, the captain of the Vessel, is a space hippy, down to the outfit, speech pattern and mentality. Described by the author as essentially being 1990s Matthew McConaughey in a spaceship, Leox has a lot of fun as he breezes through the events of Into the Dark with ease, passing out words of wisdom and advice, and generally being a nice and entertaining presence throughout the story. While mainly the book's comic relief (a role he fills perfectly), Leox does have a serious side, especially when it comes to protecting his young compatriot, Affie. I also liked that the author portrays Leox as asexual, which think is great for the wider Star Wars universe, and I felt Gray introduced and handled it extremely well. The other great character was the Vessel's navigator, Geode. As you may be able to guess from the name, Geode is in fact a large sentient alien rock who can apparently communicate and walk around. If you had asked me before reading Into the Dark whether I would enjoy a character who is a mute rock, I probably would have had some issues with it, but Gray makes it work extremely well and I absolutely loved the inclusion of this character. Since Geode does not speak out loud through the entire novel, the reader is a little uncertain whether Geode is actually alive or whether this is some elaborate joke from the characters aboard the Vessel. Watching Affie and Leox apparently have detailed conversations with him, determine his emotional state just by looking at him, and suggesting that the character has a wild and outgoing personality is pretty hilarious, and I ended up really liking this fantastic character, who was a real solid (snigger) addition to the cast.
Considering that the last Star Wars novel of Gray's that I read ended up being one of the best audiobooks I read in 2019, it should come as no surprise that I chose to listen to Into the Dark's audiobook. Like pretty much every other Star Wars audiobook I have previously listened to, Into the Dark was pretty awesome in this format, thanks to the use of sound effects and music from the films and animated shows. The Star Wars sound effects (which include the iconic sounds of blasters, lightsabers, star ships and so much more) add so much cool ambience to the narrative and the amazing music increases the emotional impact of a ton of awesome scenes, even though it was used a little more subtlety with this book. I also quite enjoyed the narration of Dan Bittner, an experienced narrator whose work I have not previously had the pleasure of enjoying. Bittner does an impressive job with Into the Dark, as he was able to move the story along at a swift pace while easily keeping the listener's attention with his narration. I particularly liked the cool voices that he came up with for the various characters featured in this novel, and he was able to produce distinctive voices that fit the characters really well. I also loved the "hippie" voice that he came up with for Leox, and the good-natured, ethereal tone really stood out for me and made me laugh. With a run time of 11 hours, this is not a very long Star Wars audiobook, and listeners should be able to power through it in short order while having a good time. Overall, this was an impressive production, and audiobook remains my favourite way to check out a Star Wars novel.
Star Wars: Into the Dark is an outstanding and compelling young adult tie in novel that takes the reader on another amazing adventure in the Star Wars universe during the High Republic era. The always awesome Claudia Gray has come up with a fantastic and captivating tale, anchored around several entertaining and wonderfully complex characters. The result is an excellent Star Wars novel that will have a wide amount of appeal and is really worth checking out.
WWW Wednesday – 3 March 2021
On March 3, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday2 Comments
The Art of Death by David Fennell (Trade Paperback)
I have made some serious progress on this cool new murder mystery novel from debuting author David Fennell and so far I am very much enjoying it. The Art of Death is a great book that sees a murderous artist pose his kills throughout the streets of London as part of a twisted exhibition (think evil Banksy). I am about halfway through The Art of Death at the moment and it has a pretty cool mystery to it that should be really fun to unravel.
Relentless by Mark Greaney (Audiobook)
I finally got a chance to start reading Relentless, one of my most anticipated releases for the 2021. Relentless is the 10th book in Greaney's outstanding Gray Man series and follows it's assassin protagonist as he attempts to identify a new enemy threatening the CIA for their own nefarious reasons. I have a lot of love for this series after deeply enjoying the previous two entries in the series, Mission Critical and One Minute Out (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), and this latest novel is so far pretty epic, full of cool espionage and intense action.
The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe (Trade Paperback)
Kal Jerico: Sinner's Bounty by Josh Reynolds (Audiobook)
The Hunting by Stephen Leather (Trade Paperback)
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Audiobook)
Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray (Audiobook)
The Three Paradises by Robert Fabbri (Trade Paperback)
Waiting on Wednesday – 2021 Star Wars Tie-In Novels
On December 23, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel, Waiting on Wednesday9 Comments
Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can't-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week's Waiting on Wednesday I take a look at the bevy of cool upcoming Star Wars novels that are set for release in early 2021.
I have been in a major Star Wars mood for the last week (well, more of a Star Wars mood than I usually have). This improved Star Wars mood seemed to begin sometime on Saturday, coinciding with me watching the epic finale of a certain television show. With the sheer awesomeness of The Mandalorian coursing through me, it made me think that, while most of the year has been pretty abysmal, it has been a pretty exceptional year for Star Wars. I have personally enjoyed nearly every novel, comic and television show that has been released in 2020 and there have been some truly exceptional pieces of tie-in fiction. 2021 is actually shaping up to be an even better year, not least because of all the really cool shows that they are currently planning to release (I believe that only dogs and dolphins were able to hear my excited squeals when Disney did their big reveal of upcoming shows a couple of weeks ago). With that in mind, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight some of the amazing upcoming Star Wars tie-in novels that have been announced for the next year, all of which I will grab and review as soon as I possibly can (this is the way!).
Let's start this article off by talking about The High Republic. Announced late last year, The High Republic range was advertised as the brand-new era of Star Wars tie-in fiction. Set 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, The High Republic shows the Jedi at the absolute height of their power and looks set to follow a whole new generation of heroes as they explore a very different version of the Star Wars universe to that depicted in the films. In order to explore this new period of Star Wars history, a whole set of novels and comics have been commissioned, featuring the talents of some of the top authors of Star Wars tie-in fiction. These novels and comics were initially set for release earlier this year, but then 2020 happened and things naturally got pushed back a little. Most of these novels are now currently set for release in the next couple of weeks and will be amongst the first books of 2021 that I will check out. While I love all things Star Wars, I am especially keen to check these novels out as it will provide me with a glimpse at this new timeline that is set to become a major part of the franchise in the coming years (for example, one of the shows they recently announced, The Acolyte, will apparently be set in or towards the end of The High Republic era).
The first of these books that I will be reading is the interesting-sounding Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule, which is set for release on 5 January 2021. Light of the Jedi will be the first adult Star Wars novel set in this period, and because of this it is bound to be one of the most prominent and important entries in the entire The High Republic range, setting the tone for the entire project and introducing much of the backstory and lore. In order to tell this vital tale, Light of the Jedi will be written by acclaimed author Charles Soule. I am a major fan of Soule's work as a comic book writer, having particularly enjoyed his Star Wars comics, including the exceptional Poe Dameron comics, The Rise of Kylo Ren limited series and the deeply impressive Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith series (make sure to check out my reviews for Volume 2: Legacy's End and Volume 3: The Burning Seas). As a result, I have high hopes for Light of the Jedi, especially with the really cool synopsis that has already been released.
Light of the Jedi Synopsis:
Long before the First Order, before the Empire, before even The Phantom Menace. . . Jedi lit the way for the galaxy in The High Republic.
It is a golden age. Intrepid hyperspace scouts expand the reach of the Republic to the furthest stars, worlds flourish under the benevolent leadership of the Senate, and peace reigns, enforced by the wisdom and strength of the renowned order of Force users known as the Jedi. With the Jedi at the height of their power, the free citizens of the galaxy are confident in their ability to weather any storm But the even brightest light can cast a shadow, and some storms defy any preparation.
When a shocking catastrophe in hyperspace tears a ship to pieces, the flurry of shrapnel emerging from the disaster threatens an entire system. No sooner does the call for help go out than the Jedi race to the scene. The scope of the emergence, however, is enough to push even Jedi to their limit. As the sky breaks open and destruction rains down upon the peaceful alliance they helped to build, the Jedi must trust in the Force to see them through a day in which a single mistake could cost billions of lives.
Even as the Jedi battle valiantly against calamity, something truly deadly grows beyond the boundary of the Republic. The hyperspace disaster is far more sinister than the Jedi could ever suspect. A threat hides in the darkness, far from the light of the age, and harbors a secret that could strike fear into even a Jedi's heart.
The next entry in this article is another The High Republic novel, Into the Dark by Claudia Gray. Into the Dark is a young adult Star Wars novel that is currently set for release on 2 February 2021. This young adult book will be set during the same major event introduced in Light of the Jedi and will follow a different set of Jedi characters as they attempt to navigate the disaster. This second novel appears to have a more typical young adult story, with a teenage character coming into his own, but it sure sounds like it is going to be a great read. Just like with Light of the Jedi, Into the Dark is in the hands of an outstanding author, Claudia Gray, who has written some fantastic Star Wars novels in the past, such as the captivating Master & Apprentice, which was one of my favourite audiobooks of 2019.
Into the Dark Synopsis:
Padawan Reath Silas is being sent from the cosmopolitan galactic capital of Coruscant to the undeveloped frontier—and he couldn't be less happy about it. He'd rather stay at the Jedi Temple, studying the archives. But when the ship he's traveling on is knocked out of hyperspace in a galactic-wide disaster, Reath finds himself at the center of the action. The Jedi and their traveling companions find refuge on what appears to be an abandoned space station. But then strange things start happening, leading the Jedi to investigate the truth behind the mysterious station, a truth that could end in tragedy….
Those are the two The High Republic novels I am currently most interested in checking out. There are a couple of young reader or junior fiction The High Republic novels that are also coming out in early 2021 for young Star Wars fans. Some additional The High Republic novels are also set for release later in the year, although most of them are currently untitled or have had very few details revealed about them so far. I will probably cover these additional The High Republic novels in a few months' time (probably around May the Fourth), but this article is far from done. Early 2021 will also see the release of two additional Star Wars novels set outside The High Republic era, both of which serve as sequels to awesome Star Wars novels from 2020.
The first of these books is Victory's Price by Alexander Freed, which is currently set for release on 2 March 2021. Victory's Price is the third and final novel in the exciting Alphabet Squadron series, which follows a mismatched group of damaged Rebel pilots, known as Alphabet Squadron, in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Empire. I have had an amazing time reading the previous two entries in the series, Alphabet Squadron and Shadow Fall, both of which provided the reader with excellent character work and fantastic fighter pilot action sequences. This third book will follow on from the shocking aftermath of Shadow Fall, which saw the protagonist and leader of Alphabet Squadron, Yrica Quell, return to her former Tie-Fighter unit, Shadow Wing, after being rejected by her fellows in the Rebellion. This third book looks set to be another intense and emotional thrill ride and I cannot wait to see how Freed concludes this fantastic series.
Victory's Price Synopsis:
The aces of the New Republic have one final chance to defeat the darkness of Shadow Wing in this thrilling conclusion to the Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy!
In the wake of Yrica Quell's shocking decision-and one of the fiercest battles of their lives-the remnants of Alphabet Squadron seek answers and closure across a galaxy whose old war scars are threatening to reopen.
Soran Keize has returned to the tip of Shadow Wing's spear. Operation Cinder, the terrifying protocol of planetary extermination that began in the twilight of the Imperial era, burns throughout the galaxy. Shadow Wing is no longer wounded prey fleeing the hunters of the New Republic. With its leader, its strength has returned, and its Star Destroyers and TIE squadrons lurk in the darkness between stars, carrying out the fallen Emperor's final edict of destruction-as well as another, stranger mission, one Keize has championed not for the dying Empire, but for its loyal soldiers.
Alphabet Squadron's ships are as ramshackle and damaged as their spirits, but they've always had one another. Now, as they face the might of Keize's reborn juggernaut, they aren't sure they even have that. How do you catch a shadow? How do you kill it? And when you're finally victorious, who pays the price?
Last, but certainly not least, is the second novel in the compelling Thrawn Ascendancy series, Greater Good, by Timothy Zahn, which will hopefully be released in early May 2021. For nearly 30 years, Timothy Zahn has been one of the top writers of Star Wars tie-in fiction, creating a huge number of impressive stories and iconic expanded universe characters. His defining creation is without a doubt the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the ultimate Imperial strategist, who has proven his worth as a major antagonist in both the old Star Wars Legends canon and the current Disney-owned Star Wars canon. Not only was Thrawn an impressive character in the Star Wars Rebels animated series but he was recently mentioned in The Mandalorian (an event that elicited a particularly high squee from me) and looks set to appear in live-action form in the upcoming Ahsoka show. I have a lot of love for Zahn's writing (for example, his great Star Wars heist novel, Scoundrels), and I have particularly enjoyed his work in recent years. This includes his Thrawn series, which sees the author provide a new backstory to the titular character that fits within the bounds of the current canon. Zahn produced some exceptional reads for this series, including Thrawn (which is one of my favourite pieces of Star Wars tie-in fiction), Alliances and Treason. The Thrawn Ascendancy series dives even further back into the character's past and shows some of his younger exploits with his planet's defence forces, where he encounters a series of plots to destroy the Chiss Ascendancy. The first novel in this series, Chaos Rising, was a compelling 2020 read, and I look forward to seeing how the series continues next year with Greater Good.
Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good Synopsis:
Thrawn and his allies race to save the Chiss Ascendancy from an unseen enemy in the second book in the epic Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.
Thrawn's latest triumph still rests newly on his shoulders. Despite leading the Chiss to victory and bringing glory to the House of Mitth, the true threat to the Ascendancy has not yet been extinguished. Their foes do not send threats or ultimatums, or mass ships on the edge of the Chaos. Their weapons come cloaked in smiles and generosity: Gifts offered freely. Services granted unconditionally.
Across the Ascendancy, seemingly inconsequential events could herald the doom of the Chiss. As Thrawn and the Expansionary Defense Fleet rally to uncover the enemy plot, they discover a chilling truth: rather than invade Chiss capitals or pillage their resources, they strike at the very foundation of the Ascendancy, seeking to widen the rifts between The Nine Ruling Families and the Forty Great Houses below. As rivalry and suspicion sow discord among allies, each warrior must decide what matters most to them: the security of their family, or the survival of the Ascendancy itself.
As you can see, there are some awesome Star Wars tie-in novels set for release in 2021. All of the above sound extremely interesting and captivating, and I cannot wait to read all four of them, as well as the other Star Wars books set for release later in the year. Let me know which Star Wars novels you are most looking forward to reading in 2021 and feel free to gush about the upcoming television shows as well.
Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Pieces of Star Wars Tie-In Fiction
On May 5, 2020 May 5, 2020 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comics/Manga, Extended Universe, List, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel11 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week, the official topic is to list Ten Things I'd Have at My Bookish Party, although I'm once again going to do something a little different, mainly due to the date.
This week's Top Ten Tuesday falls just one day after May the 4th, which is officially Star Wars Day. I have made no secret of my love for the Star Wars franchise, and this blog is packed full of reviews for the various Star Wars tie-novels and comics that have been released in recent years. My current deep obsession with Star Wars tie-in fiction is a surprisingly recent thing, as I only started really getting into Star Wars books and comics in 2018 after reading Last Shot by Daniel Jose Older. Since then I have gone out of my way to read a ton of Star Wars novels and I have dived deep into the current vein of comic books. All of these have been pretty damn amazing so far, and I have really enjoyed some of the comics and novels that I have had the opportunity to read. Due to this, I thought I would celebrate this Star Wars Day by listing my top ten favourite pieces of Star Wars fiction.
For this list, I have pulled together the top Star Wars tie-in novels and comics that I have read and tried to figure out which ones were my absolute favourite. This turned out to be somewhat difficult because I have read quite a few outstanding Star Wars books and comics over the last two years. In order to get a list together that I was happy with, I decided that I would feature whole series of books and comics together as a single entry, which ensured I wouldn't have to choose which individual volumes were my absolute favourite. This allowed me to come up with a rather good list that contained most of my favourites, although I did also include a rather substantial Honourable Mentions section. I am actually surprised at which pieces of Star Wars fiction I ended up excluding from this list, including some fantastic novels and comics that I wrote multi-page reviews for. However, I am rather happy with what ended up on this list, and without a doubt, these following entries are my absolute favourite pieces of Star War fiction that I have read so far.
The first entry in my Honourable Mentions is a firm favourite of mine, mainly because it focuses on one of the best characters in the expanded Star Wars Universe, Ahsoka Tano, and bridges the gap between The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated show. This young adult Star Wars novel is very good and is best enjoyed in its audiobook format, which is narrated by Ashley Eckstein, the voice actor who portrays Ahsoka in the shows.
Poe Dameron (2016)
The Poe Dameron comic book series is an excellent series written by the amazing Charles Soule and drawn by Phil Noto and Angel Unzueta. This series ran between 2016 and 2018 and focuses on the adventures of Resistance pilot Poe Dameron and his X-Wing Squadron, Black Squadron. Set just before the events of The Force Awakens, this is a fantastic series filled with some rather cool storylines and outstanding characters. I actually still have to finish this series off, and the final volume, The Awakening, should hopefully be arriving by post very soon.
A clever piece of fiction that tells the tale of a young Count Dooku, showing how he fell to the Dark Side of the Force. While this was released in book format, Jedi Lost was originally an audio drama, featuring the vocal talents of some of the best Star Wars audiobook narrators and actors, and that is definitely the best way to enjoy this piece of Star Wars fiction.
This is the latest Star Wars novel that I have read, and I only got a review up for it a couple of weeks ago. Lords of the Sith is an extremely fun and action-packed Star Wars novel that is highly recommended for anyone wants to see Darth Vader and the Emperor let loose in some over-the-top ways.
Top Ten List (No Particular Order):
The first entry on this Top Ten List is the excellent new Thrawn trilogy from legendary Star Wars tie-in author, Timothy Zahn. Zahn is one of the best authors of Star Wars fiction, and in this series he brought his most iconic character, Grand Admiral Thrawn, into the new Disney canon, backing up the character's appearance on Star Wars Rebels. This trilogy is made up of three spectacular books, Thrawn, Alliances and Treason, all three of which I deeply enjoyed. The first book, Thrawn, is probably the best Star Wars novel I have so far read. This is a fantastic series to check out, and I cannot wait to grab Zahn's next piece of fiction.
This is the first of several comics series featured on this Top Ten list, and it is a rather impressive series that I literally just finished yesterday. The Star Wars (2015) series is the backbone of the current run of the franchise's comics and ran between 2015 and 2019, with 75 issues, thanks to the efforts of a massive team of contributors. This series is set between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and follows the adventures of the main protagonists of the Original Trilogy as they fight the Empire and get into all manner of trouble. This series starts off with a massive bang and has some very impressive highs throughout its run. My absolute favourite volume in this series has to be the outstanding first entry, Skywalker Strikes, although other awesome volumes include Rebel Jail, The Last Flight of the Harbinger and Hope Dies. Skywalker Strikes is the only volume of this I have so far reviewed, although I plan to review the other volumes at some point in the future.
The third entry on my list is a rather intriguing novel, Dark Disciple, which follows two fan favourite expanded universe characters, Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos, and concludes their stories after their last appearance in The Clone Wars animated series. Based on unused scripts for a proposed arc in The Clones Wars by Katie Lucas, this was an outstanding tale of love, revenge and hate that I was really glad I checked out.
Darth Vader (2015) by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca
The Darth Vader (2015) comic book series is a particularly awesome series which follows the dark and destructive adventures of the titular antagonist after the events of A New Hope. Strongly connected to the events of the Star Wars (2015) comics, this series ran for 25 issues between 2015 and 2016 and featured some incredible storylines and introduced some cool characters to the canon. I really loved this incredible series, and the two volumes I have so far reviewed, Vader and Shadows and Secrets, each got a five-star rating from me.
Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray
This next entry was a captivating novel released last year that explored the complicated relationship between Quin-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, several years before the events of The Phantom Menace. This was a deeply captivating novel that featured an interesting dive into the Star Wars lore while also presenting the reader with a fun and action-packed adventure. One of the top Star Wars novels of 2019, Master & Apprentice is a fantastic book to check out.
Vader Down
Vader Down is the latest piece of Star Wars fiction that I have reviewed, as I only just featured it in a Throwback Thursday article last week. This is an extremely awesome comic that serves as an outstanding crossover between the Star Wars (2015) and Darth Vader (2015) series. An explosive comic, full of violence, fun character moments and a compelling story, Vader Down is pure entertainment from start to finish.
This is the second entry on this list that was written by Timothy Zahn and the only book that is from the older Star Wars Legends canon. Scoundrels was an entertaining take on the heist genre that followed Han, Chewie, Lando and a crew of their criminal friends as they attempt to pull off an impossible robbery. An incredibly gripping novel with an exciting premise that I had a blast reading.
Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith by Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli
Another top-rate Star Wars comic book series featuring Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith followed the early days of Vader and is set right after the events of Revenge of the Sith. This was a very impressive series, and it was one of the first Star Wars comics that I really got into. I absolutely loved all four volumes (made up of 25 issues) of this series, and the two volumes I have reviewed, Legacy's End and The Burning Seas, both got five-star reviews from me.
An early entry in the new Star Wars canon, Tarkin created a new history for the titular character, Grand Moff Tarkin, and showed the events that led to him becoming one of the most powerful men in the Empire. This was an extremely clever and well-written novel that I deeply enjoyed, and it is a great piece of Star Wars fiction to read.
Dr Aphra (2016)
The final entry on this list is the epic and always entertaining Dr Aphra comic book series. The Dr Aphra comics spun off from the Darth Vader (2015) series and followed several of the amazing side characters that were introduced in the series, including the rogue space archaeologist Dr Aphra. Dr Aphra ran between 2016 and late 2019 and followed the crazy misadventures of the good doctor as she spreads chaos across the galaxy. This series only just ended after 40 incredible issues, and it is really worth checking out. This is easily one of my top comic series at the moment, and I loved how this series overlayed a captivating character study with cool storylines, clever action and amazing humour. I loved every second I spent reading Dr Aphra, and the two volumes I have so far reviewed, Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon and A Rogue's End, are incredible reads.
Well, that is the end of my Top Ten list. I am rather happy with how it turned out, and I think that I have included some rather interesting choices on there. I had a wonderful time coming up with this list, and I think it is something that I will come back to each year around May 4th. I imagine that my next list is going to look substantially different, as there is a huge amount of new Star Wars fiction coming out in the next year. This includes three fantastic new books from authors I read last year (Queen's Peril, Thrawn: Ascendancy: Chaos Rising and Shadow Fall), a young adult book focused on Poe Dameron, and the books that are going to fall under the new High Republic sub-series. There are also several new Star Wars comic series starting up this year, including Star Wars (2020), Darth Vader (2020), Bounty Hunters and Dr Aphra (2020), all of which I am really looking forward to checking out. I will probably also check out some older Star Wars books in the next year, such as A New Dawn and the Aftermath trilogy, both of which I have heard things about, and I might also check out some books from the old Star Wars Legends canon. All of these should result in a ton of new entries in my next list and I may actually break it up into two separate lists, one for comics and one for novels. Until then I hope you enjoyed the list above and May the Fourth be with you. Let me know what you think of my choices and let me know what your favourite Star Wars books and comics are in the comments below.


For the original posting of this, I used a jar of Trader Joe's Dark Morello cherries. However, I would suggest using fresh sour cherries (or add a little bit more lemon, if using sweet) if at all possible. It's just better. But the jarred works in a pinch.
I used them in a trifle, but these would be excellent as a middle layer of a cake, or simply spooned on top of vanilla ice cream.
Combine water, sugar and lemon juice in heavy medium saucepan. Add vanilla (or scrape seeds from vanilla bean into saucepan; add bean), and a splash of sherry if you're using it. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil until thin syrup forms, about 7 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium; add cherries. Stir 3-5 minutes. At this point, cook until you like how much the cherries have broken down. Taste as you go. You can't go wrong. The longer you cook, the more jammy they will be, but it'll take awhile for them to really really break down, especially if you're using the jarred ones. Cool the compote, then cover and chill until cold.


One of the pieces of equipment that was discussed during the Air2Air class was the use of a gyroscopic camera stabilizer unit attached to the camera. These units give your camera and lens significantly more stability in the buffeting interior of a platform airplane. Unfortunately, these units can run for over $4,000! However, i thought there might be a cheaper, DIY path to the same end.
The only household item that I was familiar with that could generate the kind of spin required for any sort of gyroscopic effect was a common 3.5" hard drive. I had plenty of these around, including some 10,000 RPM units. The primary challenge would be providing the necessary power and amperage required to power and spin a hard drive. It turns out that standard drives require both 12V and 5V power. Unfortunately, also -5V. I set up a test bench with a computer power supply and experimented with the various drives I had. Unfortunately, due to the type of SCSI drives I had (LVD), I could not get them to auto-power up. I only had 7,200 RPM drives to use. I managed to get them spinning, however, I wasn't quite satisfied with the amount of stabilization. It definitely worked, however it didn't feel like it would be enough.
I did not get a chance to complete my DIY gyrostabilizer due to the impromptu Las Vegas trip, so I would have to rely on my own wits to steady my camera and lens.
From what I had gleaned from people who had already flown, the "sweet spot" was in the 50-120mm range. I was afraid that I might be missing out on the wide end of that.
I did some tests with my 1.6x teleconverter but was not happy with the sharpness and loss of 2 stops. I couldn't afford that kind of impediment for my shoot! I contemplated renting a 24-105mm lens from Glazers, however once the day of the flight arrived, I decided that the cost and timing were prohibitive. I'd have to go with the 70-200mm, possibly the 50mm.
Another concern of mine was having enough removable media. I was going to be shooting all day and going up for my flight after that. I had to be careful about my ground-to-air shooting. I really hate having to "chimp" and prune photos in the field, but it could not be avoided.
The night before the flight, I received a confirmation from one of the organizers that indicated that I would be sitting in the nose. I had specifically requested the "waist" option, as it offered a larger, removable window. The nose, while thrilling, would mean shooting through Plexiglas. I was disappointed, but I thought it might be a good opportunity to shoot some wide angle video from the nose. Silver lining, right?
The day of the shoot arrived and the weather was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky! This was much better than the day of the class which was full overcast. My gamble to pass up the open slots on the day of the first class paid off.
There were three flights scheduled for my fly day, an early morning (7:30am) flight with the Mustang, a 2:30 flight with the Tigercat, then my flight, at 3:30pm with the Mustang. This gave me almost a full day of shooting at Paine field, which is made much more accessible with the AOA access. What made the day even better was the fact that this was also Mustang Day at both the Flying Heritage Collection (FHC) and the HFF. There were three mustangs in town, flying formation as well as the Tigercat and B-25. Lots of time to practice steady shooting for that elusive prop blur.
The HFF staff, I must add, is amazing. They are friendly, informative and are excellent BBQ chefs. They had a free lunch for anyone at the museum that day!
My flight time neared and one of the organizers approached me and said that he was doing his best to get me in the waist, which was great news, I just didn't want someone else, who paid the same as I did, to get stuck up there.
My time to fly eventually came. We were briefed on the emergency procedure inside "Grumpy" the B-25, how to open the windows, how to drop the ladder and how to drop the hatch and ladder entirely. We then had a briefing with the Pilots of the B-25 and John Sessions, the pilot of the Mustang (and founder of HFF). He would come up from our 4 o'clock low, fly alongside, switch to the port side, which would allow him to get in between the B-25 and Mount Pilchuck.
Two great things happened on the way to the plane for the flight. Two momentous things. Two things that would make the whole thing a perfect experience. First, I got a spot at the waist! Not just in the rear compartment of the airplane, but literally right smack between the two windows. I'd have first dibs at shooting out the prime location on the B-25!
The second momentous event was totally unexpected. My friend Jeremy approached me and said he had a surprise for me. Another fellow, who would turn out to be named David, had actually rented a Kenyon gyrostabilizer for his shoot and was loaning it to me for my flight! I was stunned. I was elated, and honestly a little terrified. I found out he put down a $1500 deposit on the unit. And, I had literally 5 minutes to familiarize myself with it!
So, instead of shooting at 1/160th+ per second or higher (my 70-200 is a pre-IS model) I was looking at potentially shooting at 1/60th of a second for full-circle prop blur.
We saddled up, checked our gear one last time and eventually lifted off. I was in a compartment with 3 other fellows, the nose was taken by a fellow who was shooting video exclusively, so he was perfectly fine with being up there. It worked out for both of us. The three guys in front of me were sharing an open circular window and a closed circular window, while I was shooting out two larger rectangular windows.
It wasn't long before the Impatient Virgin was along side us, and our shooting scenery became serious, focused air-to-air shooting. The only part of the air-to-air shooting that really concerned me, aside from the aforementioned technical issues, was proper window-sharing etiquette. When the perfect moment came, when John was positioned exactly between us and Mount Pilchuck, I had a large window, and the other three were sharing a smaller window. Part of me wanted to be That Guy, but the Good Guy in me relented and I shared the window. I did get my shots, though. Before I knew it, the Mustang had peeled away and we were turning back toward Everett and Paine field. John was flying up slowly behind us for a few more shots, but they were in to the sun, so they weren't quite as good as those over the mountains.
We touched down and rolled back up to the HFF ramp and we unloaded. I was high as a kite. All that adrenaline and the knowing that I had got the shots I wanted had me walking on air. The fact that I had just gone on a flight in the worlds oldest flying B-25 had hardly even registered yet, with all the focus on photography.
One of the potential benefits of the Air2Air class was the slim chance of photos taken from the class actually getting published. One of the organizers was writing a story about the class (its one of the first of its kind) so he was looking for contributions for the article from the participants. It was hinted to me that to improve my chances, that none of the shots should be out "in the wild" prior to publication, as they frown upon that. So, until I found out if they're accepted or rejected, they'll be under wraps for another blog post later.
The Air2Air ground school portion was worth its price, and I would recommend it to anyone, even those who just to basic ground-to-air photography. The air portion of the flight was an amazing experience and I would also recommend it to anyone with the means to do so. I don't hold any fantasy that I'll be doing any further air-to-air work, but I relish the experience of both flying in and shooting from a WWII B-25 Mitchell. I thank the staff of HFF for the experience and look forward to many future visits.