Book Review: The Vorkosigan Saga: Falling Free SPOILERS!

Chronologically the first novel in the Vorkosigan Saga, the novel sets up an event that has repercussions for the future and has little to do with the Vorkosigans overall. Synopsis: And Suddenly He Was Falling Free... Leo Graf was just your average highly efficient engineer: mind your own business, fix what's wrong and move on to the next job. Everything neat and according to spec, just the way he liked it. But that all changed on his assignment to the Cay Habitat. Could you just stand there and allow the exploitation of hundred of helpless children merely to enhance the bottom line of a heartless mega-corporation? Leo Graf adopted 1,000 quaddies--now all he had to do was teach them to be free.

Above the planet Rodeo, Leo Graf arrives at the Cay Habitat, hired by a former engineering subordinate who's come up in the galaxy, Bruce Van Atta, to train GalacTech personnel in engineering, or so he thinks. When Leo and Bruce dock, Bruce introduces Leo to Tony, a quaddie welder and joiner. Bruce tells Leo that quaddies are the new generation of super-workers and were bioengineered for this. Tony introduces Leo to his "wife" Claire--another quaddie--and their baby, Andy--also a quaddie. Another quaddie, Silver, is introduced to Leo via Bruce. Bruce tells Leo how quaddies were made using the recently invented uterine replicators made by Beta Colony. Dr. Sondra Yei, the local psychologist, tells Leo how the rest of the humans must watch what they do in front of the quaddies as they're fast learners and not to mention death, since the quaddies are children, really. Leo asks about self defense and Yei threatens to have him removed if he doesn't follow her rules. Meanwhile, Silver is watching a smuggled vid about animals, particularly cats, with Claire and wonders what it'd be like downside. Leo trains Tony and the other quaddie welders about engineering and mentions the faults that can happen if no one is careful. Yei admonishes Claire and Tony for becoming pair bonded as that was not in the plans for the breeding program (it's all detailed in the novel that it seems like a creepy fetish of Bujolds; note: I said, seems like).

After learning that Tony will be shipped off when Claire's supposed to be mated by another quaddie, Tony decides to break him and Claire, with Andy, out and make for Rodeo. Doing so causes a trigger of events that leaves Tony wounded, Claire kept away from Andy, and Leo being chastised for mentioning independent work and money to Tony even though Leo had no idea why Tony had wanted that information. In a heated argument, Leo decks Bruce in front of a GalacTech VIP. After hearing the ugly truth about what'll happen if the Cay Project folds and the quaddies be killed, which seems more likely now that the Betans discovered artificial gravity devices and Bruce demanding that Leo keep this quiet because he's [Bruce's] planning of having them all sterilized, all pregnancies aborted and shipping the quaddies off to an abandoned mine, but Leo devises a plan to make sure that doesn't happen. Yei refuses to help Leo. Leo, in deep thought, plans to move the station to the wormhole in Rodeo's system and let the quaddies flourish there. Leo tells Silver his plan and they finalize it. Leo lies to Bruce and starts "dismantling" Cay Station and tells certain quaddies about their new fate: to move them to the wormhole junction. Silver, Leo, and Zara break Ti the shuttle pilot out of security and tell him the plan. He agrees after some persuasion.

Leo calls Dr. Michenko, who bitches about Bruce's manhandling of the medical side of Tony's downside treatment, and tells him to call Bruce when Claire mentions that no one will let her see Andy. Dr. Curry tries to sterilize Claire and she suborns him. Silver, Ti, Siggy, and Zara take over a Superjumper and send a signal to Claire who relays it to Leo. Leo calls in an accident and nearly every downsider (human) makes it to the conference room. Bruce tries to assert control when the quaddies blow the sealed room off the Cay Habitat. Dr. Michenko and a few others are left behind because they didn't trust the signal and thought it was Bruce's way of killing the quaddies but demand to stay when they learn of Leo's plan because Leo doesn't know the first thing that isn't engineering. Leo accepts and they get to work. Michenko, Ti, Leo, and Silver head down to Rodeo to retrieve Tony and Michenko's wife. Bruce docks with the Rodeo station on the planet and sends a squad out to stop Leo but they arrive too late. In the end, Leo and the remaining humans plus the quaddies jump out of the system and get away, and start to build their own future.

All in all, a quick read if there ever was one and a rather refreshing change of pace from the slow starting Lois McMaster Bujold. Falling Free is a real gem of a book and I would easily recommend it to other science-fiction fans to start the Vorkosigan saga.

Future book reviews

For the entirety of the summer, I plan to do an awful lot of reading and reviewing some good books that I liked and some new ones. Below is a list of planned book reviews (don't hold me to that, though. Thing's change.)

Star Wars: Knight Errant by John Jackson Miller
Sebastian by Anne Bishop
Belladonna by Anne Bishop
Bridge of Dreams by Anne Bishop
The Honor Harrington series by David Weber
The X-Wing series by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston
The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn
The Hand of Thrawn Duology by Timothy Zahn
Survivor's Quest by Timothy Zahn
Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn
The Hand of Judgement Duology by Timothy Zahn
The New Jedi Order series by various
The Conqueror's Trilogy by Timothy Zahn
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Vorkosagian series by Lois McMaster Bujold (to be done in novel chronological order)
I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole
Crosscurrent by Paul S. Kemp
Riptide by Paul S. Kemp
Shadow Games by Michael Reaves and Maya Kathryn Bonham


Most posts will be published around 6am, 12pm, or 6pm on any given day of the week, most likely weekends as that suits me better. 

Book Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Gambit: Seige SPOILERS!

Karen Miller's final entry in Star Wars and it picks up where Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth left off. Well, we hope. Synopsis: On the Outer Rim, the planet Lanteeb has no strategic value, no political power, and one enormous problem: it has been invaded by an emboldened Separatist Alliance. To find out why, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have snuck onto Lanteeb -- and now look oblivion in the eye… Hiding their lightsabers beneath their dusty disguises, Anakin and Obi-Wan draw on their Jedi skills to stay one step ahead of Lok Durd's droid army on Lanteeb. The Jedi know that a captive scientist has given Durd the keys to a terrifying bioweapon. Durd knows that the Jedi are on his planet. With Yoda calling on the powers of the Jedi Council, with a new Separatist technology jamming the Guardians' communications, and a traitor at the heart of the Republic's government, the wheels of war are turning. But the Separatists have blockaded Lanteeb. The finishing touches are being put on a weapon to destroy whole worlds. And it will be up to the two Jedi Knights and their most trusted comrades to liberate Lanteeb or forever suffer the consequences.

The novel opens with Obi-Wan and Anakin escape from Bant'ena's betrayal and crash before running to the nearest village. Count Dooku, meanwhile, overseeing the Battle of Kothlis, demands an update from Lok Durd who reports that the bioweapon will be ready in four days. Durd can't believe he lied to Dooku and meets with Colonel Barev and demands that the Jedi be killed. On Coruscant, Bail learns from scientist Tryn Netzl that he can create a cure for the bioweapon now that he's recreated it with Jedi Grand Master Yoda's permission. Ahsoka informs Rex and Coric that Anakin and Obi-Wan are in trouble but nothing more. Jedi Master Taria Damsin, another of Obi-Wan's former girlfriends, offers to race Ahsoka to take her mind off the trouble on Lanteeb. On Lanteeb, Anakin and Obi-Wan talk with the villagers for a long time. Palpatine expresses his concern to Yoda, who persuades Taria not to leave Coruscant. Sidious/Palpatine learn from Dooku that the bioweapon is almost ready, but Palpatine doesn't believe Lok Durd. On Lanteeb, more conversations arise as Anakin and Obi-Wan continue to get to know the natives. Palpatine gets into an argument with Yoda over keeping the knowledge that Anakin and Obi-Wan are on Lanteeb and their mission.

Lok Durd orders the bioweapon tested on Chandrila and the Chandrilan senator, Mon Mothma, alerts the Republic Senate who demand answers. Palpatine informs Dooku and urges him to be patient as it's playing into his hands. In a Jedi Council meeting, all the Masters agree that it's time to go after Lok Durd. The GAR and Jedi meet Grievous above Lanteeb and engage in a fleet battle that's never shown, just happening in the background. On Lanteeb, Lok Durd's in a discussion with Bant'ena about how to make the bioweapon better when he learns of the Republic Fleet duking it out with Grievous. Bant'ena uses the surprise to sneak word to the Jedi that Bespin is the next target. Palpatine demands that ships be sent to secure Bespin. Lanteeb's natives become unhappy with Obi-Wan and Anakin. Taria crash lands on Lanteeb and rushes to Bant'ena who informs her that she (Bant'ena) can't leave because of an implant that'll kill her if she attempts to escape. Bant'ena stays behind to blow up the bioweapon factory while Taria goes after Obi-Wan and Anakin. Mace Windu, Obi-Wan and a few others are disappointed with Taria. The information is relayed and Yoda departs for Lanteeb. Mace, Ahsoka, the 501st Legion and 95th Infantry land to aide Obi-Wan, Anakin, the village, and a dying Taria. In the aftermath of the battle, Lok Durd escapes with Grievous, Taria died, and the villagers are being moved to Naboo.

All in all, a slow novel that got better after 2/3s of the whole thing was over. Finally, something happened in that last 1/3 that had me thinking that this was Star Wars again and not some novel with people talking where things don't get done under the Star Wars label.

Book Review: Star Wars: Darth Plagueis SPOILERS!

So it came out in early January 2012 and I'm just now getting to a review of it. That's not because of bad writing or horrible storytelling, which not one single part of this book has. It's because of the ammount of material of the Expanded Universe has been put into this novel that's made me want to reread it with all of that material so I can grasp the bigger picture. And may I say, after waiting for seven years for this book, author James Luceno does not disappoint. Synopsis: Plagueis was the most powerful Sith Lord who ever lived. But could he be the only one who never died? Darth Plagueis: one of the most brilliant Sith Lords who ever lived. Possessing power is all he desires. Losing it is the only thing he fears. As an apprentice, he embraces the ruthless ways of the Sith. And when the time is right, he destroys his Master—but vows never to suffer the same fate. For like no other disciple of the dark side, Darth Plagueis learns to command the ultimate power... over life and death. Darth Sidious: Plagueis’s chosen apprentice. Under the guidance of his Master, he secretly studies the ways of the Sith, while publicly rising to power in the galactic government, first as Senator, then as Chancellor, and eventually as Emperor. Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, Master and acolyte, target the galaxy for domination—and the Jedi Order for annihilation. But can they defy the merciless Sith tradition? Or will the desire of one to rule supreme, and the dream of the other to live forever, sow the seeds of their destruction?

The novel opens moments after Palpatine kills Plagueis and feels the untold power of the dark side become his. It then shifts back 35 years to when Plagueis, on a visit to Bal'demnic to view its cortosis supply, kills his master, Darth Tenebrous. After stowing away on the Woebegone and killing the vast majority of its crew, Plagueis and his new-found droid 11-4D, arrive at Muunilinst, the homeworld of the Muuns (Plagueis' species) and uses his guise as Hego Damask to ruin Subtext Mining, as well as talk with members of the Gran Protectorate and the Trade Federation. In meditation, Plagueis notes that all Sith training in the Banite Sith is distorted thanks to most of its former members and Darth Gravid. Palgueis helps the Yinchorri gain membership into the Republic, which has disastrous effects on the galaxy in the Yinchorri Uprising in 33 BBY. Darth Venamis, Tenebrous' second apprentice, shows up and loses to Plagueis. Plagueis experiments on the Bith for his quest to seek immortality. After offing Venamis' apprentice on Abraxin in the Tion Hegemony, Plagueis meets with Ars Veruna on Naboo and wants to mine the planet's reserves of plasma. He also meets a brilliant young man named Palpatine and after becoming "friends," Palpatine kills his parents and goes into hiding with Palgueis where he learns about the Force and the Sith.

Palpatine wonders whether he will become some yellow-eyed, raspy-voiced, pale-skinned monster like Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus, or King Ommin of Onderon. On Coruscant, where he's a senatorial aide, Palpatine, Kinman Doriana, Janus Greejatus, and Senator Vidar Kim meet with other senators when Vidar received a message about his family's death. He seeks out his son, Ronhar, to help continue the family line. Palpatine visits the southern outpost on the backwater world of Dathomir and receives Maul as an unwanted gift from a Nightsister from a tribe that's been exiled from the rest of the Witches of Dathomir and main Nightsister group. Plagueis suggests that Maul be trained as a Sith tool. On Kamino, Plagueis learns from Ko Sai that the Yinchorri can't be easily cloned but humans can and asks if they have any objections to working with Rothana Heavy Engineering. Palpatine, after conferring with Plagueis, has Sate Pestage sent a Maladian—because the Death Watch is busy dealing with Mand'alor Jango Fett and the True Mandalorians—to kill Vidar; none survive, except Ronhar, who becomes friends with Palpatine. As a result, Palpatine becomes the senator for Naboo. On Serenno, Plagueis meets Dooku, Qui-Gon Jinn, Jocasta Nu, and Sifo-Dyas; he finds Dooku worthy of being a Sith, a rival in Qui-Gon, and Sifo-Dyas a tool. Plagueis almost drops Kamino to Sifo-Dyas, but the Force nudges him to keep quiet. Senator Pax Teem makes a move against Plagueis and Plagueis is wounded severely. Palpatine and Pestage arrive on scene and save him. Palpatine kills Teem and his cohorts in vengeance and anger. As a result, Plagueis has to wear a breath mask and and withdraws from the galaxy.

The Yinchorri Uprising has happened, the Stark Hyperspace War is done, the Mandalorians are licking their wounds from Galidraan, and Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum's popularity is waning. Ars Veruna, now king of Naboo, reveals the Naboo starships to Palpatine. Palpatine goads Nute Gunray into doing his bidding and thus the preparations for the Naboo invasion begin. Palpatine sends Maul to do a bit of work on Dorvalla while Plagueis meets with Jabba Desilijic Tiure to bring podracing to Tatooine. Palpatine and Dooku have become friendly towards each other over the last few years and discuss the wickedness behind the Galidraan incident where a few Jedi massacred 100 True Mandalorians and arrested Jango Fett and what happened to Komari Vosa, Dooku's latest apprentice. Dooku lets slip about the prophecy of the Chose One. Palpatine talks with the Naberrie family about putting Padme forth as queen to remove Ars Veruna now that he's outlived his purpose. Gardulla Besadii the Elder, the Black Sun, and the Bando Gora attack Plagueis' stronghold but arrive too late as Plagueis is hiding in a ship with 11-4D, and is spirited away by Jabba. Maul is sent to deal with Black Sun and it's current ruler, Alexi Garyn; Plagueis kills Veruna, Dooku hears about some Jedi killing Komari—who runs the Bando Gora; and Jabba deals blows to Gardulla on Tatooine. After a disastrous affair on Dorvalla, Gunray is in for the invasion. Black Sun is in shambles with Xizor and Sise Fromm looking to take over and Padme Amidala is enforcing a new security measure for all Naboo citizens, including Palpatine. After killing a large number of people on Coruscant, a holocron is delivered to Palpatine and Plagueis on an orbital station above Coruscant.  On that station, Plagueis drops Kamino to Sifo-Dyas and about getting a feeling that war is coming and that the Republic had best be prepared for it. Amidala informs Palpatine and Valorum that Naboo is being invaded. Certain events happen and Plagueis hears about an extraordinary boy, Anakin Skywalker. Before he can see him, he's swept off to Naboo. On the night before Palpatine becomes Chancellor, Palpatine kills Plagueis in his sleep and, a couple days later, learns that Maul died fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi. In the epilogue, Palpatine talks to Obi-Wan and Anakin, reassuring Anakin that he [Palpatine] is watching Anakin's future with great interest.

All in all, a pulse-pounding novel that really comes to grips with just how far the Grand Plan had been in effect and how the disjointed events leading up to the Phantom Menace came about. Luceno did one heckuva job bringing all these things together and tying them in so it all made sense. It was well worth the wait. Geat characterizations that pull at the story. And well worth it if you can spot all the other stories it references and read/play them alongside.*

*Note: only recommended for hardcore fans of Star Wars and the Expanded Universe.

Book Reivew: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth SPOILERS!

Karen Miller's second Star Wars novel repeats too much of the same concepts that made The Clone Wars: Wild Space uninteresting: too much character development and sprinkles of action that it located at the beginning of the novel, and way too much time spent with the characters sitting at tables and eating and talking. It gets boring after a while. Synopsis: Planet by planet, darkness creeps across the galaxy. Among warriors and generals, among ordinary beings living in far-flung worlds, the fear will not go away: We are losing this war.... Anakin Skywalker feels it, too. The Separatist Alliance, with ruthlessness and treachery, is beating the Republic to every strategic target. But after a costly clash with General Grievous for the planet Kothlis, Anakin has a mission that will focus his anxious mind. Alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi, he is posing as a long-lost native of Lanteeb, an impoverished world on the Outer Rim. This seemingly unimportant planet has drawn the interest of the Seps—and Anakin and Obi-Wan soon discover the disturbing reason: A scientist enslaved by General Lok Durd is drawing on Lanteeb's one natural resource for a devastating bioweapon. Now Anakin and Obi-Wan have entered the eye of a storm. Their presence has been exposed, Lok Durd's plans unveiled, and a fight has begun for survival behind enemy lines—and a chance of winning a war that must be fought at any cost.

The novel starts off with Ahsoka sitting somewhere, waiting for the Battle of Kothlis to start, reflecting on how she's the Chosen One's apprentice and that she mustn't get him killed. Grievous jumps into Kothlis and begins the fight while Admiral Wullf Yularen, Anakin, and Obi-Wan try and hold him off while communications to Coruscant are fixed. Deciding not to wait for comms to come back, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and the clone pilots of Gold, Arrow and Hammer Squadron will engage: Anakin and Gold, Arrow and Hammer Squadrons destroying the droid fighters while Obi-Wan will insert themselves on the ground with LAAT/i's full of 501st Torrent Company.The battle is on and  already clones are dying both on ground and in space. Communications are restored just as Grievous retreats and Ahsoka feints from lack of blood. Ahsoka's put out of commission by order of the doctors. On Coruscant, Bail greets Obi-Wan, recently recovered from spinal injury during the Battle of Kothlis, and tells Obi-Wan about the Separatists taking control of Lanteeb, a backwater Outer Rim world. During a meeting with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Bail and Grand Master Yoda compromise on dispatching a few older clone soldiers and a few newer ones to Kothlis so that the new ones can get training from vets and the vets can have some skills practice.

In the Jedi Archives researching Lanteeb, Obi-Wan invites Anakin to his and Bail's dinner strategy planning. Anakin, on a holocom to Ahsoka, asks her to check out Lanteeb in the Kaminoan databases on a hunch. At the dinner, Padme returns from her retreat and joins them. Bail presents his findings as does Obi-Wan; turns out it was a passing gas freighter that discovered the occupation. Bail proposes, via a history lesson from Padme, that Anakin and Obi-Wan insert themselves into Lanteeb's xenophobic human population, but a call from Ahsoka delivers the fact that it's a bioweapon Dooku's got brewing on Lanteeb. Obi-Wan and Anakin, with Bail's blessing, reveal all to Yoda. Yoda gives his consent and off they go to Lanteeb. When Anakin and Obi-Wan arrive, and after passing through CIS security, they go undercover and find out what they can about the bioweapon. It's being managed by Lok Durd and being made by Bant'ena Fhernan, who's being held against her will in the compound to create the virus, and Durd threatens that if she doesn't do what he tells her, he'll kill every one of her friends and family. With this knowledge, Anakin and Obi-Wan report back to Yoda who rallies otehr Jedi teams to rescue Bant'ena's family and friends though one does get killed. Durd shows the holo of said death to Bant'ena who sells out Obi-Wan and Anakin. The two Jedi barely escape death by hot-wiring a speeder and book it to one of the Lanteeban villages for help.

All in all, it starts off with a good battle that lasts one chapter, like Miller doesn't even want to bother and sags for the entirety of the middle until the escape at the end, where the action picks up. It's fun if you like tons of character building and world building which gets stale after a while. Not bad, but still better than most of the episodes shown on the animated TV show. 

Book Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance SPOILERS!

The first ever The Old Republic novel is penned by Sean Williams. Don't let the following synopsis fool you, though. It doesn't happen like that till half-way through the novel, much like a Kevin J. Anderson novel. It also contains one big discrepancy: Satele Shan is listed as the Grand Master when the events of the trailer Deceived take place weeks before—that's what the book leads one to believe, anyway—when she was a Jedi Padawan. Synopsis: From across the galaxy they've come: agents of both the Republic and the Sith Empire, an investigating Jedi Padawan, an ex-trooper drummed out of the Republic's elite Blackstar Squad, and a mysterious Mandalorian. An extraordinary auction has drawn them all together—in quest of a prize only one can claim. Each is prepared to do what he must to possess the treasure, whose value may be the wealth of a world itself. None intended to leave empty-handed. All have secrets, desires, and schemes. An nothing could ever unite them as allies—except the truth about the deadly danger of the object they covet. But can Sith and Jedi, Republic and Empire—enemies for millennia—join as one against the certain doom of the galaxy?

The novel opens in Wild Space, where Jet Nebula, in the Auriga Fire, has captured the Cinzia. After a failed attempt to board it, Jet pilots the Fire away as Cinzia explodes. They scan the wreckage and notice something. On Coruscant, Jedi Padawan Shigar Konshi storms through the skywalks on a mission for the Order, seething from his meeting with the Jedi Council on Tython where they passed over him for testing in the Trials to become a Knight. A violent confrontation takes place in a nearby warehouse where former Republic trooper Larin Moxla confronts the sole survivor, and instigator, of the conflict, Mandalorian warrior Dao Stryver. After a brief fight with each other, Shigar and Larin team up to find Styver and figure out what Cinzia and Lema Xandret mean. On Dromund Kaas, in Kaas City, Sith apprentice Eldon Ax, recently returned from failed a mission her master Sith Lord Darth Chratis sent her on, is asked by the Dark Council and Chratis about the mission. She reports failure but Darth Howl is lenient and demands that Chratis tell Eldon everything. Eldon is Cinzia nad her mother was Lema and all that was being blocked by Chratis. From Imperial Intelligence, they learn that the cargo of the Cinzia ended up on Nal Hutta, in an auction the Hutts are holding. A Sith spy within the Republic, Ula Vii, hears rumors about Lema and the Cinzia and passes it to his Imperial masters where Chratis and Eldon are about to depart for Hutt Space.

All four journeys are made: Shigar and Larin, Chratis and Eldon, Ula, and Stryver. They all meet in a violent clash of interests that ends up with a small group of hexagonal droids attacking them. Though they're destroyed, Stryver escapes with Cinzia's navicomputer. Eldon copies the memory hardware from one of the destroyed droids that might lead back to Cinzia's point of origin. Shigar and Larin deal with the primary Hutt auctioneer, Tassaa Bareesh, during the aftermath of the violence oer Cinzia's contents. They make a deal with the Hutt and are allowed to leave and continue with their journey.With a complemement of Bareesh's own guardds, Jet and Ula, Shigar is able to retrace the origin points via the Force. They leave for the origin planet, Sebaddon, located near a black hole on the very edge of the galaxy. The hexagonal droids seem too pwerful to stop, so the Republic and Empire fleets team up and destroy the droids, in spite of the problems between them. Plus Eldon and Satele accidentally kill a clone of Eldon who'd been unknowingly controlling the hex army. Eldon takes control of the hexes herself and commands them to kill Darth Chratis then orders the droids to destroy themselves in the lava of Sebaddon. The alliance breaks and the Republic and the Empire plunge back into war.The primary character's lives change for the better, including Eldon who is taken under the wing of Darth Howl.

All in all, a less than stellar Star Wars novel penned by one of the most mediocre authors for the franchise. The characters are stale and unmoving in their beliefs and literally are just one-dimensional characters that are cardboard cutouts. Other than the events, nothing really happens with the characters that makes the reader want to read this.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: No Prisoners SPOILERS!

Karen Traviss's second and last novel in the Clone Wars TV series spin-off novels, it holds some of the best work by Karen, if being a bit on the slim side. Published in May 2009, five months before she was fired from writing any more Star Wars novels, it was perhaps one of her best. Synopsis: The Clone Wars rage on. As insurgent Separatists fight furiously to wrest control of the galaxy from the Republic, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine cunningly manipulates both sides for his own sinister purposes. Torrent Company’s Captain Rex agrees to temporarily relieve Anakin Skywalker of Ahsoka, his ubiquitous—and insatiably curious—Padawan, by bringing her along on a routine three-day shakedown cruise aboard Captain Gilad Pellaeon’s newly refitted assault ship. But the training run becomes an active—and dangerous—rescue mission when Republic undercover agent Hallena Devis goes missing in the middle of a Separatist invasion. Dispatched to a distant world to aid a local dictator facing a revolution, Hallena finds herself surrounded by angry freedom fighters and questioning the Republic’s methods–and motives. Summoned to rescue the missing operative who is also his secret love, Pellaeon—sworn to protect the Republic over all—is torn between duty and desire. And Ahsoka, sent in with Rex and six untested clone troopers to extract Hallena, encounters a new and different Jedi philosophy, which shakes the foundation of her upbringing to the core. As danger and intrigue intensify, the loyalties and convictions of all involved will be tested....

The novel opens with a first person point of view of Captain Gilad Pellaeon as he prepares for Clone Captain Rex of the 501st Legion and Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who is on leave from Anakin Skywalker. On the planet JanFathal, Republic Intelligence agent Hallena Devis is assigned to help the fascist government keep its people from from siding with the Separatists. Pellaeon's taking his ship, the Acclamator-class assault ship Leveler out on a shakedown run in the Fath sector when Rex and Ahsoka arrive. Pelleaon tells Ahsoka to change into proper Republic uniform, since a teenager dressing like a slut is wrong in Pellaeon's eyes. In Athar, the capital of JanFathal, Hallena is given a job of sweeping and meets Merish Hath and Shil Kaval, the leaders of the pro-Separatist group, and is invited to join in their rebellion. On Coruscant, Anakin and Padme enjoy a couple of days with each other. On Leveler, Pelleaon and Rex are alerted to CIS forces jumping into the Fath system. On the planet, Merish and Shil announce that the revolution has arrived. In the cargo vessel Wookiee Gunner, Jedi Master Djinn Altis, Callista Ming, and Geith Eris and a few other members of Altis' Jedi sect, debating Yoda's "old school" philosophy.

The revolution of JanFathal has started and Republic Intelligence wants an update but Hallena's unable to respond and gets knocked unconscious by a passing hovertruck as the Separatists invade. On Coruscant, Anakin gets a call from Rex about the situation and Anakin feels uneasy. He departs Coruscant for the Fath system. Shil and Merish find out about Hallena being an operative and hold her hostage but she transmits an emergency message to any nearby ships, warning of the invasion. Altis, aboard Wookiee Gunner, shows up and docks with Leveler. Altis passes the message along and RepInt says that it's Hallena Devis on JanFathal. Pellaeon believes himself to be too close to this and asks Rex to handle the rescue operation and in the meantime, they're going to wait for Intel to catch up to them. Pellaeon gives Altis a pen he borrowed from Hallena so Altis can get a clear sense of her. Rex, Ahsoka, Callista and the 501st Torrent Company descend to JanFathal, Altis homing in on her life force. Callista and Ahsoka protect Torrent Company's flank while they charge into the regent's palace to rescue Hallena. During a philosophical talk, Ahsoka becomes upset when she learns that Altis' Jedi haven't fallen to the dark side nor have any of the other major Force groups: The Witches of Dathomir (not the Nightsisters and Nightbrothers), the Baran Do, the Jal Shey, the Zeison Sha, and dozens of others. Altis distracts Merish and Shil while Rex rolls in a stun grenade and extract Hallena.

Vere dies and the others try to pack it in to get off and manage to ex-filtrate JanFathal. Anakin arrives and escorts the shuttle to Leveler but a Separatist vessel give Leveler chase. Anakin breaks off and goes to stall the Seps while Leveler tries to get away. Before the shuttle gets close to Leveler, it jumps away. Sergeant Coric powers the shuttle down as it won't do Anakin any good in a fight. Anakin makes the choice to land back on JanFathal. Meanwhile, Pellaeon is swearing up a storm about how the nacomputers just fritzed out. Anakin and the others make a plan to steal a CR-20 troop carrier from the Seps and escape in case Leveler and Pellaeon can't make it back to the Fath system in time. Leveler jumps back in time to get the CR-20 docked before plotting a jump to Kemla but the Separatists are still on their tail. Callista falls deep into the Force and uses her skills with electronics to disable the Separatist ships while the Leveler gets away.  Hallena walks away from the Republic and joins Altis while Altis and Anakin talk about hypothetical and philosophical stuff. In the end, Altis and his Jedi are on Yarille, helping out the locals recovering from a battle.

All in all, a decent, fast paced novel from Karen Traviss that adds the necessary depth to the TV show. And it did so in a way that most anti-Traviss Star Wars fans didn't feel preached at. I'd recommend this for any fan of Star Wars.

Book Review: Star Wars: Red Harvest SPOILERS!

Okay, so it's not exactly a part of The Old Republic MMO tie-ins, but Red Harvest is set within that era. Horror author Joe Schrieber made his second debut in the Star Wars galaxy in 2010. This is a book about zombies, just like he did in Death Troopers. Yeah, A zombie novel. How pathetic and boring and unoriginal. This is the nth version of a zombie-like incident happening within this galaxy. Schrieber could've done better. Synopsis: The era of the Old Republic is a dark and dangerous time, as Jedi Knights valiantly battle the Sith Lords and their ruthless armies. But the Sith have disturbing plans—and none more so than the fulfillment of Darth Scabrous’s fanatical dream, which is about to become nightmarish reality. Unlike those other Jedi sidelined to the Agricultural Corps—young Jedi whose abilities have not proved up to snuff—Hestizo Trace possesses one extraordinary Force talent: a gift with plants. Suddenly her quiet existence among greenhouse and garden specimens is violently destroyed by the arrival of an emissary from Darth Scabrous. For the rare black orchid that she has nurtured and bonded with is the final ingredient in an ancient Sith formula that promises to grant Darth Scabrous his greatest desire. But at the heart of the formula is a never-before-seen virus that’s worse than fatal—it doesn’t just kill, it transforms. Now the rotting, ravenous dead are rising, driven by a bloodthirsty hunger for all things living—and commanded by a Sith Master with an insatiable lust for power and the ultimate prize: immortality . . . no matter the cost.

The novel opens 3,645 years before the Battle of Yavin (Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope) with one-dimensional zombie movie characters training in the ways of the Sith on a planet called Odacer-Faustin. One of the students, Nickter, gets wounded and goes missing. Apparently, he's the fourth to go missing this year. It's also apparent that the Sith temple's Sith Lord, Darth Scabrous, has kidnapped Nickter and uses him to experiment on, seeking a way to live forever. On Marfa, Hestizo Trace and the black Murakami orchid she's watching over are kidnapped and taken to Odacer-Faustin. Returning from Geonosis, Jedi Knight Rojo Trace arrives on Marfa to find his sister has been kidnapped and Joe Schrieber copies Liam Neeson's line from the movie Taken as he threatens the people who stole her and the orchid. Jura sneaks into Scabrous' lab and finds Nickter being pumped with liquid and die. Nickter's body then sits up and chases Jura and bites him. Lussk beats a fellow student and tosses him in a pit with Nickter and Jura's dead body and leaves the student to die. The student, Na'at, survived and heads to the infirmary. Meanwhile, another student, Scopique, sees the animated body of Jura charge and bite him. Thirty students arrive and both Jura and Scopique's bodies attack them.

Lussk traps more students in the dining hall and the zombies attack in a raving horde and Lussk becomes one of them. Scabrous learns of his error and has his ship prepped to leave after he kills Hestizo. Rojo has infiltrated the Sith academy and sees the Sith-zombies eat the trainers. Scabrous kills the academy's librarian to draw Hestizo and the Whipid bounty hunter to him. Ra'at becomes a zombie and Maggs puts him down with Force Lightning. Tulkh, the bounty hunter, finds Scabrous' HK assassin droid and together, they hold off the zombies and make their way to Tulkh's ship. Kindra betrays Maggs to the zombie-forms of the Sith trainer and Hartwig. Scabrous wants to kill Hestizo and eat her heart, performing the last bit of a ritual the ancient Sith Lord Darth Drear has discovered only too late to remain immortal. The zombies use Kindra to destroy a ship that had landed days ago and feast on her. Tulkh gets spittle from a zombie-tauntuan in his eye. Scabrous kills Rojo and Hestizo kills Scabrous. Tulkh, HK, and Frode rescue Hestizo and become trapped inside Tullkh's ship as the zombies activate the academy's defenses. HK sacrifices itself to destroy the defenses, taking all the zombies with it. Frode takes the ship out and Hestizo finds Tulkh beginning to transform. He orders her to space him and she does when Lussk jumps out of the shadows. Both Lussk and Tulkh are sucked into space. Frode and Hestizo head back to Mafra so she can say she's leaving to finish her Jedi training. The two of them leave for the Jedi Temple.

A rather overhyped novel (at the time) that readers quickly see has no plot (just like every zombie-related thing out there) and no character development. I know the majority of the cast is Sith, but come on. None of the rest of the Sith Lords act completely alike. A less than mediocre novel that has tied its bloody hands with the current MMO for Star Wars.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Wild Space SPOILERS!

Karen Miller's first Star Wars novel has generally been accepted by Star Wars fans as weak, insisting that too much time was spent on character development and little to nothing on the action scenes that take place. She borrows heavily from the droid duology of the first season, and it shows, like with the shows creators, how little imagination and respect for previous continuity she has. Synopsis: The Clone Wars have exploded across the galaxy as Republic forces and Separatists struggle to gain the upper hand. But while the Jedi generals work tirelessly to defeat Count Dooku and his rebels, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is hatching his own dark plans. The Separatists have launched a sneak attack on Coruscant. Obi-Wan Kenobi, wounded in battle, insists that Anakin Skywalker and his rookie Padawan Ahsoka leave on a risky mission against General Grievous. But when Senator Bail Organa reveals explosive intelligence that could turn the tide of war in the Republic's favor, the Jedi Master agrees to accompany him to an obscure planet in the Outer Rim to verify the facts. What Obi-Wan and Bail don't realize is that they're walking into a deadly trap concocted by Palpatine... and escape may not be an option. Inspired by the full-length animated feature film Star Wars: The Clone Wars and brand new TV series, this thrilling adventure is filled with provocative, never-before-revealed insights into the characters of Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padmé, Yoda, Count Dooku and many other Star Wars favorites.

The novel immediately sets out to rewrite Star Wars canon. Anakin is knighted directly after the (first) Battle of Geonosis instead of in the wildly popular Star Wars novel, Jedi Trial (six months before Revenge of the Sith). Later, after the events of the movie, Anakin and Obi-Wan show Ahsoka how to duel. After several talking pages, Obi-Wan receives information from Dexter about Grievous's plans to invade Bothawui, the homeworld of the Bothans. After some botched character building with Anakin, he learns from Obi-Wan, wounded in a crash, about the attack on Bothawui. Anakin tells Yoda and the Jedi Council. A botched attempt to turn Palpatine into a good guy by the author fails and that's 12 pages wasted. The Jedi Council assigns Anakin and Ahsoka to oversee the Battle of Bothawui. Palpatine, as Darth Sidious, contacts Dooku, as Darth Tyrannus, to leak information to get Bail and Obi-Wan lured into a trap. Bail asks Padme if she's heard of the Sith and she lies. She asks Obi-Wan to come to her place to talk to Bail. They meet and agree, and so does the Jedi Council, to go looking for this Sith threat on a planet called Zigoola. Bail and Obi-Wan leave Coruscant and traverse a stunted path to Zigoola, which takes them past Bothawui during Greivous' attack and some bit of the aftermath. Then, after several chapters of stunted character development, they finally arrive at Zigoola and attempt to guide themselves to the Sith temple only to crash on the planet. The Siths lingering power is affecting Obi-Wan, making him nearly kill Organa on a couple of occasions. With no ship and a minimal chance of survival inside, and after days of travel through Zigoola's terrain, enter the Sith temple and find a Sith Holocron. The holocron has been raging at Obi-Wan to kill. Instincts kick in and Bail destroys the Sith artifacts inside the Sith temple. On Obi-Wan's orders, Bail wounds the Jedi Master and Obi-Wan uses a crystal to summon Yoda for help. Yoda asks Padme to go because he can't risk another Jedi being influenced by Zigoola's Sith remnants. Padme and a group of clone troopers arrive and retrieve them. Obi-Wan and Bail recover on Coruscant while Palpatine, seething inside at all the destroyed artifacts and Obi-Wan and Bail's survival and the setbacks this costs him, continues on with managing the war.

All in all, a slightly-worse than mediocre novel. Too much time was spent on character development at the sake of the plot. IN a way, cramming in parts of the droid episodes wasted enough time to eventually get Obi-Wan and Bail to Zigoola, which seems to have been the author's intent. Karen Miller wasted enough time when she could've just jumped them straight to Zigoola and done what only two other authors have done: explore the Sith. So much potential on Zigoola and none of it used. How... disappointing.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived SPOILERS!

Paul S. Kemp's second published Star Wars novel, published in 2011, was a huge success in exploring the psyche of Darth Malgus, the new badass Sith Lord of the Old Republic era. Synopsis: The second novel set in the Old Republic era and based on the massively multiplayer online role playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic™ ramps up the action and brings readers face-to-face for the first time with a Sith warrior rival to the most sinister of the Order's Dark Lords—Darth Malgus, the mysterious, masked Sith of the wildly popular "Deceived" and "Hope" game trailers. Malgus brought down the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in a brutal assault that shocked the galaxy. But if war crowned him the darkest of the Sith heroes, peace would transform him into something far more heinous—something Malgus would never want to be, but cannot stop, any more than he can stop the rogue Jedi fast approaching. Her name is Aryn Leneer—and the lone Knight that Malgus cut down in the fierce battle for the Jedi Temple was her Master. And now she's going to find out what happened to him, even if it means breaking every rule in the book.

The novel starts out with Zeerid Korr delivering cargo on Ord Mantell for The Exchange when he's ambushed and flees the planet on his ship, the Fatman. On Coruscant, Darth Malgus and his Twi'lek lover, Eleena Daru, stride up to the Jedi Temple. On Alderaan, Jedi Knight Aryn Leneer attends the peace talks set up between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic. On Coruscant, the infamous "Deceived" trailer is fleshed out as Darth Malgus leads the attack on the Jedi Temple with Eleena, an unknown female Mandalorian warrior, and rival Sith Lord, Darth Adraas, as they slaughter the Jedi, including Jedi Master Ven Zallow. During this, Zeerid lets his Exchange handler know about the botched drop and the handler suggests that Zeerid make up for it by performing a spicerun. Aryn feels the conflict brewing on Coruscant and the eventual death of Zallow as Malgus kills him. After the battle, Malgus finds Eleena wounded and demands that she be taken care of, despite the xenophobic ways of the Imperial Medical Corps. Despite the other Jedi on Alderaan, Aryn feels the need to avenge Zallow and disobeys orders and flees to find Zeerid. Zeerid is on Vulta, visiting his daughter and sister when his handler calls and tells him to deliver engspice to Coruscant. Aryn meets up with Zeerid and they go racing off to Coruscant, trailed by an mercenary named Vrath Xizor who alerts the Imperial Fleet above the planet, now commanded by Darth Malgus and gets them shot down. Zeerid and Aryn sneak into the Temple and find T7-O1 and find out from the droid that Malgus killed Zallow. Aryn tells Zeerid to take T7 and get out while she hunts down Malgus' weakness: Eleena. She finds her and uses her as bait to lure Malgus to her. He arrives and they duel, but break off when Aryn threatens to kill Eleena unless Malgus lets Zeerid go free. He does and she keeps her promise and lets Eleena live. Malgus, in a rare move for a Sith Lord, lets Aryn live since Eleena is unharmed. Zeerid is cornered by Xizor who drops the fact that he knows about Zeerid's daughter, but that the Exchange doesn't know. Unable to accept that Xizor won't tell anyone, Zeerid spaces Xizor. Malgus kills Eleena so that no one will ever use her against him again and proceeds to spend a year tracking down Darth Adraas and kills him, proclaiming that Malgus' vision of the Sith Empire will live, even if he has to kill the Emperor Darth Vitiate himself. On Dantooine, Aryn reunites with Zeerid and helps him raise his daughter.

All in all, a fast-paced, action-packed novel that sets the stage for The Old Republic MMORPG game. Sure, Malgus seems like your typical tank--a person who just charges the crap out of things and beats them to death--but, in fact, with his relationship to Eleena, brings him to a more understandable level. Unlike Anakin Skywalker and his screwed up love life, Darth Malgus proves that a Sith Lord can, in fact, have his cake and eat it too.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars SPOILERS!

In 2008, and only in hardcover, Karen Traviss wrote the epic novelization for a kids TV show that has failed to catch onto long-time teenage and adult Star Wars fans. A year before Del Rey fired her, it had promised to take the childish antics of the movie and target it toward adults. It suceeded mainly because of her attention to the battle field that some of the more recent authors (Troy Denning, Christie Golden, Sean Williams, Drew Karpyshyn) are lacking. Karen also doesn't hide the fact that Palpatine is Darth Sidious--the only other author to do this was Matthew Stover when he wrote the Revenge of the Sith novelization.

Synopsis: The raging Clone Wars illuminate dark motives and darker destinies until one question must be answered: Does the end ever justify the means? It's time the Jedi found out. Across the galaxy, the Clone Wars are raging. The Separatists, led by Count Dooku, the onetime Jedi and now secret Sith Lord, continue to press forward, and more and more worlds are either falling, or seceding and joining the cause. Under the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the Republic heroically battles on, championed by its huge army of cloned soldiers and their Jedi generals. Anakin Skywalker, believed by some to be the prophesied "Chosen One" destined to bring balance to the Force, is now a Jedi Knight under the tutelage of his Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Death is a constant possibility—and his chances of survival aren't improved by the unexpected arrival of an apprentice: Ahsoka, a brash inexperienced fourteen-year-old Padawan. But there's no time for Anakin to question his latest orders. He and Obi-Wan have been assigned a new mission, and failure is not an option. Jabba the Hutt's precious infant son has been kidnapped, and when the frantic parent applies to the Jedi for help, it falls to Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and their clone troops to track down the evidence and retrieve the missing Huttlet. And more is at stake: For a grateful Jabba just might allow the Republic access to the Hutt-controlled space lanes that the Grand Army desperately needs in order to beat the Separatists into submission. But the Republic is not the only power that craves access to those space lanes. Count Dooku, determined to win the prize for the Separatists, has set a trap for the Jedi. When they find the Huttlet, they will also find Dooku's master assassin, Asajj Ventress, and countless legions of battle droids waiting to spring a trap. The blazing new animated feature film Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place in the years preceding Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and sets the stage for the groundbreaking TV series. Both contain all original material—direct from the brilliant imagination of legendary Star Wars creator George Lucas. And these exciting new adventures and characters are being brought to life in book form by none other than #1 New York Times bestselling Star Wars author Karen Traviss.

Unlike her other tie-in novels, this story starts out with a third-person point of view of Jabba Desilijic Tiure when he learns that his son, Rotta, has been kidnapped. It then goes to Dooku as he asks Ziro if he can kill a child. Ziro redirects this and they get into a discussion of politics. Dooku confirms with Ventress that Rotta is safe on Teth. Meanwhile, Palpatine gets a call from Jabba and presents it to the Jedi. They don't believe it's anything more than a simple kidnapping, but Yoda says otherwise. On Christophsis, Anakin and Obi-Wan and the clone troopers of the 501st Legion are recoving from a recent attack by Separatist forces when a shuttle arrives from Coruscant bearing Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's apprentice. Anakin is upset because the normal routine is to get to know the Padawan for at least three years and have a discussion with the Jedi Council. Jabba learns from hackers Gaib and TK-0 (Karen's infamous hackers from the Republic Commando series) that Rotta is on Teth. Jabba sends men there who quickly die to Ventress. Intillegence officer Lt. Kom'rk, N-6, of the Special Operations Brigade in the Grand Army of the Republic warns the Jedi High generals about how easily the information leak about Rotta being on Teth could be. Anakin lets Rex show Ahsoka the ropes until General Whorm Loathsom ups his attack.

Ahsoka and Anakin strike at his headquarters and use explosives to shut the droid control center down while Obi-Wan talks negotiations with Loathsom. Yoda shows up to relieve Anakin and Obi-Wan from Christophsis and tells them to take the 501st over to Teth and retrieve Rotta. Anakin and Ahsoka head to Teth while Obi-Wan goes to talk with Jabba. Rotta is being held at an abandoned B'marr monk monastary on Teth and the 501st ascend via AT-TE tanks, blasting their way up the mountain side. Ventress voices a question to her long dead Jedi Master, Ky Narec, about the state of the whole deception before she joins the fray and alters the holoimage of Anakin and Ahsoka rescueing Rotta. Jabba becomes angered when Dooku presents the falsified image. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, has teamed up with a fledgling 501st batch that Ventress's droids are cutting down. While all that is going on, Dooku succeeds in getting Jabba on his side. Meanwhile, Anakin and Ahsoka, with Rotta, arrive at Tatooine and encounter Dooku. Anakin holds him off while Ahsoka makes her way to Jabba's palace. She's stopped by a couple of Grievous's IG-101 bodyguard droids. Dooku fails to stop Anakin from getting away and flees before Jabba finds out. Obi-Wan and Anakin arrive at Jabba's palace ahead of Ahsoka and he demands that they die, even after Ahsoka shows up with Rotta. A holocall from Naboo Senator Amidala convinces Jabba to let them live.

All in all, a good novel, not one of Karen's best, but the battle scenes are worth it. Shame there aren't any copies left except as possible borrowed copies from friends or on Ebay. It only had a few thousand copies made and all of them were snatched up with none left. A rare deal indeed for Karen in her venture writing for Star Wars, both in short orders and in terms of being sold out in a couple of months. All in all, she tried her best to connect the new show to the greater Expanded Universe than the TV show has.

Book Review: The Tir Alainn Trilgoy Book III: The House of Gaian SPOILERS!

In October 2003, Anne Bishop returned to finish off the Tir Alainn Trilogy with one heckuva finale. This 420 page novel covers only a couple of months overall, but it has a lot happening and that is what makes it the most fascinating book in the entire series. Synopsis: It began as a witch-hunt. But the Master Inquisitor's plans to eliminate all traces of female power in the world have expanded to crushing the Sylvalan barons who oppose him--and to destroying the wellspring of magic in the Mother's Hills. Faced with this evil, humans, witches, and the Fae become uneasy allies. But even together, they aren't strong enough to stand against the armies the Inquisitors are gathering. So they look for help from their last possible ally. The House of Gaian. The reclusive witches who rule the Mother's Hills. The witches powerful enough to create a world--or to destroy one... And the witches' long-held creed "Do no harm" is about to give way to a more important one: Survive.

Ashk--the Green Lady of the Forest and Hunter, trains Neall in the ways of a Lord of the Forest. Morag--the Gatherer of Souls--questions whether she should've ended it back in Brightwood and killed the Master Inquisitor when she had the chance. Padrick tells the clan that because of Liam's absence and passionate speech, the vote to ultimately subject all women to become controlled by men has failed and that the Inquisitors have declared war. Gwynith, a friend of Ashk's and a Lady of the Moon, alerts Ashk to the fact that Dianna's power is waning and wants to be there when the next one is chosen. In the Mother's Hills, Selena and her sister Rhyann leave for Brightwood. Breanna, with Falco and Liam, meet Lucian who demands that Falco kidnap one of the witches living in Willowsbrook and take her to Ridgeley so Dianna can recover. Breanna says no with an arrow and tells him to get off her property and she doesn't care who he is. Liam escort Lucian back to the edge of town, an argument breaks out in which Liam says that the Fae are the Mother's spoiled children and demands to know why there aren't any witches at Brightwood. While Ashk and company leave for Willowsbrook, Adolfo finishes his torture and implied rape of a female Fae, trying to create the ultimate nighthunter. Selena arrives in time for the changing of the Moon's power. She dances for the Mother and wins the power from Dianna, who tries to kill Selena--now the Huntress and Lady of the Moon--in anger and hatred. She wounds Dianna and shows the rest what they're now dealing with: the Queen of the Witches, something that the Fae have also forgotten. Gwynith pledges her loyalty to Selena and lets her know that the Hunter is heading for Willowsbrook. Meanwhile, others have started arriving in Willowsbrook to prepare for the fight that has broken out in the north. Adolfo orders Ubel to take ten warships to the north and blockade the ports. In Tir Alainn, Lucian demands that Selena give her power back to his sister or that she force a witch to live at Brightwood; Selena threatens to cut Tir Alainn off from the rest of the living world by taking away the shining roads should any of the Fae try and force a witch to leave if they say no. Ashk senses something wrong with Morag and wants to know what it is and instead of answering, Morag makes her promise to do what needs to be done should she fail. Ashk agrees.

On Selkie Island, Jenny--the sister of Mihail--meets with the Lord of the Selkies so she can get firsthand reports of her brother returning with the family safely. Because Selena and Ashk are making the same demands, the rest of the Fae start helping out the humans and witches. Mihail and his family try to flee but Ubel's blockade holds them captive until Mihail starts a fire that blows up a good bit of the Inquisitor ships. He flees with Ubel on his trail. Lucian corners Aiden and uses magic to reveal that Ari's alive and well; in anger, Lucian burns Aiden's hands and runs Bretonwood with Morag hot on his heels, ready to kill Lucian. A foolish Inquisitor attacks Willowsbrook early and dies, but the men under the barons surrender as they refuse to follow them any longer (they did refuse before but were always hanged) when Selena and Gwynith arrive. Liam, Donovan and Varden figure out that Adolfo is a Fae offspring and is seeking revenge, even though Adolfo doesn't know his true parentage. Rhyann meets up with Ashk's group and heals Aiden. During a patrol, Selena and Liam get to know each other and start to become lovers, which is good for Falco and Breanna as they no longer have to endure Liam's remarks over them being lovers. Ubel bears down on Mihail when a bitch of a storm provided by Jenny arrives and shreds the Inquisitor ships to mulch while Sweet Selkie and the other fleeing ships arrive at Selkie Island intact. Ubel, the only survivor, is taken prisoner. Ashk and her party with enough Fae, Sons and Daughters of the House of Gaian, and humans arrive to help defend. Morag finally arrives in Bretonwood, a few minutes after Lucian does and sees him trying to force Ari to leave but Neall and Merle hold him off. Lucian wounds them and Ari, in anger, erects a circle of fire around Lucian. Before it can kill him, Morag rips Lucian's spirit from his body and drags him kicking and screaming to the Shadowed Veil and shoves him through it. Breanna finds her grandmother dead, poisoned by Jean who is jealous of Breanna because all the men talk and pay attention to her but not Jean. Jean runs away and is kidnapped by an Inquisitor who turns her over to Adolfo who turns her into a nighthunter. Ashk teases Selena about changing into her shadow hound form and Liam petting her in his room when Fiona tells them that Jean is missing.

Still in Bretonwood, Morag gets wind of Ubel being held in custody and his outrageous demands. She meets with him and his surviving underlings and rips their souls out of their bodies and leaves them there, ordering the bodies to be left where they fell. Adolfo releases his new nighthunters to slaughter Liam and anyone in Willowsbrook who stands in his way. Morphia puts them to sleep while the defenders attack, but Keely and the dog Idjit are killed. Ashk and Selena blanket the town in fog after the Inquisitors use catapults to try and bomb them out. Morphia tells Ashk that something evil will come out in the fog. Adolfo holds Rory as captive and is about to perform the nighthunter spell on him when Morag interrupts the whole thing. As a result, the spell backlashes onto Morag and Adolfo, turning them both into nighthunters at a fast pace. Breanna warns Ashk and Selena what Morag has become and also learn that the fighting has stopped everywhere, but Adolfo and his Inquisitors are still set on killing everyone at Willowsbrook and are marching there. The battle is on and Morag comes charging out, intent on killing. The Huntress and the Hunter demand that Adolfo show himself. He does and they send him to a special kind of hell, one that he created to inspire the men to join him. He becomes a nighthunter entirely and sets out eating and killing his Inquisitors. Ashk finds Morag who says she just wants to go home. Ashk kills her, much to Morphia's anger and shouting, and the nighthunter persona is lifted away and Ashk tells Morag not to stay away too long. As a spirit, Morag leads the dead to the Shadowed Veil. Morphia leaves the following day, unable to look at Ashk. Ashk hears that Ari's given birth to a healthy boy and the Crones arrive and redraw the boundaries of everyone, including the Fae's beliefs. Everyone parts ways with Falco staying with Breanna so she won't be alone; Selena also staying with Breanna so she doesn't intrude into Liam's home when his mother and youngest sister are also living there, but that doesn't mean they won't court; and Ashk points out to Aiden and Lyrra that when Ari has a baby daughter and looks into her eyes, she'll see Morag looking back. In the end, Aiden and Lyrra move to a small village where they're known for their dancing horse.

All in all, one hell of a fast paced novel that leaves plenty of room for character development and wraps up all the loose threads. Anne Bishop has mastered the fantasy world well that anyone picking up any of her books would instantly recognize it as a masterful piece of fantasy.

Book Review: Tir Alainn Trilogy Book 2: Shadows and Light SPOILERS!

Sorry for being away for so long, but with term ending and a recent attack of allergies (it is spring time you know), I've returned to crank out a few reviews of some books I've just finished reading and old books sitting on my shelf. In Octorber 2002, Anne Bishop returned to the vivid landscape of Tir Alainn with her second novel in the trilogy Shadows and Light. Synopsis: Ever since the slaughter of the witches, the Fae--who should be shielding their long-lost cousins from danger--have ignored the needs of the rest of the world. And shadows are again gathering in the eastern villages--dark, potent shadows that threaten the lives of every witch, woman, and Fae. Only three Fae can stand against the growing madness and help prevent more bloodshed--the Bard, the Muse, and the Gatherer of Souls. Aiden, the Bard, knows how desparately the world depends on the Fae's protection. But the Fae refuse to heed his warnings about the wickedness lurking amid the trees. Now Aiden and his one true love--Lyrra, the Muse--must embark on a perilous journey to find the one Fae who can convince the rest to leave their secure perches to save the witches and mortals. Because if the Fae don't act soon, no one will survive....

The novel opens with Aiden and Lyrra travelling through Sylvalan countryside, on their way to the western villages of Sylvalan to seek out the Hunter, the Green Lord, to talk some sense into Lucian and Dianna who are refusing and blackballing the rest of the Fae against the fact that the witches are the Pillars of the World and that without them, Tir Alainn wouldn't exist. Aiden and Lyrra handfast while on their journey, becoming husband and wife. They figure out what Morag told them weeks ago, that "Ari is gone" but not dead. The Baron of Willsobrook, Liam, learns from his mother that the witches behind the house are, in fact, related to him and that the witch called Breanna, is his half-sister, sired by his deceased adulture of a father. His mother also tells him about what the Inquistors are and what the eastern barons decree is best for women. Liam is disgusted and gets to know Breanna as a friend and becomes overprotective like an older brother would be. Meanwhile, in Breton, Morag is learning how to garden. She's given Ari and Neall her former riding stallion, a black horse. Ashk, the local Lady of the Forest, visits and tries to train Neall in the ways of a Lord of the Woods. Meanwhile, Adolfo talks with his lieutenant, Ubel, to arrange for the death of all the witches to kill the Fae because they embarrassed him. Lyrra and Aiden flee from nighthunters and run into Morphia, Morag's sister, who tells them she's heading south to look for her sister in the western Clans. Liam informs his mother that he's leaving to go to the baron's council meeting. Baron Padrick stops by Ashk's place so she can look after their kids while he attends the baron's council meeting.

In Willowsbrook, Aiden and Lyrra meet Breanna and learn that the witches are descended from the House of Gaian and really are the Mother's Daughters while the Fae are the Mother's Children--and as has been noted, spoiled children at that. Aiden runs into an angry Lucian in Tir Alainn and Falco tells Lyrra how horrible Dianna's been treating everyone and that he wants to get to know witches better. In the baron's council meeting, Liam interrupts and tells the eastern barons how sick he is at how they've treated all women and is poisoned by Ubel. Padrick rescues him and they head to Willowsbrook. Adolfo orders Padrick's death. Aiden is almost killed when the Fae "forget" to warn him and Lyrra that one of the bridges is severly weak. Falco helps rescue him and they go to Willowsbrook where Breanna and her family help take care of them and warn them about causing harm if they intend to cross the Mother's Hills. Morag wants a sailor, Mihail, to move his family to the western coast because she senses a hint that death is whispering. Morphia finds her sister in Breton and alerts them about Aiden and Lyrra travelling to seek out the Hunter. Rory, a cousin of Breanna, asks Breanna if Liam can be trusted because of what the eastern barons are doing to the women. Breanna says he can be trusted and wonders why Liam hasn't returned home yet. Liam arrives with Padrick and encounters a hostile Rory. Liam tells Breanna that he was poisoned for speakin against the eastern barons.

The Inquisitors, led by Ubel, demand that Liam stand down and surrender. Aiden can't get his horse, Minstrel to move and uses music to get him to trot, something that the humans find amusing. Morag, Ashk and a few others find some nighthunters present over a wounded child and a woman. The child gets away but not the woman. A deer (the Hunter) helped defend the child. Morag, after the Hunter dies, helps him to the Shadowed Veil. Ashk, who had defeated her grandfather (the Hunter) long ago but spared his life. She is now the Hunter. The Inquisitors attack with their nighthunters. Keely dies and so do the Inquisitors, but Ubel survives and flees. It turns out that Liam has repressed magic in the branch of Fire. Breanna scolds Falco in his hawk form for nearly dying in the fight against the nighthunters and wants to know why. He mentions not being able to save a witch in time and he was curious to see how humans lived and was angered over the rest of the Fae treating witches like they're slaves. Breanna offers him a place to stay. Ubel reports to Adolfo who decides that war is necessary. Aiden and Lyrra meet Ashk and tell her that Lucian and Dianna refuse to help and have told the Fae to force the witches to stay at the Old Places while they reap the benefits without offering anything else in return. Morag sees Aiden and Lyrra and tells Ari and Neall who would love to see them again. Morag apologies for running out on Aiden and Lyrra earlier and tells them that Air and Neall are alive. Morag tells Aiden and Lyrra that Ashk is the Hunter. The novel ends with Ashk saying that it's time the Fae returned to the world.

All in all, a good second entry in a "lavishly sensual" (Library Journal) trilogy. Great character arcs and wonderful prose that carries through the novel and Bishop's work. A must read for any fan of fantasy or Anne Bishop admirer.

Book Review: Tir Alainn Trilogy Book One: Pillars of the World SPOILERS!

Published in October 2001, during the midst of her Black Jewels series, Anne Bishop began another story about witches and fantasy, but this time, set in a different world and place than her bestselling series. Synopsis: The trees whisper of danger... The youngest in a long line of witches, Ari senses that things are changing--changing for the worse. For generations, her kin have tended the Old Places, keeping the land safe and fertile. But with the Summer Moon, the mood of her neighbors has soured. And Ari is no longer safe. The Fae have long ignored what occurs in the mortal world, passing through on their shadowy roads only long enough to amuse themselves. But the roads are slowly disappearing, leaving the Fae Clans isolated and alone. Where harmony between the spiritual and the natural has always reigned, a dissonant chord now rings in the ears of both Fae and mortal. And when murmurs of a witch-hunt hum through the town, some begin to wonder if the different omens are notes in the same tune. And all they have to guide them is a passing reference to something called the Pillars of the World....

The novel opens with Dianna, the Fae Lady of the Moon and Huntress, observing with Lyrra, the Muse, and Aiden, the Bard, that the shining roads from Tir Alainn are disappearing. They note that the disappearances have something to do with the wiccanfae (what the Fae believe to be evil people and witches) dying or leaving the Old Places and something called the Pillar of the World. In the eastern part of Sylvalan, the Master Inquisitor, Adolfo, sees to the death of a witch, something that gives him great pleasure. As he puts it, he's cleansing the land and men of the evil influences of women and has devised ways to make them "obedient" (read: subservient). In the human village of Ridgeley, Ari is cajoled into buying a magicked candy that'll bring whatever desires she wants. She hopes for a man who is strong, kind, and who can accept her for herself. Dianna notes that her brother, Lucian, the Fae Lord of Fire and Lightbringer, is restless as are most of the other Fae men. Morag, Death's Mistress and the Gatherer, notices all the spirits of the dead witches and resolves to find answers. Ari, walking home, comes across a lone black horse (Lucian in disguise) and gives him the magicked candy. He follows her home. Neall, a friend of Ari's, notices his cousin Royce demanding that Ari part her legs for him. Neall does nothing as the Huntress rides by and scares Royce off. Dianna sees how happier Lucian is and urges him to get to know Ari better so they can find out just why the shining roads disappear when a witch dies. Over the next several weeks/months (the novel's not that clear) Dianna, Lyrra, Aiden and Lucian come to view her as a friend; Lucian thinks of her as a lover, nothing more. Adolfo meets with the head of Royce's family and forms a plan to capture and torture Ari into confessing how evil she is so he can justify executing her. Morag talks to Ahern, the Lord of the Horses, and they try and stop Adolfo. Meanwhile, Dianna, Lyrra, Aiden, Lucian and Falco--the Lord of the Hawks--learn from Ari just how powerful the witches are and that they are the Pillars of the World. Ari asks Lucian if he can give her what her heart wants instead of trinkets; he can't and she decides that Neall can offer everything Lucian can't/won't. Adolfo takes some of his Inquisitors and decides the time is right. During the fight, Adolfo captures Ari and Neall, with the help of Ahern and Morag, gets her out of Brightwood but at the cost of Ahern's life. Morag tells Lucian and the others that "she's gone." Lucian and Dianna are pissed but agree that Dianna will take care of Ari's place to maintain the shining road. In anger, they banish Morag from all the Fae Clans, something that the Fae in the west have no intention of listening to because Lucian and Dianna are whining like children who've gotten their noses bloodied in far too long. Lyrra leaves Dianna to take care of the Old Place since Dianna took until the next Spring to return from Tir Alainn. In the end, Morag travels to the western city of Brenton and meets Ari and Neall who offer her a place in their clan. Morag accepts.

A well written fantasy novel, and, as SF Site said "Anne Bishop's novels are genuine gems of fantasy much to be prized." Her novels get better with each reading. It's such a shame that the Tir Alainn trilogy was only three novels. It seems like it has more to tell.

Book Review: The Curse of Challion SPOILERS!

The Curse of Chalion by respected speculative fiction writer Lois McMaster Bujold is a story set in one of her fantasy universes that tells the tale of a man named Lupe dy Cazaril and his quest to redeem himself and protect the Royesse (Princess) Iselle and her companion, Lady Betriz. Synopsis: On the eve of the Daughter's Day--the grand celebration that will honor the Lady of Spring, one of the five reigning deities--a man broken in body and spirit makes his way slowly down the road to Valenda. A former courtier and soldier, Cazaril has survived indignity and horrific torture as a slave aboard an enemy galley. Now he seeks nothing more than a menial job in the kitchens of the Dowager Provincara, in the noble household where he served as page in his youth. But the gods have greater plans for this humbled man. Welcomed warmly, clothed and fed, he is named, to his great surprise, secretary-tutor to the Royesse Iselle--the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is destined to be the next ruler of the land. But the assignment must ultimately carry Cazaril to the one place he fears even more than the sea: to the royal court of Cardegoss, rife with intrigues and lethal treacheries. In Cardegoss, the powerful enemies who once placed Cazaril in chains and bound him to a Roknari oar now occupy the most lofty positions in the realm, beneath only the Roya himself. Yet something far more sinister than their scheming hangs like a sword over the royal family: a curse of the blood that taints not only those who would rule, but those who stand in their circle. The life and future of both Iselle and her entire blighted House of Chalion lie in dire peril. The only recourse left to her loyal, damaged servant is the employment of the darkest and most forbidden of magics--a choice that will indelibly mark Cazaril as a tool of the miraculous... and trap him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death for as long as he dares walk the fivefold pathway of the gods.

It starts (with a rather excruciatingly slow 11 chapters that don't serve a point if you ask me) off with Lupe dy Cazaril walking to the Province of Valenda where the Dowager Provincara eventually gives him the job of teaching the Royesse Iselle before she, her companion/friend Betriz, Iselle's brother the Royse Teidez, his tutor dy Sanda, and Cazaril are summoned to Cardegoss by their half-brother, the roya Orico. There, and at Valenda, Cazaril hears of a curse placed on Royina Ista's family that goes back to Fonsa the Fairly-Wise. Apparently, Fonsa used death magic to kill the Golden General and it proceeded but not before placing a curse on the family of Fonsa and all his descendants--this includes relatives by blood (Tiedez, Iselle, Orico), by marriage (Ista and Sara), and close friends (Martou dy Jironal and Dondo dy Jironal). Orico tells Iselle that she'll be married to Dondo. She doesn't want to be but Orico refuses to hear one word against it. As she prays for a quick death, Cazaril talks Betriz out of using dark magic. Cazaril instead performs it and wakes up the next morning alive (something that's never happened to anyone else who performs death magic) and Dondo is dead. After Dondo's funeral, Umegat (the animal keeper for Orico), who is a member of the Bastard's order, tells Cazaril that he's carrying Dondo's soul inside him. In desperation to stop dy Jironal from taking over her life, Iselle orders Cazaril to ride to Ibra in Darthaca and ask Royse Bergon, son of the Fox, for his hand in marriage. Reluctantly, Cazaril agrees especially after Dondo starts trying to take control of Cazaril's body and Teidez kills the animals and wounds Umegat, believing he's freeing Orico from the curse. Orico becomes half-blind and extremely sick. Cazaril, Betriz and Iselle hope that she can marry out of the curse. Teidez dies of an infection and Iselle sends Cazaril on his way. He stops at Valenda to tell Ista of Teidez's death and she tells him what her husband, the former roya Ias and his lover dy Lutez and she did to try and rid the curse. On accident, they killed dy Lutez, and hid the truth about his death. They believed dying thrice would finish off the curse. And since Cazaril has died once and might die again with Dondo and the Bastard's demon inside him, Ista believes he is Iselle's dy Lutez. Cazaril continues on his way and arrives in Ibra. Bergon demands that Cazaril take off his shirt and it turns out Cazaril saved Bergon years ago and Bergon tells his father. The Fox seems impressed and, after a few days of travel and death, Bergon and Iselle announce their marriage. The curse grasps onto Bergon and Cazaril believes he's failed them. Bergon tells him not to give up and they plan to retake Cardegoss from dy Jironal. During the battle, dy Jironal stabs Cazaril, wounding him. Lightning strikes from the sky and kills dy Jironal. The Daughter releases her hold on the Bastard's demon and Dondo and the Bastard takes back the curse. Cazaril is spared, much to the disappointment of the demon, and Iselle appoints him chancellor.

All in all, once you get to chapter 12, where I believe the story actually starts, its good. The first 11 chapters seem to drag and that's because they don't serve the plot or anything other than to get Cazaril to Valenda, give him the teaching post, then send him to Cardegoss. Granted, she puts in tiny details that come back later in the novel but the vast majority of them are so abstract or so unimportant that most readers that I've talked to have failed to pick up on them. Which was the main conversation I had with a friend who adores Bujolds novels and sees no flaws. Well, to each their own, eh. Also, important note for history buffs and geography lovers: click here. I believe you'll find the information fascinating.