Review: Star Wars: Shadow Games by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

I usually say that a Star Wars novel, even a mediocre one is better then just about any other book out there.  The reason I feel this way in large part is because of the Expanded Universe that has been created by Lucasfilm and it's licensees.  Even a story that I dislike adds to the tapestry of the Star Wars universe lending additional depth, new characters, and shifting the reader's point of view on events previously established.

That being said, I recently read Star Wars: Shadow Games by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.  With all due respect to the authors, this is a novel that I haven't really been looking forward to.  The idea to resurrect the Dash Rendar character for a standalone novel, and to set the premise around a galactic celebrity in the person of Holostar Javul Charn, left me wondering what the heck the editors at Lucasbooks and Del Rey were thinking in approving this book.  I kept picturing The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, except with aliens and droids.

There was some trepidation on my part based on continuity issues from Mr. Reaves last series, Coruscant Nights.  Though I will say, I am a fan of some of Mr. Reaves Star Wars works.  The penultimate scene in Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, in which the lead character Lorn Pavan escapes the clutches of Darth Maul long enough to "safely" entrust a Sith Holocron to Senator Palpatine, is one of my favorite scenes in the Expanded Universe.  I will also say that Reaves' Medstar Duology starring Barriss Offee is a very underrated and off-beat (MASH in Space) set of Star Wars books.

Enough of my ramblings, you want to hear about Shadow Games.  I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  I am a fan of the mystery genre, as child I grew up watching a lot of television and movies.  Some of my favorite re-runs included Scooby-Doo and Murder She Wrote. I also enjoyed a heavy dose of the Hardy Boys series of children's mystery novels.  In Shadow Games there are multiple hidden agendas and multiple mysteries at work, there is a strong who done it element combined with a slow reveal to the reader and the main character about what is truly going on.

The main character of the story and the primary point of view character is Dash Rendar.  We basically follow Dash through the story except for a few minor detours.  We also get a heavy dose of Leebo (Dash's Droid), Javul Charn (the holostar), Han Solo, Eaden Vrill (Dash's partner and Teras Kasi practioner),  and Yanus Melikan (Charn's tour cargo master).

In addition to these characters we also have a number of Imperial and Black Sun characters, and even an assasin, that come in and out of the story and act the foils to our heroes.

I enjoyed the portrayals of both Dash Rendar and Javul Charn in the story, Javul in particular was a much better developed character then I was expecting going in.  It is also interesting in the way that they portrayed Rendar and used Han Solo to contrast and compare the two characters.  Long time fans will be familiar with criticism of Shadows of the Empire, that Rendar was created to be a basic carbon copy of Han because Han was unavailable for use in the story because of that unfortunate business on Cloud City.  Well the portrayal of Han that we get in this book is like Han in the beginning of Episode IV except even more militant in terms of his independence and staying away from causes and women.  I liked the winks in this book to the Han Solo Trilogy by A.C. Crispin and the way that Han's Bria Tharen causes him to look at women and at the Rebellion.

The key to the Dash Rendar in this story is his attachments.  He is a character motivated by bonds of friendship and love, be that to his smuggling partner, his droid, or his would be paramour.  In many ways it's this soft heart combined with the gruff exterior that makes Han Solo such an endearing character and why Dash grew on me in this book.  There a few funny scenes that show the rivalry between these two characters that are so similar.  If they weren't so busy one uping each other, then they might just get along pretty well.

There are some minor quibbles that I have with the book, the biggest thing that stuck out to me was a continuity issue that arises from a throw away line.  One of Javul Charn's hangers on is a fashion designer, who according to the book previously worked for Lando Calrissian, the Baron-Administrator of Cloud City.    When I read this, I couldn't tell why, but something struck me as off about this so I raced to the Wookieepedia to confirm my hunch.  According to the Wook:

A year after the Battle of Yavin, Cloud City was run by Baron Administrator Lando Calrissian, who had won administration of the city from Baron Administrator Dominic Raynor in a Sabacc tournament. Not much later Raynor hired the bounty hunter Bossk to get revenge on Calrissian. Bossk and his group of mercenaries ambushed the new administrator in one Maintenance Level, but were unsuccessful.

It is a very minor line that doesn't factor into the outcome of the novel, but it is this kind of little continuity hiccup that drives the more continuity obsessed fans bonkers.

There was also the labeling of an Imperial Interdictor ship as an "Interceptor Class," vessel.  You understood what they were getting at, but I don't recall ever reading those vessels referred to in that way.

We do get an addition to the ever growing list of in-universe profanity, with the phrase; "womp rat's ass."

There are two pretty big hanging threads that the authors leave open to interpretation or future clarification.  I don't want to give too much away, but lets just stay Reaves an Bohnhoff give us another potential version of events leading up to A New Hope with a nifty potential retcon to solve some preexisting continuity issues.

They also leave this reader wondering about the identity of a certain character, who I think we saw heavily in the Bantam era EU under a different identity.

I enjoyed the say the end of the book dovetailed nicely into A New Hope, but it did so in such a way that there is wiggle room in the timeline.  It is almost like Reaves and Bohnhoff purposefully set certain portions of this story in the sand instead of in stone to avoid continuity issues.

All in all, Shadow Games is an interesting change of genre for a Star Wars novel, a bit more mystery then we are used to seeing and an engaging enough tale to keep my attention all the way through.

It is a solidly average book in terms of the Star Wars publishing line.  Worth a read, but I am not sure how many re-reads it will end up getting on my bookshelf.

To learn more about Star Wars: Shadow Games, you can visit Random House.com.

To learn more about the process behind this book visit, Ms. Bohnhoff's blog.  

Battle Meditation Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Kidnapped (4.11)

"Slavery, a great tool it is for the rise of the Sith." ~ Grand Master Yoda on the Zygerrian Resurgence 

Despite dealing with the despicable institution of slavery, this week's episode saw a return of humor and our main Jedi characters in a bit of a palate cleanser after the intense dark drama of Umbara.

"Where we are going always reflects where we came from."
Zygerrian slavers are behind the sudden disappearance of an entire colony of people on the planet Kiros. As Anakin and Ahsoka rush to defuse a series of bombs planted by the slavers, Obi-Wan must fight with their imposing leader.

It was nice to see Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka return and star in an episode after the Clone-centric arc of Umbara.  You will be hard pressed to find a bigger fan of the Clones then myself, but TCW has a large cast of characters and it is important that we don't go too long without seeing some of the main characters in action.  It was also great to see that at least Clone Trooper Boil is still alive, even though his buddy Waxer didn't make it through the last story arc. 

This episode saw some pretty interesting character development for Ahsoka, but not in the way that we traditionally get character development.  We saw Ahsoka's physical maturation and growth of martial skills in this episode.  While she has always been able to hold her own in a fight, this episode saw Ahsoka kicking some major butt.  Her Force augmented leaping, combined with a fluidity of motion when she threw the detonators into the Droid Tank was very impressive and something I don't think Season 1 or Season 2 Ahsoka would have really been able to do.  We also see a flash at the end of the episode as she is quickly able to subdue and capture Darts D'Nar, otherwise known as the guy who was using Obi-Wan as a punching bag.  Ahsoka is becoming a very formidable warrior in her own right.  

There are interesting parallels between the weaponless Togruta on Kiros and the weaponless world of Alderaan.  In this episode we see an entire planets population pressed into slavery because they choose the path of neutral pacifism.  The episode specifically calls out the fact that the society doesn't have any weapons.  This echos the pleas of Princess Leia when she is aboard the Death Star.

Princess Leia: No! Alderaan is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can't possibly... Governor Tarkin: [impatiently] You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: *Where* is the rebel base?
Princess Leia: ...Dantooine. They're on Dantooine.
Governor Tarkin: There. You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable. Continue with the operation; you may fire when ready.
Princess Leia: WHAT?
Governor Tarkin: You're far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration - but don't worry; we will deal with your rebel friends soon enough. ~IMBD

On  Alderaan we see an entire planet destroyed by the Death Star, on Kiros we see see the planet left intact but the population totally enslaved by the Separatists and their Battle Droid army.  Alderaan's pacifism combined with it's political agitation against Emperor Palpatine's New Order sealed it's fate.  What planet would be better to test the weapon on then one that cannot fight back and doesn't risk damage tot he battle station on it's test run?

One of the big differences between the situations on Kiros and Alderaan is the state of the galaxy.  While the population of Kiros is under duress, the Jedi Order is lining up to come to their aide.  The Order has it's faults and it's moral blind spots, but the presence of the Order and it's opposition to slavery gives the people of Kiros hope of salvation.  In contrast there is no Jedi Order to protect Alderaan and possibly prevent the planet's destruction.

The moral of  both tales is similar.  It is all well and good to hold to idealist sentiments, but one must recognize the reality of the world or galaxy around you.  There are bad people out there and if you are unable to protect yourself, then you will always be at their mercy.  This rugged individualism is a good lesson for younger viewers of the show to be exposed too.

Perhaps this episode was sponsored by the GBA, the Galactic Blaster Association, a political action committee lobbying for fewer restrictions on blasters in the galaxy far, far away.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, now that is a name I haven't head in a long time on The Clone Wars.  Obi-Wan is one of greatest Jedi Masters during the Clone Wars.  Obi-Wan's strength as a Jedi is his ability to be above average across a broad category of Jedi abilities.  This episode shows us one of his greatest strength and that is the ability to take a beating like a champ.  Rocky Balboa and Hulk Hogan have nothing on Obi-Wan.  In order to give Anakin and Ahsoka time to diffuse Darts D'Nar network of bombs, Obi-Wan takes a pretty brutal hand to hand beat down.

I really enjoyed how quickly Obi-Wan was able to take control of the situation as soon as the battle droid transmission revealed that all the bombs had been deactivated. Seizing and crushing the droids quickly and retrieving his lightsaber.

"I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves. Have you come to free us?" ~Anakin Skywalker to Qui-Gon Jinn
One of my favorite scenes in the episode begins with Anakin's reaction to Dart D'Nar's request to discuss surrender terms with Obi-Wan.  The flash of pure unadulterated rage that we see from Anakin, was very dark and shows just how deeply scarred he is by his past.  That powerlessness of being a slave is one of the central factors I believe in Anakin's search for power, control and order which helps lead him down the dark path.

It is particularly curious how Obi-Wan reacts to Anakin's seizing of the hologram and his outburst.  This is very un-Jedi like and would seem to be particularly egregious behavior in front of a Padawan and in front of Clone Troopers.  Not very becoming for a General to behave like this.

"I will come back and free you, Mom. I promise." Anakin to Shmi

The scene then flows into a conversation between Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.  This same scene occurs in the comic from which this story arc is being adapted.  I just love this part of the scene because it is the revelation to Ahsoka about Anakin's past as a slave.  This revelation will undoubtedly answer some questions for Ahsoka about her Master, and also put her on guard to try to help him through these issues.

Because of the war and the speculation about Anakin's being the Chosen One, I believe the Jedi Order was more lenient with Anakin then they would have been with the average Padawan or Knight.  In any other situation I believe Anakin would have been forced to confront his past as a slave and deal with those internal issues before he was elevated to Knighthood or given a Padawan.  This fact combined with the flaw of attachment within Obi-Wan which caused him to be too forgiving and too trusting that Anakin would eventually find the peace within himself that always eluded him.

It would be interesting to see what lessons are learned by Anakin, Ahsoka and the Jedi from this arc.  If the Jedi are able to rescue the enslaved people of Kiros, will this surrogate emancipation provide Anakin some comfort over his failures to free his Mother from slavery and ultimately his own feelings of guilt over her death.  Perhaps Obi-Wan and Ahsoka will believe the events of this arc will end up helping Anakin work through his issues and presume that they are no longer a problem.

I particularly liked Yoda's quote in the High Council at the end of the episode, Slavery is a great tool for the Sith because it creates the emotions that the Sith feed off of.  It also has the material benefit of free labor to use as laborers or warriors that Sith Empires have used to build on in the past.  But like many things the wise sage of the Jedi says, there is yet another layer of meaning to this line.  Because the new Sith Empire that is soon to emerge on the galaxy will be built on the back of a single slave in Anakin Skywalker, who in his moment of choosing picks the Dark over the Light, the Sith over the Jedi.

There are some very interesting similarities and differences between the story arc as it appears between the Dark Horse Comics TPB and in the TV show.  The biggest difference is in how they approached the Droid Commander on Kiros.  In the comic, he is a four-armed creature, it appears to be a Besalisk.  We just had four episodes co-staring a new Besalisk character, to follow that up with another Besalisk villian might be a bit much, so I think this editorial decision makes sense.  It also appears that they are combining two characters form the comics into one for the TV show.  In the comics, Anakin, Ahoska, Obi-Wan and Rex stumble upon a Zygerrian Slaver ship in space and board the vessel looking for information on the missing colony.  That ship has a Zygerrian captain who the Jedi subdue and capture the vessel.  It appears that in the TV show they are combining the Separatist Commander and the Zygerrian Captain into the same person in the role of Darts D'Nar.  This change makes sense for another reason besides Besalisk fatigue, it allows them to cut out what is basically a generic episode that would involve them searching an asteroid field and having a running fight aboard a ship.  It allows them to get the story to Zygerria quicker.  In effect this three episode arc will have episode one on Kiros, episode two on Zygeria and episode three on Kadavo.

Rating: This enjoyable episode gets 7.5 exploding droids.  The humor from the battle droids and Obi-Wan always amuses me, and there were some important revelations like Obi-Wan detailing Anakin's history to Ahsoka.  On the whole it was a very fun episode but lacked the mature tone and drama of the previous story arc.  It worked for me, but if handled properly I think next week's middle episode in the arc will be the best one of the three, there is some very interesting exchanges between Anakin and the Zygerrian Queen.

Direct Link to Watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Kidnapped (4.11)

Next Time on Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Slaves of the Republic (4.12)

"Those who enslave others inevitably become slaves themselves."
To locate the missing colonists, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka go undercover to infiltrate the slavers on Zygerria. Anakin struggles with his emotions as a wily Zygerrian queen forces him to take questionable actions in order to carry out his mission.

Sources:  Starwars.com and Wookieepedia

Star Wars Fan Days 2011 autographed Clone Helmets ebay Auction for Princess Leah

Two very cool and very unique collectors items are going up on ebay for a charity auction the proceeds of which will benefit the family of Princess Leah.

Here is the link to the auction page.  If you have the money to bid it's a cool chance to get some Star Wars memorabilia and to help a young girl and her family deal with some catastrophic medical bills.

To read more about Leah, visit her Parent's blog, The Princess Leah Diaries.

Happy Thanksgiving from Lightsaber Rattling

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.  I hope where ever you may be that you are surrounded by family and/or friends.  Have a wonderful day and MTFBWY.

Hallmark Vader E-card via Starwars.com

Star Wars Identities: Go on your own Star Wars hero's journey

Lucasfilm has officially unveiled what Star Wars Identities is and I don't think any of our speculation was correct.

Star Wars Identities is going to be an art exhibition, but this isn't your Father's art exhibition.  This sounds like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel on a wicked Kessel Spice trip.  You can watch a really cool Rorschach test like video where each Star Wars image morphs into others on the Star Wars Identities website.

The Exhibition will begin April 19, 2012 and will run until September 16, 2012 in Montreal, Canada. Adult tickets are going to be $23 (Canadian Dollars).  It looks like the exhibit will move to other locations after its run in Montreal is up, but no announcement on potential other locations has been made yet. 

A complete description of the event is available on the Montreal Science Centre's website:

What forces shape you?

How did Luke and Anakin, who share the same genes and grew up on the same planet, become such different people? Don't miss the world premiere of this unique travelling exhibition, which looks at the characters of Star Wars™—and you—in an exciting new way.

• A vast collection of Star Wars props, costumes, models, and artwork from the Lucasfilm Archives, including iconic items like Darth Vader’s costume, the Millennium Falcon model, and Anakin’s full-sized Podracer.
• An insightful investigation into the sciences of identity, developed by the Montréal Science Centre and a committee of scientific advisers, shedding light on what can make fictional characters who they are and what makes you you.
• An interactive Identity Quest inviting you to create your own unique and personalized Star Wars hero.
• Behind the scenes insight into the creation of the characters of Star Wars and fun facts from the movie-making process.

Want more information you do?  The company behind the exhibition X3 Production provides even more details about this traveling exhibition.

 

CONTENT:

STAR WARS™ Identities explores the theme of identity using ten components: species, genes, parents, culture, mentors, friends, events, occupation, personality, and values.
These ten components are grouped into the exhibition’s three main sections, which follow the evolution of identity from childhood to adulthood: first Origins, then Influences, and finally Choices. This thematic backbone gives structure not only to the educational content of the exhibition but to the Star Wars collection as well.

From a scientific perspective, visitors learn how these components affect identity. Ten videos, one per component, combine clips from Star Wars with animated graphics explaining how each component affects who we are, “we” in this case referring simultaneously to the fictional characters of the Star Wars universe and to the visitors themselves. These videos were developed in collaboration with the Montreal Science Centre and a team of experts practicing in a variety of scientific fields, including genetics, neuropsychology, health sciences, and psychology.

The stunning collection of some 200 props, costumes, models, and pieces of artwork from the making of the films and animated series is integrated seamlessly into the structure provided by these ten components. Carefully selected from the Lucasfilm Archives, each object offers a deeper understanding of the identities of the characters of Star Wars and is accompanied by behind-the-scenes information sure to delight fans of the films and visitors interested in the movie-making process.

ENVIRONMENT:

Spanning over 1000 square metres, this touring exhibition uses state-of-the-art technology to transform the museum experience into an interactive, multimedia adventure.

Two types of technology allow for an immersive and innovative experience. First, visitors are each equipped with a hands-free audioguide. Using infrared technology, the guide gives visitors personalized access to all of the exhibition’s audio-visual content in the language of their choice.

The second technological element is an RFID bracelet which tracks visitors’ progress as they complete the different stations of the Quest. This information allows the visitor to create his or her own Star Wars hero and then to visualize the results in the exhibition’s conclusion. The results can then be sent to the visitor via e-mail, at which point they can be shared through social media platforms.

The interactive Identity Quest sounds simply amazing.  In designing the exhibit they consulted with experts in the fields of Neuropsychology, psychology, biochemistry, social psychology, occupational therapy and education.  I am either going to have to book a ticket to my old stomping grounds in the lovely city of Montreal, or I am going to have to pray the exhibit comes to the San Diego area. 

SOURCES: StarWarsIdentities.com, X3 Productions, and  MontrealScienceCentre.com