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ariainstars · 4 years

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Thank You, Disney Lucasfilm… For Destroying My Dreams

Warning: longer post.

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So… I watched The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ a few weeks ago. Again.

Sigh.

I guess it has its good sides. But professional critics tend to dislike it and even the general audience doesn’t go crazy for it. I wonder why?

The Fantasy

When his saga became a groundbreaking pop phenomenon in the 1970es, George Lucas reportedly said that he wanted to tell fairy tales again in world that no longer seemed to offer young people a chance to grow up with them. The fact that his saga was met with such unabashed, international enthusiasm proves that he was right: people long for fairy tales no matter how old they are and what culture they belong to.

“Young people today don’t have a fantasy life anymore, not the way we did… All they’ve got is Kojak and Dirty Harry. All the films they see are movies of disasters and insecurity and realistic violence.” (George Lucas)

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for more than thirty years. I love the Original Trilogy but honestly it did not make me dream much, perhaps because when I saw it the trilogy was already complete. The Prequel Trilogy also did not inspire my fantasy.

The Last Jedi accomplished something that no TV show, book or film had managed in years: it made me dream. The richness of colorful characters, multifaceted themes, unexpected developments, intriguing relationships was something I had not come across in a long time: it fascinated me. I felt like a giddy teenager reading up meta’s, writing my own and imagining all sorts of beautiful endings for the saga for almost two years.

So if there’s something The Rise of Skywalker can pride itself on for me, it’s that it crushed almost every dream I had about it. The few things I had figured out – Rey’s fall to the Dark, Ben Solo’s redemption, the connection between them - did not even make me happy because they were tainted by the flatness of the storytelling reducing the Force to a superpower again (like the general audience seems to believe it is), and its deliberate ignoring of almost all messages of The Last Jedi.

Many fans of the Original Trilogy also were disillusioned by the saga over the decades and ranted at the studios for “destroying their childhood”. Now we, the fans of the sequels and in particular of The Last Jedi, are in the same situation… but the thought doesn’t make the pill much easier to swallow. What grates on my nerves is the feeling that someone trampled on my just newly found dreams like a naughty child kicking a doll’s house apart. Why give us something to dream of in the first place, then? To a certain extent I can understand that many fans would angrily assume that Disney Lucasfilm made the Sequel Trilogy for the purpose of destroying their idea of the saga. The point is that they had their happy ending, while every dream the fans of the Sequel Trilogy may have had was shattered with this unexpectedly flat and hollow final note.

I know many fans who dislike the Prequel Trilogy heartily. I also prefer the Original Trilogy, but I find the prequels all right in their own way, also since I gave them some thought. However, it can’t be denied that they lack the magic spark which made the Original Trilogy so special. Which makes sense since they are not a fairy tale but ultimately a tragedy, but in my opinion it’s the one of the main reasons why the Prequel Trilogy never was quite so successful, or so beloved.

Same goes for Rogue One, Solo, or Clone Wars. They’re ok in their way, but not magical.

The sequel trilogy started quite satisfyingly with The Force Awakens, but for me, the actual bomb dropped with The Last Jedi. Reason? It was a magical story. It had the spark again that I had missed in the new Star Wars stories for decades! And it was packed full of beautiful messages and promises.

The Force is not a superpower belonging solely to the Jedi Anyone can be a hero. Even the greatest heroes can fail, but they will still be heroes. Hope is like the sun: if you only believe in it when you see it you’ll never make it through the night. Failure is the greatest teacher. It’s more important to save the light than to seem a hero. No one is never truly gone. War is only a machine. Dark Side and Light Side can be unbeatable if they are allies. Save what you love instead of destroying what you hate.

Naively, I assumed the trilogy would continue and end in that same magical way. And then came The Rise of Skywalker… which looks and feels like a Marvel superhero story at best and an over-long videogame at worst.

Chekov’s Gun

“Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”

(Anton Chekov, 1860 - 1904)

If you show an important looking prop and don’t put it to use, it leaves the audience feeling baffled. There is a huge difference between a story’s setup, and the audience’s feeling of entitlement. E.g. many viewers expected Luke to jump right back into the fray in Episode VIII, because that’s what a hero does, isn’t it? The cavalry comes and saves the day. And instead, we met a disillusioned elderly hermit who is tired of the ways of the Jedi. But there was no actual reason for disappointment: in Episode VII it was very clearly said (through Han, his best friend) that Luke had gone into exile on purpose, feeling responsible for his failure in teaching a new generation of Jedi. It would have been more than stupid to show him as an all-powerful and all-knowing man who kills the bad guys. Sorry but who expected that was a victim to his own prejudice.

A promise left unfulfilled is a different story. The Last Jedi set up a lot of promises that didn’t come true in The Rise of Skywalker: Balance as announced by the Jedi temple mosaic, a new Jedi Order hinted at by Luke on Crait, a good ending for Ben and Rey set up by the hand-touching scene which was opposite to Anakin’s and Padmés wedding scene. Many fans were annoyed about the Canto Bight sequence. I liked it because it felt like the set-up for a lot of important stuff: partnership between Finn and Rose whom we see working together excellently, freedom for the enslaved children (one of whom is Force-sensitive), DJ and Rose expressing what makes wars in general foolish and beside the point. So if we, the fans of Episode VIII, now feel angry and let down, I daresay it’s not due to entitlement. We were announced magical outcomes and not just pew-pew.

The Star Wars saga never repeated itself but always developed and enlarged its themes, so it was to be expected that delving deeper, uncomfortable truths would come out: wars don’t start out of nowhere, and they don’t flare up and continue for decades for the same reason. In order to find Balance, the Jedi’s and the Skywalker family’s myths needed to be dismantled. Which is not necessarily bad as long it is explained how things came to this, and a better alternative is offered. The prequels explained the old political order and the beginnings of the Skywalker family, and announced that the next generation would do better. The sequels hardly explained anything about the 30 years that passed since our heroes won the battle against the Empire, and while The Last Jedi hinted at the future a lot, The Rise of Skywalker seemed to make a point of ignoring all of it.

The Skywalker Family Is Obliterated. Why?

Luke was proven right that his nephew would mean the end of everything he loved. The lineage of the Chosen One is gone. His grandson had begun where Vader had ended - tormented, pale and with sad eyes - and he met the same fate. Luke, Han, Leia, all sacrificed themselves to bring Ben Solo back for nothing. Him being the reincarnation of the Chosen One and getting a new chance should have been meaningful for all of them; instead, he literally left the scepter to Rey who did nothing to deserve it: merely because she killed the Bad Guy does not mean she will do a better job than the family whose name and legacy she proudly takes over.

I do hope there was a good reason if the sequels did not tell “The New Adventures of Luke, Leia and Han” and instead showed us a broken family on the eve of its wipeout. It would have been much easier, and more fun for the audience, to bring the trio back again after a few years and pick up where they had left. Instead we had to watch their son, nephew and heir go his grandfather’s way - born with huge power, branded as Meant to Be Dangerous from the start, tried his best to be a Jedi although he wanted to be a pilot, never felt accepted, abandoned in the moment of his greatest need, went to his abuser because he was the only one to turn to, became a criminal, his own family (in Anakin’s case: Obi-Wan and Yoda) trained the person who was closest to him to kill him, sacrificed himself for this person and died. And in his case, it’s particularly frustrating because Kylo Ren wasn’t half as impressive a villain as Vader, and Ben Solo had a very limited time of heroism and personal fulfilment, contrarily to Anakin when he was young.

The impact of The Rise of Skywalker was traumatic for some viewers. I know of adolescents and adults, victims of family abandonment and abuse, who identified with Ben: they were told that you can never be more than the sum of your abuse and abandonment, and that they’re replaceable if they’re not “good”. Children identifying with Rey were told that their parents might sell them away for “protection”. Rey was not conflicted, she had a few doubts but overall, she was cool about everything she did, so she got everything on a silver platter; that’s why as a viewer, after a while you stopped caring for her. Her antagonist was doomed from birth because he dared to question the choices other people made for him. It seems that in the Star Wars universe, you can only “rise” if you’re either a criminal but cool because you’ve always got a bucket over your head (Vader / the Mandalorian) or are a saint-like figure (Luke / Rey).

One of Obi-Wan’s first actions in A New Hope is cutting off someone’s arm who was only annoying him; Han Solo, ditto. These were no acts of self-defense. The Mandalorian is an outlaw. Yet they are highly popular. Why? Because they always keep their cool, so anything they do seems justified. Young Anakin was hated, Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen attacked for his portrayal. For the same reason many fans feel that Luke is the least important of the original trio although basically the Original Trilogy is his story: it seems the general audience hates nothing more than emotionality in a guy. They want James Bond, Batman or Indiana Jones as the lead. Padmé loved Anakin because she always saw the good little boy he once was in him; his attempts at impressing her with his flirting or his masculinity failed. Kylo tried to impress Rey with his knowledge and power, but she fled from him - she wanted the gentle, emphatic young man who had listened to her when she felt alone. Good message. But both died miserably, and Ben didn’t even get anything but a kiss. Realizing that his “not being as strong as Darth Vader” might actually be a strength of its own would have meant much more.

The heroes of the Original Trilogy had their adventures together and their happy ending; the heroes of the Prequel Trilogy also had good times and accomplishments in their youth, before everything went awry. Rey, Finn and Poe feel like their friendship hardly got started; Rose was almost obliterated from the narrative; and Ben Solo seems to have had only one happy moment in his entire life. Of course it’s terrible that he committed patricide (even if it was under coercion), but Anakin / Vader himself had two happy endings in the Prequel Trilogy before he became the monster we know so well. Not to mention Clone Wars, where he has heroic moments unnumbered.

The Skywalker family is obliterated without Balance in the Force, and the young woman who inherited all doesn’t seem to have learned any lesson from all this. The Original Trilogy became a part of pop culture among other things because its ending was satisfying. We can hardly be expected to be satisfied with an ending where our heroes are all dead and the heir of their worst enemy takes over. What good was the happy ending of the Original Trilogy for if they didn’t learn enough from their misadventures to learn how to protect one single person - their son and nephew, their future?

For a long time, I also thought that the saga was about Good vs. Evil. Watching the prequels again, I came to the conclusion that it is rather about Love vs. War. And now, considering as a whole, I believe it to be essentially Jedi against Skywalker. The ending, as it is now, says that both fractions lost: they annihilated one another, leaving a third party in charge, who believes to be both but actually knows very little about them.

Star Wars and Morality

After 9 films and 42 years, it still is not possible to make the general audience accept that it is wrong to divide people between Good and Evil in the first place. The massive rejection of both prequels and sequels, which have moral grey zones galore, shows it.

It is also not possible without being accused of actual blasphemy in the same fandom, to say the plain truth that no Skywalker ever was a Jedi at heart. As their name says, they’re pilots. Luke was the last and strongest of all Jedi because he always was first and foremost himself. Anakin was crushed by the Jedi’s attempts to stifle his feelings. His grandson, too. A Force-sensitive person ought to have the choice whether they want to be a Jedi or not; they ought not to be taught to suppress their emotions and live only on duty, without really caring for other people; and they ought to grow up feeling in a safe and loving environment, not torn away from their families in infancy, indoctrinated and provided with a light sabre (a deadly weapon) while they’re still small. A Jedi order composed of child soldiers or know-it-all’s does not really help anybody.

The original Star Wars saga was about love and friendship; although many viewers did not want to understand that message. The prequels portrayed the Jedi as detached and arrogant and Anakin Skywalker sympathetically, a huge disappointment for who only accepts stories of the “lonesome cowboy” kind. The Last Jedi was so hated that The Rise of Skywalker backpedaled: sorry, of course you’re right, here you have your “hero who knows everything better and fixes everything for you on a silver platter”. The embarrassing antihero, who saves the girl who was the only person showing him some human compassion, can die miserably in the process and is not even mourned.

Honestly: I was doubtful whether it would be adequate to give Ben Solo a happy ending after the patricide. I guess letting him die was the easiest way out for the authors to escape censorship. (I even wrote this in a review on amazon about The Last Jedi, before I delved deeper into the saga’s themes.) The messages we got now are even worse.

Kylo Ren / Ben Solo

A parent can replace a child if they’re not the way they expect them to be. A victim of lifelong psychical and physical abuse can only find escape in death, whether he damns or redeems himself. An introspective, sensitive young man is a loser no matter how hard he tries either way. A whole family can sacrifice itself to save their heir, he dies anyway.

Rey

Self-righteousness is acceptable as long as you find a scapegoat for your own failings. Overconfidence justifies anything you do. You can’t carve your way as a female child of “nobodies”, you have to descend from someone male and powerful even if that someone is the devil incarnate. You are a “strong female” if you choose to be lonely; you need neither a partner nor friends.

In General

Star Wars is not about individual choices, loyalty, friendship and love, it is a classic Western story with a lonesome cowboy (in this case: cowgirl) at its centre. Satisfied?

The father-son-relationship between Vader and Luke mirrors the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, saying that whoever we may want to kill is, in truth, our kin, which makes a clear separation in Good and Evil impossible. The “I am your father” scene is so infamous by now that even non-fans are aware of it; but this relationship between evil guy and good guy, as well as the plot turns where the villain saves the hero and that the hero discards his weapon are looked upon rather as weird narrative quirks instead of a moral.

In an action movie fan, things are simple: good guy vs. bad guy, the good guy (e.g. James Bond may be a murderer and a misogynist, but that’s ok because he’s cool about it) kills the bad guy, ka-boom, end of story. But Star Wars is a parable, an ambitious project told over decades of cinema, and a multilayered story with recurring themes.

A fairy tale ought to have a moral. The moral of both Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy was compassionate love - choose it and you can end a raging conflict, reject it and you will cause it. What was the moral of the Sequel Trilogy? You can be the offspring of the galaxy’s worst terror and display a similar attitude, but pose as a Jedi and kill unnecessarily, and it’s all right; descend from Darth Vader (who himself was a victim long before he became a culprit) and whether you try to become a Jedi trained by Luke Skywalker or a Sith trained by his worst enemy, you will end badly?

Both original and prequel trilogy often showed “good” people making bad choices and the “bad ones” making the right choices. To ensure lasting peace, no Force user ought to be believe that he must choose one side and then stick to it for the rest of his life: both sides need one another. The prequels took 3 films to convey this message, though not saying so openly. The Last Jedi said it out clearly - and the authors almost had their heads ripped off by affronted fans, resulting in The Rise of Skywalker’s fan service. It’s not like Luke, Han and Leia were less heroic in the Sequel Trilogy, on the contrary, they gave everything they had to their respective cause. They were not united, and they were more human than they had once been. Apparently, that’s an affront.

The Jedi are no perfect heroes and know-it-all’s and they never were, the facts are there for everyone to see. Padmé went alone and pregnant to get her husband out of Mustafar - and she almost succeeded - although she knew what he had done and that he was perfectly capable of it (he had told her of the Tusken village massacre himself) because she still saw the good little boy he had been in him; Obi-Wan left him amputated and burning in the lava, although he had raised Anakin like a small brother and the latter had repeatedly saved his life. But Padmé was not a Jedi, so I guess she still had some human decency. Neither Obi-Wan nor Yoda lifted a finger for the oppressed populations of the galaxy during the Empire, waiting instead for Anakin’s son to grow up so they could trick him into committing patricide. Neither Luke nor Leia did anything for their own son and nephew while he became the scourge of the galaxy, damning his soul by committing crime after crime. On Exegol, Rey heard the voices of all Jedi encouraging her to fight Palpatine to death. After that, they left her to die alone, and the alleged “bad guy”, who had already saved her soul from giving in to Palpatine’s lures, had to save her life by giving her his own. The Jedi merely know that “their side” has to win, no matter the cost for anyone’s life, sanity, integrity or happiness.

Excuse me, these are simple facts. How anyone can still believe that the Jedi were super-powerful heroes who always win or all-knowing wizards who are always right is beyond me. Luke, the last and strongest of them, like a bright flickering of light before the ultimate end, showed us that the best of men can fail. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. But it is wrong and utterly frustrating when all of the failure never leads to anything better. If Rey means to rebuild the Jedi order to something better than it was, there was no hint at that whatsoever.

And What Now?

The Last Jedi hit theatres only 2 years before The Rise of Skywalker, and I can’t imagine that the responsible authors all have forgotten how to make competent work in the meantime; more so considering that Solo or The Mandalorian are solid work. Episode IX is thematically so painfully flat it seems like they wanted us to give up on the saga on purpose. The last instalment of a 42-year-old saga ought to have been the best and most meaningful. I had heard already decades ago that the saga was supposed to have 9 chapters, so I was not among who protested against the sequels thinking that they had been thought up to make what had come before invalid. I naively assumed a larger purpose. But Episode IX only seems to prove these critics perfectly right.

The last of the flesh and blood of the Chosen One is dead without having “finished what his grandfather started”?

Still no Balance in the Force?

And worst of all, Palpatine’s granddaughter taking over, having proven repeatedly that she is not suited for the task?

Sorry, this “ending” is absurd. I have read fanfiction that was better written and more interesting. And, most of all, less depressing. I was counting on a conclusion that showed that the Force has all colours and nuances, and that it’s not limited to the black-and-white view “we against them”. That’s the ending all of us fans would have deserved, instead of catering the daddy issues of the part of the audience who doesn’t want stories other than those of the “lonesome cowboy” kind. I myself grew up on Japanese anime, maybe that’s one of the reasons why I can’t stand guys like James Bond or Batman and why I think you don’t need “a great hero who fixes the situation” but that group spirit and communication are way more important.

It was absolutely unexpected that Disney, the production company whose trademark are happy endings and family stories, would end this beloved and successful saga after almost half a century on such a hollow note. Why tell first a beautiful fairy tale and then leave the audience on a hook for 35 years to continue first with a tragedy (which at least was expected) and then with another (unexpected one)? And this story is supposed to be for children? Like children would understand all of the subtext, and love sad, cautionary tales. Children, as well as the general audience, first of all want to be entertained! No one wants to watch the legendary Skywalker family be obliterated and a Palpatine take over. The sequels were no fun anymore; we’ve been left with another open ending and hardly an explanation about what happened in the 30 years in between. If you want to tell a cautionary tale, you should better warn the general audience beforehand.

The Original Trilogy is so good because it’s entertaining and offers room for thought for who wants to think about its deeper themes, and also leaves enough space for dreams. Same goes for the first two films of the Sequel Trilogy; but precisely the last, which should have wrapped up the saga, leaves us with a bitter aftertaste and dozens of questions marks.

We as the audience believe that a story, despite the tragic things that happen, must go somewhere; we get invested into the characters, we root for them, we want to see them happy in the end. (The authors of series like Girls, How I Met Your Mother or Game of Thrones ought to be reminded of that, too.) I was in contact with children and teenagers saying that the Sequel Trilogy are “boring”; and many, children or adults, who were devastated by its concluson. There is a difference between wanting to tell a cautionary tale and playing the audience for fools. This trilogy could have become legendary like the Original Trilogy, had it fulfilled its promises instead of “keeping it low” with its last chapter. Who watches a family or fantasy story or a romantic / comedic sitcom wants to escape into another world, not to be hit over his head with a mirror to his own failings, and the ones of the society he’s living in. Messages are all right, but they ought not to go at the cost of the audience’s satisfaction about the about the people and narrative threads they have invested in for years.

This isn’t a family story: but children probably didn’t pester the studios with angry e-mails and twitter messages etc. They simply counted on a redemption arc and happy ending, and they were right, because they’re not as stupid as adults are. I have read and watched many a comment from fans who hate The Last Jedi. Many of these fans couldn’t even pinpoint what their rage was all about, they only proved to be stuck with the original trilogy and unwilling to widen their horizon. But at least their heroes had had their happy ending: The Rise of Skywalker obliterated the successes of all three generations of Skywalkers.

If the film studios wanted to tease us, they’ve excelled. If they expect the general audience to break their heads over the sequels’ metaphysics, they have not learned from the reactions to the prequels that most viewers take these films at face value. Not everybody is elbows-deep in the saga, or willing to research about it for months, and / or insightful enough to see the story’s connections. Which is why many viewers frown at the narrative and believe the Sequel Trilogy was just badly written. This trilogy could have become legendary like the Original Trilogy, had it fulfilled its promises instead of “keeping it low” with its last chapter. As it is now, the whole trilogy is hanging somewhere in the air, with neither a past nor a future to be tied in with.

The prequels already had the flaw of remaining too obscure: most fans are not aware that Anakin had unwillingly killed his wife during the terrible operation that turned him into Darth Vader, sucking her life out of her through the Force: most go by “she died of a broken heart”. So although one scene mirrors the other, it is not likely that most viewers will understand what Rey’s resurrection meant. And: Why did Darth Maul kill Qui-Gon Jinn? What did the Sith want revenge for? Who was behind Shmi’s abduction and torture? Who had placed the order for the production of the clones, and to what purpose? We can imagine or try to reconstruct the answers, but nothing is confirmed by the story itself.

The sequels remained even more in the dark, obfuscating what little explanation we got in The Rise of Skywalker with quick pacing and mind-numbing effects.

Kylo Ren had promised his grandfather that “he would finish what he started”: he did not. Whatever one can say of this last film, it did not bring Balance in the Force. What’s worse, the subject was not even breached. It was hinted at by the mosaic on the floor of the Prime Jedi Temple on Ahch-To, but although Luke and Rey were sitting on its border, they never seemed to see what was right under their noses. It remains inexplicable why it was there for everyone to see in the first place.

We might argue that Ben finished what his grandfather started by killing (or better, causing the death of) the last Jedi, who this one couldn’t kill because he was his own son; but leaving Rey in charge, he helped her finish what her grandfather had started. The irony could hardly be worse.

Episode IX looks like J.J. Abrams simply completed what they started with Episode VII, largely ignoring the next film as if it was always planned to do so. We, the angry and disappointed fans of The Last Jedi, may believe it was due to some of the general audience’s angry backlash, but honestly: the studios aren’t that dumb. They had to know that Episode VIII would be controversial and that many fans would hate it. The furious reactions were largely a disgrace, but no one can make me believe that they were totally unexpected. Nor can anyone convince me that The Rise of Skywalker was merely an answer to the small but very loud part of the audience who hated The Last Jedi: a company with the power and the returns of Disney Lucasfilm does not need to buckle down before some fan’s entitlement and narrowmindedness out of fear of losing money. And if they do, it was foolish to make Rey so perfect that she becomes almost odious, and to let the last of the Skywalker blood die a meaningless death. (Had he saved the Canto Bight children and left them with Rey, at least he would have died with honor; and she, the child left behind by her parents, would have had a task to dedicate herself to.)

The only reason I can find for this odd ending is that it’s meant to prepare the way for Rian Johnson’s new trilogy, which - hopefully - will finally be about Balance. We as the audience don’t know what’s going on behind the doors. Filmmaking is a business like any other, i.e. based on contracts; and I first heard that Rian Johnson had negotiated a trilogy of his own since before Episode VIII hit theatres. Maybe he kept all the rights of intellectual property to his own film, including that he would finish the threads he picked up and close the narrative circles he opened, and only he; and that his alleged working on “something completely different” is deliberately misleading.

Some viewers love the original trilogy, some love the prequels, some like both; but I hardly expect anyone to love the sequel trilogy as a whole. What with the first instalment “letting the past die, killing it if they had to”, the second hinting at a promising future and the third patched on at the very last like some sort of band-aid, it was not coherent. I heard the responsible team for Game of Thrones even dropped their work, producing a dissatisfying, quickly sewn together last season, for this new Star Wars project and thereby disappointing millions of GoT fans; I hope they are aware of the expectations they have loaded upon them. George Lucas’ original trilogy had its faults, but but though there was no social media yet in his time, at least he was still close enough to the audience to give them what they needed, if not necessarily wanted. (Some fans can’t accept that Luke and Leia are siblings to this day, even if honestly, it was the very best plot twist to finish their story in a satisfying way.)

I’m hoping for now that The Last Jedi was not some love bombing directed at the more sentimental viewers but a promise that will be fulfilled. “Wrapping up” a saga by keeping the flattest, least convincing chapter for last is bad form. Star Wars did not become a pop phenomenon by accident, but because the original story was convincing and satisfying. Endings like these will hardly make anyone remember a story fondly, on the contrary, the audience will move to another fandom to forget their disappointment.

On a side note, I like The Mandalorian, exactly for the reason that that is a magical story; not as much as the original trilogy, but at least a little. Of course, I’m glad it was produced. But it’s a small consolation prize after the mess that supposedly wrapped up the original saga after 9 films.

We’re Not Blind, You Know…

- Though Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) has Darth Vader’s stature, his facial features are practically opposite to Vader’s creepy mask. This should have foreshadowed that his life should have gone the other way, instead of more or less repeating itself. - As a villain Kylo was often unconvincing; by all logic he should have been a good father figure. (Besides, Star Wars films or series never work unless there is a strong father or father figure at their center.)

- Like Vader, Kylo Ren was redeemed, but not rehabilitated. Who knows who may find his broken mask somewhere now and, not knowing the truth, promise “I will finish what you started”. - The hand-touching scene on Ahch-To which was visually opposite to Anakin’s and Padmé’s should not have predicted another tragedy but a happy ending for them. - The Canto Bight sequence was announcing reckoning for the weapon industry and freedom for the enslaved children. It also showed how well Finn and Rose fit together. - Rey was a good girl before she started on her adventures. Like Anakin or Luke, she did not need to become a Jedi to be strong or generous or heroic. - Rey summons Palpatine after one year of training. Kylo practically begged for his grandfather’s assistance for years, to no avail. Her potential for darkness is obviously much stronger. - Dark Rey’s light sabre looked like a fork, Kylo’s like a cross. - The last time all Jedi and Sith were obliterated leaving only Luke in charge, things went awry. Now we have a Palpatine masquerading as a Skywalker and believing she’s a Jedi. Rey is a usurper and universally cheered after years of war, like her grandfather. - The broom boy of Canto Bight looked like he was sweeping a stage and announcing “Free the stage, it’s time for us, the children.”

Rey failed in all instances where Luke had proved himself (so much for feminism and her being a Mary Sue): - Luke had forgiven his father despite all the pain he had inflicted on him. She stabbed the „bad guy”, who had repeatedly protected and comforted her, to death. - Luke never asked Vader to help the Rebellion or to turn to the Light Side, he only wanted him back as his father. She assumed that you could make Ben Solo turn, give up the First Order and join the Resistance for her. She thought of her friends and of her own validation, not of him. - Luke had made peace by choosing peace. Rey fought until the bitter end. - Luke had thrown his weapon away before Palpatine. Rey picked up a second weapon. (And both of them weren’t even her own.) - Luke had mourned his dead father. Rey didn’t shed a tear for the man she is bonded to by the Force. - Luke went back to his friends to celebrate the new peace with them. Rey went back letting everyone celebrate her like the one who saved the galaxy on her own, she who were tempted to become the new evil ruler of the galaxy and had to rely on the alleged Bad Guy to save both her soul and her body. - Luke had embodied compassion when Palpatine was all about hatred. Where he chose love and faith in his father, she chose violence and fear. - Luke had briefly fallen prey to the Dark Side but it made him realize that he had no right to judge his father. Rey’s fall to the Dark Side did not make her wiser. - Rey has no change of mind on finding out that she’s Palpatine’s flesh and blood, nor after she has stabbed Kylo. Luke had to face himself on learning that he had almost become a patricide. Rey does not have to face herself: the revelation of her ancestry is cushioned by Luke’s and Leia’s support. Rey is and remains an uncompromising person who hardly learns from her faults.

This is cheating on the audience. And it's not due to feminism or Rey being some sort of “Mary Sue” the way many affronted fans claim. Kylo never was truly a villain, Rey is not a heroine, and this is not a happy ending. The Jedi, with their stuck-up conviction “only we must win”, have failed all over again. The Skywalker family was obliterated leaving their worst enemy in charge. Rey is supposed to be a “modern” heroine which young girls can take as an example? No, thank you. Not after this last film has made of her. Padmé was a much better role model, combining intelligence with strength and goodness and also female grace. The world does not need entitled female brats.

Bonus: What Made The Rise of Skywalker a Farce

- The Force Awakens was an ok film and The Last Jedi (almost) a masterpiece. The Rise of Skywalker was a cartoon. No wonder a lot of the acting felt and looked wooden. - “I will earn your brother’s light sabre.” She’s holding his father’s sabre. - Kylo in The Last Jedi: “Let the past die. Kill it if, you have to.” Beginning with me? - Rey ends up on Tatooine. - The planet both Anakin and Luke ardently wanted to leave. - Luke had promised his nephew that he would be around for him. - Nope. - Rey had told Ben that she had seen his future. What future was that - “you will be a hero for ten minutes, get a kiss and then die? (And they didn’t even get a love theme.) - “The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.” On a desert planet with a few ghosts. What of the ocean she used to dream about? - Ben and Rey were both introduced as two intensely lonely people searching for belonging. We learn they are a Force dyad, and then they are torn apart again. - Why was Ben named for Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first place, if they have absolutely nothing in common? - The Throne Room battle scene in The Last Jedi was clearly showing that when they are in balance, Light Side and Dark Side are unbeatable. Why did the so-called “Light Side” have to win again, in The Rise of Skywalker, instead of finding balance? - Luke’s scene on Ahch-To was so ridiculously opposite to his attitude in The Last Jedi that by now I believe he was a fantasy conjectured by her. (Like Ben’s vision of his father.) - Anakin’s voice among the other Jedi’s. - He was a renegade, for Force’s sake. - The kiss between two females. - More fan service, to appease those who pretended that not making Poe and Finn a couple was a sign of homophobia. - We see the Knights of Ren, but we learn absolutely nothing about them or Kylo’s connection with them. - Rose Tico’s invalidation. - A shame after what the actress had gone through because for the fans she was “not Star-Wars-y” (chubby and lively instead of wiry and spitfire). - Finn’s and Rose’s relationship. - Ignored without any explanation. - Finn may or may not be Force-sensitive. - If he is: did he abandon the First Order not due to his own free will but because of some higher willpower? Great. - General Hux was simply obliterated. - In The Force Awakens he was an excellent foil to Kylo Ren; no background story, no humanization for him. - Chewie’s and 3PO’s faked deaths. - Useless additional drama. - The Force Awakens was a bow before the classic trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker kicked its remainders to pieces. - The Prequel Trilogy ended with hope, the Original Trilogy with love. The Sequel Trilogy ends on a blank slate. - “We are what they grow beyond.” The characters of the Sequel Trilogy did not grow beyond the heroes of the Original Trilogy. - The Jedi did not learn from their mistakes and were obliterated. The Skywalker family understood the mistakes they had made too late. Now they’re gone, too.

P.S. While I was watching The Rise of Skywalker my husband came in asked me since when I like Marvel movies. I said “That’s not a Marvel movie, it’s Star Wars.” I guess that says enough.

P.P.S. For the next trilogy, please at least let the movies hit theatres in May again instead of December. a) It’s tradition for Star Wars films, b) Whatever happens, at least you won’t ruin anyone’s Christmases. Thank you.

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ao3feed-batb2017 · 3 years

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Send Me On My Way

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3A6uuXo

by BluD3vil_Fire2000

After saving a human toddler from a doomed fate, an unlikely group of friends—consisting of Migo, a no-nonsense, lone Yeti; Rodney, an inventor with a heart of gold; Alex, a Lieutenant of an enemy gang; and Blue, an exiled Princess with a unique power—band together to return the child to her family. In order to reunite the baby with her tribe, the four will have to take on many dangers along the journey while having to work together as a herd.

Words: 7501, Chapters: 5/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Ice Age/Multifandom AU

Fandoms: Original Work, Ice Age (Movies), Disney - All Media Types, Smallfoot (2018), Robots (2005), Madagascar (Movies), Wreck-It Ralph (Movies), Book of Life (2014), Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Wild Kratts, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Van Helsing (2004), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), The Prince of Egypt (1998), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Shrek (Movies), Monsters vs Aliens (2009), Shark Tale (2004), Antz (1998), Chicken Run (2000), Wallace & Gromit, Over the Hedge (2006), Flushed Away (2006), Bee Movie (2007), Kung Fu Panda (Movies), Megamind (2010), Rise of the Guardians (2012), The Croods (Movies), Turbo (2013), Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), Home (2015), Trolls (Movies 2016 2020), Abominable (2019), Horton Hears a Who! - Dr. Seuss, Rio (Movies - Saldanha), Epic (2013), Ferdinand (2017), Spies In Disguise (2019), FernGully (Movies), Anastasia (1997), Cloverfield (2008), 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), The Cloverfield Paradox (2018), Indiana Jones Series, Open Season (Movies), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Movies), Hotel Transylvania (Movies), Quest for Camelot (1998), Cats Don't Dance (1997), Osmosis Jones (2001), Iron Giant (1999), The LEGO Movie (2014), Storks (2016), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Fantasia 2000 (1999), Dumbo (1941), Bambi (1942), Cinderella (2015), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (2003), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), 101 Dalmatians (1961), The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book - All Media Types, Robin Hood (1973), The Rescuers (Movies), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Oliver & Company (1988), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin (1992), Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (1994), The Lion King (2019), Pocahontas (Disney 1995), Toy Story (Movies), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), Mulan (2020), A Bug's Life (1998), Tarzan (1999), Dinosaur (2000), Emperor's New Groove (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Monsters Inc. (Movies), Lilo & Stitch (2002), Treasure Planet (2002), Finding Nemo (Movies), Brother Bear (2003), Home on the Range (2004), Incredibles (Pixar Movies), Chicken Little (2005), The Wild (2006), Cars (Pixar Movies), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Ratatouille (2007), Enchanted (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Gnomeo and Juliet (2011), Brave (2012), Frozen (Disney Movies), Big Hero 6 (2014), Inside Out (2015), The Good Dinosaur (2015), Zootopia (2016), Moana (2016), Coco (2017), Onward (2020), Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), Balto (Movies), Despicable Me (Movies), Minions (2015), Missing Link (2019), Coraline (2009), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), The Boxtrolls (2014), ParaNorman (2012), Rock-a-Doodle (1991), The Secret of NIMH (1982), Cool World (1992), The Meg (2018), Rampage (2018), Aquaman (2018), Geostorm (2017), Brightburn (2019), Godzilla (2014), Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019), Godzilla (1998), Godzilla: The Series, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, Sonic Boom (Cartoon), Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types, Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies), Jurassic Park Original Trilogy (Movies), King Kong (2005), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Alien Series, Spiders (2013), Venom (Movie 2018), Ratchet & Clank, Crash Bandicoot (Video Games), Spyro the Dragon (Video Games), Rayman (Video Games), Gex (Video Games), Klonoa (Games), Croc (Video Games), PaRappa the Rapper, Oddworld, MediEvil (Video Games)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi

Additional Tags: Ice Age AU, everyone's gonna be in it, I just felt like it's too much, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Canon, Self-Insert, My OCs are in there as well, this is the first time I've done an AU like this, Inspired by Heroboy005 from fanfiction.net, if you see paragraphs that are familiar to the stories, Blood and Violence, Aftermath of Violence, Explicit Language, It does have some, Fluff and Humor, Family Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, That's all I can say

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3A6uuXo

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #batb #beauty and the beast #emma watson #dan stevens

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mistwraiths · 3 years

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5 stars

Wings of Shadow is the last book in the Crown of Feathers trilogy. This trilogy is easily one of my favorites and with a still relatively new author, it's a beautiful series that shows promise and creativity and I can't wait to see what Nicki writes next. My greatest love in fantasy is dragon riders but I loved the idea of Phoenix riders. With a beautifully imagined world, interesting magic, a richly detailed history, and great characters, I cannot recommend this enough.

My non-spoiler review of it is: I LOVED IT!!! IT WAS SO GOOD. I LOVE A CHARACTER WHO COMES INTO THEIR OWN. I LOVE A RELATIONSHIP THAT IS BUILT ON TRUST AND COMMUNICATION. It's so good

So without further ado, I will be discussing Wings of Shadow so if you don't want to be spoiled, please scroll on.

I deeply loved both CoF and HoF, so stepping into this world was like coming home in the best way. The book picks up not too long after the end of Heart of Flames. Tristan is being held hostage, Sev is being a spy for the Phoenix riders, and Veronyka is finally out to the others as an Ashfire. And our vengeful antagonist, Avalkyra, is plotting to take everything and everyone down.

This book has quite a bit of politics in it but not so much that it bogs anything down. In the grand scheme of things, I'm honestly surprised more didn't happen in this book. This book is full of lots of planning and internal moments, and small movements. And yet it always feels like things are moving or you're enraptured by the character's pov.

Because the characters do really shine. Veronyka's growth has been the best in the series and it's so good to finally see her accept herself, her power, her role in a way that befits her. It's so nice to have a main character who isn't bratty or whiny, or snarky. Veronyka is kind. Brave. Good. It's refreshing. And I really liked that she would take the throne gladly for peace. And that when the time really came and she could have done something to "save" people, she didn't do the selfless thing. She said no because it was the best thing in the long run.

Tristan and Veronyka finally get properly together, and it's so nice. They love and respect and TRUST each other. I love a good relationship. And there's absolutely no "I must protect you" or even the slightest bit of jealousy of Tristan being less powerful or second to Veronyka. LOVE IT.

Despite all that Avalkyra has done, reading her chapters is still fun because she's so vicious and vengeful and powerful. She doesn't give up and her hatred and love warring against each other is interesting to read. I still don't hate her even though I hate what she's done and there's absolutely no way she could ever be redeemable.

The ending was really good and while I do dislike a long ass battle, it was engaging. Several times I choked up. Everything ended as well as I wanted it and I'm very pleased with it. I liked what happened after too.

Now, of course, I do have my gripes. Who am I without my slight complaining?

My first and biggest complaint honestly is that Veronyka still wanted to save Avalkyra, and didn't want to kill her. I do like the distinction that Veronyka said it wasn't that she could not, she was would not. However, that's still stupid to me. Some villains deserve to die. If things ended differently, Avalkyra would have burned everything and everyone to the ground. She shot to kill Veronyka. What she has done, did, and planned to do should have been enough to kill her. I hate that good guy doesn't kill trope. It's literally so stupid and the worst.

I really liked what happened because of what Veronyka did. The loss. I thought it was really unique and made the ending really impactful. And then it's practically reversed within pages and like... what was the point? It could have truly been a complete end of the Ashfire legacy. I get that ~technically a new legacy has started but I felt it was a little too cheap and made it too happy of an ending. Also like, Tristan's sad POV felt kind of unnecessary since we done knew Veronyka would be back!

So, I really loved Sev in CoF and HoF so imagine my surprise when his whining of not being good/useful and slight jealous made his chapters and himself as a character annoying!!!! Like come on, you've done so much! Get over yourself and your dumb insecurities (lol @ me take this advice). I am really happy with the end of his story though!

My last little complaint is I kind of dislike seeing the aftermath of a happy finished end. We get to see progress being made and the world changing. It's absolutely nice but like... i don't care? I can imagine them implementing changes to the world. I really don't need to read them. The book should have ended after the battle, but that's just my opinion.

All in all, this was an amazing sequel to an amazing trilogy!!

#nicki pau preto #wings of shadow #steph's book review #steph reads #book review

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ram-reads · 3 years

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For a while I thought I was enjoying this book more than King of Scars, which I gave 3 stars, but the further I got into this book the less true that became. This sequel never fully engaged my attention which is why it’s taken me about a month to read.

While King of Scars focused a lot on Nikolai and his demon, in Rule of Wolves the main focus is on the brewing war with Fjerda. Nikolai has a lot on his plate. The Darkling is back and with him came an uncontrollable blight similar to the Fold that randomly strikes any place regardless of country leaving nothing alive in its wake. On top of that he has to deal with the plot the Shu had to kill him along with figuring out how to deal with the truth of his parentage that the Fjerdans want to exploit. So yeah, a lot. Luckily Zoya is there to help him. There’s also Nina who can pass along crucial information on Fjerda’s plans after infiltrating Jarl Brum’s house through his daughter Hanne. I usually enjoy books with multiple plot lines like this, but that wasn’t the case here. Too much was going on that felt completely unnecessary. I won’t get into every single instance this was the case, but the most obvious one to me had to do with the blight and the Darkling. The blight is important in the beginning but quickly gets pushed to the rear. It gets brought up so little that even I forgot it was a part of the book until it becomes important again near the end. It felt shoehorned in to give a purpose to the Darkling who also contributed pretty much nothing to the book. It felt like Bardugo was just writing a ton of filler solely to make this book longer than King of Scars because some moments would just drag on. This isn’t to say that I found every plot boring. I was always looking forward to Nina’s chapters because it was interesting watching her gather information on the Fjerdans right under their noses. I also liked getting to know more about Fjerdan royalty. The chapters involving the Shu were my favorites and any time a battle happened I found myself glued to the page. So there was plenty that did entertain me, but there was just as much that bored me. It doesn’t help that the story is told from multiple perspectives. This just means that if there’s a character I have no interest in I have to trudge through their chapters to get to what I am interested in. There were three characters I cared little about so I often found myself being taken out of the story during their chapters. To be fair not all of their chapters would be boring, but enough were that I struggled to pick the book back up whenever I would hit one of their perspectives.

Two of the characters I didn’t care about were Nikolai and Zoya. This was also true for me in King of Scars. I never read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, so I��m not sure if I’m just missing some context that isn’t as clear in this duology since I know Nikolai is a beloved character from that series, but try as I might I never came to care about either of them. Nikolai has always felt generic to me and Zoya’s character was too tied to Nikolai’s problems in the first book for her to feel like her own person. It took until the end of the last book for me to want to know more about Zoya. Her plot line was actually one of the ones I was most excited for going into this book, but just like the previous one very little was done with her character until the very end. Bardugo really dropped the ball on Zoya’s potential. I’ve never cared about Zoya and Nikolai as a couple, I preferred them as close friends. This book didn’t change my feelings on the matter. I found the pining going on between them to be tedious to read through to the point where I wanted them to get together just so I wouldn’t have to read about them yearning for each other anymore. For those who do enjoy them as a couple they have many intimate moments that I’m sure you’ll love. While Zoya and Nikolai never captured my attention I continued to enjoy Nina’s character. Her chapters melded better with the plot than they did in King of Scars. She’s always been a clever character but I feel like her cleverness really shines in this installment. She’s fooling the drüskelle commander, the Fjerdan queen and prince, and making a big chunk of the Fjerdan population believe in the Saints through fake miracles she’s concocting. I was always engaged whenever she was on the page and she remains one of my favorite characters from the Grishaverse. My feelings on Hanne and Nina are neutral. I like Hanne and the character arc they go through, but it’s hard for me to really enjoy their relationship with Nina when I still miss Matthais. I did like how everything between Nina and Hanne was resolved though and am eager to see where their relationship goes from here. While these three were the main characters of the first book we do get two additional voices in this one. One is the Darkling and the other one might be a bit of a spoiler so I’ll just say they’re related to the Shu. I’ve never been a fan of bringing back people who have been killed off, so I didn’t like that the Darkling was brought back at the end of the last book. I was still curious about what would happen to his character though, but he ended up being pointless. He didn’t need to be brought back. His entire character could’ve been cut from the book and not much would’ve changed. As for the Shu character I really loved what their chapters brought to the story. I wouldn’t mind a whole book following them or their companions. The worldbuilding continues to remain Bardugo’s strongest asset. We get to learn so much more about the Shu government, the Fjerdan government, and even a little bit about Novyi Zem. I’ve always wanted more knowledge on the Shu so I’m glad they had a bigger role in this novel. I’m hoping one day Bardugo will move away from Ravka and Kerch and draw her attention to other areas of the world she has created. While I usually love Bardugo’s writing I obviously had many problems with it in this one. One of my biggest gripes though was how the ending was handled. With how high stakes this book was I thought the ending was wrapped up a little too nicely for my tastes. Along with that so many plot lines weren’t resolved until the very end which resulted in the feeling of everything being rushed. My feelings for this book were all over the place. I didn’t care about half of the characters, the plot interested me only half the time, and I cared little about the romance. There were plenty of times the book captured my attention but it failed to consistently keep it. I wish I could’ve enjoyed this duology more, though I’m still glad to have read it for the moments I did like. I’m looking forward to what the Grishaverse has in store for me next and with what the final two pages allude to I’m hopeful that I’ll enjoy it more than I was able to for this one.

#book review #book reviews #rule of wolves #grishaverse #ya fantasy #ya books #2021 reads #2.5 stars #my reviews

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callunavulgari · 3 years

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YEAR-IN-BOOKS | 2020

So. Last year I read 112 books. The year before that I read 89. The year before that I read 39. This year I have (thus far) read 87 books out of my goal of 75 and will likely at least one or two more before the end of the year. So, click below if you want rambly book recs!

1. a book you loved?

This year has been rough. Like, I’m looking back at the books I read in January and am genuinely horrified to realize that I read them a scant twelve months ago when it feels like I read them at least three years ago. I’m glad I kept my limit lower this year, because enjoying anything this year has been harder than usual. I did read some decent books though, and I think the one I loved the most was Gideon the Ninth (and it’s sequel, Harrow the Ninth). They’re both fantastic books, and so deeply unexpected. Reading the first chapter or so of Gideon’s book is like getting whiplash. You go into it expecting angsty lady necromancers and get a crossdressing bee that secretes hallucinogenic substances and pulsates in time to the music in your head. Literally, Gideon’s dialogue is so out of left field that I spent half the book delightedly confused. But it is genuinely funny? And lesbian necromancers in space is just.. such an underutilized concept. Harrow’s book was a little harder - her head space is weird and everything is intentionally fucking with you so you really are confused for 90% of it, but I think the pay off was more than worth it.

2. a book you hated?

I was deeply, DEEPLY disappointed by The Secret Commonwealth. I finished it near the end of January and was just so fucking mad for days. Because the thing is, my expectations were not super high. I was excited for it, mostly because a grown up version of Lyra is something that I thought I would only ever experience in fanfiction. Now, I wish I’d only experienced her in fanfiction. Graphic attempted rape, retroactively confirming a rape happened in a previous book (one where it was implied that the victim got away in time), retroactively raping a character from the previous trilogy... like. I’m sorry. But fuck that noise. Fuck Philip Pullman. Fuck any douchebag asshole who thinks a woman has to be raped in order to write compelling fiction. I was riding the high of the new HBO series (which was good) and I guess I just... thought the author would have some goddamn integrity.

3. a book that made you cry?

We Are Okay was a really gorgeous, tender little book about grief that I read in one sitting in my bed when I really should have been sleeping. I read this book in March, when things only kind of hurt for me. When things were still largely okay. Before the bulk of covid hit my side of the world. Before self-isolation was an every day thing, not just something in books. Before Mal. Before getting covid. But ultimately, this was a book about healing. It aches, yes, but it also soothes.

4. a book that made you happy?

Both Beach Read and Written in the Stars made me pretty happy. Both romcoms done right, the first is a book about a romance writer falling in love with a thriller/mystery writer. They’re staying at neighboring beach houses and spend a summer getting themselves out of their comfort zones by challenging the other to write in the other person’s chosen genre. It’s sweet. It’s sexy. Over all, a really fun read, with enough depths to keep me engaged.

The second book is a meet-cute that involves astrology, fake dating, and lesbians. It’s written phenomenally well, and gave me a brief surge of happiness when I needed it most.

5. the best sequel?

Probably Harrow. The Dragon Republic is a great second choice though. Again, it’s a hard book, and I wouldn’t have been able to read it any later in the year than I did, because it is... not a happy book. But it is, in my opinion, a good one. And I am still excited about the third.

6. most anticipated release for the new year?

I am hoping to get the as of yet Untitled sequel to Ninth House in 2021. I am also hoping to actually be able to read The Rhythms of War in the new year, since I doubt I’ll get a chance in 2020. I’m looking forward to Mister Impossible, the second book in the Ronan trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater. I’m looking forward to the Hourglass Throne, which I think is coming in 2021? A Desolation Called Peace in March. The Thorn of Emberlain might actually be out in October, which will be wonderful it doesn’t get pushed back again. Rule of Wolves, the King of Scars Duology in the Grishaverse will also be March. One Last Stop by Casey McQuistion in May!!!!

7. favorite new author?

Defintely Tamsyn Muir. I will also be keeping an eye out for Alexandriua Bellefleur’s stuff...

8. favorite book to film adaptation?

Uh, can I say MDSZ/The Untamed without actually having read the original text? Well, I’ve read a few chapters, but damn.

9. the most surprising book?

Taproot. It’s this little graphic novel about a gardener who can see ghosts. And like. It still makes me warm to think about how tender it is.

10. the most interesting villain?

Does Loki: Where Mischief Lies count? Since Loki is technically a villain, even if he’s only villain adjacent in this book.

11. the best makeouts?

I... don’t know? I didn’t real read any of these books for makeouts. Not this year.

12. a book that was super frustrating?

Boyfriend Material. It has great ratings! It has fake dating! But the story was very so-so for me.

13. a book you texted about, and the text was IN CAPSLOCK?

I think I yelled at Nick a few times about how pissed I was at the Secret Commonwealth.

14. a book for the small children in your life?

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a book about a case worker at the department in charge of magical youth and he is charged with traveling to an island and making a very important decision about the children living there. It was adorable and I wish I’d had a book like it when I was young.

15. a book you learned from?

That is not the sort of book that I was reading in 2020.

16. a book you wouldn’t normally try?

I read a couple mysteries. Some were good. Most made me remember why I don’t read mysteries.

17. a book with something magical in it?

Call Down the Hawk, because all of Maggie’s books are at least a little bit magical. And while this definitely didn’t hit quite the same vibes that the Raven Cycle did, it was still very, very good.

18. the best clothes?

Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth have the best goth aesthetic I have ever seen in a book. Also, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, because Addie’s clothes always sounded cute and comfortable.

19. the most well-rounded characters?

The City We Became had some fantastic characters. It was really interesting to see Jemisin get out of her typical fantasy setting and this novel was so out of this world.

20. the best world-building?

Deeplight! It’s described as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meets Frankenstein and that is pretty accurate. Old gods that traversed the sea tore each other apart and now the world tries to get a hold of their corpses for amazing powers. It was really, really cool and probably the best book I could have chosen to read at the beach.

21. the worst world-building?

Eh. Most of the books I hated I didn’t keep reading this year.

22. a book with a good sidekick?

I really like all of the characters in the Tarot Sequence. There are some solid characters, even if there’s basically no women. Also Graceling.

23. the most insufferable narrator?

I was not a fan of The Mysterious Benedict Society, mostly because of the narrator. It was so boring and I quit halfway through.

24. a book you were excited to read for months beforehand?

Return of the Thief. Which... was still mostly good. But the ending felt lackluster for me. I may go back and reread the series and see if it feels more genuine after I’ve read them all together.

25. a book you picked up on a whim?

I literally picked up Written in the Stars because the cover was pretty and it looked like the romance was between two girls. And it did nooooot fail me.

26. a book that should be read in a foreign country?

Shrug emoji.

27. a book cassian andor would like?

I still don’t know what to make of this question.

28. a book gina linetti would like?

Shrug emoji.

29. your favorite cover art?

Gideon and Harrow, honestly. I also really liked Under the Udala Trees.

30. a book you read in translation?

I genuinely don’t know.

31. a book from another century?

Teeeeechnically The Great Hunt?

32. a book you reread?

I reread the Diviners and the Captive Prince series near the beginning of the year. They were still delightful.

33. a book you’re dying to talk about, and why?

Into the Drowning Deep was fucking amazing. I love Mira Grant’s work anyway and there’s this scene where a character pilots a submersible into the Marianas Trench and experiences your first face-to-face encounters with the sirens and like. AHHHHHHHHHH. It was so spooky and beautiful and just genuinely amazing.

TLDR; 2020 sucked, most books still couldn’t pierce through the depression, but there were a few bangers.

#heather says what #new year's memes #2020 #books to read #recommendations #fuck yeah recs!!

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mediaeval-muse · 3 years

Text

Book Review

A House of Rage and Sorrow. By Sangu Mandanna. New York: Sky Pony Press, 2019.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: YA sci fi/fantasy

Part of a Series? Yes, The Celestial Trilogy #2

Summary: Esmae once wanted nothing more than to help her golden brother win the crown of Kali but that dream died with her best friend. Alexi broke her heart, and she vowed to destroy him for it. And with her sentient warship Titania beside her, how can she possibly fail? As gods, beasts, and kingdoms choose sides, Alexi seeks out a weapon more devastating than even Titania. Past lives threaten the present. Old enemies claim their due. And Esmae cannot outrun the ghosts and the questions that haunt her. What really happened to her father? What was the third boon her mother asked of Amba? For in the shadows, lurking in wait, are secrets that will swallow her whole. The House of Rey is at war. And the entire galaxy will bleed before the end.

***Full review under the cut.***

***Minor spoilers in the Character section.***

Content/Trigger Warnings: violence, blood

Overview: I really, really loved the first book in this trilogy, so I was somewhat disappointed when the sequel failed to live up to my expectations. Most of the things I loved about A Spark of White Fire were absent from A House of Rage and Sorrow: the gods were more withdrawn, there are no prophecies to avert, Esmae has chosen a side so there is no longer the view that both sides have merits (at least, not in Esmae’s mind). But by far, the things that most prevented me from loving this book was the pacing and chaotic plot structure, which I will explain in more detail below. Thus, this book only gets a 2 star rating from me.

Writing: Mandanna’s prose in A House of Rage and Sorrow is fairly similar to that of A Spark of White Fire. It’s fairly straightforward, without many flourishes or complex imagery, which can be good or bad, depending on your preference. However, because of the quick pacing in A House of Rage and Sorrow, Mandanna’s prose felt more sparse than before; because we whip through events so quickly, there is little time to establish the mood or feeling of a new location, or little time devoted to making Esmae’s emotions feel tangible. Instead, we get quick notes like “the hall is lined with bookcases” or “the ground is covered in snow.” I wanted a little more grandeur, especially in celestial places, and I wanted Esmae’s emotions to resonate a little more with the reader.

There is also a major change in that we are given Titania’s POV for several chapters in A House of Rage and Sorrow. While the idea is an interesting one, I ultimately didn’t think Titania’s perspective added much to the story. Everything Titania related could have been done from Esmae’s POV, and Titania herself didn’t have a strong enough personal arc to make me feel invested in her story apart from Esmae. I think it could have worked if Titania was doing more on the side, participating in events without Esmae’s knowledge, but for me, it seemed like this POV was included just for variety, not for any real plot or storytelling purpose.

Plot: It’s hard to describe the plot of this book other than “Esmae plans to make her brother suffer” because, at least for me, the structure felt somewhat chaotic. Events didn’t really build on each other until the last quarter or so towards the end, and the combination of a lot of twists without much foreshadowing or groundwork made the shocking parts of the story feel unearned. So much seemed to come out of nowhere that the story didn’t feel suspenseful; it was just one shocking thing after another, some of which seemed to be inserted for convenience rather than purposeful storytelling.

Also, because the pace moves so fast, there is a lot more focus on events than characterization, which made the plot feel empty because there wasn’t a lot of time to explore the emotional impacts of any given reveal. For example, Esmae doesn’t seem to grapple that much with Max’s secret identity, and nothing was shown to us that would have foreshadowed that reveal anyway (at least, I don’t think there was).

Moreover, a lot of things seemed to happen off-page and characters would tell us about them later, rather than the reader experiencing things through Esmae’s POV as they happened. As a reader, I felt like I was expected to absorb the significance of these events, but because I didn’t really see them, I didn’t quite feel like I could connect with them emotionally. For example, the stuff about Esmae’s father comes out of nowhere and happens off-page. The only reason we know about it is because Titania and Kirrin tell us (and other characters) about what happened. Also, there is a section where Esmae relates an encounter where she almost dies, but the suspense is taken out of the story because it’s told in a kind of flashback, so we already know that things turn out ok.

Overall, I would have liked a slower pace and more groundwork to be laid so that when the twists come, they are at least foreshadowed in some way. I also would have liked plot points to build on each other more clearly throughout the book, building up to the finale rather than the story floundering before finding its feet during the last quarter.

Characters: Most of the characters are the same as in A Spark of White Fire, but their motivations and emotions are little more unclear. Esmae is perhaps the most changed of all, going from conflicted in the first book to single-minded in this one. I can understand that to an extent, and I think a story about how grief and obsession with revenge can be the basis of an interesting story; however, I felt like Esmae didn’t emotionally progress in any way, and her arc felt somewhat static.

Sibylla, Esmae’s bodyguard, gets a lot more screen time in this book, and though I liked her as a character, I also think her arc could have been stronger. Sibylla’s journey was more about learning to accept and embrace good things in her life, and I think it could have been a nice counter-point to Esmae’s story, if the two arcs mirrored each other a little more.

The gods also had a little more personal drama in this book, and I really wish more was done to foreground Amba’s emotional journey. Amba is largely absent because she has to guard the prison where a great beast lives, so we don’t get to see her emotionally develop until the surprise twist with her towards the end. I would have liked to see Amba interact more with Esmae and for Mandanna to show us how the relationship between the two changes the way Amba feels about her godhood (or, at least, why Esmae is more important to Amba than her celestial family).

Other recurring characters had potential, but ultimately fell flat for me because of pacing. Max could have had a more interesting arc if his secret identity was foreshadowed more. Alexi’s regret could have been more potent (I almost wish the second POV was Alexi’s and not Titania’s) and his offer at the end of the book had been foreshadowed, rather than coming out of nowhere. The stuff with Esmae’s mother could have been foreshadowed more. Ultimately, everything moved too fast and characters felt like they were acting in service to a twisty plot more than fulfilling a personal arc.

TL;DR: A House of Rage and Sorrow suffered from poor pacing, flattened characterizations, and a chaotic plot structure. Because so much of what I loved about the first book was absent in the second, I ultimately felt disappointed, but I am looking forward to the final installment in the trilogy.

#book reviews

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stillwinterair · 4 years

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2020 in books so far! All 21 of them!

Season of Storms by Andrzej Sapkowski -- Finished January 1st. My least favorite Witcher novel. In a series that managed to surprise and endear me at every turn, this one final romp did almost nothing for me. 2/5 stars.

Star Wars: Hard Merchandise by K.W. Jeter -- Finished January 17th. The final chapter in the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, and by far the worst of the three. 2/5 stars.

Migration by Julie E. Czerneda -- Finished February 18th. The middle chapter in Czerneda’s excellent Species Imperative trilogy, fun and charismatic, sciencey and cute. Didn’t hit me quite the same way as the first in the trilogy did, but still had fun. 4/5 stars.

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn -- Finished February 2nd. It was okay. 3/5 stars.

To be continued under the cut, including thoughts on The Expanse, which has taken over my life this year:

Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn -- Finished February 25th. Borrowed from a coworker, was immensely disappointed, decided once and for all I wasn’t going to touch tie-in novels for the rest of the year. That wound up being a great decision. 2/5 stars.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty -- Finished March 12th. The first of Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy, this was a great little historical fantasy fiction about a half-djinn caught up in about a thousand tropes I usually hate, but were written with care and nuance and charm. 4/5 stars.

Midway through The City of Brass, news of a virus overseas begin making waves.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie -- Finished March 29th. The first of Leckie’s Imperial Radch saga. So, so, so many incredible concepts that I loved dearly... but all just slightly off to the side of where they would normally hit me. I wanted to love this book so badly, and it kept almost hitting me, but never quite did, at least not as hard as I wanted it to. Still, I enjoyed the world and the characters enough that I bought the sequel and will read it soon. 3/5 stars.

AAAAAND PANDEMIC! I began this book when I was still working, and finished it while in quarantine. So that’s fun. From here on out, all of these books were read from my couch or my bed.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison -- Finished April 16th. Another book I wanted desperately to love and... succeeded a bit more than with Ancillary Justice, thanks to how ceaselessly charming it was. But the names. Oh, god this book is full of fake fantasy names and titles and you have to remember all of them and the glossary isn’t always helpful. But, still. I found myself so endeared, I couldn’t put it down. 4/5 stars.

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey -- Finished May 3rd. The first book of The Expanse, and I fell in love instantly. This one hit all the right buttons and didn’t stop: good science fiction, fun space adventure, charming characters, perfect level of tension, the list goes on. And reading this one was... the beginning of a certain obsession I’ve had this year. 5/5 stars.

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks -- Finished May 21st. The latter half of this book? Great. Stellar. The first half...? Uhhhhh. Eh? By far one of the most insufferable protagonists I’ve ever had to slog through, but some really cool scifi concepts here (and also some really bad ones -- the whole desert island cannibal thing was stupid as hell, but the Damage Game got me). 3/5 stars.

Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey -- Finished May 30th. The second book in The Expanse series. I could not put this one down. Everything I loved about Leviathan Wakes, amplified a thousand times. The additions of Bobbie, Prax, and Avasarala made me ascend. This book fired on all cylinders and I loved every moment of it; it stands as one of my three favorite Expanse books so far -- but we’ll get to those. Anyway, I can’t give it 6/5, so we’ll have to settle with: 5/5 stars.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut -- Finished June 1st. A book I’d been meaning to read for a while and finally got around to. Literally finished it in two sittings. Mostly it made me sad. 4/5 stars.

The Strong Shall Live by Louis L’Amour -- Finished June 2nd. A collection of wild west short stories. A couple were great, a few were awful -- most were just okay. I’d been reading it slowly since December, and finishing felt more like a weight off my mind than anything else. Still, some of these stories were incredibly memorable. 3/5 stars.

Larissa by Emily Devenport -- Finished June 4th. I read this in about three sittings overall, which is a lot faster than I usually read. It wasn’t particularly good, but it was the exact sort of scifi junk I eat up for some reason. This is... a very, very weird one. It was very progressive for the time (the book is as old as I am), so much so that I wasn’t surprised to find her on Twitter very publicly supporting BLM and decrying the current administration. It’s about a black woman in space, wealth disparity, and a bunch of other stuff. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, but Devenport was trying, all the way back in 93. It’s also the sequel to a book I didn’t know existed until I’d already finished, but I guess that one didn’t matter so much to the plot of Larissa? Anyway, had a blast, even though I can’t quite put a finger on why. 4/5 stars. (I actually had this one marked as 3/5 stars, but my memories of it are all very positive, so... it was worth the bump.)

Abaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey -- Finished June 13th. Third in The Expanse, and not my favorite. The pacing in the first half was a little wonky, but once it gets going, boy does it go. 4/5 stars.

Regeneration by Julie E. Czerneda -- Finished June 25th. The final entry in the Species Imperative trilogy. This might have been my least favorite of the three, unfortunately, as much like Ancillary Justice it always seemed to hit just to the side of where I wanted it to. The first one was by far my favorite, and the third installment just couldn’t recapture that magic, but I love the protagonist and was happy to walk with her to the end. Plus, as always, there’s some damn good science fiction here. 4/5 stars.

Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey -- Finished July 4th. HELL YEAH MOTHERFUCKER, this one has everything! I don’t even want to spoil what, just know that this is exactly what you want after Abaddon’s Gate, and had everything it was missing and more. This one rocked my fucking world, and is one of my three favorite Expanse books so far. Another one I’d rate higher if I could, but for now... 5/5 stars.

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold -- DNF, July 8th. This book had me until the 35-year-old protagonist started trying to hide his arousal while he was watching the two teenage girls he was tutoring swim, and it was played off as like... cute? I don’t know man, fuck this book, it made me miserable.

Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey -- Finished July 16th. Once again, HELL YEAH MOTHERFUCKER, HELL YEAH! This book begins with some of the slowest pacing in the series so far, but god, have they earned it. It feels so good to just take a break and walk a mile in the shoes of all your favorite characters. And then when things hit? Boy do they fucking hit. The third in my trifecta of favorite Expanse books so far, and another I’d rate higher if I could. 5/5 stars.

The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke -- Finished July 21st. I really thought this was going to be a fun pirate book. Instead, it’s a book about a fun pirate slogging along with the most obnoxious man in the history of fiction, who she is also falling in love with, apparently, for some reason. I don’t know. This is a duology but idk if I’m even interested in the sequel. Which is a shame, because I really liked the protagonist. 2/5 stars.

Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey -- Finished August 5th. Definitely my least favorite Expanse novel so far, mostly because the narrative was stretched very thin. This one hit really fucking hard toward the beginning, and again at the end, but in the middle? The middle was very... nebulous. A lot happens and I’m not interested in all of it, which is something this series has thus far managed to avoid doing. Still, very good, just not quite up to the standards I’m used to from this series. 4/5 stars.

And... it’s August! And I haven’t picked up another book since the 5th, which feels weird, but is due to a lot of factors. I’m in the middle of moving, so I don’t have as much time to read during the day. But also I’m waiting on a shipment of books to come in, and it hasn’t yet, and that’s stressing me out. Of those, there are a couple I’m leaning toward reading, but if the ol’ Read The First Page trick doesn’t work on any of them, I’ll probably hop back to Imperial Radch.

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logically-anxious17 · 4 years

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Unpopular Opinion(s)

Spoiler Warning for The Rise of Skywalker

The Rise Of Skywalker was good, great even. The sequels were my favorite of the Star Wars trilogies.

Now hold on, before anyone goes and starts typing up their angry responses about why I’m wrong and all the plot holes and this and that let me tell you why.

The Force Awakens came out when I was in 7th grade. This was the hardest year of my life up to that point. I had extremely low self confidence, I had no good adult role model, and despite reading many books (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, etc.) I had reached a point where the characters just weren’t connecting with me anymore. It was the hardest point of my life up until that point and the hardest year of middle school for me.

And then I saw Rey, up on the screen coming from absolutely nothing and yet she had the power to do something great. She was on her own too, no one to look up to, but she was strong and stubborn. I looked up to that. And Kylo, as much as some people hated him I was also immediately drawn to him, he was over emotional, impulsive, and determined. But both were flawed in their family life. Despite Kylo being on the dark side, I also looked up to him, because something in the movies just hinted to the fact that that wasn’t where he belonged.

It would be the following January (2016) that I would come out to my mom as trans. Because I had gained confidence, and I gained role models. I felt like I could be proud of myself if I would just take steps to be myself.

I was in 9th grade when The Last Jedi was released. My first year of high school. I was absolutely lost. I was stressed and some of my friends moved away and my girlfriend and I were arguing more and more and I felt like I was never going to be able to do something good.

Then I saw those characters on the screen again. And yes there were so many things in this movie that didn’t make sense. But I didn’t care. Because Kylo showed that he was unsure of himself, Rey showed that she was impatient. They showed more of their flaws and their connection strengthened. I watched as the two characters I wanted to be like began to work together. I felt invigorated.

I am in 11th grade, and The Rise of Skywalker has been released. This year has been hard, even harder than 7th grade. Now I’m worried about my GPA and college and what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. My parents act like children and my family is a mess. My friend group spilt from me back in May after my girlfriend broke with me. My trust issues came back in full swing and I am currently friendless and spend an average of 10 or more hours at school every day with everything I am doing. I feel like I am slowly losing my mind and I am just trying to find the smallest of things to hand on to.

And then I see those two characters on the screen. I watch their dynamic change throughout the movie. I cry during a movie for the first time since I was 5. I didn’t cry during Infinity War, I didn’t cry during End Game, I didn’t cry during It: Chapter 2. And yet, somehow, this movie made me cry, not once, but AT LEAST three times. And why?

Because I felt a connection to these characters. Because these movies came along at just the right time in my life for me to grasp onto a prominent figure. Because if these movies had been released just 2 year earlier or 2 years later, I probably would not feel the same way.

Because these movies made me feel like I could do anything.

That is why The Rise of Skywalker is great.

It doesn’t matter that in the end Rey and Ben were still apart, or that Leia and Luke are gone, or that Finn and Poe didn’t end up together. Because as much as I wanted all of these things to be different, these movies still mean the world to me. I still feel like I can do anything. I still feel like I was apart of these characters and vice versa.

And that is why it doesn’t matter if you don’t agree. Because these movies mean something to me, just as the originals or prequels mean something to you.

#the rise of skywalker #star wars #tros #reylo #the rise of skywalker spoilers #tros spoliers #star wars spoilers #reylo spoilers #the last jedi #the force awakens #tlj #tfa #spoilers #star wars sequels #star wars sequel trilogy

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haddocktree · 4 years

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Dean DeBlois Talks the Care and Feeding of Flying Reptiles

The writer-director of DreamWorks Animation’s Oscar-nominated ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ reflects on his long and loving journey creating the epic animated trilogy.

By Jon Hofferman and Dan Sarto | Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at 11:29am

In 3D, Awards, CG, Films, People, Virtual Reality, Visual Effects | ANIMATIONWorld | Geographic Region: All

Oscar and Annie Award-nominated ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,’ the final chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s epic animated feature trilogy, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. Images © 2019 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved.

At this point, neither the How to Train Your Dragon animated feature film franchise, nor its longtime writer-director Dean DeBlois, needs much of an introduction. The epic adventure series, which debuted in 2010, has been both commercially successful and critically acclaimed, with the first two installments garnering an immense number of Annie Award nominations and wins, as well as being Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominees for Best Animated Feature. (How to Train Your Dragon 2 won the Golden Globe in that category in 2015.)

This time is no different: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has been nominated for an Academy Award and eight Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and has won accolades from the National Board of Review, the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences, and the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, among others. Produced by Brad Lewis and Bonnie Arnold, The Hidden World delivers a heartwarming message about overcoming intolerance wrapped inside a tale about growing up, facing the unknown, and learning to let go. It also answers the burning question of what happened to the dragons that once populated the earth and lived in cooperation with humans.

So, as awards season rounds into the home stretch, and DeBlois faces his third round of Dragon-mania, it seemed like a good time to talk with him about this reptilian saga that’s become such a central part of his life.

AWN: In a presentation that you gave at the VIEW conference in October, you said that in general, you’re not very enthusiastic about sequels because, if you've done a good job, your story is told, and a follow-up can feel like an unnecessary add-on. What about How to Train Your Dragon made you feel that it provided an opportunity to do sequels the way they should be done?

Dean DeBlois: Well, I think it was a combination of three things. One is that I was a Star Wars kid and I loved the expansiveness of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I felt they took characters that I loved, expanded their worlds and increased the adventure, the peril. The characters were kind of maturing and growing up, and it had a big impact on me. And I saw in the Dragon world and its cast of characters the potential to do something similar. The world could be expansive, and we could grow up with the characters. In the time that it takes to make an animated movie, our fan base could be aging with the characters, which wasn't really something that I'd seen done before – where you take a cast of friends and then grow up with them. We would leap five years into the future and find a new organic problem that felt important and universal. So, that was part of it.

Then, I think it's also the conversation that I had with [Dragon books author] Cressida Cowell. Even though the narratives are quite different in the films and the books, I loved the idea that she was taking on this challenge of explaining what happened to dragons and why they aren't here anymore. I thought that was really intriguing, but also kind of gripping and emotional. The opening line of her very first book is, "There were dragons when I was a boy." That suggests they're gone. What happened to them? So, I loved taking on that challenge.

Finally, just being able to explain certain mysteries that were inherent in the first film. What happened to Hiccup’s mother? Is Toothless the last of his kind? If so, why? Just the idea that we might be able to take organic questions that we didn't have time to explain in the first movie, or didn't feel the need to, and make them into important questions in the context of the trilogy. As if we'd gone back in time and planted them there.

AWN: The emotional center of the storytelling in the films is the growth of the characters, their becoming adults and taking on adult responsibilities, even though they're still young. That’s really the best part of the films.

DeBlois: Yeah, it felt organic to me because I was thinking about what problem I could graft onto 15-year-old Hiccup that felt important. He now has his father’s love and admiration, he has the respect of the town, he has the attention of the girl he was secretly pining for, he has an amazing dragon that he could fly around on, and he ended an age-old war. It doesn't feel like a character who could have a problem until something really eventful enters his life. We needed to go to another rite of passage, which just naturally led to a 19-year-old in search of himself, when you've got two domineering parents of contrasting philosophies. A character who's on the run from his destiny at home, only to return to it with a renewed sense of self, was an appealing tale to me.

AWN: There's a large number of characters in the films, and they play pretty central roles. How do you ensure that you give them enough screen time and develop them enough so it feels that they really belong and have a reason for being there?

DeBlois: It's really tough and I don't know that we did, to be honest. I think that a lot of our characters are underserved. If we had a longer movie, if we could make a 120-minute movie instead of a 90-minute movie, we might be able to explore them more. But oftentimes the characters do become support characters. We do our best to give them moments, give them a laugh here and there, or give them a starring turn. But when you have an unwieldy group of characters, it’s really tough because you're always fighting the ticking clock of budget and time.

AWN: Speaking of characters, what makes a good villain and how do you determine how villainous to make your villain?

DeBlois: That is a very good question and I don't know that I have a very good answer. I struggle with villains. I find them boring if they just want power or money. Unless there's a bit of empathy in their desire, it just falls flat for me. Drago was meant to be a really interesting villain in How to Train Your Dragon 2. There was going to be a sea story that followed his survival and how he became marooned on an island that was home to a very aggressive dragon. He had to befriend this thing in order to fly off the island and get back to his armada. It was a very touch-and-go relationship because they were both very headstrong, but in the end, they established a mutual trust, and it changed him. Even with all of his heinous crimes, when he arrived in the third-act battle, he took the side of the dragon riders, fighting his own former cohorts. I liked that idea because it took what was admittedly a one-dimensional character and gave him complexity. But we didn't get to do that because, again, taking the time to do that story properly would have compromised Hiccup’s story. I regret it since I really wanted to do something interesting with that character.

We channeled some of that frustration into the development of Grimmel [in The Hidden World] and making him a villain for the times – an intolerant elitist who’s trying to crush blossoming ideas of peaceful coexistence. But he’s also a character who’s fun to watch onscreen – he has a kind of playful sensibility and likes the sound of his own voice. Enjoys the hunt, enjoys cornering his prey and forcing it to make desperate decisions. He’s a character without empathy, but he has a sense of humor.

Dean DeBlois.

AWN: To turn to the production side, did you use any virtual camera work or any tools that helped you visualize how you wanted to shoot this?

DeBlois: Yes, [cinematographer] Gil Zimmerman and his team – the layout team who provided us all the previs and the final layout of the movie – would go down to our mocap stage and pull up rough versions of our sets and don the outfits with the little ping-pong balls and actually work out a lot of their own choreography. So, if it wasn't a flight scene, if it was something that had a physical space where they could really block for action, they would come up with ideas that way. It's always dispensed with when it gets to animation, but the ideas are there and then the animators start from scratch.

AWN: How extensive was the previs? Were you using it more for storytelling or was it used more for camera and layout?

DeBlois: On this film, we started to invite the layout department into the storytelling. In other words, if there was a sequence that depended on visceral, kinetic movement – something that's hard to suggest on drawn storyboards – we would talk out the beats of the script pages with Gil Zimmerman and the assigned previs artists, and they would go off and develop it. If we knew there was going to be flight involved or some kind of complex set, we would either hand the sequence entirely to the previs artists or involve them really early.

I found I really liked this step and how far it has come in recent years, where so much of the finished idea can be represented quite clearly and closely in the previs. It used to be awkward to look at – characters that would slide across floors, and blank expressions, and robotic movements. It’s come such a long way that it’s something you can include in test previews with audiences, because it's full of color and it has lighting… it’s a very exciting new tool to use.

AWN: Like many top animation directors, you're going to be moving over into the live-action world. Have you always wanted to go this route? You've been directing animated films for a long time.

DeBlois: Yeah, after Lilo and Stitch, I took a look at my personal hopper of ideas that I was working on and I would say three-quarters of them were live-action. They felt like live-action films. I decided to go out there and just see if anyone was interested. I sold three of them. It got close with a start date on one of them, but they all kind of went on ice when there were administrative changes both at Disney and Universal. It was an exciting and frustrating period and it just feels like an itch that I didn't scratch. So now I have that opportunity to return to the world of live-action and hopefully get a movie going. I do so with caution because I know that so many things can fall apart very quickly in live-action, whereas in animation we tend to commit to the idea of making the movie, even if you have to change out people in the process.

AWN: Do you feel that your experience in animation gives you specific skills that you can apply in live-action production?

DeBlois: I think my storyboarding background definitely gives me the ability to communicate ideas clearly and visually represent them. Having spent so much time on the story side of things, writing as well, I feel as though I can clearly communicate the story we're telling and engage other people in contributing ideas and making it better. I think in any sort of filmmaking enterprise you need somebody who's going to be the guardian of the story, but still be open to great ideas, and I feel like I've been honing that skill over the years.

AWN: Last question. How does it feel to say goodbye to dragon world – after three really well-done, well-received, expansive, beautifully animated features? You completed the trilogy, you told the story as well as it could be told. What are your thoughts looking back on this huge body of work?

DeBlois: I'm very proud that we were able to reach the goal that we had set for ourselves, that we didn't have to creatively compromise much, and that we did it with largely the same team over the course of a decade. It's bittersweet because not only have we come to love the characters and the world, but we really like working together. We don't know if we're ever going to be arranged as that crew again. People have gone on to different shows, some have left the studio. It was a bit of a gamble to dedicate so much time to a trilogy, especially in the ever-changing landscape of studios. There were five changes in leadership on Dragon 3 alone. With every person that comes in, they have their own sensibility and their own tastes. And so, learning to work with each person and also giving them ownership can be tricky. Luckily, we were able to keep our North Star in sight and deliver the ending that we wanted.

#dean deblois #AWN #q&a time #q&a #httyd #httyd 3

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rocinawanda · 4 years

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Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Novelisations

I have many thoughts from reading through these the past few days and comparing them to the films mainly to see what was added and I loved many little touches and insights we get into the characters’ thoughts thats why novelisations are so great.

I’ll mainly be talking about Rey and Ben but I have to mention how much I loved in all three books how they gave paragraphs and even whole chapters to characters containing scenes that we didn’t get in the films like Leia, of which I was so grateful, Rose, BB-8, Lando and even Hux which hilariously provided us with their thoughts on everything going on. I specifically loved the perspective of General Pryde thinking Kylo looked ‘beautiful’ whilst killing on Mustafar and Hux not being able to disagree with how mesmerising he was.

Onto Rey and Ben who I already know I will alternate by calling him Kylo as well.

From TFA book, little things were added like the extension of their meeting on Takodana which I adored as Kylo knew there was something special about Rey from the moment he saw her which was confirmed later in the interrogation room. I loved getting his thoughts in that scene from him unshackling her at first (which was different from the film) to how shaken he was outside the room after she entered his mind.

Even earlier back on Takodana when Kylo first lands and is walking across the battlefield, Rey sees him and feels that she knows him, “She had seen this man before, in a daydream. In a nightmare”. Then after on the surface of Starkiller when Anakins lightsaber called to her and he said “It is you” as if he knew way more about her than he let on and how important she is to the story.

Onto TLJ novelisation, the main takeaway for me from this is how much the story pushed them together and their reluctance turned willingness to have each other in their presence. Like ah, I cannot forget little things like Kylo smiling as Rey arrived on the ship “The stormtroopers behind him stood ready, but he just smiled at the sight of Rey crammed into the pod’s tight confines.” Adorable. Hilarious. Plus just how snarky they are towards each other not only in this but in TROS too its almost a game where they attempt to speak civilly but almost cannot help but make sarcastic or taunting comments to each other.

I loved getting Rey’s thoughts on the force bond conversations because from the films, Kylo is pretty vocal about what he wants but Rey is pretty confused and that’s highlighted even more in the novelisations. Even revealing the initial depth of their bond from their first force bond phone call where Kylo was getting his face repaired and Rey thought “It was almost as if she felt something pulling at her own cheek, tracing a line up from her jaw.” which, combined with the rain transferring from her to his glove later on shows how deep the connection was at the beginning.

ALSO bits of key information like the fact that it mentioned how from that first moment Rey entered his mind in the interrogation room, his training had become hers and she knew many ways that he accessed his powers. Plus in the TROS book, how force healing/giving life is more taxing than it appeared in the films “Her breath came fast, her very bones ached with weariness, and unaccountably, her hand stung. Healing the vexis had felt so normal and natural and right. But it had cost her.” These are things that obviously cannot come across in the films unless there is narration.

Okay pause. I could go on and on about so many things in the novelisations but I will hit the tumblr word limit (Yes there is one) so I’m gonna re-focus and mention things that were so important to me.

Not wanting to kill each other. I mean it was obvious from the moment Kylo killed Snoke that killing Rey was not going to happen. In TROS, getting into their thoughts this gets murky for both of them where Kylo‘s rage causes him to believe running Rey over with his TIE will end his pain, and Rey being adamant that one of them must die in the fight on Kef Bir.

Nevertheless, they both come to the conclusion that they don’t want the other dead after the whole Rey jumping his TIE in Pasaana thing as with Rey, “She hoped he was dead. No, she didn’t. She hoped ... she didn’t know what she hoped.” and with Kylo, “[...] In his blind rage he had succumbed to the temptation, not pausing to consider that maybe she had a plan. With this realization came another certainty, even more gut wrenching: He was relieved he hadn’t killed her.”

From this comes another point. Rey is Ben’s light. I feel this comes hand in hand with the fact that he felt not convincing Rey to join his side was his ‘second-greatest failure’. But the realisation that even after Snoke called her his equal in the light, she turns out to actually be his light. The remaining light within him. “He finally understood. Han Solo was his past. But Rey was his light.” Perhaps this explains why he’s so determined to have her by his side as he thinks many times in the TROS book “But the ambition that cut into his being, was the thought of reigning side by side with her.”

Moving onto the effect they have on each other which turns me into a melting pot of trash. From, “It did something strange to her, to hear her name on his lips.” to “Kylo considered it a small price to pay to encounter Rey again, to provoke her into a rage, to say the word dyad and watch the truth of it wash over her lovely face.” AND “He hardly paid attention. He kept seeing her face, the way her lips had parted with surprise, the way her body canted toward him.” EXCUSE ME. How am I to survive? I dropped the book whilst reading that last line because whew.

Okay finally, onto the part which I find both happy and sad. Rey’s relief, no regrets and Rey’s grief. In both TLJ and TROS novelisations there are moments where Rey feels relief at feeling Ben with her. Firstly after leaving the dark mirror cave on Ahch-to “She had closed her eyes, opened them, and found Kylo Ren there- right next to where she sat on the stone bench. As if she could actually reach out and touch his hand, his face, his hair. At the sight of him she’d felt relief surge through her.” and again when facing Palpatine, “Something tingled at the base of his skull, a familiar awareness... Rey! She sensed him. She understood that he was Ben again. He caught a wave of relief from her, of joy.”

I mentioned earlier about how the reluctance to accept their force bond became a willingness and even wanting throughout their story and I love it so much. That their bond and the dyad in the end felt like coming home that it had been right all along. Then comes the horrible sadness and pain where half of it is ripped away. From Rey wanting to scream as Palpatine threw Ben down into the abyss but she could barely breathe, to her repeatedly reaching out in the force to find him. To Ben clutching Reys body to his chest not being able to believe that she was really gone after he had just found her.

But then “He knew exactly what Rey would do, in his place. It was the easiest decision he’d ever made.” It still breaks me. Destroys me. Especially because earlier when talking to Ghost!Luke, Rey said “I gave him some of my life. In that moment I would have given him all of it ... died if I had to.” and in exact fashion, “Ben Solo had no regrets as he collapsed to the ground”. He sacrificed his life for her thinking that giving Rey back to the galaxy was all he could do.

Then for Rey, she did mourn him. She mourned Ben Solo and the loss of the dyad. Half of her was missing and its beyond tragic. “A voice came to her through the Force, clear and strong. I will always be with you, Ben said. She smiled. Let the truth of it wash over her.” It may not be enough for some but it forced me to yet again put the book down and start crying. He is with her, always. I still believe in my unconfirmed canon that “That incredible oneness” is now officially one. That Rey and Ben are now one with their life forces joining. Even after, on Tattooine as she reminisces about surviving the Emperor, she reminds herself about Ben.

This post is ridiculously long, and it could have been longer but all I can say is that I love this story. Many aren’t fans of the sequel trilogy and many fans of the sequel trilogy hate the ending but I’m one of the few who love it all. Faults? Sure. Misses? You bet. Sadness? Guaranteed. But especially the introduction, manifestation and eventual power of Rey and Ben’s dyad is enough to keep me going.

If you read all of this post wow, thank you!

#star wars #the force awakens #the last jedi #the rise of skywalker #tfa #tlj #tros #reylo #rey #ben solo #kylo ren #novelisations #force dyad #sequel trilogy #i love the force dyad #long post #tldr: love the books love the story reylo forever need the insights

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kittystargen3 · 4 years

Link

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13523059/1/The-Skywalker-Tale-A-Legacy-Restored

My newest fanfic

Chapter 1: Making a Stand, a Precious Birth

One day on the planet D'Qar in the Ileenium system, an old man was dragged out of a shuttle by an irate looking bluish ghost.

"Bring out the General!" The ghost shouted at a stunned looking pilot. Though the ghost had a young form, his eyes were much older.

General Leia Organa had sensed something as soon as the shuttle landed on her new Resistance base, and she walked out of a building looking for them. "Han," she said in shock when she saw the old man.

"Princess," He was unharmed, except maybe for his pride, but he dusted himself off the same. His eyes then danced towards the bluish ghost in the room.

When Leia met his ghostly eyes, hers were filled with terror.

"Honey, I'm home." said the ghost of Anakin Skywalker innocently.

"What are you doing here!" Leia shouted angrily. She lifted up her cane and gave it a swing, straight through his ghostly appearance.

Though it could obviously do no damage, Anakin backed up a step and held out a hand defensively. "I know I have a lot of sins to live down, and I haven't been the best father, but I thought you'd both want to hear what I have to say. I found a way to save our Ben."

"Don't..." Leia was near tears.

"It's all thanks to you anyway!" Han shouted.

"It's not..." Leia started.

"Well, he didn't inherit his dark side tendencies from my side of the family." Han turned accusingly towards Anakin.

Anakin thought back to the day young Ben was born. As a ghost you'd expect things to go smoothly into the after life, only Anakin had bonds with both Luke and Leia that only grew stronger with his death. Whenever one was in pain, whether it be of the heart or body, he felt it too.

"Anakin! What's wrong?" Obi-Wan reached out.

"Pain. I'm in so much pain," Anakin cried. After a little while the pain receded, and Anakin felt well again. Some time later, Anakin gasped in pain again. Several former Jedi were now gathered around him, worried looks on everyone's faces. They mumbled between themselves, but no one suggested anything to help.

"Come, lets go see the Auctor." Obi-Wan helped Anakin up after the pain stopped again.

"Do you think something happened to them? The war is over, isn't it?" Anakin fretted.

Obi-Wan's face had an amused expression. "Hmm, Leia was expecting, last we checked on them. It's been seven minutes. She's getting close."

"You really think?" Anakin jumped up and ran with Obi-Wan the rest of the way.

The Auctor inhabited a workshop in the other relm. Its walls were lined with bookshelves, and in the middle of the room was a large still and numerous bottles.

As Anakin ran into the room he startled a creature, perched on the Auctor's shoulders. The creature jumped down and the bottle the Auctor had been holding fell down with it in a crash. It spilled a black oily liquid on the floor.

"Ooh, Why did you have to do that!" The Auctor growled.

"We do apologize for our haste," Obi-Wan placated.

"It wasn't our fault," Anakin defended. "The creature..." Anakin pointed to where it sat now, across the room, on a book which was opened on a stand.

"Creature… He's a monkey. Comes from a planet in a galaxy far, far away." The Auctor reached out his arm and the monkey jumped back over to him. "He has feelings too, that's right, and their hurt." The monkey rubbed his head into the Auctor's finger as he cooed.

Anakin thought he saw a trace of the black oily substance on the book when the monkey jumped off, but in another second it was gone.

"And this is the dark side of Palpatine's soul. I've been distilling it for a whole year. Filtering out the light side bits, there wasn't much in the man." The Auctor fretted, while cleaning up the black puddle. On the table, still attached to the machine was another vial with a few drops of blue liquid. "What do you want, anyways?"

Anakin moved to answer, but was struck down by another shooting pain. "Aah, I think it's getting worse."

"Breathe boy, remember to breathe." Obi-Wan put his hands on Anakin.

"Ooh, I see," The Auctor waved to the book on the stand. "Go ahead. Do your Jedi thing and access the relm of the living." As Anakin walked up to the book, The Auctor turned to Obi-Wan "You know I miss the good old days, when you jedi would die, and then leave me alone. That whole no attachments thing had it's advantages. Now you guys are constantly running in here and interfering with my work. I never get anything done anymore." He motioned wildly with his hands as he spoke.

"Hey, it's not working." Anakin looked up alarmed.

The Auctor stepped closer to the book. "You've got the wrong page there, don't you. That skill of yours doesn't allow for time travel." He started to page through the book. "And look, you've gotten creases in the pages too."

"I'm sure my padawan wishes to apologize," Obi-Wan said with a forced nod to Anakin.

"It wasn't me, it was the Monkey." Anakin said under his breath. Obi-Wan gave another forced nod, and Anakin complied. "I'm sorry."

"It's no problem. I'll apply a steamed press to the pages later. No permanent damage done. There, this is today's page." The Auctor pointed to the open book.

"We thank you very much," Obi-Wan said as Anakin projected himself into our relm.

He arrived in a hallway in a hospital in Hanna City, Chandrila. He walked towards a room where he heard voices.

"Oh, Han. I had to be there. It was the signing of the Galactic Concordance. You know how much work I've, we've all put in to get to this point," said Leia.

"You're nine months pregnant!" Han sounded upset. "I had to get the call from these boys that you were being taken here by ambulance. I nearly had a heart attack. You can't tell me it was so urgent that she be there."

"Her signature as an official witness to the signing was necessary to make the concordance a legitimate legal document." recited Sondiv Sella, an adviser and one of the two 'boys' Han had referred to earlier.

"Really?" Han eyed both men suspiciously.

"No, not really." The other, Sinjir Rath Velus, eyed the floor nervously. "Though her status does add to the legitimacy of the document."

"I was there by Mon Mothma's request, and I wouldn't have had it any other way." Leia said in a voice meant to close the argument. "Besides I didn't know I was going into labor till the signing was underway."

"Just when did this all start?" asked Han.

"This morning it started with a backache. But then I'm nine months pregnant. A backache is no surprise. When Mon Mothma was applying her signature, my water broke. By that time I had no choice, I had to wait until the signings were finished. Oooh…" Han ran over to hold Leia's hand, but she batted him away. "Water, I need water."

Meanwhile Obi-Wan came up to Anakin in the hallway. "Come, let's give them some privacy. This way is the waiting room."

Anakin and Obi-Wan followed the two advisers as they made their way out of the hospital room.

"Father…" Luke's eyes were wide as he greeted them in the waiting room.

Anakin was then gripped by another bout of pain as Leia, in the other room likely had another contraction.

"He's going through sympathy pains, I'm afraid," explained Obi-Wan. "I'm glad Leia made it here in time. I understand it was touch and go for a while."

Beside Luke the large Wookiee, Chewbacca, growled a question at Luke.

"It's my father, and Ben Kenobi." He turned back to Obi-Wan. "Not really serious. Just that Mon Mothma opted to call an ambulance to fly her to the hospital to be safest. Han reacted as, well Han, when he heard. I imagine he's making far bigger deal out of it than he needs to."

Anakin couldn't remember any more of the conversation between Obi-Wan, Luke, and the Wookiee if he tried. The next thing he remembered was the strongest of painful bouts ending and a nurse-droid coming out some time later and announcing Leia had given birth to a healthy baby boy.

Luke and Chewbacca moved to go visit with the new mother and father. Anakin began to follow them, when Obi-Wan stopped him. "We're gonna let Luke go in first. Let him explain our visit to them."

So Anakin waited… and he waited… until he got an idea. "Can't I just go incorporeal. I'll be really quiet. They won't even know I'm watching. Pp-please," Anakin begged.

Obi-Wan sighed, and fretted. "Ok, fine. But stay incorporeal until Luke says it's alright.

"Yesss!" Anakin seemed to vanish from our relm as he continued to project himself, but without a physical appearance.

As he entered the room, Anakin headed straight for the bassinet. Inside lay a baby boy, with dark hair, large ears, and his mother's eyes. Anakin reached over the infant, enveloped in those innocent eyes. As he did so, the baby cooed and reached to grab for Anakin's hand. Though he was still incorporeal, infants are often sensitive to such things. Especially force sensitive infants.

"No!" Leia's voice was firm.

"But Leia…," Luke pleaded.

"No, I won't have him anywhere near my boy. You may say he's changed, but you just don't change from that type of monster. No!" Leia's voice broke.

"He became a force ghost at the end. It wouldn't have worked if he still..."

"Come on..." Han interrupted Luke when Leia began to cry.

Anakin listened to his son plead his case and he felt immense guilt. His children shouldn't be arguing for his sake. He resigned himself to what he'd have to do, and turned again to stroke at the face of his grandson one last time. As he pulled away the infant began to cry.

"Stop." Anakin said to Luke, as he became corporeal again. "If it is what you wish, I will leave and have no part in the child's upbringing."

Leia jumped. Han stepped forward with his arms crossed. "It's what we wish," Leia said. Her voice did not waver.

Anakin nodded, the turned to Han. "Take care of them, or you will be seeing me again." As Anakin turned to leave our relm Obi-Wan stood next to the infant with a look of sympathy in his eyes.

Obi-Wan stayed to watch the infant, who lay sleeping in his bassinet. A nurse started to coo Leia into resting after ushering Han and Luke out of the room. Leia looked up at Obi-Wan and whispered "Ben."

When the nurse looked up, all she saw was the child, for Obi-Wan had faded from our relm.

Later that day, when the nurse got Leia up and prepared to nurse, she handed the baby to Leia saying, "Here's Baby Ben."

"Ben!" Leia looked at the nurse in shock.

"Earlier, when you were napping, you called him that. I thought..." she defended herself.

"Little Ben. I like the name." Han said.

Leia smiled, as she remembered Obi-Wan, Ben Kenobi. "Our only hope… Sounds fitting."

Anakin watched these events in silence.

Back in the present, Anakin waved his hands to placate Leia and Han. "Since he was born, I've respected your wishes. You said don't interfere, and I hadn't. I hadn't interfered in his life. But I also said to take care of them, or you will be hearing from me again…"

Han shifted, his arms subconsciously preparing for a fight.

"This isn't about you and me anymore. It's about my grandson. And with the current situation as it is, you can't argue me away this time." Anakin's mouth closed in a rigid line. His hands moved to his hips. "Not this time."

Why, Yes, I did just suggest a monkey's ass print as an explanation for Palpatine's sudden, and from what I hear, unexplained return to the world of the living. You're welcome.

This is my second Fanfiction. My other is still in progress. I will likely be focused on finishing it before I add more to this one. I just wanted to get this out before I finish the other one so I can share it easier. Follow to be notified when I post another chapter.

I am an unpublished, so far, hobby writer, and I write fanfiction to practice and improve my skills. So If you could be so kind to leave me a note with your thoughts, be they positive or negative, I would appreciate that very much. It helps me to know what you are thinking.

And a note on Canon... I do try to do a lot of research, and while some bits are entirely from my own imagination, example the Auctor, I do read what I can on Wookieepedia to keep things consistent. I also have not yet seen TROS, though I got my ideas here, after reading the spoilers and reviews. If I did get anything wrong, or if I missed anything that stands out to you, please leave me a comment.

#reylo #reylo fanfic #starwars #star wars fanfiction #star wars #star wars sequel trilogy #spoof #alternate universe #canon divergence #Anakin Skywalker #Force ghost #retelling #AO3 fanfic #fanfiction.net #ben solo #obi-wan kenobi #leia organa #han solo #han solo lives

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bearpillowmonster · 4 years

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Heir to the Empire Review

So when I figured out about Star Wars Legends as a kid, I got excited because I wanted to know what happened post-Return of the Jedi so I got a book called "Shadows of Mindor" seeing as it took place right after and I have to say that I was kind of bored with it and never finished it. I tried again when the sequel trilogy came out because they had at least an outline to go off of, coming before The Force Awakens. It was called "Aftermath: Life Debt" and I knew it introduced some cool new droids and with my obsession with BB8/BB9 at the time, seemed interesting enough to try and explore. I have the two books but I quit both and I want to talk about why.

Legends is known for having a good amount of crap but also a few diamonds in the rough, one problem I came across is that they start the books with new characters and technical terms we've never heard of and then don't explain it right off the bat so it's hard to get invested and get a clear picture. There is also a lot of fluff in there to replace that and sure there is some good content in there like Shadows talking about how Luke didn't want to take credit for the Death Star or be considered this icon or hero, he was being humble about it and kind of missed the days of being a moisture farmer. That was a great version of Luke and how I envisioned him, but it's what they did with those characters that rubbed me the wrong way. They will have them do things like "Let's take the X-wing somewhere." but it's easy to get lost because of how much it talks about, like you can't just say you took the X-Wing? Then you have the literal versions of the book; they are usually pretty thick but not very wide and have a small font which isn't a very comfortable way to read in my opinion (yeah I usually use physical books, with digital I wouldn't have that problem) At the beginning of this book, they start with new characters and terms that I never heard of and expect me to know what it is. I'm like "Here we go again." but I started trying to visualize it and it all became clear to me.

I'm going to review this as if it were a Star Wars movie, seeing as it's so beloved by many fans and considered to be a better sequel trilogy (I'm only on the first book so I can't make that call yet) This author had some science fiction background even before he became a big Star Wars writer and it shows but he also brings a little bit of an Earthly vibe, which is very odd with things such as years and times, like if you're in space then why is there time when our world alone has more than 24 time zones? (not to mention hot chocolate) I get that minutes and such all work the same but I still never heard it used in Star Wars. This book introduces Thrawn which I've never been a big fan of...that is until now, it's starting to make more sense. They call his throne room "an art museum" and things started to visualize into my mind better and I started actually getting into it. Thrawn reminds me of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, the way he's strategic and he always tries to be one step ahead which makes for an interesting character because it's a game of tug of war between the heroes and Thrawn, he can always predict their movements due to his experience and intelligence based on pattern, I mean it is an art how he keeps up, it really makes you feel like the heroes can't get any sort of handle. He's so precise in fact, that Pellaeon, the captain, is used to sort of show off how far he can get just by using statistics but it's more like a game or challenge to him. They contrast him to Vader, same with Leia, and show how calm they are about certain things while everybody else is on edge "Please don't hurt me." Something Kylo Ren fully adopts. That isn't to say he's not cold blooded or less menacing. He makes you believe he's good, he has good intentions. There's a scene where he seeks to get someone to admit their wrongdoing, he has no reason for this information, he's not mad, he just wants to get inside his head, he's a psychological villain, he gets his answer and then shoots the guy because it had no place in his "elite" force, he has class and standards to uphold, there's something classic about it, he sees things through and if they turn sour, he easily just turns the table.

They also add some background to these characters that I appreciate such as Winter, Leia's childhood friend/assistant in her role as Princess. And also the feelings they get, it's like the force amplifies their feelings. With that, I'm sure you can imagine we explore their weaknesses and strengths extensively. We're also given more depth with some previous side characters such as Wedge and Admiral Ackbar, we've seen them in battle but what are they like outside of the ship? I never even really thought about it but it's interesting to note.

Now I'm going to compare it to the current "sequel trilogy" It really bothers me at how much Disney Star Wars has been inspired from yet hasn't really adapted. Look at the twins and tell me that isn't Kylo and Rey. Look at C'Boath and tell me that isn't Malekith from Jedi Fallen Order. Then the whole line that Han says "You know it was a lot easier back when we were just taking on the Empire, at least then we knew who our enemies were." A lot of things in the Last Jedi alluded to this, how the rebellion/resistance wasn't everything it was made out to be but then they scrapped it for the next movie. I waited until after I saw TROS to read this but honestly I wish I had read this before any of the sequel trilogies because that way I would really see what's been going on, Kathleen's "We don't have any source material to draw from." Is a piece of crap, yeah maybe nothing from that specific timeline, 30 years after ROTJ, but you've been drawing it from elsewhere, I've saw some KOTOR vibes here and there too, which bothers me. It actually made me feel sick to my stomach when I realized this, just how zombified they made Star Wars, pieces from here, pieces from there so it doesn't seem too much like a retread again, but the new content is rare and too far between. This (so far) doesn't have that problem, it came out in the early 90s and takes place only 5 years after ROTJ, I'm still interested 30 years after the events but this is more in line with how people imagined it. A big complaint about the sequel trilogy is that Anakin's prophecy was a hoax considering it didn't mean much anymore, this doesn't have that problem, as I've said, Thrawn is a very different villain, it's not about the "balance to the force" (just yet). As a side note (because I didn't know where else to put it): There is a gambling scene that could have been a bit clearer, I didn't really understand what Torve was doing but it was still cool.

I can't mention this book without mentioning the debut of Mara Jade, I kind of want to keep everything about her a secret though since that was part of the reason I started this book in the first place. They introduce her, well kind of just how I would have wanted, the fandom has made her hypeworthy and made me consider her apart of Star Wars from the start because in a way we all have our own version of Star Wars. It's nice to know that she's living up to it. They even made a backstory book for her as well as various spinoff books, I've looked into them but it seems like this trilogy holds the most weight so I'm going to stick with it for now.

I'm just saying this is a thick and long book so every page could've seemed like a chore but it follows the Star Wars formula visiting different places within the same chapter to get all the sides of the story and then at the end it converges, some apparently don't like that about movies but you can't argue that that's how Empire was structured. It's a good book and I'm interested to read the other two in this trilogy at least. I felt that way with The Force Awakens so you could say in terms of sequel trilogies, it's 1 and 1.

#star wars #heir to the empire #thrawn trilogy #sw #review #book #book review

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dillydedalus · 5 years

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what i read in july

THAT’S MORE LIKE IT aka i’m finally out of the (relative) reading slump for good & my bro james joyce was there

men explain things to me, rebecca solnit the original mansplaining essay is great, and still scarily relevant; the others in this collection (most on feminist issues) are also quite good; some aspects are a bit dated & problematic so be aware of that. 2.5/5

erschlagt die armen!, shumona sinha (tr. from french, not available in english) short but very impactful novella about a young french woman, originally from india, who works as an interpreter in the asylum system and becomes more & more broken by this system of inhumane bureaucracy and suffering, until she snaps and hits a migrant over the head with a wine bottle. full of alienation and misery and beautiful but disturbing language - the title translates to ‘beat the poor to death’ so like. yeah. 3.5/5

fire & blood: a history of the targaryen family I, george r r martin look, it’s a 700-page-long fake history book about a fictional ruling dynasty in a fictional world, and i’m just That Obsessed & Desperate about asoiaf (and i don’t even care about the targs That Much). anyway, now i know more about the targs than any ruling family from, you know, real history, which is like, whatever. this is pretty enjoyable if you are That Obsessed, although i will say that some bits are much better than others (there are some dry dull years even in everyone’s fav overly dramatic dragon-riding incest-loving family) and the misogyny really is. a lot. too much. way too much. BUT i did really like Good Best Queen Alysanne (her husband king joe harris is alright too i guess) and i found my new westerosi otp, cregan stark/aly blackwood, who both have Big Dick Energy off the fucking charts. 3.5/5 (+0.5 points for cregan and aly’s combined BDE)

the old drift, namwali serpell hugely ambitious sprawling postcolonial nation-building novel about zambia, told thru three generations of three families, as well as a chorus of mosquitoes (consistently the best & smartest parts). there is A LOT going on, in terms of characters, of plot points, of references to history (the zambian space programme) and literature (finally my knowledge of heart of darkness paid off) and thematically, and honestly it was a bit too much, a bit too tangled & fragmented & drifty, and in the end i probably admire this book more than i liked it, but serpell’s writing is incredibly smart and funny and full of electrical sparks 3.5/5

a severed head, iris murdoch the original love dodecahedron (not that i counted). iris murdoch is fucking WILD and i love her for it. this is a strange darkly funny little farce about some rich well-educated londoners and their bizarre & rather convoluted love lives. not as grandiosely wild as the sea the sea, but fun nevertheless. 3/5

midnight in chernobyl, adam higginbotham jumping on the hype bandwagon caused by the hbo series (very weird to call the current fascination with chernobyl a hype bandwagon but you know). interesting & well-written & accessible (tho the science is still totally beyond me) & gets you to care about the people involved. lots of human failure, lots of human greatness, set against the background of the almost eldritch threat of radioactivity (look up the elephant foot & see if you don’t get chills), and acute radiation syndrome which is THE MOST TERRIFYING THING ON EARTH . 3.5/5

normal people, sally rooney honestly this is incredibly engrossing & absorbing once you get used to how rooney completely ignores ‘show don’t tell’ (it works!), i pretty much read the whole thing in one slow workday (boss makes a dollar, i make a dime so i read books on my phone on company time, also i genuinely had nothing to do). i also think rooney is really good at precisely capturing the ~millenial experience in a way that feels very true, especially the transition from school to uni. BUT i really disliked the ending, the book never engages with the political themes it introduces (esp. class and gender) as deeply as it could and the bdsm stuff never really gets TIED UP LOL. so overall idk: 3.5/5

störfall: nachrichten eines tages, christa wolf quiet reflective undramatic little book narrated by a woman waiting to hear about the outcome of her brother’s brain surgery on the day of the catastrophe at chernobyl - throughout the day she puts down her thoughts about her brother and the events unfolding at chernobyl, as well as the double uncertainty she is trying to cope with. really interesting to read such an immediate reaction to chernobyl (the book came out less than a year after chernobyl). 2.5/5

the man in the high castle, philip k dick it was fine? quick & entertaining alternative history where the axis powers win the war, some interesting bits of worldbuilding (like the draining of the mediterranean which was apparently a real idea in the early 20th century?) but overall it’s just felt a bit disjointed & unsatisfying to me. 2.5/5

fugitive pieces, anne michaels very poetic & thoughtful novel about the holocaust, grief, remembrance & the difference between history and memory, intergenerational trauma, love, geology and the weather. i’m not sure how much this comes together as a novel, but it is absolutely beautifully written (the author is a poet as well) and very affective. 3.5/5

american innovations, rivka galchen short collection of bizarre & often funny short stories about neurotic women whose furniture flies away, or who grow an extra breast, or who are maybe too occupied with financial details. very vague & very precise at once, which seems to be the thing with these sort of collections. 3/5

fool’s assassin (fitz & the fool #1), robin hobb YAASS i’m back in the realm of the elderlings!!! i thought this was one of the weaker installments in the series - i still enjoyed it a lot, and Feelings were had, but it just doesn’t quite fit together pacing-wise & some of the characterisation struck me as off (can i get some nuance for shun & lant please?) and tbh fitz is at peak Selfcentred Dumbass Levels & it drove me up the fucking wall. molly, nettle & bee deserve better. still, completely HYPE for the rest of the trilogy. 3.5/5

JAMES JOYCE JULY

note: i decided not to read dubliners bc it’s my least fav of joyce’s major works & too bleak & repetitive for my mood right now AND while i planned not to reread finnegans wake bc……. it’s finnegans wake…. i kinda do want to read it now (but i also. really don’t.) so idk yet.

a portrait of the artist as a young man, james joyce y’all. i read this book at least once a year between the ages of 15 and 19, it’s beyond formative, it is burnt into my brain, and reading it now several years later it is still everything, soaring and searing (that searing clarity of truth, thanks burgess) and poetic and dirty, and stephen is baby, and a pretentious self-important little prick and i love him & i am him (or was him as only a pretentious self-important teenage girl reading joyce can be him - because this truly is a book that should be read in your late teens when you feel everything as intensely and world-endingly and severely as my boy stephen does and every new experience feels like the world changing). anyway i love this book & i love stephen dedalus, bird-like, hawk-like, knife-blade, aloof, alienated, severe and stern, a poet-priest-prophet if he could ever get over himself, baby baby baby. 5/5

exiles, james joyce well. there’s a reason joyce is known as a novelist. this is….. a failed experiment, maybe. a fairly boring play about an adulterous love-square and uh… love beyond morality and possession maybe??? about how much it would suck for joyce to return to ireland??? and tbh it’s not terribly interesting. 2/5

travesties, tom stoppard a wild funny irreverent & smart antic comedy inspired by the fact that during ww1, james joyce, lenin, and dadaist tristan tzara were all in neutral zurich, more or less simultaneously; they probably never met, but in this play they do, as dadaist poetry, socialist art critique, and a james joyce high on his own genius & in desperate need of some cash while writing ulysses, AND the importance of being earnest (joyce is putting on a production of it) all collide in the memories of henry carr, who played algernon & later sued joyce over money (tru facts). not my fav stoppard (that’s arcadia) but it’s funny & fizzy & smart & combines many many things that i love. 4/5

ulysses, james joyce look i’m not really going to tell y’all anything new about ulysses, but it really has everything, it’s warm & human(e) & cerebral & difficult & funny & sad & healing & i always get a lot out of it even tho there’s bits (a lot of them) i’ll never wrap my head around. ultimate affirmation of humanity or whatever. also stephen dedalus is baby. 5/5

dedalus, chris mccabe the fact that this book (sequel to ulysses about what stephen dedalus might have done the next day) exists and was published ON MY BIRTHDAY is proof that the universe loves me.

anyway this is very very good, very very clever, extremely good at stephen (less good at bloom but his parts are still good), engages w/ ulysses, portrait & hamlet (& others) very cleverly & does some cool meta and experimental shit. y’all it has stephen talking to a contemporary therapist about how he’s stuck in joyce’s text which is all about joyce & very little about whoever stephen is when he’s not joyce’s alter ego/affectionate but slightly amused look at younger self and ithaca is an interview w/ the author about how his relationship to his dad influenced his response to ulysses and I’M INTO IT. the oxen of the sun chapter replaces the whole ‘gestation of english prose’ w/ just slightly rewriting the first pages of about 10 novels published between ulysses and now & it does lolita w/ “bloom, thorn of stephen’s sleep, light in his eyes. his sire, his son’ and i lit. screamed. anyway i don’t want to give this 5 stars (yet) bc i think some of the experimental stuff ended up a bit gimmicky & didn’t add that much to the text but fuck. that’s my boy & i want to reread it right now. 4.5/5 ALSO it’s a crime no literary weirdo woman has written ‘a portrait of the artist’s sister’ about delia ‘dilly’ dedalus, shadow of stephen’s mind, quick far & daring, teaching herself french from a 3rd hand primer while her father drinks the nonexistent family fortune away and her older brother is getting drunk on a beach & starting fights w/ soldiers bc he’s a smartarse

#the books i read #long post

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