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Pure holiday stuff then.
11/22/63 is what brought me back to King. I thought the JFK angle looked interesting, picked it up, and couldn't put it down.
This read, prompted me to burn through everything he has written since, including the Hodges trilogy, Dr Sleep, Revival, Joyland and Bizarre of Bad Dreams.
I guess Gwendys Button Box tides us over until Sleeping Beauties comes out later this year.
Also looking forward to watching the 11/22/63 mini-series which aired recently.
Stars James Franco and Sarah Gadon, whose character, I didn't picture as quite so beautiful when I read the book. Bonus!
guess.
James Franco and Sarah Gadon!
SPECTER OF THE PAST
In his Thrawn trilogy, Timothy Zahn had installed several interesting characters, situations and conflicts into the post-Endor Star Wars universe. Though he had completed said trilogy, more stories could be distilled from his Star Wars world-building and so the BOOK OF THE THRAWN duology was published a few years later.
The first book, SPECTER OF THE PAST, finds the empire, or what is left of it, preparing to surrender to the New Republic. At least, Grand Admiral Pallaeon is ready to make this sacrifice in order to save the empire from total annihilation. But a dissident Grand Moff is convinced that the New Republic can be destroyed from the inside even sooner, and plots to deceive and frame powerful republican groups. On the verge of civil war, the fate of the republic may be in the hands of Luke, Han, Leia, Lando, Talon Karrde, Mara Jade and a few others. Meanwhile, rumour spreads across the galaxy that Grand Admiral Thrawn has returned after ten years...
It's a if Zahn never left. Even with a ten year time jump things feel exactly as they were when he had left them behind with STAR WARS THE LAST COMMAND. Continuity buffs like myself will give the book extra points for that fact alone. Furthermore, genuine tension can be felt, both on a large scale and on the smaller scale of our heroes and their challenges. Zahn writes as he always does and the result is great. Dense prose but with that absolutely crucial Star Wars feel one usually only gets from watching the first couple of films.
I once again had a great experience, as a Star Wars fan, reading a Thrawn book by Zahn. It felt fresh and working towards something very big. The next book is almost double the size of this one, yet I can hardly wait to crack it open.
5/5
Book One of the Robot Series. I attempted to read this before and made it roughly about 50 pages in. I can't remember why I quit reading it but it wasn't because I didn't enjoy it. I own the other three books in the Robot Series and I plan on reading them all soon. Once I'm done with this series I'm going to dive into another Asimov classic, The Foundation Series.
@QsAssistant
You shall soon be one of us, sir. I've read all his Robot novels and Foundation novels a few summers ago and my head is still spinning. I love Isaac Asimov. Has to be my biggest reading enterprise ever. ;-) It's entirely my kind of science fiction: clever, thought provoking, educational... and I also love Asimov's prose. My favourite sci-fi author before Clarke and Dick even, and my favourite science author before Sagan, Krauss, Kaku, ...
This is Asimov's own suggested reading order if you want the full experience, and this is the one I myself have followed. Now, you can always fit "I, Robot" in after "Robots and Empire" if you like. They are a collection of shorts but, I must admit, they gave me an interesting and, in some regards, necessary introduction to the series.
And as for my own reading:
STAR WARS THE HAND OF THRAWN BOOK 2
VISIONS OF THE FUTURE
700 pages is the length of Timothy Zahn's follow-up to his SPECTER OF THE PAST novel, itself a sequel to his celebrated "Book Of Thrawn" trilogy. But despite the substantial word-count, this book cemented my recent addiction to everything Zahn puts on paper in the Star Wars universe. I needed some Red Bull to keep track of who's who though, as Zahn throws in many characters never seen in the movies. However, spectacle and tension and excitement is guaranteed in the final 100 or so pages, and everything Zahn sets up, pays off.
The universe is in a bad state. Several forces are plotting and scheming against the Imperial remnants, the New Republic, Smugglers like Talon Karrde, independent groups like General Garm Bel Iblis, and so forth. Han, Leia, Lando and many more must think and act strategically. Meanwhile, Luke and Mara Jade are ready to dig up old secrets concerning the infamous and mysterious Outbound Flight...
I can only repeat myself with my praise for Zahn's prose and storytelling. Though I did feel exhausted after a while with so many characters presented and the almost whiplash inducing jumps from one location to another, I truly enjoyed how all of that flowed together nicely towards the end of the novel.
This is another excellent book by Zahn, though I must warn you that it makes no sense to start reading without heaving read the BOOK OF THRAWN trilogy and SPECTER OF THE PAST. And now I'm moving on to the sequel to this "Hand Of Thrawn" duology. Yes, there's more... But first:
5/5
Thanks for that list @DarthDimi! I had no idea that I, Robot was part of the his Robot Series. I've actually read the first short story in that book, Robbie, I believe it was called.
Just read this:
Started Trigger Mortis... liking it so far but Jeopardy? Sounds rather like a game show... ;)
A few of the characters of the I, Robot stories will be mentioned, though briefly, in the later books. So if you're a completist, and oh boy I am, you'll want to read I, Robot.
Either way, the next book, after The Caves Of Steel, will be The Naked Sun and then The Robots Of Dawn. Both of these are my favourites of Asimov's robot whodunits, intellectually very stimulating and far better than any of those Agatha Christy stories if you're into hard science fiction. One more thing, if you can push through all of these books, please check the year of publishing each time to open up a new book. You'll notice that Asimov's reading order puts some of his 80s books before some of his 40s books. And you may notice a change in prose and narrative structure. It's important to understand that when, after the two prequel novels to Foundation, you actually read the original Foundation trilogy. Also, believe me, when you have finally reached Foundation and Earth, you may understand why reading the books in Asimov's suggested order was certainly worth it. :)
"The name's Jeopardy. Jeopardy Category."
"Named after the game show perhaps?"
LOL, that's good.
I don't know if the following link works,
https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=the+complete+robot&search=Find+book
but I get all my books from bookdepository.co.uk. The books are of course new and you pay no shipping costs. To get them here in Belgium, I have to wait on average between 2 and 3 weeks, which is good enough for me considering it's free shipping. ;-) I've been buying my books off this website for many years now.
Incidentally, I forgot to mention that instead of I, Robot you should probably buy The Complete Robot, which is basically I, Robot plus extra stories. Asimov had that one compiled a few years before his passing. So you get what you need, and more. If the link works, you can see you will get it for 9,45 €. ;-)
Happy reading, friend. :)
In his previous novels, Timothy Zahn had already mentioned the mysterious 'Outbound Flight', a project proposed by Jedi Master Jorus C’baoth and eventually green-lit by Palpatine in 27 BBY to explore the unknown regions of the galaxy, far beyond the Outer Rim. Things had gone wrong when a young Chiss named Thrawn intercepted and destroyed the capital ship that contained the six Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruisers that were to be used for the project. All of that, however, plays in the past of Zahn's three "Book Of Thrawn" novels and two "Hand Of Thrawn" sequels, which I've already reviewed.
SURVIVOR'S QUEST serves as both a sequel to the "Hand Of Thrawn" books and as a stand-alone what-happened-to-the-Outbound-Flight mystery thriller. Unlike the previous novels, which had seen things big and broad and had presented us galactic conflicts almost as large as the Clone Wars, this book takes us, in a very straightforward manner, to the remains of the Outbound Flight and whatever surprises are left to uncover aboard, some 50 years after its demise. Focal characters Luke Skywalker and his wife and fellow Jedi, Mara Jade, join a group of mistrusting Chiss, Vader's 501st Stormtroopers, a phony New Republic ambassador and a curious alien species with its own interest in the controversial Outbound Flight. Acts of sabotage, surprise discoveries aboard the ruins of the old ship, assassination attempts and more throw everyone, including our two Jedi, off balance. What the devil is and has been going on with the Outbound Flight?
I praise Zahn for returning to his familiar Star Wars universe with his sixth Thrawn novel and for delivering something completely new: a tense and exiting exploration adventure turned into a whodunit. Having selected some horror film scores to accompany me on my literary journey, I had unknowingly created my own perfect ambience for this suspenseful story. No planet hopping this time, no six or seven different settings, each stuffed with a good dozen important characters to keep track of; SURVIVOR'S QUEST keeps things simple and pristine. It's not so much about introducing tons of new characters or what have you, but about picking up clues in some old Agatha Christie kind of mystery, with two very bright and wise Jedi doing the thinking.
SURVIVOR'S QUEST was a very good read. Rather than expanding his already pretty extended Star Wars post-Endor universe, Zahn took one detail and fleshed it out, and I thank him for that for I was about to suffer some world-building fatigue after working my way through loads of his Star Wars prose in under two months. It's good to narrow the scope down again and to stick with what was already set up, without adding tons of new material yet again. Funny note, when he wrote this book, EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES had already come out and little details here and there are dropped to reference the prequels. Just details though, nothing to worry about.
The last one of Zahn's Thrawn books, before his sublime character was finally brought within the new canon, is called OUTBOUND FLIGHT and finally details the events of that flight as a prequel to, well, more or less all his other Star Wars books. But before I start reading that one, I will admit that I had an excellent time with SURVIVOR'S QUEST.
5/5
So Tomothy Zahn wrote a prequel to his Thrawn books... And oh boy, have I loved going through it! Many important things that we learn about in SURVIVOR'S QUEST and the BOOK OF THRAWN trilogy and HAND OF THRAWN duology can actually be experienced in this book. More importantly, this story details the first encounter the Republic has, a few years before the Clone Wars, with Chiss Commander Thrawn.
I may have one little issue with the book, though it's a small one, but Obi-Wan and Anakin going off on their own little adventure for a few chapters, feels a bit out-of-place. I take it LucasFilm mandated those things when Zahn began writing between STAR WARS EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES and STAR WARS EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH.
I had a blast with this book. Tense, at times very exciting, this is one of the best collections of character moments with fan favourite Thrawn.
Zahn wrote a few short stories involving Thrawn, and then there's also the ALLEGIANCE and CHOICES OF ONE duology, written by Zahn and involving Thrawn. I may read those too shortly but I'm now going to focus on Zahn's first New Canon book, aptly titled THRAWN, introducing the Grand Admiral to the new Star Wars universe. Here's one fan of his hoping he might make it as a movie character someday. For now, I'll content myself with STAR WARS REBELS, the series that got me into Thrawn in the first place.
As for OUTBOUND FLIGHT:
5/5
Young Bond has now evolved to kind of free-lance agent status. He is a young provocateur of sorts, on both the SIS and enemy radar.
At the end of adventure, he has a full SIS debriefing. We also get a sense of how Bond comes to favour the Beretta as his handgun of choice.
I've heard it's not worth my time. What's your opinion?
It ties in well with Twin Peaks The return on that basis I have found it interesting, as a journal/documentation of historical events within the Twin Peaks mythology it's good if the reader is invested in the Twin Peaks universe.
I love Commando comics! Like Tintin, they're just the right length to enjoy in the bath.
Ow! My mind travelled to some dark places there for a moment but I think I understand now. ;-)