The Appeal of Reading Star Trek Novels

Imzadi cover image taken from Goodreads.

 

Here’s a throwback post to some of my work over at Comparative Geeks. Give them a look and tell them I sent you!

Pocket Books Keeps the Dream of Star Trek Alive

 

If you’re a fan of books and hot beverages, check us out at Blue Spider Books. And check out our blog here!

The Appeal of Croaker of the Black Company

The Black Company cover image taken from Goodreads.

 

Here’s another throwback to an older post from right here at the Thoughts. Enjoy!

Thoughts on Croaker of the Black Company

 

If you’re a fan of books and hot beverages, check us out at Blue Spider Books. And check out our blog here!

7 Book Conundrum

A disaster strikes your home, and you have to get out quick. You’re risking leaving a lot of things behind, but the important parts of your life–your family and pets–are already safe. You only have a few moments to grab at most seven books from your shelves and run. What will those seven precious books–the backbone of starting over–be? Here are my choices. Consider sharing your own.

 

Forgive the condition of some of these; my books have been through a lot with me, which is why it’s nearly impossible to make this decision. This is a background anxiety I believe a lot of us with large book collections likely possess, and I wanted to interrogate mine a bit. If you had to pare it down and start over, where would you begin?

The Appeal of Claudia Gray’s New Star Wars Novels

We’re going to try a little something different today, both to explore something(s) awesome and to commemorate Claudia Gray’s newest Star Wars novel, Master and Apprentice, which came out last week. The two Star Wars novels of Gray’s I have read so far are among the franchise’s most fantastic recent offerings: Lost Stars (2015) and Bloodline (2016). 

Cover image taken from Goodreads @ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25067046-lost-stars

I never, ever thought I could become enamored with a YA love story, but here we are. Lost Stars is an absorbing journey through the entire original Star Wars saga told from the points of view of two entirely new characters who grow up together on a backwater planet and who both join the Imperial Academy on Coruscant. The love story goes star-crossed after Alderaan, with one character remaining in the Imperial Navy and the other joining the Rebellion. The depth and nuance of Gray’s understanding of human emotion are staggering, and will impress even the most cynical and hard-hearted Star Wars fan. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Cover image taken from Goodreads @ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27209239-bloodline

While the sort of emotional power found in Lost Stars is also strong with Bloodline, it is foremost Claudia Gray’s gripping effort to set a political thriller in the Star Wars universe. Focusing primarily on Leia and her closely-guarded secret about her true parentage, Gray also paints a disturbing picture of an up-and-coming generation who did not witness the Galactic Civil War and who have developed an unhealthy fascination with the Empire. This, as we know, is one of several factors that leads to the rise of the First Order. It is also unsettling to witness this same sort of fascination among many young, white American teenagers with Nazism. If you are a Star Wars fan and you worry about younger generations forgetting the past far, far too easily, I heartily recommend this book to you.

 

If you’re a fan of books and hot beverages, check us out at Blue Spider Books. And check out our blog here!