Archive for June, 2009

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Omen – Christie Golden

Monday, June 29th, 2009

omen

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Lucasbooks (June 23, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345509129
ISBN-13: 978-0345509123
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Main Characters:

Luke Skywalker
Ben Skywalker
Jaina Solo
Han Solo
Leia Solo
Vestara Khai
 
Storyline Summary

They’re Back!!! The Sith have returned to the Galaxy. Vestara Khai have been living and training as Sith on the Planet Kesh, waiting for when they could take to the Stars and return to their proper places. Then comes the arrival of Ship, a Sith training Sphere. While Vestara goes through training to become a Sith, the Jedi are still trying to find what is making their members start acting abnormal. President Daala, due to the violent outbreaks from these Jedi, is further trying to crack down on the Jedi. Luke Skywalker is still under banishment. He and Ben go on a journey to discover more about what could have turned Caedus to the dark side. This journey leads them to the Aing-Tii. Before the answers are given to them though, they must discover the truth behind some artifacts the Aing-Tii have collected.

Novel Review

This is the second book in a 9 book series. It is also Christie Golden’s first foray that I’m aware of, in the Star Wars Universe. That being said, I’m willing to give her a little time to get her feet wet. While there was not a ton of action in this book, I thought Ms. Golden did very well in her characterizations of the Solo’s and the relationship between Luke and Ben. There was a few action sequences, and given that it’s still early in the story, I’ll give them some wiggle room.

With the Luke/Ben stories though, I haven’t got the feeling that they were ever in any kind of danger. Luke is a Jedi Master, these adventures of his and Ben’s should be something worthy of an adventure, in my opinon, rather than just an informational gathering expedition.

I’m looking forward to future books where the Sith finally make their appearance, and see what the result is if there are no Jedi to protect the Galaxy from the Sith. I’m interested in finding out what is making the Jedi go crazy. I’m interested in seeing all the species Caedus met during his journey to the darkside and the lessons he learned.

The book, for the normal price of a hardcover, was pretty thin. I finished it in much less time than normally for a Star Wars book. I think maybe the publishing company was giving Ms. Golden a lighter load for her first book, so that she can break into the Star Wars Galaxy. I think for the first attempt though, that she did a pretty good job.

This series to me seems to be leading into the Galaxy we see in the Legacy series of comics. I look forward to seeing how all the history between the universe we know, and the universe of the legacy time period unfolds.

If you liked the first book, and want to see the Sith vs. Jedi battles, which I’m certain will happen, then go and pick up this book. I think you might enjoy it.

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*DISCLAIMER* An Audiobook copy of this was provided to me by the publisher for review. This in no way influenced my review.

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast – Aaron Allston

Monday, June 29th, 2009

 

outcast

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Lucasbooks (March 24, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345509064
ISBN-13: 978-0345509062 
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Characters

Luke Skywalker
Ben Skywalker
Han Solo
Leia Solo
Landa and Tendra Calrissian

Storyline Summary

This book is set after the fall of Darth Caedus.  Luke Skywalker has been charged for the destruction Caedus was allowed to do, and banished for 10 years.  During this banishment he can have no contact with any Jedi or Jedi matters.  Luke and Ben set out on a mission to discover why Caedus fell to the Dark Side.  This leads them to the Baran Do’ Sages.  In order to find their answers though, Luke and Ben must die.  While they discover their answers, Han and Leia, along with Jacen’s daughter journey to Kessel in order to help Lando discover what is tearing the planet apart.

Novel Review

As the opening act in a 9 book series, I liked this for the most part.  The storyline seems to be setting up the Galaxy for the way those of use who read the Legacy series see the universe we’re all familiar with.  There are three basic plots beginning here:

1)      Luke and Ben out to discover why Caedus fell to the dark side.
2)      Han and Leia helping Lando discover what is ripping apart Kessel.
3)      What is making all the Jedi start acting in a bizarre manner.

On the first plot, Luke and Ben set out for to see the Baran Do’ Sages.  While there they discover that the elder leaders voluntarily die.  Determined to solve this puzzle, Luke and Ben must first die.  This wasn’t really one of the strongest plots.  Nothing really ever gave me the impression that the two heroes were in actual danger, and the whole plot just seemed a way of looking at a culture who has the wrong way of going about their ideas and beliefs.

The second plot has Han and Leia bringing in some of the Republic’s most famous pilots in an attempt to discover what is tearing apart Kessel.  While this plot was interesting at times, I just found it really confusing, and couldn’t see where the storyline was actually going to go with it.

The third plot I found the most interesting.  Why were the Jedi going insane.  Was it the reappearance of large groups of sith?  Are these insane Jedi going to become the Sith that lead to the Sith Empire in the Legacy galaxy?  Seeing an entire army of sith ready to take on all the Jedi we’ve come to know and love really gives me hope for the outcome of this whole series.

While this wasn’t the strongest book I’ve read, as a stand alone story it leaves a lot to be desired, I hold out hope that future stories will really flesh out the events we’ve seen and when I’m able to look back on the whole series, I’ll have a deeper appreciation.  So for the casual Star Wars reader, I’d recommend some of the other series, such as The Thrawn Trilogy, but for the hardcore enthusiast who just like to see adventure after adventure in that galaxy far, far, away, pick this book up, you might enjoy it.   I did enjoy it, but it just left me wanting more substance.

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*DISCLAIMER* An Audiobook copy of this was provided to me by the publisher for review. This in no way influenced my review.

Finding Faith: A Search for What is Real/A Search for What Makes Sense – Brian D. Mclaren

Monday, June 29th, 2009

 

A Search for What is Real 

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031027267X
ISBN-13: 9780310272670
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 Please Note:  I receive a small payment from Amazon for your purchase. 
 
 

 

a-search-for-what-makes-sense

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310272661
ISBN-13: 978-0310272663
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I decided to go a different route with these two books. They were originally written as one book labeld Finding Faith. The author split them up, but I’ll review them both in one review.  I purchased this book from a small overstock store.   This isn’t so much on what to believe, but how, and how to determine for yourself what is real. 

He starts the book with an Analogy of a man leaving his kingdom, for a place much better than where he lived.  He walks for hours.  Finally he tires, and falls asleep under a tree.  He points his shoes to remind him of what direction to go in.  In the middle of the night though, his shoes are moved.  He awakens the next morning and continues his journey.  Everyplace looks familiar and comfortable.  The moral I got from it, is other lifes might look brighter and better, but the best life is the one where you feel at home, and everyone loves you.

He then starts to examine the different ways some people experience God.  For some it’s being alone in Nature.   Some experience God through Ritual, such as communion.  Others, experience it through Obedience or self-denial.  He uses the example of a co-worker propositioning you.  By denying it, you bring yourself closer to God.  God can also be experienced through worship and art.  The final way is through the community.  When everyone comes together to help a person out, or share a common goal, you can feel God around you.  There are also other ways, which he goes into throughout the book.

A search for What Makes sense covers doubt, people having trouble getting into the bible, and the different ways people read the bible. There’s the Literal approach, and the Liberal approach. He doesn’t say which is right or wrong, but gives you the pro’s and con’s and discusses how both sides have their good aspects, but both tend to want to pull things out based on their own interpretations.

He also goes through different aspects, such as History in order to help you discover, or help you look further into discovering for yourself, what is real.

The second book, a Search for what makes sense has 2 parts.  The first part is about Faith, Knowledge, and Doubt.  He explains whether or not it matters what you believe, the relationship between faith and knowledge, and how a person can get deeper in their faith.  The second part covers athiesm, why there are multiple religions, and whether all paths lead to the same god.  

One section discusses bad faith versus good faith.   Good faith among other things is humble.  A person of good faith can learn from a child as well as their elders.  Good faith allows a person to ask questions, and to question their religion.  He used an example of a woman from a foreign country.  He’d met her at a party and began a discussion on their different religions.  As the conversation continued, he said, she became more agitated.  Finally she told him that her religion didn’t permit her to question things, but his discussion was causing her to have questions.  She abruptly ended the conversation. 

In comparison is bad faith.  Bad faith is accepting things because that’s what you’re told.  I equate this to when you ask a question and someone says “because the bible says so”, or “because the Torah tells me that”, it can even lead into ministers.  This kind of “blind” faith is bad, because, as we’ve seen from Jim Jones, it can lead people to do the wrong things for the wrong reasons.  Bad faith is arrogant.  A person showing bad faith is determined that only their view of things is the right view.  I know I’ve been guilty of this plenty of times. 

This book helped me see things from both sides of the equation.  I could see where others were misled by their views, but I could also see where my own views exhibited bad faith.  It really helped me understand that people in life, particular if they’re on a spiritual path, find themselves at different points on that path.  We should help each other, regardless of background along that spiritual path.  I really liked this book, and if you have the chance to read it, regardless of where you find yourself on that path, I think it will give you something to think about.  Well worth the time to read it. 

Each chapter of each book ends with discussion questions, resources, and a prayer to help you on that leg of discovery.

I really liked these books.  The author doesn’t get overly preachy.  He realizes that you might be on a different area of your spiritual journey, and doesn’t force.  Unlike some Christian authors I’ve seen, he doesn’t tell you “This is the facts”, but rather presents his thoughts and views, and lets you find your own way.  While these books probably wouldn’t appeal to long term believers, though I’d recommend them to anyone, as a good step for those who are curious, and willing to consider things.

Pick up either one, or both, if  you get a chance.  I think you’ll find something in them that will help you in your life, or something that you can pass on to others.

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Jesus Was a Liberal – Rev. Scott McLennan

Monday, June 29th, 2009

 

jesus-was-a-liberal
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan (May 12, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0230614299
ISBN-13: 978-0230614291
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Reverend McLennan is the Dean for Religious Life at Stanford.  He is also minister of the Stanford Memorial Church.   In this book he covers how Jesus’ life mirrored the views of a lot of American Liberals.  Throughout he book he covers some rather divisive topics such as abortion, prayer in school, and gay marriage.   He combines personal stories, scripture, and view from other ministers in describing his beliefs.  For example, regarding prayer in school he recites the passage Matthew 6:6 which states:

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

He also covered the reaction many conservatives have toward the poor, war, etc.  On War he points out that Jesus taught “Turn the Other Cheek”, not “Let’s Bomb them back to the Stone Age.”. 

One thing he emphasizes is how liberals shouldn’t be afraid of admitting they’re liberal and Christian.   They should stand tall and be proud.   He also covers how one can pursue their faith as a liberal christian.   However, I’m not sure I agree with labeling Christ as one thing or the other.  I think he had many liberal ideas, but also know there were some things such as divorce, and killing, that he found appalling.   I think the truth lies somewhere in between.

I found many of his points to make a lot of sense, and overall the book helped me a lot.   I’d turned away from the ideas of religion, due to hypocrisy I saw, when I was young.  Seeing the fundamental view of things, which to me felt wrong, I felt there was no place for me in religion.  This book helped me see things differently.  While it helped me though, it wasn’t perfect.  There are some areas such as his argument supporting abortion rights, that I didn’t find strong enough.  However, overall I found the book very helpful in helping me get started and understand that my views are valid.  I’d love it if everyone would read this, but that would be naive.  I know there are those who wouldn’t touch it on a bet, however, for those who are open minded, and willing to look at new ideas, I’d defnitely recommend this book. 

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Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis

Monday, June 29th, 2009

 

mere-christianity
Paperback: 190 pages
Publisher: Fontana Books (January 1, 1960)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0020868103
ISBN-13: 978-0020868101
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This novel, written by C. S. Lewis is a good primer for introducing Christianity.  He covers the meaning of the Universe, Moral Laws, Marriage, etc.  He then goes into what Christians believe, how Christians should behave.   I liked this book.  I”m not sure however, if I would have gotten more out of it than I did, if I were a non-believer.  I liked many of the concepts, and believe in many of the ideas he presented.  However, I’m a different mindset possibly than the person the book was geared toward.  While I can see it’s value as  primer, it seemed a bit outdated to me.  Some of the concepts, while sticking true to biblical principles, would seem a bit naive in todays society.   If your someone on the edge, pick this up.  It might help you a bit.  Even if your just starting in your spiritual journey, you might find something useful in it.  Pick it up and see what you think. 

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Exploring Exodus – Nahum M. Sarna

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

 

exploring-exodus

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Schocken (April 2, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805210636
ISBN-13: 978-09805210637 
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Like his previous work, Mr. Sarna combines Biblical passages with history and culture of the time period.  This time around, it looks at the book of Exodus.  I was able to learn many interesting things through reading this.  

One example he covers is that of the Staff turning into snakes.  There is a snake known as <em>naja hage</em>.  This is a certain type of snake where, when a nerve is pressed on the back of the neck, becomes stiff like a rod.  When thrown to the ground, the shock snaps it out of it’s paralysis and it crawls off.   In the biblical story however, they didn’t count on Moses snake swallowing the other snakes.

Mr. Sarna also goes into detail on a therory of the 10 plagues, and how each plague, and the resulting environmental problems, led to the next plague.  Lke his book on Genesis, this brings a lot of the history of the time period alive.  I learned a lot about the behind the scenes stuff, especially on aspects like the parting of the Sea of Reeds that I didn’t know before.

I’d recommend this book to any person interested in understanding the bible better, or wanting to learn about the events in their historical context.  It certainly answers a lot of the questions I have, and I think you’d find it helpful as well.

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Understanding Genesis – Nahum M. Sarna

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

 

 Understanding Genesis

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Schocken (January 13, 1970)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805202536
ISBN-13: 978-0805202533 
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This book came in pretty helpful in helping to understand Genesis in the Historical context.    First written in 1966, Mr. Sarna covers the whole creation story, filling in all the cracks that sometimes raises questions with people.   He begins with describing how the biblical stories differ from mytholies.  One reason is that in myths, there’s always a biography for the god, and a birth of the god.  This is contrasted with the Abrahamic God, where there is nothing regarding his birth or coming into being, he just is. 

He points out in the beginning that attempting to explain the bible with science, and science with the bible is a futile effort.   Biblical man did not use all the scientific methods we use, nor record things as we do.  Morals, history, etc. was passed down as stories, poetry, songs, etc.  Hebrew history was always a word of mouth tradition, passed on from person to person.  A lot of groups within our culture are the same.  If you remember Roots, Alex Haley met a man from his tribe who’s job it was to remember the entire history of the tribe from the beginning and recite it.  My own personal thought on that is that while civilizations can destroy the written history, as long as people survive from a culture and can pass those stories on to others verbally, the history will survive.

He covers every major occurrence in the book of Genesis from Creation, to the flood.   Everything though is shown in both a spiritual and historical sense.  For example, the tower of Babel was not necessarily a history of how language came about.  It was a story about man not obeying God.   The people of Israel after the flood had been told to go forth among the world, but in Babel they all began to congregate in one area, thereby disobeying God.  So they were punished and forced to go into separate areas of the world. 

I really liked this book.  For me it made the whole book of Genesis much more believable than it had been in the past.  I’d always struggled with the difference between the biblical stories, and with ancient mythologies.  This helped me settle a lot of those questions by putting things in a historical perspective.   Seeing how the Hebrews thought and about their culture during this time period, and then reading Genesis, it really seemed more alive to me.

I’d definitely recommend this book for anyone struggling to understand the older books of the Bible.  I think you need to keep an open mind while reading it, but if you do, that things will make much more sense.  Pick it up if you get the chance, and let me know what you think.

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Coruscant Nights III: Pattern of Force – Michael Reaves

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

 

patterns-of-force

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Lucasbooks (January 27, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345477588
ISBN-13: 978-0345477583 
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Main Characters:

Darth Vader
Dejah Duare
Den Dhur
Haninum Tyk Rhinann
I-5YQ
Jax Pavan
Kajin Savaros
Laranth Tarak
Pol Haus
Probus Tesla
Thi Xon
Tuden Sal

Storyline Summary

Assassination.  Betrayal.  Death.  These are just some of the things awaiting our small family of heroes.  They receive a request to assassinate Emperor Palpatine.  Despite numerous ways of doing this, they at first decline.  Along the way they discover Kajin Savaros, a powerful child with great force abilities.  Jax reluctantly takes on training this young force user, while trying to discover a way to hid Kaj’s abilities from Darth Vader and the Inquisitors.

Subplots involve Rhinann’s continued searching for a link to the force, that he believes is contained in the Bota plant.  There is also a traitor in their midst that could destroy everything they have worked for.  Will they be able to control Kaj’s abilities?  Will the Inquisitorius find Kaj?  Will they find the traitor, before Vader and the Emperor find them?  Will I-5 discover there is more to life than what it seems?

Novel Review

I really liked this and the others in the series.  The characters remind me of the prequel characters when they were in their younger days.  Having read about these characters through the Medstar series, Darth Maul, and this series, I’ve grown to really like them, and want to see more of their adventures.  One problem with this, as with all #3 in a series books, is it build on previous, so if you haven’t read the other two, you may not know everything going on here.  However, if you’ve read the other two, and look forward to finding out what happens, or the answers to the questions I posed, then pick it up.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. 

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Renegade – Richard Wolffe

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

 

renegade
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Crown (June 2, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307463125
ISBN-13: 978-0307463128 
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Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that the election of Barack Obama made history.  Richard Wolffe was given the opportunity to follow and record the behind the scenes events during this election.  Everything from deciding to run, up until the inauguration are covered here.  We get to see some of the emotions involved, and get to know so of the people around the President.   We’re there when his grandmother dies and he has to go onstage.  We get to see a little of  what he discussed with Hillary regarding VP.  We find out why he was hesitant to have her involved in his cabinet. 

I found it a very interesting book.  While the author tends to jump around in time, it seems to flow well, at least to me.  I found the behind the scenes stuff to be fascinating.  Having heard rumors here and there about stuff going on, it was nice to be able to see some of the truth (from a certain point of view) behind the stories.  We get to see the ups and downs of campaign life.  Even if you don’t like President Obama, or agree with his policies, I think you should pick this up and read it.  It gives you a very good view of the campaign process.  It also shows a lot of the emotional ups and downs resulting from the election.  I’d recommend this to anyone, especially those who want to get to know the President a little better, or just to find out what happened with Hillary.

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A Grief Observed – C.S. Lewis

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

 

a-grief-observed
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: HarperOne (February 6, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060652381
ISBN-13: 978-0060652388
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This was written after the death of C.S. Lewis’ wife from cancer.   As the book progresses, he covers the different stages of Grief.  He also covers how his relationship with God changes during the course of his grief.   I think this book would be helpful to anyone experience grief, especially on helping to get through it.  Having lost people, I could relate to his feelings, and to the different stages he was going through.  The one problem that I did have, was the language was a little beyond that of the casual reader.   The book is also not pleasant, due to the subject matter. 

One area for example, he talks about the danger of falling into the trap of what the loved one would do.  He stated he found that he’d often find himself saying “H. Wouldn’t like that”, or “That’s what H. Would do”.  His caution is that you can fall into using it as domestic tyranny.  For example, a single parent raising a child would fall into a pattern of “Your mother wouldn’t like that”.  I could see his point, because it almost seems abusive. 

If your going through grief, or know someone who is, pick this up.  I think it might help.  If your looking for a feel good book that, I’d suggest something along a different line.  The book was very well written, even though the language at times gave me problems.  I would however recommend it.

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