Tag: Charles Soule

Top 5 Books I Read in 2021

Ryan3 Comments

This is hardly an original thought, but it feels especially surreal to me that 2021 has already passed us by. I’m not sure I like how much recent events have me being hyper-conscious of the passage of each year. It’s certainly been an eventful year personally, however, with some significant life changes. My second job, which has me doing a fair amount of freelance editing on a regular basis, is giving me a lot of valuable experience, but reading lagged behind as a result too.

Nevertheless, I can still look back at the year and consider, as I do every year, my top five books among all that I read. This is not ranked in any particular order, these are just my five favourite reads from 2021.Read More »

Book Review – The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule

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Light of the Jedi

Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule is the first novel of The High Republic, a multimedia series of stories set in the Star Wars universe, 200 years before Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It is a time of great prosperity for the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. New systems are regularly coming into the fold and the Republic is looking to expand their outreach to the more overlooked corners of the galaxy. Central to this cause is Starlight Beacon, a new space station located in the Outer Rim territories that will soon act as a prominent Jedi outpost, safe haven, and literal beacon to aid travelers as they navigate these dangerous regions.

 All is not as well as it seems in the galaxy, however, as a seemingly freak accident in hyperspace has caused massive pieces of debris to enter the Hetzal system, travelling at near light speed and threatening death and destruction to anything in their path. With billions of lives on the line, only a contingent of Jedi and the fleet of the Republic Defense Coalition have a chance of mitigating this great disaster. As more and more systems eventually come under threat as well, attention turns to an infamous group of marauders known as the Nihil, who pose a greater threat than the Republic and the Jedi could possibly imagine.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – May 5, 2021

Ryan8 Comments
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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

ThePrincessDiaristLast night I started reading The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher, the author’s memoir of her experience starring in the original Star Wars, including excerpts from a journal she kept at the time. I’m only about 50 pages in, and so far it’s just been memoirs. I’ve been enjoying it so far, though her writing style took a bit of getting used to so soon after I finished the last novel I was reading. It’s straightforward enough, but being more reflective of a life lived, she has jumped back and forth a bit between periods of time, though not dramatically. It’s got a nice conversational tone, at any rate, and I really like her sense of humour, which is honest, irreverent, and a little biting.

Recently Finished

Light of the JediMonday night I finished reading Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule, the first novel in the The High Republic series of media, set 200 years before the Skywalker Saga. I ended up committing to some reading quotas over the weekend, helping me to power through the book a lot faster. The catastrophic incident that took up a great deal of the beginning of the novel was a little protracted, but I ended up really loving the way events unfolded in its wake. A few of the perspective characters felt superfluous, but I enjoyed a good majority of the new characters introduced in this book, especially the way the villains were built up over the course of the story. I’m really excited to read more of these books. I should have a full review up soon.

Reading Next

The High Republic Issue 1I’ve got a couple of ARCs to choose from that I want to be starting next, but I haven’t decided which I want to read first, so I’ll refrain from being too specific until I’ve made up my mind. What I’m pretty excited to dig into finally, though, are the issues I’ve slowly accumulated of a High Republic comic book series that has been coming out since January. I’m happy I restrained myself from starting there, because from the scant details I know, it seems to be dealing with some of the fallout from Light of the Jedi.

Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – April 28, 2021

Ryan6 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Over the weekend I started reading Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule, one of the first books under the banner of The High Republic, which is an era set hundreds of years before the film saga. When I started this over the weekend I had lofty ideas of reading quotas, getting 50 pages done a day to speed up reading. I read just over 50 pages on Saturday, and have made no progress since. So that’s a bad start with that. I’m enjoying the book so far though, which has been introducing a large cast of new Jedi characters. An unexpected catastrophe is affecting and entire star system and a large force of Jedi, alongside a Republic fleet, are trying to save as many people as they can. It’s exciting stuff, but I want to see where the story goes once things quiet down too.

Recently Finished

Sadly, nothing this week. I’ve continued to neglect comics. Boo to me. 👻

Reading Next

I’ve still had trouble deciding what I’ll read next from my to-read lists, but to do away with the indecision I’ve just now decided to go with The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher, which is a collection of her old journal entries she wrote during the filming of the original Star Wars. I want to make sure I keep up with my lists in May, but I intend to get two ARCs finished that month too, so I’ve mainly picked this above the others because it’s relatively shorter. I am excited to finally read some of Fisher’s writing too, mind you.

Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – April 21, 2021

Ryan2 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’m between books at the moment, so nothing! Boo! 👻

Recently Finished

LovesicknessOver the weekend I read through Lovesickness by Junji Ito, the newly released story collection of the manga author’s work. I posted a full review of it on Monday. The headlining story was quite good, which came as a surprise since it took me a while to warm up to it. I was also surprised by how long it was, expecting at first that it would only be one chapter long. Turns outs “Lovesickness” is 60% of the collection, so this book wasn’t the same type of story collection as Shiver, Smashed, or Venus in the Blind Spot. The remainder of the book brought the reading experience down tremendously though, which was a shame because I think that main story was one of the best Ito stories I’ve read in a while.

Where Have You Gone Without MeLast night I finished reading my eARC copy of Where Have You Gone Without Me? by Peter Bonventre. Since my last proper update about this book, I warmed up to it considerably. I’m not sure this will make me crazy for mystery thrillers going forward, but it certainly hasn’t turned me off of them. It was something of a slow burn, taking its time to build up the case. I kept expecting it to take a sudden, sensational turn, but it kept things fairly low-key and down to earth, though still compelling, for the most part. I should have a full review up soon, I’m still collating my feelings on the whole thing. I can’t remember the last time a singular story made my feelings fluctuate so, but I’m happy they ended up more positive.

Reading Next

Light of the JediI’m of two minds right now, because I haven’t really chosen what I’m going to read next as far as my to-read lists go, but I have decided I want to read Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule finally. I keep meaning to start this book as one I almost exclusively read at home, a supplemental read, but so far that’s just left me not starting it at all. I really want to start getting into these High Republic books, though, so I’m just going to start it, and that’s that. I’ll decide on another book from my lists to pick up soon too, I just can’t make up my mind on that right now.

Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – December 9, 2020

Ryan7 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

MaskeradeI’ve made some good progress with Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, the 18th Discworld novel, though as is often the case this is short of my desire to have it finished as soon as possible. I was much too fatigued over the weekend to get that far along. My schedule is not normal. There’s an unexpected element of murder mystery to this novel that I’m more than here for, though. A “ghost” of the opera keeps murdering those involved in production and his motives seem unclear. It certainly seems to me that this ghost is probably just a murderer, yet I suspect there is also an actual ghost among the cast of characters and most of them don’t realize it. I’m really intrigued to see where this all goes.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week. I have been awful and neglected my comic books once again. There will have to be reckoning before the month is done.

Reading Next

SpiderlightWith my pace being as slow as it is, I’m afraid I won’t meet the revised goals I’ve set for myself (completely my list except for Moby-Dick). I’m going to try and dedicate more time to reading and away from other hobbies, but I don’t know how successful I’ll really be with that. At any rate, I really want to read Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky next, if I read nothing else. I’ve been meaning to read it for a while now—it’s actually on the first page of my to-read shelf on Goodreads—and I’ll be darned if I don’t finally do so this year. Other than this, I still meant to read The Rise of Kylo Ren by Charles Soule et al soon. It’s only a matter of making time.

Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – December 2, 2020

Ryan8 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

MaskeradeAs of last night I’ve gotten just over 100 pages into Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, the 18th Discworld novel. Surprisingly, I’ve found this novel a little slower-going than a lot of the previous books in the series. Despite how far I am into the book, I don’t feel I have a full grasp of what the story will be about just yet. Nevertheless, I am really enjoying the introduction of Agnes Nitt, a character with a good head on her shoulders that would make for a great witch if not for her desire to be a singer. The only thing I’m a little iffy about with her is how much the book likes to make fun of her weight. It doesn’t feel incongruous with how Discworld stories are told, but it has happened with a frequency that has started to feel a little mean-spirited. I do enjoy how she is actually characterized, though, so perhaps it’s just me.

Recently Finished

Thrawn AlliancesOver the weekend I finished reading Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. I’m not over-the-moon about the book, but I really enjoyed it as a solid reading experience. The problem of the Then/Now story line still persisted, with the “Then” story being less interesting, which I can attribute to the fact that it was connected to the Clone Wars itself. So, while it did have some surprises in store by the end, ultimately I knew that the events of this story would be of no consequence to the greater war. “Now”, on the other hand, is a side story taking place in the Imperial era but unconnected to the war with the rebels, with my only foreknowledge being that Vader and Thrawn must survive, keeping the stakes of everything else appreciably higher. I should have a review up for this novel soon.

Immortal Hulk Hulk is HulkI also read through The Immortal Hulk: Hulk is Hulk by Al Ewing et al, which reminded me of just how much I love this series. I wish I’d been able to read it a little sooner, in fact, as it was a direct continuation of the action from the  end of the previous volume, which introduced a new villain. In this, Hulk’s very identity becomes compromised as an alien monster who, on the behalf of the Roxxon corporation, alters everyone’s memories of what the Hulk even is. It wrapped up a little too neatly at the end for me, but nonetheless had some great exploration of the Hulk’s various personalities within his mindscape, as well as some genuinely harrowing moments that left me shocked to remember this is a mainline series about the character.

Reading Next

The Rise of Kylo RenI’ve got a good handful of books to choose from next, so I shouldn’t be paralyzed by choice when the time comes. That being said, I haven’t quite made up my mind yet, but I’ve still got a good bit of Maskerade left to read anyway. I will likely reading Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren by Charles Soule as my next comic book read, though, which should be fun.

I wish I’d gotten this up earlier today, but I was much too tired after my night shift. I ought to adjust when I write these.

Until next week, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.