Flash Reviews: Vaughn, Karpyshyn
Last week was a weird one, reading-wise. I bring you a Star Wars/Mount TBR read that would've been a DNF if it hadn't been an SW book, as well as my reward for getting through it, Carrie Vaughn's latest Kitty novel!
Kitty Rocks the House (2013)
Written by: Carrie Vaughn
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 324 (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Book Eleven (Kitty Norville)
My Review: 7 - Good Read
As I said above, Kitty Rocks the House was my reward for getting through the Star Wars book below. And aside from Star Wars, I think the Kitty Norville novels are the longest-running series I read. This current installment clocks in at book eleven, and later this summer, Vaughn's releasing book twelve, Kitty in the Underworld. I rather enjoyed last year's Kitty Steals the Show, and while I know not every installment is going to be a home run, I can at least count on a comfort read.
Kitty Rocks the House brings Kitty and company back to Denver, and things are getting a bit hairy, no pun intended. I enjoyed seeing a new crop of problems arise and I found myself impressed with how Vaughn resolved those various sets of problems. We also learn a key fact about Roman and the Long Game, and that's even more surprising. I enjoyed this installment quite a bit, and tore through it in a day. Fans of the series should have fun with this, especially fans of Rick, who gets an interesting storyline, and Cormac, who's clearly getting closer to his own spin-off. ;)
Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction (2006)
Written by: Drew Karpyshyn
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 389 (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Star Wars
My Review: 3 - Not My Cup of Tea
This is a tough one to rate, because honestly, I feel it has a lot in common with Star Wars: Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine, in that both main characters are Mary Sue/Marty Stu. I gave Dantooine a "2 - Below Standard," and I had to think hard about this rating, because again, a lot of this book really felt like wish fulfillment to Stu-ish levels (and I'm allowed to apply that term to media tie-ins, because they are, by nature, authorized fan fiction). Of course, being the greatest Sith ever isn't exactly MY kind of wish fulfillment, but to each their own. And honestly, if this wasn't a Star Wars book, I probably wouldn't never finished it, let alone picked it up. Be that as it may, while it's clearly history of the Sith, I felt coming back to the fact that this just doesn't feel like the Star Wars universe in any form or fashion, not even the prequel era. Sure, this takes place LONG before said prequel era, but it just didn't click the way I wanted history to do so. Maybe it's because the story is primarily told through the Sith viewpoint, rather than the traditional Jedi one. We get a lot of telling instead of showing, a lot of summarization. The description often gets clunky, and there's ANOTHER PROPHECY!!! Which I'm sure applies to Darth Bane, because why would this trilogy feature him otherwise?
I think the biggest problem with this book is it relies too heavily on what the reader brings to the book. You're expected to understand the conflict between the Sith and Jedi going into the book, which means the author really doesn't have to world-build like he would in an original novel and, you know, justify the war between the Sith and the Jedi and what they're fighting for and why. But even though I, as a fan, am armed with that knowledge (though let's be fair, this is yet another game spin-off, and I'm not and never have been a Star Wars gamer), I found the whole conflict to be weak and uninteresting. I was interested in learning more about the Sith, seeing how they came to be what we know and love in the prequel movies, but beyond that, I was pretty bored with the whole experience. I would not recommend this book except to the most hardcore of Star Wars fans, especially those fans obsessed with Sith legend and history. Everyone else, this is an easy pass. Newbies? Do not start here. The only reason this gets a "3 - Not My Cup of Tea" over a "2 - Below Standard" is because despite my issues with the writing, it doesn't make the same outright mistakes that Dantooine did, and it's a more solidly constructed story as a whole. Obviously, because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy. I know, I'm insane. Fortunately, Darth Bane: The Rule of Two is several books away in publication order. :)
Kitty Rocks the House (2013)
Written by: Carrie Vaughn
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 324 (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Book Eleven (Kitty Norville)
My Review: 7 - Good Read
As I said above, Kitty Rocks the House was my reward for getting through the Star Wars book below. And aside from Star Wars, I think the Kitty Norville novels are the longest-running series I read. This current installment clocks in at book eleven, and later this summer, Vaughn's releasing book twelve, Kitty in the Underworld. I rather enjoyed last year's Kitty Steals the Show, and while I know not every installment is going to be a home run, I can at least count on a comfort read.
Kitty Rocks the House brings Kitty and company back to Denver, and things are getting a bit hairy, no pun intended. I enjoyed seeing a new crop of problems arise and I found myself impressed with how Vaughn resolved those various sets of problems. We also learn a key fact about Roman and the Long Game, and that's even more surprising. I enjoyed this installment quite a bit, and tore through it in a day. Fans of the series should have fun with this, especially fans of Rick, who gets an interesting storyline, and Cormac, who's clearly getting closer to his own spin-off. ;)
Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction (2006)
Written by: Drew Karpyshyn
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 389 (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Star Wars
My Review: 3 - Not My Cup of Tea
This is a tough one to rate, because honestly, I feel it has a lot in common with Star Wars: Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine, in that both main characters are Mary Sue/Marty Stu. I gave Dantooine a "2 - Below Standard," and I had to think hard about this rating, because again, a lot of this book really felt like wish fulfillment to Stu-ish levels (and I'm allowed to apply that term to media tie-ins, because they are, by nature, authorized fan fiction). Of course, being the greatest Sith ever isn't exactly MY kind of wish fulfillment, but to each their own. And honestly, if this wasn't a Star Wars book, I probably wouldn't never finished it, let alone picked it up. Be that as it may, while it's clearly history of the Sith, I felt coming back to the fact that this just doesn't feel like the Star Wars universe in any form or fashion, not even the prequel era. Sure, this takes place LONG before said prequel era, but it just didn't click the way I wanted history to do so. Maybe it's because the story is primarily told through the Sith viewpoint, rather than the traditional Jedi one. We get a lot of telling instead of showing, a lot of summarization. The description often gets clunky, and there's ANOTHER PROPHECY!!! Which I'm sure applies to Darth Bane, because why would this trilogy feature him otherwise?
I think the biggest problem with this book is it relies too heavily on what the reader brings to the book. You're expected to understand the conflict between the Sith and Jedi going into the book, which means the author really doesn't have to world-build like he would in an original novel and, you know, justify the war between the Sith and the Jedi and what they're fighting for and why. But even though I, as a fan, am armed with that knowledge (though let's be fair, this is yet another game spin-off, and I'm not and never have been a Star Wars gamer), I found the whole conflict to be weak and uninteresting. I was interested in learning more about the Sith, seeing how they came to be what we know and love in the prequel movies, but beyond that, I was pretty bored with the whole experience. I would not recommend this book except to the most hardcore of Star Wars fans, especially those fans obsessed with Sith legend and history. Everyone else, this is an easy pass. Newbies? Do not start here. The only reason this gets a "3 - Not My Cup of Tea" over a "2 - Below Standard" is because despite my issues with the writing, it doesn't make the same outright mistakes that Dantooine did, and it's a more solidly constructed story as a whole. Obviously, because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy. I know, I'm insane. Fortunately, Darth Bane: The Rule of Two is several books away in publication order. :)