(no subject)
I just reread Death Star for the... I think third time.
Still a good book. I like the many-slices-of-life style. These authors - I don't care for them apart. Perry wrote Shadows of the Empire, which while entertaining and with its good parts, I thought had a serious fixation on a villain who wasn't nearly as cool as he wanted us to think, and Darth Vader was really not as monstrous as he should be. Actually, in comparison he barely came off as villainous at all. Reaves, meanwhile, wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter and the Coruscant Nights Trilogy, neither of which struck me as terribly compelling. And I didn't like most of the characters in either.
But together? They've also written the Medstar Duology, which I really enjoyed. It's incredibly detail-heavy and also involved a many-slices-of-life style, with a huge cast, though there was more of a sense that there was an actual antagonist in that one, and not just at the end. Really promotes the idea that this is a lived-in universe, with a lot of strange things that the inhabitants take for granted.
One character carries over from the duology to Death Star, that being Kornell "Uli" Divini. He was nineteen then, a surgical prodigy, and by this point he's been ground down and wore out over the past twenty years, never allowed to leave the service. He's much more bitter about his circumstances, yet he's very professional with his patients and always willing to do his best on them. Also, it seems like he's harbored a secret fascination with Bariss Offee, and he wrestles with it, and sees her in Princess Leia. I love him.
The book is driven entirely by its characters. Not just Uli - we have Celot Ratua Dil, a Zelosian smuggler sent to the prison planet Despayre(now there's a name); Teela Karz, a Mirilian architect also sent to Despayre as a political prisoner; Villian Dance, a Corellian pilot always looking to improve himself; Memah Roothes, a Twi'lek bartender; Rodo, her bouncer; Atour Riten, an old archivist; Tenn Graneet, the head gunner; Nova Stihl, a Force-Sensitive guard who teaches self-defense; Admiral Motti; Grand Moff Tarkin; and Darth Vader.
Those are the viewpoint charries, anyway. I suppose it can be confusing if you can't keep everyone straight.
Still a good book. I like the many-slices-of-life style. These authors - I don't care for them apart. Perry wrote Shadows of the Empire, which while entertaining and with its good parts, I thought had a serious fixation on a villain who wasn't nearly as cool as he wanted us to think, and Darth Vader was really not as monstrous as he should be. Actually, in comparison he barely came off as villainous at all. Reaves, meanwhile, wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter and the Coruscant Nights Trilogy, neither of which struck me as terribly compelling. And I didn't like most of the characters in either.
But together? They've also written the Medstar Duology, which I really enjoyed. It's incredibly detail-heavy and also involved a many-slices-of-life style, with a huge cast, though there was more of a sense that there was an actual antagonist in that one, and not just at the end. Really promotes the idea that this is a lived-in universe, with a lot of strange things that the inhabitants take for granted.
One character carries over from the duology to Death Star, that being Kornell "Uli" Divini. He was nineteen then, a surgical prodigy, and by this point he's been ground down and wore out over the past twenty years, never allowed to leave the service. He's much more bitter about his circumstances, yet he's very professional with his patients and always willing to do his best on them. Also, it seems like he's harbored a secret fascination with Bariss Offee, and he wrestles with it, and sees her in Princess Leia. I love him.
The book is driven entirely by its characters. Not just Uli - we have Celot Ratua Dil, a Zelosian smuggler sent to the prison planet Despayre(now there's a name); Teela Karz, a Mirilian architect also sent to Despayre as a political prisoner; Villian Dance, a Corellian pilot always looking to improve himself; Memah Roothes, a Twi'lek bartender; Rodo, her bouncer; Atour Riten, an old archivist; Tenn Graneet, the head gunner; Nova Stihl, a Force-Sensitive guard who teaches self-defense; Admiral Motti; Grand Moff Tarkin; and Darth Vader.
Those are the viewpoint charries, anyway. I suppose it can be confusing if you can't keep everyone straight.