THE DIRECTOR SHOULD'VE SHOT YOU: MEMOIRS of the FILM TRADE (audiobook) by Alan Dean Foster

Published in 2024 by Tantor Media.
Read by Stephen R. Thorne.
Duration: 7 hours, 1 minute.
Unabridged.

Alan Dean Foster is a prolific sci-fi author. He has written over 50 sc-fi novels, but he is probably most famous for his numerous novelizations of sci-fi movies and TV shows, such as the original Star Wars movie (ghost written for George Lucas), Alien, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Krull, and The Last Starfighter.

The Director Should've Shot You is the story of Foster's experiences as the man who Hollywood turns to to write novelizations of sci-fi movies. He talks about how that system (usually) works, the odd experiences, his interactions with directors, producers, and faceless stuidio executives, and his various thoughts of the strengths and weaknesses of the various projects. 

My experiences with Foster as a young reader start with his two Star Wars books that he wrote when George Lucas  and his team were finishing the original movie.

As I noted, he ghost wrote the novelization of the first movie for George Lucas. He  also wrote the original sequel to the original Star Wars movie - a book called Splinter of the Mind's Eye. George Lucas asked Foster to make Splinter of the Mind's Eye a smaller story when compared to sweeping epic of the original story just in case the first movie turned out to be a bust. Lucas hoped to make a cheaper movie and recycle some of the original props and costumes in order to eke out a little profit. The runaway success of Star Wars made that plan unnecessary. 

We were so starved of Star Wars material back then. I must have read the novelization of the original Star Wars movie more than 10 times. This was back in the days when you could only see Star Wars in the movie theaters. It hadn't been played on TV yet and there were no VHS, DVD, or streaming releases. But, we had the books, the collectable cards, the toys to remind us of the story and it was an endless source of conversation.

I remember reading and discussing Splinter of the Mind's Eye until Lucas released the eventual sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. We were searching for any indication of how the stories might continue and we were trying to figure out how the Star Wars universe worked and all we really had were two little paperback books writen by Alan Dean Foster. That cover was excellent.

I must have read all of his novelizations of the Star Trek animated stories because I read everything Star Trek that I could find when I was in high school.

If you are looking for a complete autobiography of Foster, this isn't it. He offers a decent autobiography up to the point where he starts writing the movie novelizations and then it's pretty much all about those novels. That was fine by me - Foster is a critic and a fan at the same time and it was a fun listen.

The book is almost worth reading just to see what 1970s TV show paid him to write a novelization of a very special two episode story arc. It was certainly out of his normal area of expertise.

Now, I am seriously thinking about re-reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE DIRECTOR SHOULDVE SHOT YOU MEMOIRS of the FILM TRADE by Alan Dean Foster.

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 4 - FORTRESS VADER (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Published by Licensed Publishing in 2019.

Written by Charles Soule.

Art by Guiseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini, Terry Pallot, David Curiel, Dono Sanchez-Almara, and Erick Arciniega.

Synopsis

This series tells the story of the completion of the training that turned Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. The Emperor is, at best, an emotionally and physically abusive teacher.

In Fortress Vader, Darth Vader is granted a planet to use as a home base to complete his studies and perhaps learn how to bring his beloved Padme back from the dead.

But, he needs a temple to focus the power of the force and a relic from the Emperor promises to provide what he needs...

My Review

Soule really likes this relic. It also appears in his Lando comic where it is much creepier. In this comic the relic picks up a comic quality that I don't think was intended. The construction and reconstruction of this temple was not at all interesting to me. This collection was the worst of the series.

I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 4 - FORTRESS VADER.

STAR WARS: AGE of RESISTANCE - VILLAINS (graphic novel) by Tom Taylor

Written by Tom Taylor.

Art by Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, and Guru eFX.

Published in 2019.

Issued during the build up to to the theater release Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Villains offers four separate stories about four different villains featured in the sequel trilogy. 

The four villains are Captain Phasma, General Hux, Snoke, and Kylo Ren. Each story tells is set before Episode VIII and demonstrates the true nature of each of them. Since these are all villains, there are lots of instances of betrayal and backstabbing. 

The art work was great, but the stories do not do anything to really illuminate the characters. Three of them involve fighting on some planet of the edges of the Empire when things go bad and the villains commit villainy to survive to be villainous on another day.

Following each story there is an essay about the character. It includes comments from the actors that play these characters in the movies.

I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Villains.

STAR WARS: LANDO (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Published in 2016 by Marvel Enterprises.

Written by Charles Soule.

Art by Alex Maleev and Paul Mounts.

Synopsis

Lando Calrissian is in financial trouble - he has debts and he is working them off by pulling off "jobs" for the people he owes money to. He makes a deal to pull off one big heist for Papa Toren in exchange for all of his debt being cleared and the possibility of making of making a lot of profit for himself.

Lando and his sidekick Lobot (see picture below) build a team and pull off the heist - stealing a space yacht from an imperial shipyard. Everything looks great until they find a Sith artifact onboard and realize that they've just stolen the Emperor's yacht!

My review

This is the fifth Star Wars graphic novel that I've read written by Charles Soule, and it was the weakest of the bunch. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't great like the others. The plot had a lot of zip at first but moved from a heist story to a horror story and it slowed down so much to build a sense of dread that it just failed to work for me any longer.

I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Star Wars: Lando.

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 3 - THE BURNING SEAS (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Published in 2018 by Licensed Publishing.

Written by Charles Soule.

Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, David Curiel, and Java Tartaglia with Guru-eFX

Synopsis

This series tells the story of how Anakin Skywalker completes his transformation to Darth Vader under the dangerous and abusive tutelage of Emperor Palpatine. 

In the first story of Darth Vader: The Burning Seas, Mon Cala has been reluctant to join Palpatine's empire. Governor Tarkin has been sent to Mon Cala to negotiate with their king. Mon Cala is the home world of fan favorite Admiral Ackbar. Ackbar is only Commander Ackbar in this story, but he plays a prominent role. Meanwhile, Vader and his team have been sent to Mon Cala to hunt down a Jedi that the Empire suspects is helping Mon Cala in their negotiations.

When the shuttle carrying the Empire's negotiation team is destroyed by a bomb, all out war erupts...

The second story ties in with the movie Rogue One. It is set on the planet Geonosis where the Empire is working on Project Stardust - the plan to build the Death Star.

My Review

This is a very strong series. The first story in this installment was very strong. Young Ackbar shows why he would eventually be picked to lead the rebel fleet. He is audacious. The first story also shows us that everyone who opposes the Empire is not necessarily a good guy. There are reasons why some were more than happy to see the Jedi fall.

The second story is more of a moody detective story than an action story. It's a good story, but not a great story. 

I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Star Wars: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, Volume 3- the Burning Seas.

Link to my review of Volume 1 of this series.

Link to my review of Volume 2 of this series.

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 2 -LEGACY'S END (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Published in 2018 by Licensed Publishing.

Written by Charles Soule.

Art by Guiseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini, and David Curiel.

Synopsis

This series tells the story of how Anakin Skywalker completes his transformation to Darth Vader under the dangerous and abusive tutelage of Emperor Palpatine. Meanwhile, Vader and his team are searching for Jedi survivors of Order 66. The series starts with the end of Star Wars: Episode III.

There are two main plotlines in Darth Vader: Legacy's End. Vader has a lead on the librarian of the Jedi Temple. She is rebuilding the library in a safe location from scattered sources and memory when she realizes that she has to return to the library to destroy a list of force-talented youngsters that the Jedi had compiled to recruit to join their academy before they were defeated.

She is not nearly the warrior that Vader is, but she is very clever and knows the library like the back of her hand...

The second story line is about an assassination squad that has been sent to kill Vader. Vader investigates to find out who sent them - and he is not pleased to find where the trail leads...

My Review

I really liked this graphic novel. The art is fantastic. The character of the librarian was done well. Two things are shown in this story: 1) Vader has completely submitted to the Emperor, at least in appearance; 2) Vader keeps some of himself in reserve - just in case. 

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 2 - LEGACY'S END.

Link to my review of Volume 1 of this series.
Link to my review of Volume 3 of this series.

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 1 - IMPERIAL MACHINE (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Published in 2017 by Licensed Publishing.
Written by Charles Soule.
Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Cam Smith

Synopsis

Imperial Machine is the first entry in a four-part series about Star Wars' most iconic character: Darth Vader. 

The series starts with the last scene of Episode III - the moment where Anakin Skywalker truly becomes the infamous Darth Vader.

But is he really and truly Darth Vader at this point? No, he has only started his long trip to being a Sith Lord and the Emperor is ready to train him.

The Emperor's training mostly consists of Vader going out to figure it out the hard way. For example, Vader has lost his light saber and Palpatine sends him out to take the light saber of a Jedi in combat. Then, Vader must corrupt the crystal inside, which makes it glow red. 

The problem is, there are hardly any Jedi left thanks to Order 66 and the other events at the end of Star Wars: Episode III.

My review

This was an engrossing story. Palpatine is abusive as a teacher - so abusive that you almost feel sorry for Vader. Then, Vader does something completely evil, reminding the reader of who he really is.

There is one very intriguing moment - a "what if?" moment when Vader begins to corrupt the stones of his light saber...

The art is fantastic, the story is excellent. Great work.

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: STAR WARS: DARTH VADER: DARK LORD of the SITH, VOLUME 1 - IMPERIAL MACHINE

Link to my review of Volume 2 of this series.
Link to my review of Volume 3 of this series.

JOURNEY to STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: SHATTERED EMPIRE (graphic novel) by Greg Rucka and James Robinson

 

Published in 2016 by Marvel Enterprises.
Illustrated by Marco Checchetto, Angel Unzueta, Emilio Laiso, and Tony Harris

This is an attempt to bridge some of the space in the Star Wars story line between Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Episode VII: The Force Awakens. It starts (oddly, in my mind) at the beginning of the last big battle over the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi and introduces Poe Dameron's parents. His mother is a pilot who flew in the attack on the second Death Star and his father was in the ground forces that fought alongside Han Solo. 

There is plenty of action, but I found the art did a "meh" job of conveying the action of a space battle and there were lots and lots of them. The story really depended a lot on space fighting action and was pretty shallow.

I did enjoy the last story. It was done by a different artist, written by a different author, and is not connected to the main story line. It features C-3P0 and is actually touching. 

I rate this collection 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: JOURNEY to STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: SHATTERED EMPIRE by Greg Rucka and James Robinson.

THE PRINCESS, the SCOUNDREL, and the FARM BOY by Alexandra Bracken

 

Published in 2019 by Disney LucasFilm Press.

The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy is a YA re-telling of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. It is told from the perspective of three different characters: Princess Leia, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker - in that order.

The book starts out, like the movie, with the attack of Leia's ship and the fight as stormtroopers board it and stays with her through the destruction of Alderaan. The middle of the book starts with Han in the cantina looking at the results of Ben Kenobi's handiwork with a light saber. It stays with Han until they escape from the Death Star. At that point, it switches to Luke and stays with him until the end.

This is more than a simple re-telling of the movie, though. That book was already written by George Lucas (ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster) a long time ago.

There are lots of direct quotes from the movie ("I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board." "That's no moon..." "No reward is worth this." "I used to bull's-eye womp rats...") but the strength of the book is that it adds to the plot of the movie. We get background on the activist background of Princess Leia, Han Solo's secret desire to be part of something larger and more meaningful, more details on the little bit of training Kenobi gave Luke on the Millennium Falcon and the training that Luke got so that he could go from flying a T-16 to an X-Wing so well. 

All of the additions made sense and the story still flowed smoothly. I read the original novel at least 10 times back in the early 80s and I can't count the number of times I have seen the movie (so many times that my mind supplied the correct bits of musical soundtrack as I read along). This book was a lot of fun. I have no idea if this book would make sense to anyone who hadn't already seen the movie, but I enjoyed it.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE PRINCESS, THE SCOUNDREL, AND THE FARM BOY by Alexandra Bracken.

DOOKU: JEDI LOST (audiobook) by Cavan Scott

 

Published in 2019 by Random House Audio.

Performed by multiple readers.
Duration: 6 hours, 21 minutes.
Unabridged.

Part of the new Disney "canon" books, Dooku: Jedi Lost is a look at the origins of one of the characters of the Star Wars prequels - Count Dooku. It is part of a series of "stand alone" books. For me, Dooku just shows up in the movies with a minimum of explanation - not nearly enough.  We learn a lot more about him in the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon show but not enough for me. Dooku is interesting as the original model for Anakin Skywalker - the talented Jedi who often argues with the Jedi Council and eventually falls to the Dark Side.

This book tells little about Dooku's activities during the Clone Wars. Even though it is set in the first half of the Clone Wars cartoon series, that is mostly a frame that is used to lead the reader through a series of flashbacks that tell about Dooku's early life. The use of all of the flashbacks was annoying in my mind, though. I think it would have been better to have just told the story of young Dooku without all of the flashbacks.

The audiobook was performed like an old fashioned radio play with different actors playing each of the characters. That part was well done, but I was irritated that a book called "Jedi Lost" really didn't give much detail about how Dooku became a lost Jedi. 

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here:  DOOKU: JEDI LOST by Cavan Scott.

DOCTOR APHRA (STAR WARS) (audiobook) by Sarah Kuhn

 

Published in 2020 by Random House Audio.

Performed by multiple voice actors.

Duration: 4 hours, 35 minutes.

Unabridged.

Set in the time between Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV) and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V), Doctor Aphra is the story of a rogue archaeologist who specializes in weapons of the past. It is based on a comic series. She doesn't collect them to stick them in a museum, she collects them to use them. She thinks an ancient weapon unused is a travesty, like an ancient symphony left unplayed. So, she specializes in tracking down weapons that were locked away and hidden so no one could get their hands on them. Her other skill is modifying ships and droids to make them effective weapons.

While Dr. Aphra is looking for the operating system of a murderous protocol droid (he hates "organics" and loves to torture), she is captured by Darth Vader. Vader doesn't care about the droid software, but he does want to use Dr. Aphra's skills to track down a few things, including the location of the young pilot from Tatooine that destroyed the Death Star...

I found the general plot outline of the book to be intriguing. The problem is that the author seems determined to make Doctor Aphra the funniest character in the Star Wars universe. Her dialogue is a non-stop stream of sarcastic comments and odd observations. Her murderous protocol droid has a relentless string of comments that amount to "I want to torture!" He is also a dead ringer for C-3PO. Doctor Aphra also has an R2 unit that is basically a tiny tank because it is full of weapons. I can imagine that this was an effective sight gag in the comics ("Look at the evil C3P0 and R2 blowing things up!") - for a while. It got old for this listener.

The audiobook was filled with sound effects from the movies, bits of the John Williams' soundtracks and performed by multiple actors, each playing a different character. That was well done, but I only give the story 3 stars out of 5. 

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: DOCTOR APHRA (STAR WARS) (audiobook) by Sarah Kuhn.

STAR WARS: DARTH PLAGUEIS (audiobook) by James Luceno

Published by Random House Audio in 2012.
Read by Daniel Davis.
Duration: 14 hours, 45 minutes.
Unabridged.

Star Wars: Darth Plagueis came HIGHLY recommended to me from a massive Star Wars fan that I work with who has told me on multiple occasions that this was an amazing book.

If you loved the political intrigue of The Phantom Menace and loved the fact that it was basically the story of a trade dispute that got out of hand, you will LOVE this book.

Let's face it, the problem with this book is that it is very similar to The Phantom Menace - the book actually overlaps with the movie. The problem with this book is that Episode I is generally considered to be the worst of the 11 Star Wars movies and doesn't compare well with the TV shows, either. It's probably better than the Star Wars Holiday Special, but I haven't seen that since it first aired so I can't trust my judgment as a ten-year old viewer.

This book fills in all of the questions that you probably didn't have when you watched The Phantom Menace. Did you wonder why Naboo has a little yellow space fleet? Well, you get to hear all about it anyway. Or, did you want to hear about exactly how the podracing track on Tatooine was financed? Did you ever wonder why Chancellor Valorum of the Senate looked so defeated and tired when he was trying to get things worked out to help Naboo? Well, you will get to hear all about the dirty backroom politics of the leading families of the Republic.

Don't care about the finances of a race track? Well, too bad - you'll hear all about it and how taxation of tax-free trade routes made a lot of people mad. Turns out Darth Plagueis was a banker and he liked to finance race tracks in his bid to take over the galaxy and Palpatine was a politician and he liked to talk about tax policy - so you get to hear about both of them. Also, Plagueis trained Palpatine to be a Sith Lord, but you hear precious little about the actual training and much about their busy schedules as they try to work in training times.

The problem with the book, specifically, is this: a Star Wars book full of spaceships and Sith carrying light sabers gets bogged down in detailed discussion of political and financial intrigues. I liken the experience that are like being forced to watch a Senate hearing on trade policy on C-Span in a Disney Resort hotel room rather than actually leaving the room and going to see Disney World. This is a Star Wars book - turn off the C-Span and bring on the cool Star Wars stuff! This isn't a John Grisham book - and if it were, it would have been a very boring one.

Christopher Lee as Count Dooku.

The only reason this books gets 2 stars from me instead of 1 is because it does go and backfill a giant plot hole from Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones. In Episode 2, Count Dooku just shows up out of nowhere and starts breaking apart the Republic. This book gives the background for Count Dooku, at least. He is by far the most interesting character. It made me wish I had been listening to a Count Dooku book instead. 

Dry exposition. No real antagonist or struggle in this book. It reads more like a super-detailed Wookiepedia entry about Palpatine rather than an actual story. The author goes out of his way to name off as many characters, places and organizations as he can in the Star Wars universe in ridiculously long sentences. I felt bad for the reader who had to just keep reading run-on sentence after run-on sentence filled with the most obscure English vocabulary words. It's like the author was typing away with a thesaurus open on his desk while trying to get in as many obscure character mentions as possible.

The reader, Daniel Davis, did a good job. He did a good job with all of the accents and established character voices from the movies. But, an excellent reading does not make up for a poor text.

Note: the audiobook does include music from Episdode IV. The music is generally used well. It also includes sound effects, but they are used less judiciously. Often the same sound effect is played over and over again in the background - just a little too loud.

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: STAR WARS: DARTH PLAGUEIS (audiobook) by James Luceno.

TURTLES ALL the WAY DOWN (audiobook) by John Green

Published in 2017 by Listening Library.
Read by Kate Rudd.
Duration: 7 hours, 12 minutes.
Unabridged.

High School students Aza and Daisy are best friends living in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are also investigating the mysterious disappearance of a billionaire who lives on the other side of the White River - the rich side of the river that doesn't flood.

Well, they investigate when they aren't going to school, eating at Applebee's, studying, working (Daisy) or keeping appointments with the therapist (Aza).

Aza has obsessive thoughts - they crowd out everything else when they come, and lately they've been coming at her hard and fast.

It turns out that Aza knows the son of the missing billionaire and when she and Daisy run into him while they are investigating, it seems like there might be a spark between this boy and Aza...

John Green is one of my favorite authors, which is weird because I have only read two of his books (this one and The Fault in Our Stars). But, I've seen multiple interviews with him since his adopted hometown is my adopted hometown - Indianapolis. I love the fact that he lives here to be an anonymous dad in the crowd. I also love the fact that he puts out entertaining educational videos with his brother and I love the way that he conducts himself professionally. 

The author, John Green

And, I love the fact that he wrote this book about a character with a mental illness. He wrote it because he shares a lot of the struggles that his character Aza has.

But, reading about Aza is exhausting. It is informative, but sometimes a struggle to get through this book.

Also, this book seemed like a weird mish-mash. It is partly a mystery, partly a romance, partly a coming-of-age friendship book and largely seeing the world through the eyes of a person with obsessive thoughts. But, the mystery in the story seems forced - very contrived.

A real positive, though, are his accurate descriptions of Indianapolis and its geography. There really is an Applebee's where he puts it in this story. The White River really is in trouble because of sewage and Indianapolis is currently building a giant sewer overflow tunnel to deal with it. Also, his Star Wars references are spot-on. And, Aza's mom is a teacher and she always seems to be grading papers. This teacher appreciates that bit of reality in a novel.

Still, despite all of this positives, this one gets just 3 stars out of 5 from me. 

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: TURTLES ALL the WAY DOWN by John Green.

Note: This book showed up on a "banned book" list in Texas. Ugh.
Udpate: It also was placed on a banned book list in Florida.

I FIND YOUR LACK of FAITH DISTURBING: STAR WARS and the TRIUMPH of GEEK CULTURE (audiobook) by A.D. Jameson

Published in May of 2018 by Macmillan Audio.
Duration: 6 hours, 58 minutes.
Read by Holter Graham.
Unabridged.

A.D. Jameson is a student of cinema - not just science fiction and fantasy movies, but of cinema in general. I used the word "student" in the previous sentence carefully because he is not just a fan of movies, he studies the directors, the movements and the ideas behind the movies.

Photo by DWD

But, he is also a proud geek - a fan of sci-fi and fantasy literature and movies. Like me, he was really into those genres in middle and high school, moved away from them for a while during and after college and then came back to them in a big way when the Star Wars "Special Edition" movies were released.

My own children do not believe me, but there was once a time when the mere sight of a Star Wars t-shirt or bumper sticker was worthy of comment. Now, they are everywhere. My family probably owns more than 20 Star Wars-related t-shirts alone.

A.D. Jameson explores how this happened by focusing on the world of cinema and television. He argues that Star Trek, not the original run on NBC but the re-run episodes running night after night, day after day until everyday, normal TV viewers got used to the idea of spaceships and aliens. When Star Trek was starting to fizzle out, Star Wars came in and made a big splash - the biggest splash in movie history up to that point. When the Star Wars phenomenon started to fade away, Star Trek came back with the movies and then with four different TV shows that spanned 18 years. Many of those shows aired every day (sometimes multiple times per day) because they were syndicated.

Star Wars came back with the troubled (but immensely successful) prequel series. X-Men movies started coming out - another troubled franchise, but it has been going on for 19 years! The Lord of the Rings movies and suddenly it seemed like every movie was a sci-fi, fantasy or a comic book movie.

As I mentioned, Jameson focuses on TV and especially cinema, spending a lot of time arguing that Star Wars fits perfectly well in with its peers from the time period like Bonnie and Clyde and The Godfather. He makes a compelling argument, one that would undoubtedly be argued against by Martin Scorsese when you consider the ruckus he has kicked up with his comments about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  While I was interested in all of this exploration of cinema, the book title gives the reader the impression that "geek culture" was going to be explored in a meaningful way. Culture is more than movies. I assumed that the book was going to explore how we went from being a culture where sci-fi and fantasy were fringe movements in everyday life to the point where the truck in the picture I posted with this review is driven around in central Indiana, but it is largely unexplored.

His comments on Star Trek and its influence on culture as a beacon to where we might one day end up as a society (more open, more accepting) were quite good. It occurred to me that among my many behavioral role models are Jesus and Jean-Luc Picard - and those two don't clash with one another at all.

The audiobook was well-read by Holter Graham. He did such a good job at sounding like he was into the topic that I actually assumed that the author was self-narrating the book until I checked.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. I have to take off a star for mostly failing to address one of the themes mentioned in the title. Still, it is a good book. It can be found on Amazon.com here: I FIND YOUR LACK of FAITH DISTURBING: STAR WARS and the TRIUMPH of GEEK CULTURE by A.D. Jameson.

THE PRINCESS DIARIST (audiobook) by Carrie Fisher

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in November of 2016 by Penguin Audio
Read by Carrie Fisher and Billie Lourd
Duration: 5 hours, 10 minutes
Unabridged

Published just a few weeks before her death, Carrie Fisher's The Princess Diarist continues in her well-known tradition of tell-all books. This is my first Carrie Fisher book. If you have not read a book of hers before, be prepared for a frank and open discussion of just about anything that pops into her head. Every family has that older relative who means well but makes comments in front of the children that you just know will necessitate a subsequent discussion ("Why did Uncle Bob say...?). Carrie Fisher served that role in the world of Hollywood for many years.

The first half of the book is mostly devoted to the making of the original Star Wars movie, now known as Episode IV. There were a lot of factoids I had already heard or read before, but it was enjoyable listening to Carrie Fisher literally tell them again as she read her audiobook. She is frank about her family's struggles as she grew up and as I listened I was amazed.

A large part of the book is devoted to her on-set romance with the then-married Harrison Ford. She is kind to him and puts a lot of blame on herself being "the other woman" when her own childhood home was torn apart by a similar "other woman" scenario. 

She describes how this was her first real physical relationship and she took it much more seriously than Ford. Then, for reasons that I do not understand, she re-tells this story with an extensive series of poetry readings from her diaries that she wrote while on set with Ford 40 years ago. The poems aren't bad and you can easily follow along with her allusions because she had already so clearly described the relationship in prose just a few minutes earlier. But, I quickly lost interest in the poems because I had just listened to Fisher herself explain everything without all of the rhymes. In the audiobook version these poems are read by Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd.

The last section of the book is the most touching, especially considering Fisher's recent death. It is a tribute to all of the fans that come to see her at all of the conventions. She discusses how she really didn't want to do the conventions at first and then she moves on to talk about the fans. It starts out as commentary about some of the rather unique people you meet at conventions and moves on to becomes a long tribute to the importance of this film series to its fans. It is sad, warm and often very funny with lots of great accents. It is Carrie Fisher at her very best.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Princess Diarist.

THE WORLD ACCORDING to STAR WARS (audiobook) by Cass R. Sunstein

Published in May of 2016 by HarperAudio.
Read by Kaleo Griffith
Duration: 5 hours, 44 minutes
Unabridged

Besides being a Law Professor at Harvard and a former member of the Obama Administration, Cass R. Sunstein is a massive fan of all things Star Wars. 

The World According to Star Wars is a wide-ranging and mostly interesting discussion using Star Wars as a way to explain aspects of the American and world political scene, economics and family dynamics. 

He starts with a little history of how Star Wars came to be, including George Lucas's struggles in writing the screenplay, the way the actors all thought they were acting in an interesting movie that was certain to be a big flop and the reluctance by the studios to really push the movie.

But, despite the odds, Star Wars became a massive phenomenon - the series is the all-time leader in multiple categories and the hits just keep on coming. Sunstein explores why it became a big hit, looking at the timing of its release, what was going on in American culture and the like. This part was a little too long, in my opinion.

But, the rest of it was great. He discusses what the Galactic Empire symbolized, what the Rebellion symbolized and even how Richard Nixon, the USSR and mechanization are possible inspirations. He also talks about Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Fathers and sons and how Star Wars incorporates Christian themes like redemption and how the Jedi incorporate Buddhist themes.

The reader, Kaleo Griffith, keeps the book moving at an enjoyable pace. If you are a super-hardcore fanboy you probably heard a lot of this already, but if you're merely a fan you will find this book to be an interesting take on Star Wars.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The World According to Star Wars.

STAR WARS: JEDI ACADEMY by Jeffrey Brown

A Unique Entry Into an Crowded Field

Published by Scholastic in August of 2013.

If you have read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the James Patterson Middle School series you get how Star Wars: Jedi Academy is about. The twist is that Roan Novachez is a middle school student from Tatooine who really wants to get into Pilot Academy Middle School (much like Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IV). If you were trying to place this book in the timeline of the Star Wars movies it would be about 200 years before the events of Return of the Jedi based on Yoda's stated age.

Anyway, Roan does not get into the Pilot Academy but Yoda extends a special invitation for him to come to the Coruscant Jedi Academy. He is the newest student and has the traditional new student problems at a middle school (finding friends, figuring out your teachers, finding your classrooms and so on) plus he has additional problems such as trying to understand what his Wookie gym teacher is saying and figure out how to actually move things using the Force.

My kids (ages 8 and 13) loved this book (my 8 year old just took it from me and started reading it for the second time), I liked it quite a bit but did not love it. It has some funny bits and is a quick, light read. Of course, things work out well for Roan but it's fun to read how he does it.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Star Wars: Jedi Academy

Reviewed on November 26, 2013.

RETURN of the JEDI: THE ORIGINAL RADIO DRAMA (audiobook) by Brian Daley

Published by HighBridge Audio.
Originally broadcast in 1996.
Multicast performance.
Duration: approximately 3 hours, 15 minutes.

The third installment of NPR's STAR WARS-based radio dramas was also written by sci-fi author Brian Daley (Sadly, he died of cancer very soon after it was recorded). The budget for RETURN of the JEDI was much, much smaller than the original so the recording was about half the length of the first. It still features the wonderful original music soundtrack by John Williams and the original sound effects that make the listener feel like they are part of the action. 

Anthony Daniels returned as See-Threepio. Mark Hamill, however, decided to opt out of this one. Ed Asner stepped in as Jabba the Hutt (he sounded like he was choking as he spoke, though) and John Lithgow took over as Yoda (sadly, he sounded like John Lithgow pretending to be Yoda rather than creating a real voice).

The shorter run time hurts RETURN of the JEDI when compared to the other installments (6 episodes versus 10 and 12 episodes respectively). There are no big expansions to the story - there is basically just enough time to describe the action that moviegoers saw in the movie.

That being said, if you are a fan this is almost a must listen, if just to finish the series up. 

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Return of the Jedi (Star Wars)

Reviewed on October 3, 2013. 

Link to my review of STAR WARS (Episode IV).
Link to my review of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. 

STAR WARS: THE ORIGINAL RADIO DRAMA (audiobook) by Brian Daley

If you are a fan of this series and have not listened to this version of the story you need to pick it up today - it is that good

Published by HighBridge Audio.
Originally broadcast in 1981.
Multicast performance.
Duration: approximately 6 hours.

When Star Wars was at the height of its popularity in 1981, George Lucas gave a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate permission to create a radio drama of the original movie, now known as Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. Sci-fi author Brian Daley was tapped to adapt the movies since he had experience with the series having written a trilogy of Han Solo novels in 1979 and 1980.

I have no idea what Daley's qualifications were for writing radio drama were besides those books, but he clearly was an inspired choice. He had a feel for the story and, more importantly, the characters as he more than doubles the original length of the movie. Listeners get more about Luke's life on Tatooine and a lot more about his friend Biggs (who originally appeared at the beginning of the movie but it was cut and mysteriously reappears at the end as an X-Wing pilot). There is more about the Force and how Ben began teaching Luke. In fact, there is just more of everything.

The audio drama features the original actors Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and Anthony Daniels as C3P0 as well as music from the original Academy Award-winning soundtrack as well as original sound effects that make the experience complete.

If you are a fan of this series and have not listened to this version of the story you need to pick it up today - it is that good.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here:  Star Wars: The Original Radio Drama

Reviewed on September 28, 2013

Link to my review of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Link to my review of RETURN of the JEDI.