Apologies in advance if this post wanders off topic – it’s a Monday evening, and the other members of my band have just left. This evening however, my noise merchant has done his best to discreetely get me stoned I think.
Anywho, geeky post about geeky books. Recently I’ve finished two books
- The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells
- Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia.
The first needs no introduction, and has been reviewed so many times that my meagre plaudits are un-needed. Suffice to say that in my (not so very) humble opinion it is one of the best Sci Fi books ever written.
The second book is what’s prompted me to write, because it’s a deceptively good book that reveals probably more about the authors sexual preference/mother issues than he intended. I got the book as part of a big batch of Star Wars books from a local charity shop. I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly excited about delving into this particular installment of extended universe goodness – the blurb on the back of the book basically portrayed it as a love story, with two guys competing for the love of Princess Leia. Certainly, they added in a line or two about the Force and unexpected enemies, but I just expected some mushy teen crap wrapped up in a Starw Wars costume.
However I was pleasantly surprised. The love story is there, and is wonderfully written – it avoids slipping into soppiness that quite frankly most Star Wars readers don’t want to read – and focused more on the Force and unexpected enemies that the blurb barely touched on.
Unexpectedly the book reveals deeper, hidden aspects of Force mastery through the eyes of Luke Skywalker and the witches of Dathomir. It also develops Luke into a deeper character than a lot of others do. All too many authors fall into the trap of seemingly watching the Star Wars trilogy, and writing screen Luke. They’re seemingly terrified of writing anything into his character that isn’t seen on screen, which tends to result in a very 2-D character notable only for his lightsaber and ability to throw things with the Force. Dave Wolverton (for his is the author of said work) actually starts to explore a little of Lukes fears, he hopes and aspirations, and even his thoughts on relationships!
It also ties in very tightly with the novels immediately preceeding it (namely the X-Wing series) as the travails of Han Solo (one of Leia’s love interests) during those novels heavily influence a lot of his actions and feelings in this book.
So, before I ramble any further suffice to say that it’s a very good book for a Star Wars fan, and much better than the misleading title would suggest!
Now I’m off to eat toast and drink Earl Grey before bed.
TTFN
Not Your Average Geek 