Three long overdue book reviews for Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Darth Bane: Rule of Two and Survivor's Quest. Actually I just finished Survivor's Quest about an hour ago, so that one's relatively on time. I kinda like my "Good, Bad, and Ugly" reviews, so that's what I think I'll do, only I've decided to start changing the "Ugly" section to the other section, because, really, most EU books don't have too many ugly elements. XD For once, only one book, Darth Bane, contains spoilers. The other two are safe.

SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE (No spoilers)

The Good:
First off, this is a book I should have read a long time ago. As a matter of fact, given that it's the beginning of the EU, I probably should have started with it. Unfortunately, I was young and n00bish when I started the EU and had no idea what I was doing and started with the Crystal Star. To this day, I still can't believe I continued to bother with Star Wars books. Anyways, while it wasn't the most action packed, it was very interesting in that while reading I really got a sense of just how far the EU and the GFFA has come since then. Also, it was pretty funny, and Halla in particular was very entertaining.

The Bad:
While being the first EU book was a good thing, it was also a bad thing. Some of the elements we've all come to know and love were rather lacking. Since the only thing the author had to go by when writing it, in SotME there really weren't any "rules" pertaining to things like Imperial standards and use of the Force. Even a lot of the technology I'd gotten used to like datapads, plastoid, repulsorlifts and comlinks weren't really featured. And like I said, it was a tad lacking in action and emotional content.

The Other:
Well, perhaps this ought to go under "the Bad," but one of the things that at some times was humorous and at other times was just sad was how Leia's personality was portrayed. it really wasn't at all the independent, in charge, sarcastic Leia we're all used to. Really, in SotME, Leia was more the clueless, helpless politician who stood back and watched while Luke did most of the work. At least that's what I got out of it.

All in all, it was slightly below average, but you still ought to read it if you haven't, if only to see where it all started. Don't worry, it's relatively short.

DARTH BANE: RULE OF TWO (Bombad spoilers)

The Good:
Man, did it feel good to read Darth Bane again!! Once more, I was floored by Drew Karpyshyn's amazing writing style, characterization and plotline! (As well as his cool last name! Seriously, who doesn't want the last name "Karpyshyn??") Where to even begin? There were SO many good things about this book. First off, I immediately loved all the characters, just as I did in the first Darth Bane book. Even the "bad" ones. The best (or worst depending on how you look at it) thing was, I felt so deeply for all of them, that I didn't know whether to root for the Sith or the Jedi. I have a feeling that's exactly what Mr. Karpyshyn intended.
Rule of Two was only about as long as Path of Destruction, but while reading it felt long. Mostly it was because Karpyshyn managed to cram a HUGE amount of content into it but at the same time he managed to make it so it didn't feel rushed at all. The ten year jump about 1/3 of the way through the book didn't throw me off at all, and the two parts flowed seamlessly into each other.

The Bad:
Honestly, I can't really think of anything I didn't like about this book, from an analytical standpoint anyways. From a non-analytical standpoint there was a HUGE thing I didn't like about this book: FARFALLA DIED?!?! *blubbers incoherently for a few minutes* He was my Old Republic love!! Darth Bane was amazing, up until that point. That jerkish awesome-person killer.

The Other:
Rule of Two was darker than Path of Destruction, but that's not saying much. Surprisingly, I didn't feel that either book was terribly dark, especially given the subject matter. I felt that it was darker mostly because in this one we really start to see the more extreme nature of the Dark Side. The full extent of Bane and Zannah's power, how they used it, and what it can do to both the user and the person the power is being used on. Because of this, Rule of Two was very, very gory. People who don't do well with guts and such may want to tread cautiously when reading this book.

I'd say this book was definitely above average, possibly way, way above average. Despite my loss at the end, () I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

SURVIVOR'S QUEST (No spoilers)

The Good:
Wow!!! When I picked it up, I had pretty low expectations. Despite the fact that Timothy Zahn is commonly known as the "Father of the EU," I really don't usually enjoy his books as much as many of the other more recent authors. *dodges tomatoes and other flying projectiles* I don't know, his style just always seems dry to me. However, this was one of the most exciting, suspenseful, shocking and all around awesome books I've read in a very long time! It was more of a mystery novel than anything else, and let me tell you: They NEED to do more Star Wars mysteries! In the last third of it I must have been crying out in shock every few minutes. Just ask my parents. Also, Survivor's Quest seemed have more emotion than some of Zahn's other novels.

The Bad:
Though it did have more emotion than some other books by Timothy Zahn, it was still lacking in the emotion department. There was almost no romance between Luke and Mara. Don't get me wrong, I can't stand romance novels, but I like my books to have at least a decent bit of romance in them, especially since it's Luke and Mara. Also, there's about 5million layers and plots and hidden agendas in this book, like any good mystery should have. Just be careful you don't get lost. I had to stop and review and regroup a few times.

The Other:
It left a medium sized loose end at the end, but I got over that pretty quickly. In a totally unrelated note: Chak Fel is for the win! Yeah, he's a little card-boardy like his brother, but for all the Fel family's stiffness, there's something cool about them, particularly Chak.
Oh, and this book was kinda long. I wasn't a problem for me, I got through it in about a week, but if you're a slower reader It may take awhile.

Survivor's Quest was an above average. Go read it NOW!

In other News:
Me, Sars and Mel finally persuaded my sister to start reading NJO. She likes it so far, but unfortunately she's a painfully slow reader. She doesn't have the same motivation the three of us do, and without motivation, NJO takes a VERY long time. I don't think she's touched Vector Prime in a week. We're in for a looooooooong ride.

Started the new semester today! That means I finally have some art classes! I'll make sure to post my stuff from the class.

Only three more months till BLOOD OATH!!! *spazzes* I'm hanging in there as best as I can...

Up next for reading: Shadows of the Empire. Coruscant Nights III will be out by then, so I'll let you know how I liked those two when I'm done. I'm really interested to see how the last book of CN is going to play out. I'm pretty sure Jax is going down. Oddly enough I'm not to upset about that, just as long as he and Dejah hook up before he dies.

Last but not least, an new chapter/segment thingy from my fanfic "Rillaia" should be up in the next week or two. I'm doing a collab with Mel where I'm writing the first half and she's writing the second half, and I can't wait to see what she's got in store!

One last thing, anyone here happen to be a Wookieepedian? I joined kind of on a whim, and have no idea what I'm doing. Any help would be appreciated.

MTFBWY
IGGMY
CDS