Blog Posts - Alyce Caswell - Author

Alyce Caswell - Author

The Missing Developmental Edit

19/10/2023

The Last Love Song by Katie Holford

I received this ARC from Blackstone Publishing (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Mia Peters grew up in the same town that her famous mother, the singer Tori Rose, was always trying to leave - in fact, Tori never returned from her final tour. Mia doesn't really know what her mother was like, but she's about to. Tori Rose has gifted her a scavenger hunt for graduation and Mia only has one week to solve it before her best friend and crush, Britt, also leaves her behind to chase the music.

If you can manage to suspend your disbelief enough - and it is very hard at times - this is a cute, if unremarkable, YA read. I really liked the premise and some of the characters were interesting, if underdeveloped. The major issue is that we're supposed to believe that in a small town certain characters never crossed paths with Mia. Or that she wasn't able to find out her mother's cause of death from anyone in town or online (trust me, you could find this stuff on the Internet in 2006 and many articles from that period are still searchable now). Had these issues been smoothed out, I might have really enjoyed The Last Love Song.

Expanded Universe Round-Up #23

17/10/2023

Dark Times

Vol 1 - Path to Nowhere

At first I was thinking "yet ANOTHER Jedi who escaped Order 66? sigh", but the quality of the story (heartbreaking as it is) and the excellent characterisations won me over by the end of the TPB.

Vol 2 - Parallels

Really? More Jedi who escaped Order 66 - and in the same series? This is getting a bit ridiculous. It was still a good story, but it lacked the emotional impact of the previous TPB.

Vol 4 - Blue Harvest

Not really an interesting arc for Dass Jennir... and it felt so tired. So done-before. I'm also growing tired of the portrayal of female characters in this series.

(Vol 3 was included in Vector, which I've already reviewed)

Vol 5 - Out of the Wilderness

The series remains very unfocused - and though I can appreciate the space western vibes, it feels as though this was decided as the most important aspect, since it has been given priority over any decent plot.

Vol 6 - Fire Carrier

Quite enjoyable when compared to some of the volumes that preceded it, though more pleasant than plausible. I liked that K'Kruhk and the younglings have been given a hopeful ending. It does feel a little rushed and one plot thread was given a throwaway line as a paltry conclusion, but I suspect this is due to the series being cancelled (Disney bought Star Wars and Dark Horse lost the licence).

Vol 7 - A Spark Remains

The main storyline of the Dark Times series also meets its end, though this TPB feels slightly less rushed than the previous one. It was an okay conclusion. And honestly, I don't think extra time and pages would have fixed the terribly forced relationship between Jennir and Ember - easily my least favourite part of the series.

Expanded Universe Round-Up #22

17/10/2023

The Wrath of Darth Maul

I wasn't expecting much, but the first three quarters of this book were so easy to rip through and enjoy. Windham managed to tie together several different events in Maul's life. But then, alas, this become yet another retelling of The Phantom Menace. Good grief, don't we have enough of those already?

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
(comic adaptation)

After the last two adaptations, I was prepared for more confusing and rushed storytelling, but Lane is clearly much more proficient at writing comic scripts than Gilroy was. Sure, some things are cut and some scenes have even tweaked (and that's after you take the original screenplay into consideration) - but it's all done to make sure the story keeps flowing in this shorter medium. Bonus Quinlan Vos.

Visionaries

Parts of this collection are interesting and other parts are cool, but none of the stories (or art stills) really stood out for me.

Purge

This collection had a shaky start, but each story brought improvement until the series reached a solid conclusion. "The Hidden Blade" was my favourite of the lot.

Darth Vader and the Lost Command

A tad predictable, but a good read nonetheless. Creating sympathy for a monster is one of the usual angles that writers go for when using Darth Vader.

Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison

Whoa! That was awesome. Tohm was such a fascinating character with distinct motivations... I have rarely encountered such great work in this regard. This graphic novel has definitely become one of my favourites. It will make a fine addition to my Legends collection.

Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin

A huge disappointment after the previous story. The plot was silly and there was a very weak attempt to tie it all together at the end.

Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows

This was an interesting read, though by no means unique - there are plenty of tales about clones learning hard truths. And also, for a story with a title bearing Darth Vader's name, there is very little of Darth Vader within it.

Darth Shatterpoint

8/10/2023

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (novelisation)
by Matthew Stover

In a move that has shocked and demoralised the Republic, General Grievous has kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine - which is, of course, part of Darth Sidious' plot to reign supreme over the regime that will replace the Republic. Another vital piece in his game is Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight with a secret: he is married to Senator Padmé Amidala. And his fear of losing her will change the galaxy forever.

I hated Stover's Clone Wars novel Shatterpoint, so it was with a grimace that I picked up this book. The fact that I found a birthday party invitation from June 2005 inside its pages was also not a good sign.

Turns out Stover does a better job when someone else is in charge of the story. His prose is decent, if a little weird at times. But there's waaaay too much introspection and random rambling. If it's an action scene, show me. Don't give me a character study. Unexpectedly, I must also add this criticism - don't use a transcript for a Big Showdown; write the damn scene, because this is a novel, not a published screenplay. What even was that?

Now, I don't mind references to the Clone Wars novels and other assorted media, though Stover seemed keen on constantly reminding me of Shatterpoint's existence. Ack. That said, I do think that his insights into Mace Windu did help explain more about how his actions represented the decline of the Jedi Order.

Since this was based off the screenplay, we get to experience scenes that were eventually cut. They made the timeline feel less compressed and as a result Anakin's conversion is more believable. And yeah, it would have been strange if Obi-Wan hadn't figured things out.

Hmm. I think I'll settle for saying that this is a good adaptation, but not a great one. Most of its strengths cannot be credited to the author.

Maze of Good-ish

6/10/2023

Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars Legends)
by James Luceno

The Clone Wars are limping towards their conclusion, with the Separatists seemingly pushed towards the Outer Rim - which has lulled the Senate into a false sense of security. Meanwhile, new intelligence has hinted at a path towards discovering the true identity of Darth Sidious, the Sith rumoured to be in control of the Senate. But Sidious won't make the chase easy for the Jedi.

The setup and initial stages on this book were the usual stellar standard that I've come to expect from James Luceno... but then the plot, which had been so engaging to start with, disintegrated in favour of setting up the opening scenes of Revenge of the Sith. I get that it's a prequel, but I would have preferred the novel to read some sort of conclusion. It was also oddly hard for me not to mentally catalogue all the differences between this and the last few episodes of the Clone Wars show (not that Clone Wars show...the other one!). The differences were distracting, though I understand they were caused by the novel's earlier outline being changed.

I consider Labyrinth of Evil to be the final chapter in the Legends Clone Wars multimedia project. All the little references to the associated books, comics and episodes were quite well done, woven in by Luceno in such a way that they didn't interfere with the flow of the story.

But ultimately, the decision to make this book lead directly into ROTS was what tanked it (hard to say whose decision it was). Still an enjoyable read for the most part, however.

A Confusing Hive of Sith and Villainy

2/10/2023

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (Star Wars Legends)
by Sean Stewart

Count Dooku seemingly wants peace and has invited Yoda to a rendezvous on a world teeming with darkness and madness. It's obviously a trap. So Yoda takes with him a team of Jedi and begins a clandestine journey across the galaxy, though it won't stay clandestine for long - Asajj Ventress is on the hunt and she is closing in. And more Jedi means more chances for someone to fall to the dark side.

Uhh, so I'm a bit confused by this one. A great chunk of it felt like a YA novel, completely with teen characters and comedic hijinks involving Yoda disguised as a droid. I think I would have loved it had it been targeted at younger readers. But it's an adult release so I'll judge it as such.

There is precious little space devoted to the "dark rendezvous" suggested by the title, though what we get of it is quite good - Dooku and Yoda verbally sparring was fantastic. Too bad most of the content is something else. The YA stuff...it's fun, but it doesn't belong here. Anakin and Obi-Wan... sure, they had a purpose (to cut the rendezvous short) but they were also unnecessary. I suppose I'm annoyed because the blurb hinted at a tighter, more focused story than the one I got.

This book contains some good parts, but it is not greater than the sum of those parts.

Copy & Paste Wars

30/9/2023

MedStar II: Jedi Healer (Star Wars Legends)
by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry

Drongar is still a Clone Wars hotspot, thanks to the miraculous bota. More sabotage points to a spy in the Republic's midst and there's more than one being trying to make a profit off this mess. Meanwhile, Bariss continues her journey towards Knighthood. Maybe I should have just copied and pasted my summary from the previous review, since it's almost the same book!

A tad worse than the first instalment of the duology. I definitely wanted the spy to be uncovered (even if I guessed who it was early on) and I enjoyed the interactions between the characters. This book is easy to read. But it's a subpar (and frustratingly constant) repetition of Battle Surgeons. Not even the many sly Earth references could improve my mood - ugh, they were so abundant this time that they became annoying. I'm not so fazed about the nods to Bob Hope, Casablanca or The Wizard of Oz but geez, come up with more original names for your damn drinks. Don't steal them from Douglas Adams or call them something as cringey as a "Sonic Servodriver" (what is this - sci-fi franchise bingo?).

Whew. I'm glad that's over.

War, What is It Good For?

30/9/2023

MedStar I: Battle Surgeons (Star Wars Legends)
by Michael Reeves & Steve Perry

The Republic and the Separatists are fighting over the world of Drongar, which is home to an extremely valuable bota. Padawan Barriss Offee is sent there to help the medical professionals that suffer through gruelling operations on clone troopers who seem to die far often than they survive. Barriss soon discovers that villains can become heroes and vital resources can be easily sold.

Gah...if I have to read one more Star Wars book from this era in which female characters are ogled and/or reduced to sketches instead of people...okay, I'll still keep reading, but I will have to go outside and scream for a bit. This is not a great book, but also strangely hard to put down. It provided an interesting viewpoint on the Clone Wars and constantly surprised me. Bonus appearances by I-Five, who outshone his organic peers. I was also amused by the Bob Hope and Star Trek references.

Shades of Clones

29/9/2023

Republic Commando: True Colours (Star Wars Legends)
by Karen Traviss

As the Clone Wars drag on, it becomes more obvious that the clones are mere fodder and aren't expected - or even allowed - to outlive their usefulness. Kal Skirata wants his boys, the clones he's trained, to have a shot at a normal life and to do this he must chase down a rogue Kaminoan scientist. But success isn't guaranteed. And there are complications, a clone's offspring being just one of them.

I really enjoyed this book, which I think is due to Traviss no longer needing to introduce people, places and goings-on - she jumps straight into the storyline. Usually I'm down for a mission-centric book instead and this could have become aimless, but it was such an interesting exploration of the clones' place in the galaxy, both during and after their service. I'll never like how Traviss treats her female characters (seems to be a case of internalised misogyny?), though at least she toned down Skirata and made him a bit more palatable.

In the back of my copy is a brief tale by Traviss called "Odds". It's less a short story and more a teaser (or a deleted section, perhaps) that doesn't hold up on its own.

May the References Be with You

28/9/2023

Star Wars Episode I: Incredible Cross-Sections

As a child, I easily spent up to 2 hours at a time poring over these cross-sections and pretending that I was inside them. They are so incredibly detailed and nearly everything is labelled. The accompanying writing is just enough, illuminating the reader rather than being distracting. As an adult, I'm still very impressed with this book.

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Incredible Cross-Sections

These books are amazing. By the time AOTC came out, I was a bit older and spent less time poring over the details of this one, but I remember liking it quite a bit. I'm currently reading through Clone Wars EU/Legends novels, so I was much more engaged with this book than I have been in previous years! Hm. Seems I didn't buy the ROTS one... will rectify that.

* later edit
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Incredible Cross-Sections

I didn't really pay as much attention to the text as I should have, though that's because the illustrations are the real feature here. The highlight is definitely the fold-out spread of the Invisible Hand. Really shows the distances that our heroes had to travel throughout the ship at the start.

Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections

What more can I say about these books? They're fantastic. I will say that this one is my least favourite, since three movies of ships are crammed into 32 pages, whereas later releases dedicated one book to each film.

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Visual Dictionary

A pretty standard visual dictionary. As a teen, I was obsessed with the lightsaber combat pages - probably the main reason I've kept this book.

Star Wars: The Jedi Path

Star Wars: Book of Sith

This is an entertaining diversion. The text itself isn't all that interesting, but the scribbles supposedly penned by various characters are so much fun to read. But the physical presentation is what sets really this book apart. I have the expensive first edition, so it comes inside a plastic box that opens with accompanying sounds - and the book contains some physical mementos pressed between its pages (something I have emulated with my journals ever since I first read this!).

The presentation of the vault edition of this book is seriously cool. A Sith holocron! Buuut it's also the hardest one to open if the batteries have corroded (my younger self was apparently foolish when storing things). Anyway, I did manage to pry the book and the little pieces out.

Just as much fun as the Jedi book - and as a bonus, the Dark Empire references can almost (but not quite) be mistaken as foreshadowing for the sequel trilogy instead (I'm pretty sure that similarity wasn't a coincidence lol). Lastly, I liked how the pages had different edging - and one particular Quinlan Vos comment had me cackling.

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Code

This book is somewhat amusing and the additional Cradossk memoirs that also came in the box inspired more than one smile from me. Maybe it could have been better, I guess, but the content will always be overshadowed by the presentation. This deluxe edition is amazing. You have to use a "key" attached to the back of the box to open it (and that's after using buttons to open the section where you slot the key in).

I will now remove the non-functioning batteries to avoid that annoying corrosion issue...

Star Wars: Imperial Handbook

The batteries in my copy still work! Nice. I'll take them out as soon as I finish this review lol.

I was a bit disappointed by the lack of extra bits inside the case and the book itself, since previous releases have had more, but I suppose Imperials wouldn't like that much clutter! The content of the book...did not hold my interest. There are too many different perspectives and it wasn't all that cohesive. But the comments that are supposedly handwritten by our beloved Rebels made it a worthwhile read.