Star Wars

2016 Favorites

Movies

Wow, so I did not see many new movies this year. I re-watched a lot of old stuff and caught up on some 2015 stuff. Overall, though, apart from the re-watches of favorites, I didn’t like many movies this year.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens– I liked the new characters a lot, but was disappointed by the story so I’m not sure if I would call it a favorite. It was nice to see a new Star Wars, though.

Deadpool– I didn’t write a blog for this movie, at least I don’t think I did. I went through a period there where sitting in front of a computer screen made me physically ill so there were a few movies and books I missed. Joys of pregnancy. Anyway, I really liked Deadpool and was lucky enough to pick it up Black Friday and re-watch. So I guess that’s a favorite for this year.

The Big Short– Really liked this movie, even though it made me mad. Enough that I read the book, then read more by the author, and then purchased the movie even though it was on Netflix at the time.

Star Wars: Rogue One–This might be my favorite movie of the year, I need to watch it a few more times to decide exactly how much I loved it though.

Books

Book wise I also did a lot of re-reading but I was lucky enough to read several books I loved that were new to me.

Lois Lane: Double Down– This series has become such a surprise favorite of mine. Once again I gave this book as a Christmas present and I’m excited for the next to come out. I rarely find a YA book that isn’t filled with whinny emotional stupid teens and this really fills that void for me.

Carry On– Rainbow Rowell is now a must buy author for me. I’ve loved every book she’s written even though none of them are in a series or like the books I normally read. Her characters are awesome and this book was just perfect.

Stars of Fortune– I was really surprised by this Nora Roberts book. It was like reading an old favorite of hers but for the first time with no knowledge of what was going to happen.

Fire Touched & Magic Binds & One Fell Sweep– It wouldn’t be a list of mine without Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews on it. I’m so happy with the speed that Ilona Andrews is able to write at and wish that Patricia Briggs would pick up the pace. I read One Fell Sweep as it was posted on their blog and don’t have a review written, however I did buy the book and plan on re-reading it so I’ll post a review then.

The Last Dragonslayer– Loved finding this Jasper Ffrode series, wish it didn’t seem to end with a cliffhanger, but the first book is awesome.

TV

I didn’t have much patience with TV the second half of the year. These things happen when your hormones are in overdrive though. There were still a few shows that I really enjoyed.

Agent Carter– It still makes me sad that this was canceled. Peggy Carter is such an awesome character and a wonderful role model for women/girls everywhere.

Fuller House– Sometimes you need a junk food show. Something that is fun and doesn’t make you think at all. First episode of the first season was bad, but they eventually found their feet and the second season was really good.

Marvel’s Jessica Jones– Jessica Jones is not a character to look up to, but I thought the show was great. She’d been through a lot and still kept fighting. Hope things get better for her, but if Daredevil is any indication of what happens with a second Marvel season on Netflix probably not.

Marvel’s Luke Cage– This is my favorite Marvel show on Netflix. It was so good. Loved pretty much everything about it.

The Librarians– I wish there were more shows like this out there. It’s like Eureka and Warehouse 13, it’s fun and light and I know that things are going to work out. I really just love it and I’m so glad that it keeps getting renewed, I dread the day it doesn’t.

Dark Matter– This was such an awesome find for me. I miss SciFi that isn’t about the world ending or after the world has basically ended or just a constant sink hole of depression. Dark Matter isn’t light by any means, but it doesn’t fill me with a sense of dread.

Video Games

Stardew Valley– I spent so many hours playing this it’s kind of crazy. I love Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games and this was a perfect version of both with a little bit of Animal Crossing thrown in. It’s like this game was made for me and I loved it. It just came out on PS4 and XB1 in case anyone doesn’t want to purchase it on Steam. There’s also a freakin adorable guide available.

Aftermath – Life Debt (Star Wars – Aftermath #2) By: Chuck Wendig

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Aftermath – Life Debt (Star Wars – Aftermath #2) By: Chuck Wendig

Plot:

Set between the events of “Return of the Jedi” and “The Force Awakens, “the never-before-told story that began with “Star Wars: Aftermath” continues in this thrilling novel, the second book of Chuck Wendig s “New York Times” bestselling trilogy.


“It is a dark time for the Empire. . . .”


The Emperor is dead, and the remnants of his former Empire are in retreat. As the New Republic fights to restore a lasting peace to the galaxy, some dare to imagine new beginnings and new destinies. For Han Solo, that means settling his last outstanding debt, by helping Chewbacca liberate the Wookiee s homeworld of Kashyyyk. 

Meanwhile, Norra Wexley and her band of Imperial hunters pursue Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and the Empire s remaining leadership across the galaxy. Even as more and more officers are brought to justice, Sloane continues to elude the New Republic, and Norra fears Sloane may be searching for a means to save the crumbling Empire from oblivion. But the hunt for Sloane is cut short when Norra receives an urgent request from Princess Leia Organa. The attempt to liberate Kashyyyk has carried Han Solo, Chewbacca, and a band of smugglers into an ambush resulting in Chewie s capture and Han s disappearance.

Breaking away from their official mission and racing toward the “Millennium Falcon” s last known location, Norra and her crew prepare for any challenge that stands between them and their missing comrades. But they can’t anticipate the true depth of the danger that awaits them or the ruthlessness of the enemy drawing them into his crosshairs.


Review:

First person present is never going to be my favorite tense to read in and like last time it took me some time to get into. It also took me a little bit to remember who was who and what was going on.

I ended up putting this book down a lot and didn’t really feel inspired to finish it until after I saw Rogue One. However, I don’t blame that solely on the book but more on the fact that I’m days away from my due date and having serious issues concentrating on anything.

Lots happened and Han, Leia, and Chewie were a bigger part in this story. There was more of a focus on romance and love interests in this one and I’m not sure if I like it. Didn’t really need the love triangle with Norra, though that ended up being interesting so I guess it was alright. The other romance was just background and I don’t really see why it was necessary.

I really liked the parts that showed the New Republic and the issues that it was experiencing. The transition is difficult and I like that things aren’t just coming easy. It was realistic that these people who are supposed to be good were falling into the same old traps.

Jas has somehow become a female Han Solo which I could do without. She was such a badass on her own and now she’s dealing with pretty much the exact same issues he had without the swagger and cool. She’s distant and blunt, which works with badass, but the rest of her story that was revealed was boring and pretty much already done.

Jom has been chewed up and discarded. Sinjir tried to grow only to fail and apart from Jas seems to be ignored which is sad.

I like the characters in this series a lot. I like the nods that I’m getting to the movies and the universe that’s being fleshed out. I just think there were too many threads going on in this one. The crew split up into groups and we followed both of them, we followed Admiral Sloane, Han, Leia, and a few other people. It was a lot and I think the main crew ended up suffering because of it.

3.5/5

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Director:

Gareth Edwards

Starring:

Felicity Jones

Diego Luna

Alan Tudyk

Donnie Yen

Plot:

The Rebel Alliance makes a risky move to steal the plans for the Death Star, setting up the epic saga to follow.

Review:

When I first left this movie I wasn’t sure what I felt about it. I liked it but unlike my husband I wasn’t prepared to use the word love in my opinion. Even now I’m not sure exactly where it lies in my Star Wars order, but I do know I really liked it. In fact the more I think about it the more I do.

This is not a normal Star Wars story and I knew that going in. I was able to avoid spoilers but based on my own Star Wars knowledge I had a good idea what was going to happen and I was right. Still I loved the fact that this movie showed a different side of the universe.

The story wasn’t about heroes given clear good versus bad choices. It was about the people in the trenches, the ones that have to make the difficult decisions. It forced you to think. I liked that and thought it was about time you saw the darker side of the war, but even though it was darker there was never a loss of hope.

Negative wise there were a few lines that I thought were super cheesy and couldn’t keep my eyes from rolling. There was also a Vader scene that was clearly them just checking a box that I could have done without. I also wish the speech that Jyn, Felicity Jones, gave was given by Mon Mothma, Genevieve O’Reilly. I understand why it wasn’t, the movie is about Jyn not Mon, but I thought it made more sense for her character to be giving it.

I really want to watch this again, and again, and again. I liked the story, but I didn’t like the characters that much, and I want to know if that ultimately matters.

4.5/5

Star Wars: Before the Awakening By: Greg Rucka Illustrator: Phil Noto

Star Wars Before the Awakening

Star Wars: Before the Awakening By: Greg Rucka Illustrator: Phil Noto

Plot:

A companion piece to the “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens” character novels, Star Wars: Before the Awakening is an anthology book that focuses on the lives of Rey, Finn, and Poe before the events of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Review:

The book is broken up into three short stories, one about each of the new Star Wars characters.

I liked Finn’s/FN-2187’s story, though it was the shortest by a lot. It really helped build his character and filled a lot of holes that the movie left. You still don’t know much about his history, how he became a storm trooper, but you find out that he was in the top 1%, that he excelled at everything, and that he was very empathetic. That Captain Phasma picked him out specifically and was watching him. The story ends immediately before the movie.

Rey’s story I didn’t like so much. I ended up skipping some pages of it so I might have missed some stuff, but it was so depressing and from the minute the new characters were introduced you knew they were going to take advantage of her, and they did. I guess the point of the story was to show how she was such a good pilot, she ran simulations, and it showed just how much she wanted to stay on Jakku, though it didn’t give any more details about her family. It didn’t do much to make Rey’s character seem interesting or fun or awesome in any way.

The story you learned the most from was Poe’s. You got his back story and more about the New Republic and the Resistance. It ends right before the movie starts, but you get to see Leia and C3-P0 and there’s lots of space flying. The First Order is even a part of it.

Overall, if you loved the characters and demand to know more, I would recommend reading this. Other than that, though, I really don’t think there’s a reason to.

3/5

Side note: Illustrations were cool to look at

Aftermath (Star Wars: Aftermath #1) By: Chuck Wendig

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Aftermath (Star Wars: Aftermath #1) By: Chuck Wendig

Plot:

Journey to The Force Awakens.

The second Death Star is destroyed. The Emperor and his powerful enforcer, Darth Vader, are rumored to be dead. The Galactic Empire is in chaos.

Across the galaxy, some systems celebrate, while in others Imperial factions tighten their grip. Optimism and fear reign side by side.

And while the Rebel Alliance engages the fractured forces of the Empire, a lone Rebel scout uncovers a secret Imperial meeting…

Review:

So I’m a fan of Chuck Wendig’s blog, if he hadn’t written this book I probably still would have read it, but I might not have been as excited for it. I’ve read a couple of his books and I’ve enjoyed them, but they weren’t a genre I read much and they were darker and more depressing than I like. Aftermath was dark but I always had hope, which is what I like about Star Wars. Bad stuff happens, but there’s always hope.

Reading this made me feel like I was in the Star Wars universe, a diverse more realistic Star Wars universe. There were just as many female characters as there were male, which I greatly appreciated. The lingo was spot on for me and I could see the world that was created being right at home in the galaxy, though apparently some superfans had some issues.

I loved Norra, so freakin much. She was a mother but she was an amazing pilot. She made hard decisions, decisions I don’t know if I could make, and she accepted the consequences of them.

It’s actually a tossup who I loved the most, Norra or Jas the female bounty hunter. Honestly I was just happy to see some very capable female characters that were likeable but not perfect. Whenever you complain about the lack of female characters in Star Wars people are like, there’s Leia and Padme. Yeah, two characters with any screen time. Two. The fact that Aftermath had a proportionate number of women to men was refreshing and I would expect nothing less from Wendig.

I ended up purchasing the book after an epic quest across multiple stores because I didn’t want to wait for Amazon to ship the book and me to get it probably beat all to hell. However, I did read some reviews on Amazon and I was amazed at the amount of hate for this book.

Some people hated the fact that it was written in present tense. I can understand not liking it for that reason, it was a style choice by Wendig and I thought that it made the situations more urgent, but it did take me a few chapters to get use too. That didn’t make me hate the book, though.

Other people hated it because it completely wiped out cannon that they had spent years loving and analyzing. Not Wendig’s fault, if you have to hate on someone for that hate on Disney, otherwise get your panties out of knot and get over it.

The real assholes hated it because they felt it was pushing some kind of homosexual agenda. There was a gay character, but the amount of word space used on his sexual preference didn’t fill a paragraph. Temmin had lesbian aunts that were in the book for maybe a chapter, and the fact that they liked to get all up in each other’s vaginas was not talked about. There was also an instance where an orphan mentioned seeing his father’s die in front of him. Those are the only mentions I can remember and they were tiny. I do not see that as pushing an agenda, so if that offended you enough to write a scathing review, I think it says more about you than the book.

I really enjoyed Aftermath and thought it was a great addition to a galaxy I love. I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy and I hope Wendig doesn’t kill off any of the characters I now love.

4.5/5