George Lucas conceived the phrase “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” so that “Star Wars” — like “Lord of the Rings” before it — would not be confused as taking place in our own world.
Golden keeps ‘Star Wars’ galaxy grounded in reality in ‘Fate of the Jedi: Allies’ (Book review)
With the prequels and a lot of the fiction that has come out since the prequels, we’ve been conditioned to think that anytime a Jedi feels attachment he’s in danger of going to the dark side.
‘Fever Dream’: This time it’s personal for Special Agent Pendergast (Book review)
“Fever Dream,” the latest Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child novel, opens with FBI Special Agent Pendergast and his wife, Helen, hunting a lion in Africa. I thought, “Uh oh, I don’t really want to read P&C’s take on ‘The Ghost and the Darkness.’ ”
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Douglas Preston makes a geographical ‘Impact’ on this reader (Book review)
I don’t really like traveling. I like the idea of having been someplace, but the actual process of traveling is stressful to me. I’m always worried I forgot to pack something important and that will ruin my whole trip.
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‘Star Wars’ veteran Allston gets his writing groove back in ‘Fate of the Jedi: Backlash’ (Book review)
Aaron Allston became my favorite “Star Wars” author when I read his first book, “X-Wing: Wraith Squadron,” back in 1998. Allston, taking the “X-Wing” baton from Michael Stackpole but running faster with it, demonstrated and executed the two keys to good “Star Wars” writing: 1, new characters of the author’s invention, and 2, humor.
Joe Schreiber mows down zombies in a galaxy far, far away in ‘Star Wars: Death Troopers’ (Book review)
If you’re in the right mood, movies about some guy mowing down a bunch of reanimated corpses — Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive” comes to mind — can be quite amusing and entertaining. But in book form, the same storyline can wear a little thin.
Paul Kemp makes impressive ‘Star Wars’ debut with ‘Crosscurrent’ (Book review)
Now that 5,000 years of “Star Wars” lore have been mapped out, from the earliest days of the Sith and Jedi to the generation after Luke Skywalker, it’s not surprising that time-travel tales are starting to be told.
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‘Star Wars: Darth Bane – Dynasty of Evil’ shows that the Rule of Two makes no sense whatsoever (Book review)
Ki Adi-Mundi (in “The Phantom Menace”): “The Sith have been extinct for a millennium.”
Yoda (later in the same movie): “Two there are always, a master and an apprentice.”
A lot more than 7 great words in George Carlin’s autobiography (Book review)
I wouldn’t be capable of starting a successful religion; I don’t have the requisite charisma, ambition or ability to deceive. But I do have my own private religion, and I call it Carlinism, based on the idea that happiness is found by emotionally removing yourself from the human race and viewing it all as entertainment. Another tenet is that if you don’t vote, you preserve your right to complain; if you DO vote, you helped caused the problem, and you have no right to complain.
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6 ways J.D. Salinger influenced modern pop culture (Book commentary)
Like everyone, I think “Catcher in the Rye” is a brilliant book. I think J.D. Salinger’s other three books (actually compilations of his magazine short stories and novellas) range from very good to OK — “Nine Stories” has a couple gems (but also a couple duds), “Franny and Zooey” is readable and, well, I haven’t plowed all the way through “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction” yet.
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