Fool and The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore

 I first encountered Christopher Moore with the book Lamb, which Liz reviewed earlier this year. In that book, the protagonist Biff gives us an irreverent and sex-obsessed view of Biblical times. In Fool and The Serpent of Venice, the jester Pocket provides a similar look at a more Shakespearean era.

Fool is basically a retelling of King Lear from the jester's point of view. Pocket is in love with Lear's youngest daughter Cordelia, and when she does not get a share of the kingdom that is left to her sisters, Pocket schemes to exact revenge on the king and win Cordelia's heart. If you're not familiar with Shakespeare's original play, well I'm not going to go into the whole plot here. Suffice it to say, in Fool it turns out that Pocket (with help from his dimwitted apprentice, Drool) was behind most of the tragic occurrences and jealousy among the three sisters, as he shags the lot of 'em. He obtains three doses of a love potion from the witches of Macbeth fame, and uses these to manipulate the women to desire whoever is most convenient.

The more recent novel The Serpent of Venice combines elements of Othello and The Merchant of Venice with the Edgar Allen Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado." Pocket remains our main narrator, though some passages are told in third person, and an omniscient Chorus pops in to introduce certain scenes and otherwise annoy the other characters in a fourth-wall-breaking manner. Not long after finding out his beloved Cordelia has died, Pocket's misfortune continues when he's thrown in a dungeon.

These books will appeal to Shakespeare fans who don't mind the idea of the Bard's plays being ripped apart and thrown together by a prankster. As I have implied, both are occasionally sexually explicit when Shakespeare was subtle about such matters. It's a sense of humor that will appeal to the naughty teenager in you. I don't think Christopher Moore is for everyone, but for those who like a combination of highbrow and lowbrow, there is nobody like him.

For more about the author and his books, check out Christopher Moore's website.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Franny Banks is living in New York City circa 1995 trying to be an actress. She set herself a deadline: by the time her boyfriend in Chicago graduated from law school, she should know if acting is her way of life or just something she can say she tried. We join her 6 months till her deadline and she seems no closer than when she started. We meet her roommates, Jane and Dan: Jane is a production assistant and Franny's cheerleader and Dan is the engaged guy trying to write a science fiction screenplay.

It was not until the end of chapter 29 (of 32) that I saw what Graham was trying to say with this book. Prior to this point in the novel, we've been following a jaded Franny in her in her every day life: acting classes, auditions, dating, agents.. Franny has lost hope and Dan tries to cheer her up by describing the character in a J.D. Salinger story that Franny is named her after: J.D. Salinger's Franny carries around a book, The Way of the Pilgrim, which says that repetition brings enlightenment. I prefer how Dan interprets it: "the idea that quantity becomes quality." Throughout the whole book Graham's Franny has been filling her Filofax and Dan tries to get her to understand that if she "keeps filling up the pages" that "something is bound to happen." And so I found myself understanding the beauty of Franny's life as told by Lauren Graham.

I started reading it but I ended up listening to the audiobook which is read by Lauren Graham. And I thought that was really great: an actress reading her own book so you could really hear what she meant with her words. I have no doubt that listening to that audiobook gave me a better understanding of the exact tone was trying to convey from her novel. I liked it. Oh and I have to mention that the #1 reason I decided to read the book in the first place is because I really liked Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore in Gilmore Girls.

Visit Lauren Graham's site for more information about the author and how to purchase her book(s).

Star Wars: Shattered Empire by Greg Rucka

In my review of Aftermath, I cited the lack of familiar characters as a shortcoming, because it seemed off putting to introduce so many new names in a story directly following Return of the Jedi. It turns out that Shattered Empire is the actual continuation I was hoping for, as its first pages directly depict the last moments of the Battle of Endor and the celebration afterward.

This 4-issue story centers around Lieutenant Shara Bey, and for a few moments on her husband Kes Dameron. They are mentioned to have a young son named Poe, who you might know grows up to be Oscar Isaac's character in The Force Awakens. Shara is introduced more naturally than the new characters in Aftermath since she directly assists Han, Leia, and Luke on various missions. She flew in Green Squadron during the Battle of Endor and decides to help push back against the remnants of the Empire before settling down with her family. Kes was on the ground with the Pathfinders, the group who helped Han Solo destroy the Death Star's shield generator.

Soon after Shara and Kes reunite on Endor, Solo brings them on a mission to hit an Imperial base on the other side of the moon. A few weeks later, Shara participates in a battle on the planet Sterdic IV alongside her alien friend L'ulo, then acts as Leia's pilot to Naboo. In the city of Theed, they help the queen in a fight to overtake some Imperial satellites that create severe weather that threatens the entire planet. Then in the final issue, Luke Skywalker gets Shara's help, with her dressed as an ISB agent, to retrieve something stolen by the Empire from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

One of the best things the Disney-owned Lucasfilm has done with the Star Wars franchise is to add more female characters, whose gender has been sorely underrepresented in the six films to date. Norra Wexley from Aftermath and Shara Bey from Shattered Empire both happen to be mothers, though that doesn't stop them from pulling off badass maneuvers in dogfights. Then there's Ciena Ree from Lost Stars, who may be on the side of the Empire but has a strength of will unmatched by many. The trade paperback of Shattered Empire includes the first issue of the Princess Leia comic, in which the rebellious royal is assisted by Evaan Verlaine, a fellow Alderaanian who is equally as admirable. Added to the fact that Daisy Ridley's character Rey appears to be the lead of The Force Awakens, the galaxy's gender imbalance may soon be less egregious.

I liked that this miniseries touched on the larger story of the Rebel Alliance's efforts to maintain their status after the Endor victory alongside the more personal story of Shara and her husband yearning to be done with the war and have a life at home. Any fan would do well to pick up this volume. Along with the aforementioned preview of Princess Leia, it also includes the first issue of Marvel's original comic adaptation of Star Wars, published July 1, 1977. The most interesting aspect of that is that it restores parts of the screenplay that didn't make it into the movie, like a deleted conversation between Luke and Biggs Darklighter about the latter joining the Rebellion, and Vader referring to the Force with the added adjective "Cosmic".

You may be interested to read this interview with the writer of Shattered Empire, Greg Rucka.

Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

As you might guess from the cover, Aftermath takes place soon after Return of the Jedi. The "quite operational" second Death Star has been destroyed with the Emperor and Lord Vader on board, but the fledgling New Republic still has Imperial loyalists to deal with. Being part of the new canon, this timeline will not continue with a Truce at Bakura.

I feel like part of the problem with this book is that hardly any of the characters from the movies are important players in this story. Wedge Antilles is held prisoner for most of it, and Han and Chewie only get a short cameo in an interlude. There are scenes that include Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma, but they barely affect anything. One would think that those primarily responsible for the end of the Empire would get more of the spotlight in events that directly follow. Instead, Aftermath takes place entirely on the planet of Akiva, not counting the scattered short-story-like interludes, and introduces an entirely new group of characters.

Young scavenger Temmin Wexley* and his mother Norra have been estranged ever since she joined the Rebellion and Temmin's father was arrested by the Empire. Norra happened to be the Y-Wing pilot who flew into the second Death Star, and now she wants to rescue Wedge Antilles from the Star Destroyer Vigilance when she hears his distress call. The Wexleys are joined by defected Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Velus, and bounty hunter Jas Emari. The group learns that there is to be a meeting of top Imperials in Myrra, the capital of Akiva, and they plan to gain intel from it.

As far as antagonists, we have a gangster named Surat,  plus the usual assortment of generic Imperial officers, the most memorable being Admiral Rae Sloane. Sloane was created for the earlier novel A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller, so Wendig doesn't even get credit for making her well-rounded. Only Norra, Temmin, and Sinjir get adequate character development.

It put me off that the author chose to write in present tense, a technique which just doesn't fit a novel set "a long time ago." He also uses sentence fragments. Everywhere. For all descriptions. Creating many pauses. Got on my nerves. A lot.

This book is intended to be the start of a trilogy, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt that it might seem better in retrospect, but despite a few fun characters, it didn't add up to much of consequence. And as for it being on the "Journey to The Force Awakens", I did not detect any meaningful connections to the new movie. The time after the Empire's fall should have more impactful stories involving familiar characters, and this book didn't scratch that itch.

*It has since come to light that Temmin is the character Greg Grunberg plays in The Force Awakens. Hey, now we know he won't die in the books!

Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

The Star Wars movies usually have sharp divisions between the good and evil sides of the warfare, but in Lost Stars, Claudia Gray presents relatable characters who both start out fighting for the Galactic Empire.

Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell grew up together on the planet Jelucan, which is a recent addition to the Empire. They practice flying in tandem in Thane's ship and when they're old enough they enroll in the Imperial Academy. As the years pass, Thane becomes disillusioned with the Empire and joins the Rebel Alliance, while Ciena remains loyal to those who trained her.

Lost Stars spans a pretty long time period, from a few years after Revenge of the Sith to a year after Return of the Jedi. A short summary of the book might lead one to compare Ciena and Thane to Romeo and Juliet since they're lovers on opposite sides of a conflict, but a more accurate comparison might be to Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, since the pair are involved in major events just along the periphery of more well-known characters.

Ciena is aboard Darth Vader's flagship Devastator when Leia is captured above Tatooine, then she's on the Death Star when it destroys Alderaan. She is distraught about the massive loss of life but justifies it to herself as the Emperor's way of preventing further attacks. Back on the Devastator, she is assigned to pick up Darth Vader after he escaped the destruction of the Death Star. This rebel victory is seen by Ciena and other Imperials as an act of terrorism.

By now, Thane has deserted his post and returned to Jelucan. When Ciena finds him she decides to report that Thane committed suicide. The pair has realized they're in love, but their ideological differences make it impossible to pursue a relationship. During analysis of the Rebels tactics in the Battle of Hoth, Ciena recognizes a flight maneuver that could only be performed by her best friend, so she now knows he has joined the side of her enemies.

The author has an unenviable task when it comes to showing why someone like Ciena would continue to support the actions of the Empire after all she has witnessed. It seems to mostly be due to a long standing sense of loyalt, a feeling that she has come too far to abandon the other officers, and not knowing of a different way of life. I won't say she's a completely unsympathetic character, but it does become hard to root for someone who is ignorant when it comes to fundamentally questioning authority.

It does become a little contrived that these two keep barely surviving these massive battles in which either one could have shot down the other, and they happen to reunite multiple times after each assuming they would never see each other again. The coincidences can be chalked up to the machinations of the all-powerful Force, which Thane is pretty skeptical about, but of course in the Star Wars universe, the Force just as good an explanation as any. And their interactions are all told skillfully enough that you just want the couple to be on the same side and make it work, gosh darnit.

Now for a little bit of spoiler territory. As part of Del Rey's "Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens" line, this book contains self-proclaimed "clues" about the upcoming movie. I don't think anything important is given away but in case you want to go in to the theater totally clear of knowledge, skip the next paragraph.

The last few chapters deal with the Battle of Jakku, which takes place a year after the Battle of Endor. Ciena has become the commander of her own Star Destroyer called the Inflictor and Thane is in charge of taking the massive ship for the Alliance. When Thane's team disables the Inflictor's self-destruct, Ciena chooses to crash it into the surface of Jakku, hoping to simultaneously end her life and her time with the Empire. After a fight, Thane manages to get both of them to an escape pod, and the Star Destroyer is the very one that we have seen on the planet's surface in the trailers for The Force Awakens.
 
This book does a good job of presenting a new point of view on events that all Star Wars fans are familiar with, with the backbone being a tragic love story. It may be labeled as a young adult book but it is actually a pretty sophisticated story and even at over 500 pages it was a quick read. Focusing on two major characters with moral choices gives it some emotional weight, though a little more humor would have been welcome.