Star Wars: The New Essential Chronology

by Daniel Wallace & Kevin J. Anderson
Book Review by Dan Tres Omi

Sometimes, folks need some notes to go back and research to stay on their toes. No matter how many Star Wars books and comics one reads, one will always miss something. Well the brainiacs at Del Rey and Lucas Books have gotten together to provide the Star Wars EU fans with an essential chronology of everything from the movies, comic books, cartoons, and novels.

Daniel Wallace, who wrote a good number of the Star Wars Essential series, and Kevin J. Anderson, who has authored several EU books, both have done a tremendous job of summarizing the important events of the Star Wars EU. One of the biggest problems in the Star Wars EU is continuity. Sometimes there are flaws in major events and then there are flaws in the minute details. Wallace and Anderson avoid this by keeping several of the details out. This allows the reader to avoid finding too many spoilers. Leaving the details out forces one to read the actual material.

The illustrations by several artists are wonderful. However they are too few in number. One pretty much has to dig through the pages for them. What they lack in quantity they make up for in quality. The cover could have been better and something that captured the overall feel of the Star Wars Universe would have worked.

Overall, any of the Essential series books are needed. It gives the reader a reference point to look back at when something seems unexplained. The only flaw is that each section is not referenced to the particular book that covers the event. I doubt it would have made the research much more difficult. Maybe the intent of the authors was to force the reader to read the books. Of course, it needs to be updated. It is missing the rest of the Killik war and some of the Star Wars Legacy series.

Dilemmas and Loyalties Part X

Duman Len was visibly nervous. The last 48 standard hours were the most precarious of his career. So many things happened. They were ambushed by several Separatist capital ships. They were barely able to survive. The Corusant Dawn suffered much damage. They would not be able to travel through hyperspace. As suddenly as everything became chaotic, the war was finally over. Commander Len has not seen Coruscant in the last three years. He was not even allowed to stay in contact with his family. He assumed that he would be returning home soon. Then the Supreme Chancellor asked that every Jedi be eliminated or taken into custody. The last order was something he never thought he would ever hear. The Jedi proved themselves over and over these past few years. Commander Len believed that if it was not for the Jedi, the Republic would not have won the war. He has seen them in action before and during the war. Each time they were more impressive then the last. With his commandos in the field, his ARC trooper KIA, and half of his platoon, he did not see how they would capture Alef Ulo let alone kill him. Commander Len understood that the Chancellor's orders were such that he did not want to execute. It was certainly a dilemma he did not want to deal with. Besides the ship's crew, Ulo and his Clone commandos, were the only survivors of the last three years. Alef Ulo was dependable and was not overbearing. He did not overstep his boundaries despite the fact that he had no prior war experience. Ulo has even saved his life more times than he can count. Now he must kill him or apprehend the Jedi.

It certainly is a new Republic now.

Hampton Roads Rebellion

(Two snowtroopers in downtown Norfolk)

Yesterday, the babies and I had the opportunity to meet members of the Hampton Roads Rebellion Star Wars team and a few members of the 501st Stormtrooper Legion aka Vader's fist.

here is there link.

and here are some pics...



(we are from the empire and we are here to help...)



the capturing of Jedi younglings....

Dilemmas and Loyalties Part IX

Their approach was routine. They could see the entire ship as they got closer. It suffered damage during the battle. There were several Republic capital ships in Boz Pity's orbit. All of them focused around a Venator class star destroyer. There were also shattered hulls of quite a few Separatist capital ships and droid fighters. There was debris everywhere. Alef Ulo noticed some Separatist ships that were intact and seemed to have suffer no damage.


So the Clone Wars are over, Ulo thought to himself. He reached out to the Force to see if he could find any Jedi in the Republic fleet orbiting Boz Pity. It was no use. No Jedi were present. He was the only one in this system. He could also sense a stir of emotion on board the Dawn. They were most likely setting up for his capture. He can sense the determination and the anxiety of the officers on board. He had to make a decision quickly. Would he fight or surrender? Surrender seemed to guarantee an immediate execution. Yet he could not see himself fighting against those he considered allies only a few hours ago.

Soon he would have to make that decision.