A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

It's been a while since I've posted a book report, and it's not because I haven't been reading. This last spring I kind of let computer game design take over my life. But over the summer, I expect to spend less time at my computer.

So I read A Princess of Mars back in March. It's one of the first popular space adventure stories, told by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the writer of Tarzan stories. Despite the pulp-magazine nature of this work, Burroughs' language is very formal in contrast to many of his hard-boiled peers.

This novel tells the story of John Carter, a Confederate hero of the civil war who ended up with nothing. On a desert quest for gold, he found himself trapped in a cave by american indians who were mysteriously decimated before John's spirit escaped to the planet Mars.

You may have guessed, the princess of Mars is his love interest. Her species are humanoid, but red, and lay eggs. And I like this kind of romantic story between two 'people' of very different culture and physiology. Originally published in 1912, this piece certainly fails the Bechdel Test. The other species of aliens on mars are war-hungry bugs who love to kill each other and everything else.

So John takes it upon himself to impress the princess and become the greatest hero the planet has ever known. There are some touching scenes in this book, but I would only reccomend it to those with a yearning for this kind of niche. After all, the trappings of a space adventure have expanded a great deal in the last 110 years. But it's nice to see where (much of) it all started.

Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon

I think it was in June, I told you all I was going to read a Star Wars book every month, forever. 5 months later, I've finished my 2nd one. And we've acknowledged I'm not going to read a hundred books this year. I've been busy with game design stuff, and things that impact my life outside of my mind. And while the mind can always use some work, it's good to focus on a bit on the place in which it dwells.

If you look at a timeline of all the Star Wars Legends books, Into the Void is at the start. The Jedis are called Je'daii, and they use swords instead of light sabers. And it was a fun, entertaining read. As you know, they don't let just anyone write a Star Wars book. Tim Lebbon knows how to write a fun adventure.

More about the story. It follows the tale of a solitary ranger named Lanoree, whose sent on a quest to stop her brother Dalien, who hates the Force, from opening a Hypergate on their home planet. All kinds of things can go wrong with a Hypergate, and the Je'daii don't want someone so dark to mess with it. Even this long ago in the long ago of a galaxy far far away, technology isn't far off from what they have in any of the other Wars of Star. Droids are there, too. So if you love the cute, bleepy droids, you'll love this too.

But how does this story impact the rest of the Star Wars universe? I have no idea. It would be best to read on.

Heirs of the Force by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta

It was the month of my birthday, and to feel young, I decided to dedicate the month to reading "young" books because sometimes it takes some extra effort to tame that "old" feeling. Heirs of the Force is the first of many in this series of Young Jedi Knights, about the twin children of Han Solo and Princess Leia, training to become Jedi Knights at Luke Skywalker's academy.

As a preteen, I remember reading one from this series but now I've looked at the covers so much, I've forgotten which it was. Regardless, Heirs of the Force was a pretty good Star Wars story. It was fun, featuring a translator droid who talks just like See Threepio, named Em Teedee, made for Chewbacca's nephew. This adventure on the planet/moon Yavin 4 was told by Kevin J. Anderson, a known master of popular space opera and science fiction, along with his wife Rebecca Moesta, who has written a lot of Star Wars books. Needless to say, it was a treat to take in this most special of collaborations.

In fact, I had such a good time that I think I'll go ahead and (in due time) read every Star Wars novel from the Legend timeline, disregarding the new Star Wars canon with the Disney take-over. It's not that I'm against Disney and new Star Wards, really. I just can't expect myself to read every future Star Wars novel for the rest of my life. Anyway, we'll see if I stick to this dream. Next month I'm going to read Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void, by Tim Lebbon. Yes reader, I am going to try to go in chronological order with these.

Dune by Frank Herbert

I haven't yet seen the Dune film, but I never wanted to until after reading the book. The truth is, I like space opera and space fantasy. However, I never felt like my interest in nerd-culture could be notable until I'd read Dune. Despite its full spread of sci fi tropes, Dune lives up to every breath of its hype. It will make you pause every few pages and say, "Damn, that's good."