Heir To The Empire by Timothy Zahn

Once again I finish a book that has taken me months to read. This time it happens to be a Star Wars book.

Before all the prequels and spin-offs there was only the original trilogy. No one had the authorization to create any stories within the universe that George Lucas created. That changed with the release of Heir To The Empire; the first book of a new trilogy in the time frame following Return of the Jedi. An author by the name Timothy Zahn received the "go-ahead" to create a trilogy in the spirit of the original stories.

Volume 1 finds our heroes (Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, & Chewie) having formed a new Republic and dealing with the remnants of the Empire led by a military leader called Thrawn. Thrawn combines the scattered forces of the bad guys to take back the universe for the Empire. And, of course, he can't do that without the help of some guy who happens to be like a jedi only slightly evil...who wants Luke to become his apprentice. Does this sound familiar?

There are new worlds and lots of space battles, but Heir To The Empire lost it's gold star when it became apparent that Zahn had nothing original to write. (Or maybe Lucas kept him from writing the trilogy he truly wanted to make...)

The Mist

The Mist has been on my, "want to see" list since I saw a trailer for it how many months ago. I remember listening to the audiobook of Stephen King's novella when I was younger. I picked it up because it has this great cover of some tentacle reaching up under a door and boasted of a "fully surround sound experience".

The Mist was directed by Frank Darabont who directed The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. Two Stephen King books that translated very well onto the big screen. I was looking forward to another Darabont/King collaboration.

Starring Thomas Jane (The Punisher) as David Drayton, Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River) as the religious-crazed Mrs. Carmody, Laurie Holden (Silent Hill) as Amanda Dumfries, and William Sadler (The Green Mile) as Jim this movie was held to a strict budget and time frame which created the perfect mentality for a horror film.

Following a freak electrical storm, a mist creeps into a small town. David and his son travel to the grocery store the next day for supplies. While there a man, bleeding from his nose, comes running in warning the people to stay away from the mist.

The crowd looks on as the mist envelops the parking lot.

There are those who aren't sure what to do, some who want to go home to their children, and others who think something sinister at work. Mrs. Carmody believes it's the wrath of God come upon the town for their sins. Before the end of the film, she will have converted a large following to her beliefs.

How will anyone escape the mist? Whenever someone tries to escape to their car, they are "taken" or eaten by whatever inhabits the mist.

There is alot of foul language in this movie and the graphic content is high as well. Plus the ending may not be what you're expecting and, depending on how you look at it, could very well upset you.

I'll give The Mist 3 1/2 stars out of 5. The film makers did a fine job with what they had. (Actor/budget-wise)

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

I read this book along with the men of the small group I'm part of. C. S. Lewis; he can write some crazy stuff. Good luck with pretty much all of his work outside of The Chronicles of Narnia.

In The Great Divorce, the author is in what is soon to be called Grey Town. He boards a bus and is taken to a place that is a valley beneath mountains. Could this be heaven and he was in hell?

That's the trick of the entire reading. You're not exactly sure what's going on until the end.

As he meets others from both places, revelations are made and you begin to see the argument Lewis is trying to make.

It was fun reading this chapter-by-chapter and discussing the ideas and how the guys interpreted things differently.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars by Karen Traviss

The geek in me prevails with Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I picked it up because the cartoon/movie was in theaters and I knew I wasn't going to pay $10 to watch a computer toon.

I enjoy Karen Traviss's (or is it Travissi?) Star Wars books. She has written the Republic Commando video game spin off books. So I opened The Clone Wars with some eager expectations. Nevermind that it is a thin hard back book.

Supposedly there are going to be more of these stories. I'm guessing they are going to tie-in with the cartoon series coming out. I have no idea if this first book is based off the new movie in theaters but here's what it's about:

Someone has stolen Jabba the Hutt's son - that's right his son. Both the bad guys and good guys (Seperatists and Republic) want to rescue the boy so their armies can use Jabba's space to travel.

Of course, Anakin and Obi Wan are the only jedi capable of such an incredible task. They take their clone troopers and perform the search and rescue.

I can't believe this book made it to hard back. This is a series that should be marketed in the Young Adult section. Jabba's son??? Give me a break.

This can be filed under the, "I-had-to-finish-it-because-I-started-it" section. I won't be reading any other additions to this series.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House by Charles Osgood

Charles Osgood has written a book about the Presidential Campaign trail. What's great about this book is the history. Osgood shows us some of the funny quotes the candidates have made from the Truman vs Dewey election to the Bush vs Kerry election. He begins each chapter (campaign) with a brief description and moves into the funny blunders the candidates made.

In a season when people may be weary of all things politics, it's good to read some things political that make us chuckle.

Here are some of the memorable quotes:

Truman vs Dewey (1948)
Truman - "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference."Truman - "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a Republican. But I repeat myself."

Eisenhower vs Stevenson (1952)
Stevenson on being an elitist - "If I talk over people's head, Ike must be talking under their feet."

Kennedy vs Nixon (1960)
Kennedy - "There is no city in the United States in which I get a warmer welcome and fewer votes than Columbus, Ohio."

Reagan vs Carter (1980)
Reagan - "I had a dream the other night. I dreamed that Jimmy Carter came to me and asked why I wanted his job. I told him I didn't want his job. I wanted to be president."

Bush vs Dukakis (1988)
Bush - "It's not exaggeration to say the undecideds could go one way or another."

VP Dan Quayle - "Republicans understand the importance of the bondage between parent and child."

Essential Spider-Man: Vol. 1

I'm re-reading my collection of Essential Spider-Man. I purchased volume 1 back in my college days. The actual panels are in black and white, which is why they can keep the price down to $15, but for a Spider-Man fan like me, these are gold!

These early stories are as classic as they are goofy. With any superhero, I can never understand how the friends can never figure it out. Peter Parker always disappears whenever Spider-Man shows up. Every once in a while, someone will ask themselves the question about Parker's absence but then dismiss it as him being a coward. Dr. Octopus actually pulls Spider-Man's mask off in front of everyone. Even then, they figure Parker was trying to defend Spider-Man - not that he actually is.

While you can have your Batmans, Supermans, Iron Mans, X-mens, etc... Spider-Man will always be the superhero for me. His witty retorts and constant battle between being Spider-Man and quitting are a refreshing, somewhat light, escape.

Here are the titles of the comics found within this volume:
"Amazing Fantasy #15" - This is the premier of Spider-Man, before he had his own comic.
-Freak! Public Menace
-Spider-Man vs The Chameleon
-Duel to the Death with The Vulture
-The Uncanny Threat of the Terrible Tinkerer
-Spider-Man Versus The Strangest Foe Of All Time: Dr. Octopus!
-Nothing Can Stop... The Sandman
-Marked For Destruction By... Dr. Doom!
-Face To Face With... The Lizard
-The Return Of The Vulture
-The Terrible Threat Of The Living Brain
-Spider-Man Tackles The Torch!
-The Man Called... Electro!
-The Enforcers!
-Turning Point
-Unmasked By Dr. Octopus!
-The Menace Of Mysterio!
-The Green Goblin
-Kraven The Hunter!
-The Sinister Six!
-Duel With Daredevil
-The Return Of The Green Goblin!
-The End Of Spider-Man!
-Spidey Strikes Back!
-The Scorpion

5 out of 5 Stars!

1408

Just finished watching 1408 and I have to add this the "Movies Based on a Stephen King Story that Flopped at the End" pile.

The movie stars John Cusack as a paranormal horror author Mike Enslin. He writes books along the lines of "10 Haunted Hotel Rooms" and other haunted places. He doesn't believe in ghosts nor does he believe in God because of the death of his daughter. ("How could God allow my daughter to die" kind of thing)

Enslin receives a postcard warning him not to enter room 1408 of the Dolphin hotel in New York City. The hotel manager, Mr. Olin, played by Samuel L. Jackson gives him a long list of people who have died in that room. One maid was stuck in the bathroom for only a moment and had become blind. When asked about the spirits or ghosts of the room, Mr Olin tells Enslin, "It's just evil."

Scary things happen near the beginning of Enslin's stay, I'll give it that. I was on the edge of my seat once he entered the room. He's given an hour to live. Olin warns him, "No one has survived longer than an hour." The clock beside the bed ticks off the seconds. Unfortunately, as the clock nears 00:00:00, I went from thinking, "What in the world is this?!?" to "Just finish this trash already".

1408 had so much promise. It could have been a terrific horror movie if done properly. It could have been done in a way that scared the living daylights out of you, while giving you ideas to think about. Instead the story became lame and the direction was pathetic. I suppose you can't blame the filmmakers, but I want to.

I suggest avoiding this flick.

One Shot by Lee Child

It's about time that I finished this book. It took me longer than most novels because I kept finding other things to fill my time; like swimming, baseball games, VBS and other books.

But it's done with and can be put back on the shelf.

This was a book given to me. I wasn't sure what it was all about. After doing some online research, I learned that Child has a series of books based on his character, Jack Reacher. You know those kind of authors right? It's like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes.

Here's what One Shot is about:

Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me. And sure enough, from the world he lives in-no phone, no address, no
commitments-ex--military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. In Lee Child's astonishing thriller, Reacher's arrival will change everything-about a case that isn't what it seems, about lives tangled in baffling ways, about a killer who missed one shot-and by doing so give Jack Reacher one shot at the truth...

I was excited to begin this story. It has a great opening scene. But then everything got lost in the shuffle. I lost interest and finished it because I had only so many chapters left.

There wasn't any big surprise. It was a novel about trying to figure out who the bad guys are. I'm just used to Dekker-style plot twists. So nothing against Lee Child. But I won't be reading anything else by him.