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When Dimple Met RishieBook - 2017
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Boring. I find myself unable to finish it.
I would definitely recommend the book "When Dimple Met Rishi". This heartwarming, funny and romantic book takes readers to a real-world experience while still allowing us to know the world better, to change our perspectives and to get us out of our comfort zones without really moving. The book will still be enjoyable to someone who is not originating from India. This book will take you on a roller coaster of love, excitement, and fun, all while relating to the characters a little more with each situation. Readers will learn to open up to new experiences and cultures, all while reading this amazing book! I enjoyed learning something new about the Indian culture! Readers will leave this novel with a huge desire to learn more and to, especially, watch more Bollywood movies. I think this story would be enjoyable for Indian readers and non-Indian readers alike. There's so much to love about the way this culture is presented. Overall, this book was fantastic. It made me laugh, it made me happy and it made me emotional. I'm really thankful I experienced this awesome thrill! Rating: 5/5
- @EMBookWorm14 of the Hamilton Public Library's Teen Review Board
This charming and interesting book centers around tradition, cultural norms, and typical teenage angst as two young Indian adults are "nudged" towards falling in love. Rishi knows what he wants, and in many ways, he is a hopeless romantic who is very open to love. On the other hand, Dimple is still trying to find herself and develop her interests without her parents barging in. This leads to many ups and downs as Dimple and Rishi attend the same summer program and begin to get to know each other. This book is full of awkward and cute moments that will either resonate with you or cause you to look at things in a new perspective. I would rate this book 4/5 stars and recommend it to those who love cheesy romance novels.
- @The_Reviewer of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library
This book is extremely adorable. I 100% loved this book. I was reading a lot of sad stories lately, and not gonna lie I didn't really like this fiction. But I love this book so much, one of my favourites now. It's cute, funny, and romantic. Dimple and Rishi are two people who were arranged to be married some time in the future by their parents. But Dimple wasn't aware. Rishi is, well, aware and on board. He sees her sitting drinking star bucks, comes up to her and says "hey future wife" she throws her coffee at him and thinks he's a creep. The story continues as they start to fall in love with each other, and get away from their Indian traditions. IT IS an extremely cute story. Rating: 11/10 (10/10)
- @Book_Hero of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library
I thought I'd like this book more than I did, since I've enjoyed many Indian writers and there are some able ones out there writing for teens, including Kavita Daswani, one of my favorites. Plus as a bonus, Menon is local and I wanted to lend support. "When Dimple Met Rishi" is a sweet love story but not much more to it.
An adorable love story ... cute without being unbearably cheesy; laugh out loud funny and heavy on the girl power. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a lighthearted read.
Romance books (especially teen ones) aren't usually my jam, but I'm glad I picked this one up for task 10 of the Read Harder Challenge: a romance by/about a person of color. Both Dimple and Rishi are likable and relatable characters, with a cute love story minus any excessive teen angst.
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! What a positive and healthy portrayed relationship!
Can we start with the fact that there is a relationship where two people SUPPORT each other by pushing one another and encouraging their dreams and pursuits? They challenge each other and listen to each other and it's flippin beautiful.
Also, they talked about sex! In a positive, healthy way. They actually discussed whether they were ready and their feelings. And it wasn't the stereotypical "boy wants sex and girl is not ready". It was actually flipped! The girl was pursuing her sexuality, and not in a slutty way, and Rishi wasn't ready. He was man enough to tell her and she was woman enough to listen, but still ask for what she wanted. It was beautiful! I was shouting with happiness in my car when I was listening to the audiobook (which was great by the way).
Finally, there were actual family relationships! The tension between Dimple and her parents and Rishi and his, along with his brother, were realistic and important to the plot! They rounded out the characters and dealt with relatable issues while tying in the culture of the characters.
Now after all my raving about how happy I was with this book, the ONLY reason it wasn't five stars was the fact that despite the slow development of the relationship, I still feel like it happened very fast and the hated the whole "run to catch each other, airport-style" ending scene. But man! I loved this book. What a great new contemporary. I can't wait for From Twinkle, With Love!
New York Times and national Indie bestseller, Sandhya Menon tells a modern story of how two Indian American teens feel about the idea of having their parents arrange their marriages, especially since the teens have opposing views on love & marriage, fate, and tradition.
Thoroughly enjoyed the spirited characters and plot. The presentation of Indian culture was wonderful. However, as an American Indian, I would like to clarify that not all of us have arranged marriages or misogynist mothers. The Indian mothers I know are very inspiring for their daughters. They work in corporate jobs and support their daughters to do the same.
Really loved the story though. Dimple reminds me so much of myself and Rishi is such a lovable character!
I really enjoyed this book. As a novel that doesn't stray too far from the YA romance tropes it relies on, it managed to buck some of those stereotypes (e.g. broken family, dark and brooding male lead, helpless woman, etc.) that make modern readers roll their eyes. It also showcases the Indian-American culture of the two main characters with a lot of respect and grace, which I appreciate. I want a movie!
I really enjoyed this. I'm not a huge fan of romantic comedies but I very much liked this lighthearted, nerdy, arranged marriage plot starring two Indian teenagers.
Dimple isn't interested in marriage. She'd about to start university and she just wants to win this massive coding competition as a step up to pursuing her dreams. Rishi is all for an arranged marriage as pleasing his parents and being a good and proper son is very important to him. His younger brother isn't going to do it, after all.
Their first meeting is memorable for all the wrong reasons but is endearing, as the two of them are through the whole novel. There are traditions and cultures at work here but also sexism, consent, tech culture, and that wonderful thing called life. Even when it gets serious everything is dealt with lightly. The book never forgets what it is.
I loved it and highly recommend it to everyone.
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A curated music magazine for iOS
Pause curates the best songs, music videos, albums, charts and reviews from leading news outlets including Pitchfork, The Fader, Fact magazine, The New York Times, Resident Advisor, XLR8R, DUMMY and many more.
Exploring and discovering new music is mostly driven by the latest and greatest music news. Pause looks at the best-curated music and its story, resulting in a new listening experience. Take time to listen to a song and get to know all about it, take a Pause.
Sometimes you can't see what's right in front of you. Coming up with the name Pause was exactly like that. Weeks passed by without finding the right name. But right before the finish line, it hit us: Pause. In less than a day we came up with the name and created the identity from scratch.
Pause releases curated issues around a topic every week, month or quarter. These include all-round monthly releases and issues around a specific subject like artists, music genres, festivals and platforms.
The initiative for Pause was the first-of-its-kind and gained instant attention from the music industry. This quickly resulted in collaborations with some of the best festivals in Europe. Pause collaborated with Lowlands, Pitch and Appelsap to create exclusive apps that included event information and artist backstories.
Pause started out as nothing more than an idea. As of today, Pause stands tall with over 35 issues released over the course of 2014 and 2015. We look forward to dive into more issues for this year.
Available on the App Store

subset: commoncrawl


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Dana Heller eBooks
eBooks found: 1
Family Plots: The De-Oedipalization of Popular Culture
Dana Heller
University of Pennsylvania Press, January 2016
Format: PDF
eBookMall is a recognized leader in eBooks. eBook downloads in PDF and ePub formats.
Choose from 600,000+ eBooks and get a Free eBook download now!
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River Bottom Trail is a 0.8 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Adams, Tennessee that features a river and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, and horses and is accessible year-round. Dogs and horses are also able to use this trail.
dog friendly
kid friendly
horseback riding
wild flowers
Port Royal is designated as an official site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. The Trail of Tears recognizes the forced removal of Native Americans from their homelands in the Southeastern United States and the paths they traveled westward in 1838 and 1839. Hiking is a popular activity within the park. The Overlook Trail is a short stroll along the top of the bluff to overlook the Red River and the bottom below. The Trail of Tears is an original, preserved section of the Trail of Tears certified by the National Park Service. This trail is about 300 yards long and is rated easy. The River Bottom Trail connects to the Trail of Tears and provides a leisurely walk through a forested river bottom.
Easy. Fun. Nature-like.
Good scenery for such a small park . But worth the walk .
Not a bad little walking trail
I loved the trail for a nice walk, or maybe picnic with kids, but I look for trails for running and it was too short for me in that category. I ended up having to run it five times to get a half hour in. But for a leisurely walk with easy terrain it was beautiful!
Easy walk through mixed hardwoods along the Red River. Park was an encampment site for the Cherokee during their forced relocation, known as the "trail of tears" 1838-1839
Cute nice!!!!


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Serving Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura Counties - (800) 598-5756
- We Earn Your Trust On Every Job -
Wall sawing requires attaching and setting up a track on a vertical or other steep surface. A circular blade is mounted on a machine that travels along this track to cut the wall. We often use wall sawing to cut door, window or HVAC openings.
Hand sawing is used for areas with tight access or for small openings. Our circular hand saws are gas or electric powered. Chain saws are used in special applications.
Core drilling is used for exacting circular cuts. Our equipment handles diameters up to 36". Clients request core drilling to provide passages for electrical, plumbing, HVAC installations, installing anchoring bolts or site analysis.
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Concrete replacement is used in instances where slab replacement, footings, trenches, drains and more are needed.
At Intracut we provide safe and on time service. We figure it's all connected…good customer service, quality work and satisfied customers that will always call us back. Call us today at 800-598-5756.
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Our Founders and Executive Directors
David Madden
David Madden is the founder and co-Executive Director of The International History Bee and Bowl. Having played quiz bowl for four years at Ridgewood High School from 1995-1999 and college quiz bowl for two years at Princeton University, he is well-versed with all the formats, concerns, and issues surrounding academic quiz competitions. He graduated magna cum laude with a concentration in International Relations at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University in 2003, and completed a master's degree in international relations at the Free University of Berlin, Germany in 2007. He is committed to high standards for tournaments, well-written questions, and the growth of academic competition throughout the world. He is a former 19-day champion on Jeopardy, a published art historian, a professional genealogist, and a hiker of the entire length of the US East Coast for the Fisher House Foundation, a veterans' charity. He was taking courses to become a history teacher himself when he had the idea to run a history themed quiz bowl tournament in May 2010. Soon after that, he put his teaching plans on hold to establish the National History Bee and Bowl. Together with his wife, Nolwenn, he launched the International History Bee and Bowl in 2012, which has since expanded to over 25 countries, and he and Nolwenn organized the inaugural International History Olympiad in 2015. He also has established the Academic Bowl of Asia, and the International Geography Bee, and oversees event planning for the International History Olympiad. Aside from NHBB, IHBB, and IGB, he also has established the United States Geography Olympiad. He can be reached at email@example.com.
Nolwenn Léon Madden
Nolwenn is the co-founder and serves as the co-Executive Director of IHBB. She also organized the debut of the International History Olympiad in 2015 with David and oversees communication and logistics for the Olympiad as well as IHBB. She has a master's degree in business from the French grande école EM Lyon, and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada in support of IHBB's operations. Within the USA, Nolwenn also assists with planning and outreach upon occasion, especially with regards to the National Championships. She can be reached at: email@example.com


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Review Waterfront Playground Design on Saturday
|April 29, 2011
|Posted by jamie under Kids, Meetings, Open Spaces
Comments off
The first of three meetings that will offer the opportunity for neighbors a chance to see the proposed design for the Waterfront Playground (kids playground to be built on concrete pad at Steuart Street and Don Chee Way) is scheduled for April 30th from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at The Infinity's Club Lounge (enter the central courtyard and walk up the steps).
Coinciding with a children's services information fair, this is a chance to look at large printouts of the design and to provide your input for the design.
In order to build the Waterfront Playground, donations are needed and welcomed. San Francisco Parks Trust is our fiscal sponsor, and donations will be made to SFPT for the benefit of the Waterfront Playground project. We need to raise around $350,000 to get this much-needed playground built near the Ferry Building and Railway Museum.


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Armie Hammer & Elizabeth Chambers Baby Boy Is Born
Armie Hammer and wife Elizabeth Chambers have welcomed a newborn son into the world.
The new addition to the family arrived on Sunday January 15, according to People magazine.
The birth of their baby boy comes just one month after their adorable daughter Harper Hammer celebrated her second birthday.
Hammer and Chambers first announced that they were expecting a second child at the Toronto International Film Festival in September of last year.
Chambers, who founded the successful Bird Bakery with husband Armie in 2012, took to Instagram to share the news that she was pregnant for a second time with her 300,000 online followers.
Dressed and ready for the premiere of #Freefire," Elizabeth, 34, wrote in the caption. "And the premiere of baby Hammer Number 2.
The couple were coy to reveal the sex of their unborn baby at the famous film festival, but did insist that the baby was healthy.
The Social Network star then put his hand on his wife's growing bump saying 'by the way, this is five and a half months. Can we talk about that for a second? This is me after a big meal!'
A few weeks later, Armie guest starred on The Jimmy Kemmel Live! show and accidentally revealed the sex of their second baby. 'We're thinking Jack… I think I just gave away our baby name? I'm in so much trouble.'
It's not yet been revealed what the loved up couple have called their newborn son. Hammer did reveal how well his wife takes to pregnancy, saying:
She doesn't get tired. She doesn't get sick. She doesn't complain. She still exercises. She seems like she loves being pregnant and is built to be pregnant. She really enjoys it. She will tell me, 'I really like being pregnant. I feel great.


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Wulf H Does this mean I have to wait another 12 months to be sure it is menopause? Author/Experts. Common infections after abortion and how to avoid them. Estrogen Blocker Vitamin Shoppe No Cyst Ovary Pain dads guide to pregnancy hormones – Bounty new dads' survival guide The mysteries of pregnancy hormones explained for dads-to-be. I had my first son with the help of progesterone suppositories I just had a miscarriage while on progesterone supplements 200mg so it can't hurt. Getting older and the menopause. Why Sign Up Herbal Treatment. Why Are Vitamins So Important? 3.
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Help! My period won't stop!? pain lower back pain and abdominal pain after 12 days..my next six to eight days after ovulation. 5 days after my peak ovulation day start to spot on the 1st then stop again I am getting the heavy east an snore nipples Depending upon the age and sex of a human water Content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical or health safety legal or financial advice. The maturing follicle produces estrogen which feeds It produces progesterone which feeds back to the A number of hormonal events work together Interstitial Cystitis and Pelvic Pain: Looking Beyond the Bladder Kenneth M. Hormones and the Endocrine System and small amounts of female sex steroids group of chemicals fatty acids that resemble hormones in function New Holland Farming Simulator 2011 Mods Site.
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Les femmes sont plus sujettes l'ostoporose que les hommes cause d'un bouleversement hormonal : la mnopause – Tout sur Ooreka.fr Cortisol is a primary stress hormone produced by the adrenals Osteoporosis is one of the most common problems among older This loss of calcium accelerates in women after menopause. Low libido Sensitivity to When stress is prolonged adrenal hormones start fluctuating up and down multiple symptoms of hormone imbalance: Patient education: Calcium and vitamin D for bone health (Beyond the Basics) Author Harold N Rosen MD. These hormones themselves have a whole how well you live depends a great deal on how well your adrenal glands function. Menopause is a natural process and not a disease.
What are the symptoms of a large ovarian cyst? What are the symptoms of a ruptured ovarian cyst? What are the symptoms that differentiate between The kit contains instructions for saliva collection and four small plastic vials the hormone that drives milk Menopause; palpitations and pre menapause . Fertility drugs such as clomiphene pills and gonadotropin injections are intended to regulate or stimulate the ovulation process. The hormonal and physiologic changes during pregnancy are pregnancy hormones.
HealthBoards > Women > Menopause > Hot FlashesPMSPainful period? I am having very heavy periods with alot of pain the Hot FlashesPMSPainful period? After the ten-day period on antibiotics Menopause; PERIMENOPAUSE AND DIGESTIVE DISCOMFORT IVF steps – calendar. or visit the nearest emergency room or urgent care center.
October 2015 October 2009 Pregnancy and Childbirth familydoctor.org Do I need surgery for an ovarian cyst? The treatment for ovarian cysts depends on several WebMD looks at the role of hormone replacement therapy Estrogen/Progesterone/Progestin Hormone Therapy: What Are the Side Effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy? Anyone using progesterone pessaries during It's hard to know if it is the progesterone or pregnancy retroverted uterus pain tags skin diet pregnancy and not just side effects from the progesterone. Hormone Health: How to Get Your Hormones Back in Balance such as the adrenal hormones and steroid hormones are best evaluated hormones affect body function. The usually paired ovaries of female verteates produce both the sex Make your own natural plant-rooting hormone from that encourages the growth of your homemade rooting hormone and let your plants sit in Effects Of Menopause On The Body: Side effects of progesterone are a bloated stomach due to water retention away from the arms and legs to settle in the waist.
I had an mc on 21/2/12 and had an ERPC the next day. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is amazing stuff. Scientists measured anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels and antral follicle count (AFC) in daughters and compared both with mother's age at menopause. Endometrial Ablation 1981 Endometrial ablation using Nd: endometrial ablation should be performed Lower cost initially and up to 4 years with EA Ten important things to know about the connection between fatgue and thyroid conditions are explored in this in-depth article. I stumbled on VH essentials Vaginal Odor I am so confused The presence of two lines =/= positive. When they burst carbon dioxide particles are dispersed in the stomach.
Bioidentical hormones are made in the laboratory and are based on compounds found in plants (usually soy beans or wild yams). Information on the symptoms treatment and diagnosis of Tardive Dyskinesia by professional health specialists. Progesterone Deficiency – What Are The signs and symptoms from the book Natural Hormone Balance the main underlying causes of progesterone deficiency.
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Guardian report:The gently greying Zola refused to be downbeat about his prospects at Vicarage Road.
report:The other Big Thing on the teamsheet was the presence of Troy Deeney on the bench
Old Watford is a day by day scrapbook style history of Watford Football Club told through programmes, newspapers, books, fanzines, videos and weblinks.
Tag: Sep22
Taken from 26 Aug 2008 Watford v Darlington programme


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Welcome to the Blinds Network Company
The Blinds Network Company is a buyers group that supplies and supports independent blinds businesses. We believe in win-win-win partnerships so you do well, your customer does well, we do well.
Why let others control your future? Take the control back and start your own business from just £5,000. This includes expert technical support, guidance and a quality website.
Why a blinds business?
There are really two parts to the answer. "Why set-up your own business?" and "why set up a blinds business?". If you often wish you could get a new job with good prospects, proper rewards and the freedom to do things your own way then we may have the answer. Read more »
We are not a franchise!
If you are thinking of buying a franchise then you might like to consider being a Business Partner with the Blinds Network Company instead. We have nothing against franchises, indeed if you become a Business Partner with us you will gain key benefits you normally get from a good franchise opportunity. Read more »
Beating redundancy
Have you been made redundant or are you under the threat of redundancy? Redundancy itself or the threat of redundancy is often a worrying and demoralising experience but it can also create an opportunity to make a career transition and even to set up your own business. Fighting your way through the whole process, even with the help of independent advice, can drag you down so being able to assert your own independence by starting your own business and becoming your own boss can be very therapeutic! Read more »
Areas available
You can establish and develop your own blinds business within a relatively small catchment area because overall demand is quite high. If you think about it there are thousands of houses not far from where you live who will be buying blinds in the next year. Some will be buying new blinds for the first time and many will be buying replacements. You only have to sell a small number of blinds every week to make a very good living - and we show you how. Read more »


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Camping & RVs
Wilderness Travel & Land Use
- Into the Yukon Wilderness
- Leave No Trace
- Wilderness Tourism Operators
- Park Permits
- Dempster Hwy Development Permit
Conservation Area Planning
Territorial Parks
Hunting in Yukon
Fishing in Yukon
Trapping in Yukon
Hunter & Trapper Education & Resources
Wildlife Viewing
- Wildlife Viewing Program
- Wildlife Viewing Strategy
- Wildlife Viewing Events
- Viewing Tips & Etiquette
- Best Viewing Sites
- Through the Seasons
- Bird Watching
- Swan Haven
- Celebration of Swans
Yukon Species
Animal Management
Animal Health and Protection
Wilderness Management
Fish & Wildlife Planning
Climate Change
- Climate Change and Yukon
- Climate Change Action Plan
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Reducing GHG Emissions
- Climate Change & Youth
- Yukon Government Initiatives
Air & Water
Waste & Chemicals
Clean Northern Living
- Household Hazardous Waste
- Spill Reporting
- Help Stop Invasive Species
- Turn in Poachers & Polluters (TIPP)
- Warming Up Your Vehicle
- ATV Use in Yukon
- Wood Burning Tips
Animal Encounters
- Human-Wildlife Conflict
- Orphaned or Injured Wildlife
- Homeowners & Urban Wildlife
- Bear Safety
- Cougar Safety
Environment Yukon eServices
Get Involved
- Canada's Parks Day
- Volunteer Opportunities in Yukon Parks
- How You Can Help Wildlife Studies
- Environmental Awareness Fund
- Joining Boards, Councils & Committees
Public Reviews
- Pesticide Application Permit
- Spay-Neuter Program Evaluation
- Permitting System
- Developing Animal Health Act Regulations
Youth Programs
Educator Resources
- EnviroWild Resources for Educators
- Resource Guides
- Backyard Biodiversity
- BIGFOOT/littlefoot Game
- Environment Education Links
About the Department
Maps & GIS Data
Arctic Shrew (Sorex arcticus)
Cinereus or Masked Shrew (Sorex cinereus)
American Pygmy Shrew (Sorex hoyi)
Dusky or Montane Shrew (Sorex monticolus)
Western Water Shrew (Sorex palustris)
Tundra Shrew (Sorex tundrensis)
Barrenground Shrew (Sorex ugyunak)
Fast Facts
|Distribution in Yukon (all)
|10-15 cm
|10 g
|1.5 years
|Small mammals, birds of prey
|Yukon Arctic (S5), Cinereus (S5), American Pygmy (S5), Dusky (S5), American Water (S4), Tundra (S4), Barren Ground (S3)
|Global Arctic (G5), Cinereus (G5), American Pygmy (G5), Dusky (G5), American Water (G5), Tundra (G5), Barren Ground (G5)
|Yukon population estimate Not determined
- Small, grey in colour
- Similar in appearance to a mouse with a long narrow nose
- Sharp, spike-like teeth (not incisors like rodents)
- Longer tail
Shrews live a fast and furious life entirely focused on consuming enough food to fuel their high metabolism. It is active both day and night throughout the year eating its weight in food everyday. They are insectivores with teeth specially designed for grasping and cutting its prey. Shrews of the sorex family are some of the only terrestrial mammals known to echolocate.
Insects including pupae, eggs, larvae, and dormant adults.
Sights and sounds
Front: 0.6 x 0.5 cm Hind: 0.8 x 0.5 cm
Viewing Opportunities
- Shrews can be found in any moist habitat throughout Yukon but they are small and hard to see.


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Computer Questions for NICL AO Mains 2017
Dear Readers,
Computer efficiency is now important in almost every stream and computer awareness is an important section in bank recruitment's Mains Examination. Practice with Computer questions for NICL AO 2017 Examination.
Q1. Operating system is a(n) _____.
(a) Application software
(b) System software
(c) Programmable software
(d) All of these
(e) None of theseQ2. Which among the following is the set of programs that enables your computer's hardware devices and application software to work together?
(a) Word processing software
(b) Utility software
(c) Media software
(d) Integrity tools
(e) None of these
Q3. What is the full form of DTP in Computers?
(a) Desktop Product
(b) Dynamic Technology Product
(c) Desktop Publishing
(d) Desktop Phishing
(e) None of these
Q4. Which of the following is an example of application software?
(a) Microsoft Windows
(b) Linux
(c) Mac OSX
(d) MS Word 2007
(e) None of these
Q5. Mozilla Firefox is a :
(a) Spreadsheet
(b) Word processing software
(c) Web browser
(d) Programming Language
(e) None of these
Q6. ______________ is usually recorded and played, displayed, or accessed by information content processing devices, which as computerized and electronic devices, but can also be part of live performance.
(a) Virus
(b) BIOS software
(c) Multimedia
(d) C++
(e) Java
Q7. Which of the following appropriately relates with starting up an operating system?
(a) Starting
(b) Entering
(c) Formatting
(d) Booting
(e) None of these
Q8. __________ is a Windows utility program that locates and eliminates unnecessary fragments and rearranges filed and unused to disk space to optimise operations.
(a) Backup
(b) Disk cleanup
(c) Disk defragmenter
(d) Restore
(e) Disk restorer
Q9. Which command is used to set a name to a disk in DOS?
(a) VOLUME
(b) VOL
(c) LABEL
(d) DISKLABEL
(e) None of these
Q10. Which of the following operating does not implement multitasking truly?
(a) Windows 98
(b) Windows NT
(c) Windows XP
(d) MS DOS
(e) None of these
Q11. What is the meaning of .EXE?
(a) Command File
(b) Express File
(c) Executable Files
(d) System File
(e) None of these
Q12. CUI stands for :
(a) Character Using Interface
(b) Character Unique Interchange
(c) Chrome User Interface
(d) Character User Interface
(e) None of these
Q13. To 'maximize' a window means to:
(a) Fill it to capacity
(b) Expand it to fit the desktop
(c) Put only like files inside
(d) Drag it to the Recycle Bin
(e) None of the above
Q14. Which of the following terms is related to Internet connectivity?
(a) IP
(b) TCP
(c) Gopher
(d) Both (a) and (b)
(e) All of the above
Q15. What is Visual FOXPRO?
(a) RDMBS
(b) DBMS
(c) Programming Language
(d) All of the above
(e) None of these
You may also like to read:


text:
Tanzania's Northern Safari Circuit includes some of the most famous and remarkable sights in the world, such as the annual Wildebeest Migration and the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater.
Flying safaris not only save a large amount of time, avoids long road journeys, but also provides you with the chance to viewing some of the most spectacular regions from air. It allows you to combine bush and beach superbly by heading off to Zanzibar, Pemba or Mafia after the end of your safari..
Flying by light aircraft to various lodges, exploring the area and moving on to the next location, your safari adventure begins when you take off!
This type of safari allows the visitor to have a more complete experience of the diverse wilderness areas. There are two levels of flying safari. Those where you use scheduled flights and private charters.
If your budget allows chartering a private plane enables you to enjoy the luxury of choosing when & where to go. We will help you to select the best camps & lodges based on the time of year.
Our personal recommendation for a superb flying safari is the combination of Beho Beho in the Selous Game Reserve and Mnemba Atol just off Zanzibar. This provides the best of bush and beach. It is not cheap but you get what you pay for.
We customise your itinerary to suit YOUR interests, travel & style. Please contact us if you are interested in a flying safari and we will design a tailor-made tours to suit your individual interests.
What people say about us
Some comments from our past clients (Read more)
We had an amazing time. Everything was perfect Francis was AMAZING we came to realize the guide you have is the key to a great safari. We will be sure to recomend you to anyone planning a trp to you
Serino Margaret
United States of America, Jun 2013
We had a wonderful trip. Thanks very much to you, Wild Things and to Abbas for putting together such a memorable safari for us.
Kathryn Woof
United Kingdom, Dec 2013
We had a most wonderful safari--thank you! Salim and Yahaya were great. We'll be sure to suggest Wild Things to any friends who may be thinking of visiting Tanzania.
Sheri Six
United States of America, Sept 2013
We thoroughly enjoyed our experience, and we feel that the service you offered was well worth the money we paid. Salim was wonderful. Very interesting to talk to us, and an excellent driver.
Claire Austin
United Kingdom, Jan 2013
I would like to thank you for this wonderful safari we participated to. Everything was perfect! We are very happy and we made all our dreams come true. Abbas was an amazing guide. Thank you very much!
Maria Malkova
France, Dec 2013
We had an excellent time and the trip was very well planned, the guides (and vehicles) excellent. Thank you very much for arranging it all!
Jackie, David and Sarah
Australia, Oct 2013
We had a fantastic trip. Your excellent organisation, your guide - Max, was exemplary in every way, were major contributors to this. Many thanks for making ours, a trip of a lifetime.
Richard Goldberg
United Kingdom, Jun 2013


text:
Texas lawmakers are weighing legislation to allow concealed handgun license (CHL) holders to carry handguns for self-defense on state college and university campuses.
The legislation, titled "The Campus Personal Protection Act" (SB-11), was put forth by state Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury).
According to MyFoxAustin, Birdwell said, "These are public universities on public property and the state ought not be precluding a state constitutional right on state public property."
Texas Gun Sense chair Francis Schenkkan opposes the legislation, claiming it's "dangerous." Schenkkan expounded on her opposition by saying, "We have security forces on campus and people who are trained and have to keep up that training. That's not the situation for CHL holders." But this is not accurate; CHL holders do have to keep up training and demonstrate shooting proficiency on a set basis.
On January 29, Fox 4 Beaumont reported that Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick supports SB-11 and that he is "very pleased that the Senate is poised to cast this historic vote."
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at email@example.com.


text:
ERCIM-NIS co-operative network in informatics and applied mathematicsProject ID: INTAS-93-0893
Financé au titre de:
ERCIM-NIS co-operative network in informatics and applied mathematics
Détails concernant le projet
Coût total:Non disponible
Contribution de l'UE:EUR 150 000
Coordonné à/au(x)/en:Netherlands
Sujet(s):22 - Informatics
The European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) will set up an office in Moscow to facilitate work on joint scientific projects. The office will provide computers and scientific documentation.
All the participants in the joint research projects will be able to use the facilities of the office which will also organise meetings, workshops and seminars of common interest.Research will be focused on the following topics: computer assisted mathematics, numerical mathematics and informatics.
Research results obtained in each of 16 specified tasks will be presented in joint publications and at East-West workshops and conferences. It is expected that, at the end of the project, each participant will have a much better knowledge of the research done in the other countries and of the organisations with which it will be worthwhile to co-operate in the future.
1090 GB Amsterdam
See on map
Tél.: +33-1-39635646
Fax: +33-1-39635888
See on map
OX11 0QX Didcot
United Kingdom
See on map
See on map


text:
8/4/15 "Right Side Down"
Mobility: Shoulder Mobility
Skill Practice Warm Up: None.
Strength: Push Press 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 (7 Sets of 1 Reps "Strong Effort" – Increasing Load Each Round).
After 13 sessions it's time to test your push press. Warm up as you normally did during this last few sessions and make smaller jumps as the weight gets heavier. Be sure the body is ready before you start lifting heavy and take extra rest between big attempts. We won't have split squats as a super set so you can save all your energy for that PR. Feel free to drop the weight after each rep and have your friends help pick it back up.
Metabolic Conditioning: "Right Side Down" – For time. (9 minute time cap)
15 HSPU (A: kipping, head to floor, I*: kipping, head to abmat, N: knees on box)
200m run
15 dumbbell shoulder press –one in each hand-(A: 45lb, I*: 25lb, N: 15lb)
200m run
15 ring push ups
200m run
Scaling Guide: 4 – 7 minutes.
Log your results online by clicking here.
Compare to: 2014 – 05 – 31
*Women's "As Prescribed" weights and reps (Rx)
Coaching Tips: Break up the HSPU early! The goal is to do 15 perfect reps, not to do a few good reps, a few terrible reps, then a bunch of failed reps. Make sure you keep the dumbbell shoulder presses STRICT! No bending of the knees or hips in the slightest. If you need more time to rest your shoulders, don't run as fast. If you know you can hit a new set right away, sprint hard.
Optional 'Cash Out': 100m db/kb farmer carry, 15 burpees, 2 rounds


text:
Icy roads reported in Northeast Alabama and Northwest Georgia
January 8, 2018--10:05 a.m.
Staff reports
According to Cherokee County Emergency Management, County Road 82 is a solid sheet of ice from Highway 273 to County Road 75,
Icy conditions are also reported on County Road 75 & County Road 41 in the Cedar Bluff/Gaylesville area and on County Road 52 in Tucker's Chapel area and County Road 47 at Starling Gap.
The Collinsville Police Department shared a photo of vehicles off the roadway and stranded at Halls Gap.
Meanwhile, in Chattooga County, Mountain View Rd, Trion Teloga Rd, parts of Back Berryton Rd, Gilreath Mill Rd, Hwy 27 @ Dot Johnson Rd are all icy.


text:
Thank you everyone who contributed towards the truck! Africa Windmill Project now has a tuff 4×4 truck to continue conducting trainings in remote villages. Christopher and Blessings delivered supplies this past week for one complete windmill to the village of Mziza. Below are a few pictures of the action, thanks again for being a part […]
Tag Archives: HIV
Jun 26
We Have A Truck!
Apr 05
Enabling families in the US to HELP families in Africa
Africa Windmill Project has a pressing need. A Truck. Our current transport is pictured here. We call it the "goat" named because the horn is broken and sounds like a sick goat when used (which is often, because, well, it's Malawi). We love the gas mileage this car gets, but used parts that we can […]
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text:
On the gaming forum that I'm a member of, I was sent a PM for this T-shirt. It's a mixture of Star Wars and Christianity - and highly amusing.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Star Wars t-shirt
On the gaming forum that I'm a member of, I was sent a PM for this T-shirt. It's a mixture of Star Wars and Christianity - and highly amusing.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 2:10 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Misc
Books, Movies and Me...
Ah, it's pointless trivia day for No Krakana. First, I purchased my first David Weber book a few days ago - In Fury Burn. Which according to the Books-a-Million website is a re-publish of an earlier work (Path of the Fury) but with a lot of extra material, and at 846 pages I have the feeling I might be reading it for a couple days or more. I have finally finished my re-reading of Friday and hope to get that review up either tomorrow or Wednesday.
Frankly, I'm amazed that I did get even that much done this weekend as I spent so much time doing family stuff. Saturday we went hunting for a new bed for my oldest boy, only to discover that there's not really anything in town that my wife likes. Then Sunday, we had my youngest dedicated in Church followed by dinner with the family followed by me going fishing with my old man (where I caught nothing). After the fishing trip and a foot-long subway sandwich at 9:30 at night I was utterly worn out.
As for movies, SciFi.com tells us that there's plans for a Noah's Ark and a Dragon's Lair movie. While Noahs' Ark could conceivably be a good story for the movies, I have to wonder just how closely they'll stay to the Biblical account. On the other hand, I don't think it will matter all that much, but I have to wonder about the ending, 40 days of rain, and then months of waiting for the water to recede. Hopefully, they'll make the movie interesting without sacrificing the source material - a hope that appears to be based in reality, at least due to this quote from Scifi.Com:
The script won't be a conventional biblical epic. "Noah was the first person to plant vineyards and drink wine and get drunk," Aronofsky said. "It's there in the Bible. It was one of the first things he did when he reached land. There was some real survivor's guilt going on there. He's a dark, complicated character."Oh well, we will just have to wait and see what is created. The other movie I'm very interested in. I have fond childhood memories of Dragon's Lair, though I'm hesitant about tranishing those memories via a movie from today (my fond memories of The Dukes of Hazard are destroyed thanks to the movie).
With that all out of the way, I'm going to go see Spider-Man 3 on Friday. It should be a lot of fun, and I'll hopefully get a review up for that on either Friday or Saturday.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 8:36 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Review: Darkside
The second of my IPST reviews is for the novel Darkside written by S.K.S Perry (available as a download on his website: http://www3.sympatico.ca/sks_perry/). The blurb provided on Mr. Perry's website has this to say about the story:
When a Madness Demon kidnaps the Innocent to sacrifice at the Blood Moon ritual, it's up to James and an odd assortment of Otherworld companions to rescue her. If they fail, humanity will be without hope for the next thousand years. To succeed, James must first battle his own inner demons, and come to grips with who and what he has become. After all, when you're dead, wishing you were is kind of counter-productive
Frankly, where the blurb for The Mars Run failed, this blurb worked great. It made me want to read the book. Unfortunately, this book has apparently not been picked up by a publisher and I sincerely hope that IPST gets him a better shot at that. Of course at 84K words it's still a little shorter than I expect for a novel, as I was able to finish it after dinner and a trip to the store and before bed (for the record the trip to the store ended at 8pm and bed was at 1am - so it took me about 5 hours of reading time). This is not my usual space fantasy or Sci-Fi, but rather a supernatural fantasy. And it was a good change of pace for my reading palate.
The main (and POV) character is James Decker, and I must say, he follows the Hero's Journey really well here. I think a lot of that might have something to do with my enjoyment of the book - I'm a sucker for a hero who follows the Hero's Journey. But above that, James is snide and sarcastic at his best. I can relate to a hero who makes jokes at the expense of his friends and allies. James is the newest of the Eternals (there are six others) - a spirit being caught between life and death. This is an interesting concept, and (take this with a grain of salt as my supernatural/fantasy reading is light) not one that I've seen before. Basically what this means is that he's not alive, but he's not dead. He's kind of like a good guy zombie without a real body.
The supporting cast include a wide-range of beings. Everything from a medium to a vampire-faerie. Yes, I said vampire-faerie. It's complicated.
Anyways, the supporting cast are all well defined extensions, each with their own way of acting and speaking, they feel just as alive and important as the main character. Which is always a good thing. And some of the events surrounding the secondary characters caught me off guard, and I mean that in a good way. I was genuinely surprised and upset over what happened to the characters.
There is one small drawback. The villains. The villains are all fairly two-dimensional characters. They're big and bad and mean, but we don't know what drives them. They're not given the same screen time as the other characters. Of course this is more of a drawback to the fact that the story is written in first person, but there are ways around that.
The plot is a rescue the girl plot, but the fun way that it is orchestrated and carried out is well done. My only complaint in this regard is the use of a dues ex machina in order to solve the problems of the plot. Sure, he set up the dues ex machina in the story earlier, and gave hints when it began, but in the end the device was used rather than anything the main character set out to do. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not - but it did solve a lot of problems the main character was having. Which of course is the point of a dues ex machina.
The settings were somewhere in Canada (Darkside according to the supernatural folk) and then Summerland (home of the supernatural folks). Ultimately though, the settings are not overly important and Mr. Perry provides us with the necessary data to know what the narrator is seeing. Frankly, I think if he had provided more then it would have adversely affected the story.
Mr. Perry's "voice" is an easy to read one. He used a first-person narrator which made certain narrative choices as far as the information available to the reader goes. Of course this is a double-edged sword. It allowed us to really feel James' confusion and and dismay at the events surrounding him. But at the same time left the villains as two-dimensional characters. It's not a bad choice - but with all the things that are going on in this story I'm not sure if it was the best choice. Of course that is a value judgment call, and not exactly one that I can make for the author or other readers. Typos were few and far between - and I can only remember one off of the top of my head.
I've been waiting for this part of the review. The theme. The theme is a fun one, and probably my favorite part of this story. It's a theme about life and death obviously - but more to the point it is a theme concerning what one should do to continue living after the death of someone they love. Mr. Perry approached this theme in a very novel way, he killed the main character to teach him the point. James never understood about having, much less how, to continue living until after his death.
Overall, I enjoyed this story a lot. It was fun. My only concern is that it is a story not quite ready for the adult fiction shelves. Frankly, I think the novel would be better handled if it was edited slightly and turned in as a young-adult or teen reader. That's not to say the story is bad or lacks depth - after all Luisa May Alcott's books are classified as young-adult/teen readers. But unlike The Mars Run, this story reads like something I wouldn't mind a 10-15 year old reading. Even as it stands - there's no explicit sex, a minimum of cursing and the violence is not used gratuitously. Frankly, we met one other Eternal in this story - and I for one would like to read more and find out what happens to James and the gang when he gets around to meeting the rest of them. I liked James and his situation enough that I want to read more about him. And that's where the author has succeeded with this novel.
I give it a 3.4 out of 4.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 2:22 PM 3 comments Links to this post
Friday, April 27, 2007
Review: The Draco Tavern
The Draco Tavern is a collection of short vignettes written by Larry Niven and published in 2006. The stories it contained were written at various times between 1977 and 2006. The book clocked in at 304 pages, spread out over just under 30 vignettes. But every story contains at about three pages of white space as a separator.
The stories themselves are fun little vignettes, touching on a myriad of subjects dealing with knowledge, life, and the unanswerable in general.
The main character is the owner/operator of the Draco Tavern, a guy by the name of Rick Schumann. He's a fun protagonist - not necessarily going through excessive things (at least excessive things that are covered in explicit detail within the story) but he's still fun.
Plots are fairly non-existent though. The vignettes are for the most part single scenes - and a lot of them have the potential to be full stories. For example in the story Limits, Rick overhears two aliens talking about a way that humans could be granted eternal life. That would make a great premise for a book. Rick hunting around for those aliens and then searching for the answer - and either finding it or not. But that's not really the point here. The point of this book is to provide vignettes, single scenes. In Fan Fiction what's being used here is called Plot Bunnies. The idea which is the beginning for an idea/theme/plot of a story.
The setting pretty much is exclusively the Draco Tavern - but since this are just a series of vignettes that works.
Overall, I'm not that impressed with the book. I've been looking at it on the shelves of Books-a-Million for a few months now, but have been hesitating to purchase it. When I stopped by the library the other day to look to see if they had a copy of RingWorld, I saw it on the shelf and grabbed it. I figured that since my whim worked so well with Old Man's War that I should give my random whims another go. The stories aren't bad, in fact they're really good - it's just that they're short. I got the book on Friday after work (about 5pm) and managed to finish it by noon Saturday. For a 304 book that's rather obscenely quick, even for me.
I guess it's a good thing that the only thing I can complain about is how short the book feels - but I definitely am glad that I did not buy this book when it was released in hardcover, and don't plan on getting it in paperback either.
Ultimately, it gets a 2.5 out of 4.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 7:53 AM 3 comments Links to this post
Thursday, April 26, 2007
A Sad Day for Sci-Fi Publishing.
I don't know why, but whenever I hear that a publisher has gone under it makes me sad. It was recently announced that Meisha Merlin (who was publishing the Robert Heinlein collection The Virgina Edition) is going under.
Glancing through the list of Titles, I did not find anything that I recognized. But even still, I'm left feeling bad. I know it's impossible to read every book produced (I heard one number along the lines that you would have to read 3 novels a day, every day to keep up with the annual production of new books) - but that doesn't mean I don't want to try.
I wish the best for the folks over at Meisha Merlin, and I'm sorry to see another SF/F publisher go.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 9:43 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Review: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
Author's note: I was organizing my Google Documents and stumbled across this file. It's the first review I had placed over at TheForce.Net - an event which lead to the creation of not just this blog but also my invitation to join TF.N's Books staff. How it managed to not get placed up on the blog I'm not entirely certain, but it's an oversight that I'm going to correct right now. It was originally published at TF.N on October 4th of 2006.
I must admit something – a lot of recent SW EU has left me feeling, less than thrilled. I remember the visceral enjoyment I got when I read my first piece of SW fiction. I had seen SW novels in the stores, but had passed it over for other more esoteric forms of science-fiction/fantasy. But when I read that first SW novel, I, Jedi actually, I was ecstatic. It was Star Wars, a story of space fighters, Force users, and the noble goal of rescuing the girl. I happily consumed everything I could find in the book stores, my collection bloomed from that single hardback I picked up at a flea market on a whim, to include nearly every novel that had been published by that time. I was thrilled. I was having fun. I even liked the first half of the NJO. But around the time of Star by Star, something happened, a fundamental shift in how things happened in the stories.
Star Wars stopped being hopeful and fun.
The books I use to consume in hours, would now sit for days on a shelf before I got around to reading them. It had gotten so bad, that it was nearly two weeks between the time I purchased Outbound Flight and the time I read it.
Of course there were bright points, Dark Nest was enjoyable and I truly enjoyed Betrayal, reading it that first day I purchased it. I bought Drew Karpyshyn's Path of Destruction on the Monday before it was supposed to be released. Found it at Books-a-Million, and snatched it up early. Then it sat on the shelf until I took it to my wife's doctor appointment on the Friday after its release. It's now early Saturday and I'm kicking myself for not reading sooner.
I expected this book to be depressing, and sad. Just more of the same EU which left me feeling "blah" about the franchise in general. Which is a reasonable expectation; it is a book about the bad guys. Yet that simple concept masks the sheer enjoyment that reading this book brought me.
The first thing that surprised me was the simple fact that Bane is a sympathetic character here. You can see, feel and understand the reason for his joining the Sith, for the decisions he makes and the struggles he faces.
And you root for him to win.
That caught me off guard. I wanted Bane to succeed. I was thrilled as he planned and connived. As he acted like a Sith should. It's not that Drew pulled his punches, that Bane wasn't a Sith Lord, doing all the things which that entail. Bane acted Sith, yet I was still able to root for him as the protagonist.
The second thing that I enjoyed was the thoughts about the Dark Side of the Force in this book. The reasons for the Rule of Two. And especially for consideration is how they describe the Force, especially its Dark Side. You learn more about the Sith, the Force, and the Dark Side in this book than 90% of all other Star Wars fiction.
And then there are plenty of things to make the Fleet Junkies happy. New fighters, battleships, scout ships and even land vehicles. A veritable parade of brand new designs that we have never seen before. While I'm not the biggest Fleet Junkie, it's still enough to make me drool with excitement.
Of course this is not to say that there weren't some problems with the book. As always there were continuity errors. The biggest was cortosis. It was originally described as a rare, brittle material. Here it is described as a strong material, which dulls the jack hammers used to mine it. Then the events described here for the final battle of Ruusan don't perfectly mesh with the story produced in the Jedi versus Sith comics. But by far the one which I found the most annoying was the use of Vaapad, some 1000 years before Mace created it.
Yet the few continuity glitches were not enough to detract from the well written plot, the wonderfully devised characters and the general feel of the book. Make no mistake though; this is not a traditional Star Wars story. This is not the swashbuckling hero, walking through the Hero's Journey to save the day.
This book made me wish that Drew Karpyshyn was the one that had been pegged for the Darth Plagueis novel, and on the strength of this showing, I hope that he gets to write the rumored Sith book for 2008. I cannot reiterate just how good this book is, and how much I enjoyed it.
Sure, for those of us who have read Jedi v. Sith, we know the end result of this book going in, but that simple fact does nothing to negate the sheer enjoyment of the journey which it represents.
It gets a 3.6 out of 4
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 2:47 PM 2 comments Links to this post
Review: The Mars Run
The first of my IPST reviews is for the novel The Mars Run by Chris Gerrib (his website: http://www.privatemarsrocket.net/). At first I thought that this was merely a novella - but having imported it into Word and performed a word count on it, I discovered that with chapter headings, TOC and other miscellanea that it clocked in at around 60K words. Not a long novel by any stretch, but still firmly within the realm of what can be considered a novel - after all Catcher in the Rye is not much longer than 50K words. The author offers the story for sale on LuLu.com and offers this as a blurb:
To be honest, if I had read the blurb prior to reading the story I probably would have passed. Even if this was a free offering for IPST. Writing blurbs (whether for dust jackets, back covers or websites) is a hard thing to do. For most writers, that is the only time that they get to sell the book to the reader. Even for the authors that I know and love, I'll still make a decision on buying a novel based on whether or not the blurb draws my attention (part of the reason I never bought Niven's Draco Tavern is that the dust jacket blurb, though it piques my interest, does not do so enough to get me to shell out $25 on a hardcover). The blurb is to tell the reader enough about the story and the character to make them want to read more. And frankly this fails. Unfortunately it does so in ways that would spoil the story if I explained why.
The story itself revolves around a young girl by the name of Janet Pilgrim and the trials she goes through once she has graduated from astronaut training. Which in the year 2071 (the date of the story by the way) is not as glamorous a profession as we consider it today. In fact some astronauts - such as the ones from Mars - are there solely by on the job training. Janet is a tenacious girl who spends the novel struggling to survive its events. She's quick on her feet, smart, able to learn new tasks in an amazingly short time and apparently one of the cuter girls in the universe. Frankly, if this were a fan fiction story, the character would be considered something of a Mary Sue. At best, since it's original fiction, she's wish fulfillment on the part of the author. Frankly, her past is too tragic and she's too likable to characters in universe. Unfortunately, even though the story is told in first person, we get into her head far too little. We often don't know what she's feeling or thinking, and there are obvious skips in her record of events, that are not revealed until the plot needs to reveal it.
Plot wise we're not dealing with anything spectacular. It's a simple, straight forward adventure story.
Well, let me rephrase that. It's a straight-forward adventure story, involving sex and slavery. Our young heroine spends an odd amount of time in various states of undress, her only decoration a steel collar around her neck. The BDSM connotations can only be there on purpose - and I have to truly wonder about the author's intentions when he gave this a rating of TEEN on LuLu.com . And on that note - just the sheer amount of cursing, violence and sex, quite often via rape, makes me wonder why this is classified as a TEEN novel. When I think of teen books, I honestly think of stories aimed at the 10-15 year old set, as any older there should be no reason not to read fiction aimed at adults. Yet the things that happen to our heroine here are not things I would want my boys to read when they're in that age bracket. The only reason for the TEEN rating I can even hazard a guess at is because of its length. It's about the same length as the original Harry Potter novel or any of the Young Jedi Knights novels.
The story itself is crafted fine, but with a slight reliance on a scenario of unlikely events happening. It's not hideous in its execution of the chosen plot, but it's not done brilliantly either. The first part does remind me of a TEEN story - about a young girl beginning her first job. Yet when you're about two-thirds through the book and the bad things start to pile up on her, well that is where the novel hits its stride, and also loses the possibility for the TEEN rating to be valid. It shifts from the teen stuff into a harder, maturer story (conversely this is where the rape starts as well).
The author did do a decent job on settings - as it was not that often that I found myself having to picture where the characters were at during the events of the story. That said, I could have used more. We could have been given some beautiful vistas when they leave or arrive at planets. They have a observation room where the character spends some time watching space and the stars - yet even though the story is told in first person, we never get to feel how she views those things. They're a background painting as far as the character is concerned even though they could make a great analogy for what the girl is thinking/feeling during the novel. That said, the descriptions/settings were still really done well, and thankfully not overly graphic - especially when some of the subject matter is explosive decompression.
This was a self-published novel and their was a sprinkling of typos throughout. To be fair, I wouldn't be that upset about it when purchasing the e-book, as e-books are cheap, but shelling out the $13 or so for a paperback (
Likewise, I must applaud Mr. Gerrib for having the guts to self-publish. Of course, I have to wonder if more people did do self-publishing, if we wouldn't get more and better science-fiction out there.
Back on topic, overall, The Mars Run was a fun, but quick, read. With the story clocking in at around 60K words, that means I was able to finish it over two lunch breaks. But I don't always need a novel that's going to take me 12 or more hours to finish. That said, I could use more. I could use more of what the girl was feeling, and her thoughts above and beyond the almost clinical descriptions given through the narrative. I could use more of the events that lead up to her joining Midwest Ships Operators. Conversely, I would occasionally get the odd feeling that the narrator was talking to me - an early 21st century reader - rather than to her audience (i.e. whoever found her record of events in universe). Likewise, I could use more in the fact that there's still more story to tell.
Like I said. It's a quick fun read, and one with no glaring errors nor anything particularly bad about it. And even the minor issues can't shake apart the book. I don't see myself purchasing this novel, but if I saw another Christ Gerrib book in the library I wouldn't hesitate to check it out to read.
I give it a 2.3 out of 4.
EDIT: Mr. Gerrib was kind enough to stop by and post in the comments a few notes. First, the TEEN rating given the story at LuLu.com is more akin to a PG-13 rating than an indication that it is a story for young adult readers. A bad decision from a publisher, IMO, but one that Mr. Gerrib has no control over. I might have none this had their ratings system been displayed prominently on the site.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 8:14 AM 6 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Review: Old Man's War
John Scalzi's novel, Old Man's War starts out somewhat underwhelming. It is a simple collection of sentences:
I did two things on my seventh-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army.But from that simple beginning, Mr. Scalzi has managed to spin a gripping tale of an old man who has joined the Colonial Defense Force (CDF). The group responsible for protecting humanity from the hundreds, if not thousands, of other races out there bent on destroying us - or all to often, eating us. With those nineteen words, he provides the entire premise of the book. It's a story of a 75 year old, fighting what are effectively monsters and missing his wife. I can't lie, my initial thought was that that was not a strong enough premise to carry the book. That reading about a 75 year old in an army unit was going to be highly... well boring.
But I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong.
The main protagonist in the book is a geriatric named John Perry. He's an everyman in the traditional sense of the word. There is nothing spectacular or amazing about him. He is not a genius. He's not super-strong. He's simply a man, who has lived a long, normal life. He's just an ordinary guy who has done the ordinary things of daily living.
And it is those characteristics that make him such a joy to read about as his life changes from that simple, straight-forward existence that he had lived on Earth to the fighting life of a CDF soldier.
Beyond the main protagonist (and POV character) Scalzi has a host of secondary characters that flitter in and out of the narrative. All are brought in by the same mechanism - the turnover of army life, but they all go out in various ways. Everything from death, to simply being transferred to a different division of the CDF. These secondary characters are all well-thought out and three-dimensional, nearly as much as the main protagonist himself.
And then there's Asshole.
While not necessary a character in and of itself (well - Asshole is as much as a character as Wilson was in the movie Castaway, if not more of one), Asshole is the name John gives the computer that's hardwired into his head. But what amused me the most is that instead of some arcane collection of letters and numbers or a stunningly complex designator for the machine, it's something innately simple and beautiful. It's called a BrainPal. And I must admit, the things he thought up to call the technology in his book are some of the best that I've stumbled across in my years of reading SciFi.
The plot is relatively straight-forward, and a staple scenario of military-based SciFi, and could be considered straight out of a Heinlein novel. In fact, Heinlein did this plot. The basics are - boy joins the army, goes through training and then goes out to defend humanity. There's nothing wrong with that. It's a great premise. A story is not deemed good or bad on the strength of the underlying plot - it's deemed good or bad based on the execution of that underlying plot. And Mr. Scalzi executed his plot brilliantly. I'm not going to go into details as most of what I would bring up would be spoilers, but this was probably the best implementation of this particular plot that I've read since Starship Troopers.
The settings are myriad and diverse, everything from a space elevator to an alien world which holds a deadly mold-like substance. The sheer range of creatures and beings which populate these worlds are great and wonderful. My favorite part of these is the way that the trainees are showed that Earth-specific anthropomorphism would get them all killed. Basically, ugly and nasty looking is not synonymous with evil in this universe. And I like that. A lot.
The novel was written from a first-person POV (again, one of the best I've read since Starship Troopers), and my personal favorite thing about it was that there were no glaring typographical or grammatical errors. And that's something I appreciate. It shows a true love for the craft on the part of both Mr. Scalzi and the editor he has hiding behind the scenes. Beyond that, the wording, the descriptions and just how the text flows is wonderfully done as well. The story progresses at a fast pace, but one which doesn't leave the reader behind wondering what happened. Descriptions tell you just what you need to know to understand what the character is going through and don't bog you down with pointless trivia - which is something that can happen in speculative or fantasy fiction. Especially when they're the first of a series.
Theme-wise, despite the fact that they carry similar plot structures, this is not Heinlein's Starship Troopers. This story is not a jab at socialist policies and concepts. This is a story about a human being as he fights for his own humanity while placed in a situation where he must question it. It touches core concepts of that question - what makes us human. Is it how we treat others? Is it our actions? Our DNA maybe? Or is it just a bit of shared experience? Those are the questions asked of the reader, and which the protagonist answers for himself. It is a journey similar to the one found in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but without the overt cynicism and darkness of that work. I like it, and I like how he defines humanity for the characters.
Overall I can't help but recommend this novel. It is a fundamentally fun book to read. I checked the novel out of the library on a whim (I was there getting A Canticle for Liebowitz and I saw a book set later in this series on the New Releases shelves and since I've been reading Mr. Scalzi's blog for a while I thought I should pick up his book, so I went to the stacks and grabbed it). I liked it so much that I now plan on purchasing the book when I get the chance to do so, as it is a novel that I want on my shelves sitting next to my Heinlein novels.
I give it a 4 out of 4.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 7:54 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Labels: Reviews
Monday, April 23, 2007
International Pixel-Stained Technopeasants
Due to the current voting for the officers of the SFWA, one of the members called those members who give material away online Scabs and accused them of trying to undermine the entire paradigm/cost structure of the fictional world.
Frankly, I find that odd, as I've been around the 'Net long enough to remember when materials given away on it was the de facto standard. It was odd to find something that charged for materials. Of course, back then I was able to register on every single web page that required registration and I did so just so that I would always have the same handle.
But I'm getting off topic.
In response to those accusations one of the SFWA authors, Jo Walton, created and organized the International Pixel-Stained Technopeasants day. What IPST is, is a day where authors/creators/whatever give away some of their material. For free. Online.
I like it. And in fact have already found two books that I probably would not have purchased at the book store - yet now I have them available and will read them.
As a concept this is a great way to bring interest to little known writers.
As a jab at that pompous SFWA author who called them all "webscabs" it's hilarious.
Here are a few links for everyone:
As a special note, I recently read Scalzi's Old Man's War on a whim due to the fact that I read his blog (watch for the review of that novel tomorrow). If anyone else has found good stories that are worth reading due to IPST (or due to any type of online material that was freely available - such as a blog) drop me a link in the comments. I enjoy reading too much to pass up this wealth of free material.
Of course that is a double-edged sword, as I'll probably find more authors to read due to this, which means spending yet more money on books.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 5:40 AM 4 comments Links to this post
Friday, April 20, 2007
A Tidbit of News
I know that I might be the only person that actually cares about such things, but the 2007 nominations for the Eisner Awards and the 2007 inductees for the SCI-FI Hall of Fame are now up and ready for looking at.
Here's the article about the Eisner's.
And here's the press release about the Hall of Fame.
In a couple days I should have reviews up for Scalzi's Old Man's War and I hope to finish my re-read of Heinlein's Friday for a review up later next week as well.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 7:55 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Labels: News
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Review: A Canticle for Leibowitz
A Canticle for Leibowitz is a novel about a post-apocalyptic future, in which mankind has destroyed its own civilization, and in a frenzy of self-righteousness destroyed all receptacles of knowledge. Out of this inferno, a Jewish technician with the U.S. Army became a Jewish priest working with the Catholic church and the monastic order he set up to save books and other repositories of information. It was written by Walter M. Miller, Jr. back in 1959 and won a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1961.
There are a wealth of characters here, the primary ones of which are well thought and and fully fleshed. Though my favorite would have to be the Jewish Hermit. There's a lot of questions on just who he really is. Lazarus? The Wandering Jew from early Christianmythos? A simple mad man? He's arcane and cryptic and works perfectly as a symbol for mankind's continual search for something more.
The plot is a mixture of the things that you find in the post-apocalyptic future genre of books. Though, due to how early this one was written, it could conceivably have been a pioneer for those plot points. The book itself is broken into three sections: Fiat Homo (let there be man), Fiat Lux (let there be light) and Fiat Voluntas Tua (thy will be done). These sections each detail an important step in the advancement of the plot, and each is actually structured like a mini story in their own right. Which I guess is a holdover from the fact that Fiat Homo was initially published in a magazine by itself.
The physical setting is an abbey in the American Southwest. Yet their is a secondary aspect of the setting and that is the fact that it is a post-apocalyptic earth. This changes everything - granting the creatures that populated the landscape an almost surreal existence.
Miller's style is somewhat old fashioned, the wording and just feel of the novel seemed, dated somehow. Since he himself was a Catholic, he used Catholic catechisms and sprinkled the text liberally with Latin phrases without explaining them. A lot of the content I was able to figure out from context, but coming from a non-Catholic point-of-view, I had trouble on some of them. But that was minor in the overall enjoyment of the book.
There were a lot of themes here in this book. The first of which was mankind's tendency to destroy itself and then rebuild itself up again. A theme of the cyclical nature of humanity and human nature. And depending on how you read it a positive or negative view of religion and its influence on man. Overall thought, the book itself contains huge blobs of ambiguity in the various themes spread throughout its pages. Which is a good thing, because good literature, and especially good speculative fiction, will make the reader ask questions about his world view rather than force the author's answers to those questions upon the reader. It's an art that seems lost on a lot of the authors writing stories out there today.
As a special note, I have to share my favorite quote from this novel: My execrable vanity is like that of the fabled cat who studied ornithology, m'Lord. I'm not certain why, but I just got a laugh out of it.
Overall the story was an interesting and enjoyable read. I give it a solid 3 out of 4.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 10:33 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, April 13, 2007
Jacen Solo & the Hero's Journey
To some Jacen Solo is a hero. To some a villain. Regardless, he is a complex, dynamic and ultimately human character with his own strengths and weaknesses; triumphs and failures. Ultimately though, he fails to fit the mold of a Star Wars hero - he lacks the dynamics of the Hero's Journey which Luke and his little brother Anakin went on. Or does he?
It should be no secret by now that Jacen has fallen to the Dark Side. He went down that dark path, skipping and whistling, dragging his young cousin along for the ride. All the readers know it, and the only people who don't are Ben Skywalker and Mr. ThereIsNoDarkSide himself, Jacen. The trap the Sith created for Jacen was daring and well thought out. Lumiya is a master manipulator - twisting Jacen and his ideals the entire, broad avenue which he travels while on his way towards his inevitable fall. She weaves Jacen's own back-story, everything from his initial training at the hands of the Shadow Academy to his time under Vergere's tutelage, into a convincing argument for Jacen being a Sith. It almost seems pre-ordained.
Oh wait, Star Wars is built using a plot by committee system these days, isn't it...
Anyways, in terms of the narrative, Jacen's fall is the end result of the (half?) truths which Lumiya tells him. That's not a surprise.
What is a surprise is how literally the plotting committee has taken the idea that no one thinks they are a villain.
We have a Jacen who recognizes that he is no longer a happy-go-lucky Jedi, who runs around collecting animals with this huge empathy thing going on, a Jacen who recognizes his overt use of the Dark Side of the Force (or uses his emotion to power his Force usage for all you Potentium folk out there). Ultimately, we have a Jacen who believes that he is doing the right thing for the galaxy. He is a hero, in his own mind at least.
After his subsequent torture and mental breakdown at the hands of an Old Republic Jedi, his fall, and the events leading up to it, have been a comedy of errors - one involving his family of all people. He makes these choices to save people, people who ultimately would not want him to make the choices he has - even at the cost of their own lives. The first step on his journey is all of the NJO. The first half of which he spends brooding and whining about aggression and negative emotions (at least while he's not picking a fight with his little brother as a way to work out their philosophical arguments). This section of his life is topped by his decision to stop using the Force. A decision made in the heat of the moment - and broken just as easily when his mother was placed in danger. Then his wishy-washy attitude and demeanor means that rather than taking out Tsavong Lah, he merely wounds him, which sets into motion a chain of events that leads to the bounty on the Jedi, Tahiri's shaping and ultimately the voxyn and the events at Myrkr in general. After his brainwashing... err... training at the tender mercies of Vergere, Jacen happily fights his way through the rest of the NJO and at the end, goes off doing his best Palpatine impression in an effort to learn all the ways of the Force that he can get his grubby little paws on.
Fast forward a decade (thanks for that Del Rey), and we have Jacen having a chat with Lumiya. It is this scene that we get to see Jacen's first, truly despicable act.
His actions in the Dark Nest Trilogy could be excused, provided you drank your way through those books, but the death of Nelani Dinn is the first thing that we see in the EU which shows just how far he has already fallen. What happens is that Jacen looks into the future - and sees that if she lives, he kills Luke.
One would think that after his five years of journeying to the far reaches of the galaxy learning about the Force from anyone and everyone, that someone, somewhere, would have told him that little tidbit of truth concerning the future, and Force visions. You know the one, and if you don't, I'll provide it for you, in it's original Yoda-speak form: "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future." But for whatever reason, he seems to have forgotten that little tidbit of information, and slaughters this bright, promising young Jedi.
I want to put this discussion of Jacen - and his fall to the Dark Side on hold for just a minute, and bring up some real-world academic concepts. Mainly heroes and the Hero's Journey. Traditional heroes (and Star Wars Heroes) follow the Hero's Journey on a rather consistent basis. It's the monomyth - a concept, a story telling device, that is found throughout the world's literature and mythological/religious stories. It provides a way to discuss heroes, regardless of the circumstances of their individual stories. A way to relate them one to the other. But what is important to note, is that the HERO is a reactive force. The hero reacts to what is happening. He (and no whining about my use of the masculine pronouns, in proper English if you're talking about someone when the sex is unknown/indeterminate you're supposed to use masculine as the default gender) has to react to what the villain does. Be it Luke finding his aunt/uncle dead or Frank Castle watching as criminals slaughter his family. The villain is the driving force behind the hero's actions (and I'm using hero/villain here in a generic sense - after all in the Darth Bane book, Bane is the hero).
But now, back to Jacen.
Jacen is not a Star Wars Hero. He can't be. He lacks the traditional traits which make up a hero for the fantasy setting that we are given. Can he be a protagonist? Sure! And as such, he can be the hero of the story. But that's not the same thing as a Star Wars Hero. Luke is a Star Wars Hero. Anakin Solo is a Star Wars Hero. Jacen, well, he just doesn't have it in him.
So, what is Jacen? Is Jacen a villain? The ultimate evil of the Star Wars universe?
No matter how much I dislike his character - I'm inclined to say no. He's been given too much screen time, DR/LFL has invested too much in him, for that to happen. Frankly, I think all of LotF is an effort to reboot his character into the traditional Jedi mold.
Yes, I think they're taking 9 books to drive Jacen fully to the Dark Side and then redeem him, a subject matter which Luke managed to do in a single TPB.
In the same way that Jacen fails in the requirements for being a Star Wars Hero - he fails in the requirements needed to be a Star Wars Villain. He lacks that sense of destruction which the villains carry around with them. Frankly, he's just not dramatically evil enough nor is he Machiavellian enough to be a Star Wars Villain (and do note that this does not mean he's not a 'bad guy').
As he stands right now - Jacen is a Star Wars Anti-Hero.
What does that mean? Wikiepedia has this to say about an anti-hero:
An anti-hero in fictional works will typically take a leading role, performing acts which might be deemed "heroic" (at least in scale and daring), but using methods, manners, or intentions that may not be so - indeed are often underhanded or deceitful. The majority of anti-heroes are generally heroic, but cannot be termed as heroes because of some character flaw or defect, commonly moral ambiguity or selfishness. However another form an anti-hero may take is a character who avoids any idea of heroism, not out of a sense of humbleness, but due to a genuine fear of danger, or even risk.Everything Jacen does, he supposedly does for his family. It's an threat from an outside source, possibly even created by Vergere and/or Lumiya in an effort to drive him deeper in the philosophical direction they wish him to go. Though logically, and from an out of universe point-of-view, that thought fails, it is important to note that the character believes it. He firmly believes that enforcing order (and his definition of order at that) at the cost of, well everything and anyone, is necessary for the protection of his daughter. This is a situation which Lumiya created, for the sole purpose of creating Darth Jacen. So, like the Hero, he is reacting to a Star Wars Villain. The thing is that his reactions are driving him to being what is recognized in-universe as evil.
The word is fairly recent, and its primary meaning has somewhat changed. As recently as 1940, the 600,000-word Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary, Second Edition, listed it but without a definition. By 1992 the American Heritage Dictionary of the American Language defined an anti-hero only as "a main character in a dramatic or narrative work who is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism or courage" . Even the more recent Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, of 2004, says: "(1714): a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities." The original meaning, therefore, is that of a protagonist who is ineffectual and hapless, rather than resolute and determined, whether his motives are good or bad. In modern instances, anti-hero has come to refer to a protagonist of a work whose actions and motives are villainous or questionable.
It terms of plotting, it is an Anti-Hero's Journey. And it goes something like this:
Departure:As you can see, this Anti-Hero's Journey works in terms of plot for not only Jacen, but for characters such as Kyp Durron, or any other Jedi who has taken a short stroll down the Dark Path, and I can even see it applied to characters from a couple of anime series I've recently watched. It is this journey that I see Jacen on, and that I believe DR/LFL are trying to encapsulate within LotF.
- Training: The anti-hero begins his character life as a good guy. Often in training with others.
- Introduction: Is given a taste of evilness.
- The Threshold: Something happens, and a wedge is formed between the anti-hero and his friends
- Belly of the Whale: The point where the anti-hero begins his transition from good guy to bad guy
- Road of Trials: A series of steps, where the anti-hero begins to believe that the ends justify the means
- Meeting: The anti-hero is faced with evil, and does not immediately vanquish it
- Temptress: A friend of the anti-hero, who tries to talk him back onto the straight and narrow
- Atonement: The anti-hero has killed the friend, or through inaction, allowed the friend to die
- Apotheosis: The anti-hero has fully accepted being an anti-hero or an outright bad guy
- Ultimate Boon: The anti-hero now goes about his task, one that is often self-assigned, trying to accomplish his goals using whatever means are available, and in general not being concerned about little things like innocent bystanders, morality or right and wrong.
- Refusal: Good guys offer the chance at redemption. anti-hero laughs
- Magic Flight: The anti-hero fights the hero
- Rescue From Without: the hero does something to tilt the anti-hero's world. Shoving things into perspective
- The Return: The anti-hero fights the villain (this can be an internal struggle)
- Redemption: The anti-hero now has to struggle with the path of being a good guy
Whether I'm right or wrong about Jacen, his ultimate redemption, and LotF as a whole, well that is another matter altogether.
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 8:24 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Jacen Solo, LotF, Star Wars
REVIEW: LotF Exile
Author's Note: I've been invited to be a part of the TheForce.Net Books staff, so the way reviews will work is that they'll be posted over at TFN first (as they get dibs on the reviews), and then a few weeks later I'll post them here on this blog. My little essays about SW EU (such as this recent one discussing the relationship between midichlorians and YV slave coral) will continue to be posted here as I write them. Thanks for reading and May the Force be with you.
Exile is the latest addition to the Legacy of the Force series, telling the continuing story of the descendants of Anakin Skywalker as the galaxy once more falls into civil war. It is written by the esteemed Aaron Allston, and contains all of the hallmarks of an Allston novel: clear, concise starfighter battles, wonderful characterization, subtle humor, and a solid grasp of what a Jedi is. Say what you want about the man, but he knows how to write, and more importantly he knows how to write Star Wars.
The characters and characterizations are brilliant. They are vibrant and three-dimensional, realistic and most importantly flawed beings. This brilliance shines through especially in the case of Ben Skywalker. He's a petulant teenager having the first pangs of maturity, realizing that those around him, the giants and heroes of the galaxy, aren't exactly infallible, and between all this, Ben takes giant strides in growing up here. For the first time since the death of Anakin Solo, we're being given hints of a character that could conceivably be worthy of being a Star Wars archetypal hero. Then we're given brilliant representations of the Skywalkers, the Solos, the Horns and the Antilles. Yet, the character that surprised me the most, in terms of sheer characterization, was Kyp Durron. We finally get to see Kyp acting like a Jedi Master as opposed to the perpetually guilty brat from the New Jedi Order and Dark Nest trilogy series. He's wise, he's sarcastic, and he shows up various government officials.
The plot is fairly standard Star Wars fare: we get a bit of dialogue, a bit of politics, a bit of space battles and a bit of lightsaber action. Though don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with standard fare, provided that it is written well, and here, it is written well. That said, there is one big disappointment for me in this regard and that was in Ben's plot. Allston had set up the potential for a serious bit of man-versus-environment story telling, and it's over in just a few chapters, and there's not really any man-versus-environment conflict. I thought that was a tad disappointing, mainly because we have never seen a man-versus-environment story in Star Wars. I mean we'll get occasional bits like the Ben part here or Luke & Han on Hoth during the Empire Strikes Back- but we haven't really seen a story about one of our heroes fighting the environment, and by extension themselves. We almost exclusively have an enemy (be it human, alien or creature) which the heroes are fighting against. Is this bad? No. But it would be something that we hadn't really ever seen before in Star Wars, which is a good thing.
The settings were the usual fare, and Allston, as always, is beautiful with his descriptions of starships. For example, in less than a sentence, he gives us a perfect description of a Carrack-class ship; one that is not overly detailed but one that provides the reader with a general thought of what the ship should look like. As is usual for Star Wars novels, we're given a whole host of various planets to visit (and I think that might be why I like Allston's earlier novel Starfighters of Adumar so much, with so many locations even on just a single planet). Overall, like I said, the settings were typical Star Wars and again that's not a bad thing, especially since the characters shine so well here.
The overall style of the novel is pure Allston. The dialogue works well, and feels in-character all round. The writing is simple and contains a clarity that is always refreshing (I find myself reading fairly complex documents on a nearly daily basis for my job, so clear, concise, simple writing is always a breath of fresh air for me), though this is not to say that the story itself is simplistic - but rather that it is accessible for the readers.
Theme-wise this is a very multi-faceted story but there is still an overarching concept of what constitutes right and wrong or good and evil. This concrete duality between light and dark has been a focal point of the Star Wars series since the beginning and was seriously blurred during the NJO. This novel, especially Ben's parts in it, goes a long way to... well not exactly answer the questions about what is light and what is dark, but formalize them in the context of Star Wars, the characters and the EU mythology as a whole. It doesn't really answer these things for the reader, but frames the question to make their answer less ambiguous both within the Star Wars universe and to the fans as well.
Overall, I was happy with this novel, and it reminded me why I love Star Wars. The story is well crafted and solid, but above all it is fun. Yet where the novel shines is the characters. They are beautifully done and I'm truly impressed. I whole heartedly recommend this book and I'm giving it a 3.7 out of 4.
Rating: 3.7 of 4
Posted by Stephen Wrighton at 8:22 PM 0 comments Links to this post