This review is SPOILER FREE for the entire series, as well as this book.
Cotton candy is not filling, but it is good. The same goes for Krispy Kreme donuts. Eating these things is like eating a magical ball of fluffy, sugary goodness that, when finished, leaves me satisfied/dissatisfied and hungry for more. Did I enjoy the donut? Heck yeah. Could it have been better? Definitely.
Say you've got a Krispy Kreme glazed donut in one hand and a box full of long johns from a local bakery in the other. It is universally acknowledged that a Krispy Kreme glazed donut is near perfect, that it is impossible to eat only one, and that they have amphetamines in them so they keep pulling you back in. They are lighter than air and if you rub the glaze on a wound you're instantly healed. However, my local bakery, Rolling Pin, has the one up on Krispy Kreme. See, Krispy Kreme is "near perfect;" Rolling Pin is paramount to living a happy and fulfilled life. Rolling Pin produces truly divine creations, from their glazed donuts to their famous long johns.
STAR WARS books are like Krispy Kreme donuts. This one, the conclusion to yet another nine-book series, was probably the best in the box of, er, donuts, but it still suffered from the same problems the others did. Chiefly, they weren't Rolling Pin donuts. I'm confident that this entire series would have been dramatically better if it were a trilogy and if most of the "conclusions" had been at least hinted at somewhere prior to the last half of the last book. A lot of it just came across as being made up on the spot.
That was my major gripe. We have eight-and-a-half books of repetitive exposition with so much build up that there's no way to wrap it all up satisfactorily with just half a book. What's more, a lot of the characters really don't grow, and there's not a lot of surprises.
That said, Apocalypse was at least more action filled than the rest of the series combined. There is a lot going on all across the galaxy and the book read very quickly.
I love STAR WARS. I suppose I always will. I enjoy the light, fluffy goodness of a Krispy Kreme donut, too. I suppose I always will. Nevertheless, I prefer Rolling Pin any day. Does that mean I'll turn away a Krispy Kreme? Not likely, but I'm always going to be disappointed in the back of my mind, knowing that there's something better out there.
3 comments:
GREAT analogy, Lo. Although I haven't read a SW book since the disastrous encounter with 'Death Star' a year or so ago, I get what you mean. I daresay you derive more pleasure from the EW than I have since my teen years, but I completely understand the phenomenon you're describing. Movies and books don't have to be inherently meaningful or moving to be entertaining and enjoyable. Sometimes that's all you need.
The Sound and Fury of Kristopher Denby
Excellent review. I really want to like Star Wars-related books, movies and games, but I just can't. I want to be a legitimate sci-fi nerd, but it just isn't in me. The idea of read 9 (albeit light n fluffy) Star Wars books makes me want to pull my eyes out and roll them down the hallway. I don't know how to change that...
Anyway, loved the review, especially the line about the miraculous healing powers of the Krispy Kreme glaze. That's anther thing I wish I could like, but I don't KK donuts.
Sorry, bro.
Dave
@Kris: I've not read Death Star, but I have encountered some disastrous EW books. But, like you mentioned, I'm still entertained, and that's all I'm looking for in these books. It'll be nice if something different eventually comes along, but until then, I'm okay with what I can get.
@Dave: No need to change, pal. Krispy Kreme's good, scads better than Dunkin in my opinion.
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