A New Take On A Well Established Premise

Listen folks, I know some of you are going to point fingers and scream about the physical impossibility of real world Faster Than Light travel. I'm not convinced that you're right, because, although science says it can't be done, science screws up all the time. Seriously, it was scientifically proven that woman couldn't travel on trains because their wombs would come flying out of their body and that no human being could travel faster than the speed of sound without suffocating. 

And anyway, who cares, we're talking about Science Fiction here! FTL travel happens all the time!

So listen, here's what I'm thinking:

Yes, Star Trek has Warp Drive. Yes, Star Wars has Lightspeed. Honor Harrington has hyper. I'm told that Warhammer 40K burns psychics, but I haven't read the books. I need to start. Event Horizon had that spiky, ball thing. Stargate has the star gate. Battlestar Galactica has a jump drive, as does Battletech. The Four Horsemen Universe has a pretty unique take on both gate technology, similar to the gates in Babylon 5, and hyperspace that has to be seen to be believed. 

I could go on for days. Honestly, I'm still debating whether Stargate really counts or not, too but that's not the point.

The point is that we need one concrete thing we can ask about. One all-powerful, overarching concept that can get us into the nitty-gritty of what we love. Because, honestly, if all we wanted was action and cool characters we'd be reading Tom Clancy instead of David Weber. (That's not a slam against Tom Clancy. Dude can flat out write. I'm just saying that he doesn't have the fancy window dressing we're used to as fans of SF/F.) What we need is the Fwoosh button.

Yep, I said it. The Fwoosh button.

Think about it this way:

When Sulu, takes the ship to warp, he's pressing the Fwoosh Button. When Ivanova orders the White Star Fleet through a gate, she's pushing the Fwoosh Button. When Jim Carthwright takes the Cavaliers through the gate and into hyperspace, he's pressing the Fwoosh Button. When Han Solo takes the Millennium Falcon to Lightspeed, he's hitting the Fwoosh Button, Well, probably. I mean, it's the Falcon and it kinda only works when it wants to, but you know what I mean. Actually, he's hitting the Fwoosh Button either way. Sometimes it just doesn't work. The bottom line here is that when your favorite character does whatever they do to get things moving quickly, they're hitting the Fwoosh Button. 

Instead of referring to FTL travel as FTL travel, and having to ask, "How do they do Faster Than Light?" every time somebody tells you about a new series, you just say, "How does the Fwoosh button work?" or "Describe the Fwoosh Button."

Your life will thus have been greatly enhanced and simplified by the saving of several seconds that you would otherwise have spent speaking a longer phrase that you no longer need to speak because I have provided you with a way to shorten your sentences, save your breath and eschew obsfucation by using a singularly concise term with which I have provided you free of charge and with no hope of recompense simply out of my magnanimity as a human being and through my deep and abiding care for the well-being of all around me combined with my confirmed affection for brevity and all of its benefits.

Seriously folks, keep it short if you can. It is of utmost importance to express your meaning in as few words as possible as this will allow your audience to understand the maximum amount of words that you have spoken because you have refused to confuse them with an overabundance of verbiage. This is desirable for many reasons.

So...

The Fwoosh Button is important. It will save you time.

I like this concept, because, at least among stories that involve faster than light travel, it's all encompassing. When you're describing a new book/show/movie/series to a friend you can just say, "Then he hit the Fwoosh Button" when describing what happened in the book instead of trying to walk some goofball through the 9780768768687687968976789689768968976789698768969876986987696 steps behind engaging a Warshawski Sail and setting off into hyper. There will also be no need to explain military compensators, Alpha nodes, Beta nodes, hyperspace bands, hyper limits...

Yeah, Fwoosh button that stuff and you're good. 

Okay, so Honorverse fans are either laughing or offended right now. The rest of you are confused. I'm trying to help avoid all of  the confusion by moving everything forward in a conversation using the Fwoosh Button. Seriously. Try it.

Lucasfilm's The Rise of Skywalker

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Look, I know my opinions on the first two installments of the latest Star Wars trilogy have not been all that well received in certain circles. I have been casigated by some simply for posting links to trailers. So be it. The rules listed in the very first post on this selfsame blog state flat out that it's okay to trash me. I'm a big boy and I'm putting myself out there. I'm perfectly okay with someone telling me I'm full of poo-poo. Seriously folks, bring it.

That much having been said...

I loved The Rise of Skywalker.

I mean, flat out loved it.

My most favoritest Star Wars flick will always be Return of the Jedi because that's the first one I ever saw, at the old Chesterfield Cinema I think it was called (it's been thirty-six years, I may be wrong) with my mama. I laughed through it mostly. My mom kept me laughing because she didn't want me to be scared by all the crazy looking aliens. I was young enough that she might have had a point.

After that, my next favorite is Empire, followed by Star Wars. After that, I'm going with Rogue One. After that though, it's The Rise of Skywalker. Seriously. Solo would come next, but whatever.

I'm struggling here because this is a tough one to review without spoiling it. Seriously. There is a lot of good stuff here, but I don't want to talk about any of it in specific. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.

Let's start out with Kylo Ren. His character arc is amazing. At one point, he almost had me in tears. Adam Driver is pretty amazing this time around. I found myself enthralled with the way this worked out. Others have criticized the way things went, but honestly it turned out better than I expected it to.

Rey's character arc was pretty awesome as well. It was pretty apparent that she was afraid of the way she was going to turn out but it went the way I wanted it to for the most part. I have heard that Daisy Ridley has publicly refused to be involved with the Star Wars franchise in the future. That sucks, because if I were the one writing it (Hey Lucasfilm! I'll work for half of whatever your current writers are getting. Wait. What? Whaddaya mean credentials? Resume? CV? Who needs those?) she'd get a whole trilogy in the future centered around herself especially considering the thing that happened at the one part. It would totally fit.

And if I couldn't get Rey, I'd go with one about Finn. Or maybe I'd do both. Except I think I heard that he won't be back too. That puff peppies though, because there was enough of a development with Finn that it needs to be explored. I'm not going to say what it was, except that it was something I picked up on in The Force Awakens lo those many years ago. I was surprised though, because...

Yeah, not going to reveal that. Watch the movie.

And yes, Poe had his moment too. I'm wondering if the people who are running around claiming that there was no planning done for the trilogy have watched the first two though, because his was a fairly typical character arc but it was performed beautifully. Mix Finn and Poe and there is strong evidence that things were planned from the beginning. I mean, if you were paying attention instead of whining incessantly about forced political correctness. \

Listen, I'm as anti-PC BS as anyone you know. I was once threatened with expulsion from a graduate program by a freaking Social Justice Bully because I said I wasn't ashamed to be white. That much being said, not EVERYTHING is SJB crap just like not EVERYTHING is race. Grow up, no matter what side you're on.

Having said that....

I was glad to see less of Rose this time. I kind of felt like she was always there just to show a female Asian  face and not to accomplish anything as a character. This time she actually did more than deliver one cheesy line and be diverse. It's nothing against Kelly Marie Tran. She's a good actress.

It's not that I'm against diversity. I'm all for diversity if the character has a point in existence. Look back at Star Trek:The Original Series. Hikaru Sulu, played by George Takei was, to the best of my knowledge and belief, possibly the only Asian on TV in the US at the time. Nyota Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, was one of a very few black women on TV in the US at the time as well. There weren't very many shows with integrated casts earlier than that, either.

The difference is that Uhura was the Communications Officer. She had an important job keeping her captain informed of things going on outside the ship. Sulu flew the ship and took part in some away teams. Rose, well, uhh...

She delivered a cheesy line at the end of The Last Jedi and didn't do much else.

If you want an example of a couple of  good “diverse” character in the same trilogy, look at Finn and Poe. Oscar Isaac (Poe) is Latino. He was born in Guatemala. John Boyega (Finn) is, of course, black. That's how to do it right.

I am, of course, a fan of story uber alles. There is a reason for that. It's because that's what fiction, and some non-fiction if you're into popular history, is all about. That's always been my main focus. It always will be.  As far as I'm concerned if you're reviewing fiction and story isn't your main focus you're doing it wrong. Sometimes though, other forces effect entertainment value, and this IS Star Wars, so...

The special effects for The Rise of Skywalker were completely amazing. I don't want to list them all. I can't list too many without giving up too much of the plot. I will say this though: OH MY HOLY FREAKING WOW! This movie was gorgeous. Whether it was stormy seas or space battles, everything looked great.

And, being a band geek, I can't NOT mention John Williams. He has stated that this is his last Star Wars. That makes me sad. John Williams has been with us since the beginning. Even so, he's earned his retirement. His music has always been amazing and, if I got in trouble for whistling the Princess Leia theme at my daughter when her mother thought she was my princess, that's not his fault per se. We played a John Williams show for marching band my sophomore year of high school and I loved it. I wish you well Mr. Williams and you can always count on having me as a fan. And I'll be an even bigger fan (in more ways than one) if I never have to march to Liberty Fanfare again. That tempo was just too fast for us non-athletic types.

Oh, and by the way...

That's because he can put a score like this together. Seriously. Well done music can enhance a mood and make a story work better. John Williams gets that and his music does that. The Rise of Skywalker is one of his best.  I probably should've (not should of) mentioned that first. Oops. Ah well, my blog my goofiness.

Overall, the only thing I found disappointing about The Rise of Skywalker was the Knights of Ren. Yep, we see them. I don't remember any of them speaking a single line. I mean, they look all intimidating and stuff and there was a pretty awesome fight scene with them in it but by and large, they've got a bad case of Rose Tico disease: Show up for looks and don't do much else. They all wore armor and masks, so I have no clue if they were “diverse” or not.  Overall, they should have just left them out of the trilogy completely. It would have changed basically nothing and there would have been no whining after the first two were released without them in it. Oh well, maybe Disney will make a bunch of loot selling the toys based on these guys.

Let's face it, too: A lot of us are getting a little long in the tooth. If you're going to a movie in your forties or fifties expecting to get the same feeling that you got from another movie when you were in your single digits or teens you're fooling youself. You're not that person anymore.Watch the movie for what it is and who you are and not for what the originals were and who you were then. You'll like it much better that way.

Overall though, this was a damn good flick. I mean that. I had my eyes glued to the screen the whole time this thing was on. I plan on watching it again in the future, many times. One of my friends posted a meme on Facebook the other day, asking which movies you've seen twenty times or more. This is something I will be able to mention on that kind of a meme someday. It's that good.

Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Lightsabers

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
J.J. Abrams
Lucasfilm, 2019

Some Star Wars related products can be found at the link below. If you use my link and buy anything on Amazon, I get a small percentage at no cost to you.

Check This Out!

Listen, I know that some of you out there in Blog Reader Land didn't appreciate the last two Star Wars movies. I get that. I disagree, but to each their own. I loved them but you do you.

As for me though, I'm geeked. The Rise of Skywalker will be here in December and I'm going if have to sell my soul for ticket money.

This looks sweet. It doesn't give much away, but that's a good thing. I don't want to know the plot of the movie before I see it.

I do see a whoooole bunch of Imperial ships though. It's on like a neckbone!

So let's see it! Let's hear it! I can't wait for December.

I'll see you at the theater!

Some Star Wars related items are available at the links below. I get compensated if you click my link and then buy something while you're there.

Jon Del Arroz's Justified: Saga of the Nano Templar Book One

I recently had an interesting experience that made my face turn purple and made my head want to pop off: Someone (and I don't remember who) had posted something about fantasy authors in particular being unChristian. What really set me off was when I found out that one of the excoriated authors was C.S. Lewis. Why? Because EVERYTHING THE MAN WROTE WAS CHRISTIAN ALLEGORY!!! It kind of gets my goat, especially as a Christian who loves those books. That reminds me. I need to get copies for my eight year old.

Sorry.

I bring this up to underline this fact: Science Fiction and Fantasy have a long history of religious themes and that it works IF IT'S DONE WELL. Fortunately for Mr. Jon Del Arroz and those of us who consider themselves his fans, he's done a damn good job with Justified: Saga of the Nano Templar Book One. Seriously, I love this book.

Justified is the story of Drin, a Templar warrior serving the Elorian people. It has a lot of combat to be sure. That's good. It's Space Opera with a touch of Space Fantasy. If you like Star Wars and not Justified I don't know what to tell you. It's got that kind of epic scope and maybe even some similar weaponry.

Del Arroz himself has referred to Justified as Deus Vult in space (And no, Deus Vult is not a Nazi saying.) and it fits. This is definitely a Crusader style book set in a different segment of space where there are no humans. All of the characters are aliens, and he had to adapt the Gospel story to another setting but it works.

What works better, to my mind at least, is that Drin himself has a major crisis of faith. Sort of. Maybe it's less a crisis of his faith than it is a doubt that he's spreading it in the correct manner. When one spreads their faith through war and combat and the head of the religion (called Yezuah in the book) is a man of peace, it makes sense to take pause at the forcible seizure of real estate in the effort to convert the populace. I get it.

I also get the other characters in Justified and that's what makes the book work so well. A man of faith is a believable construct since they do exist in real life (on my better days I like to think I'm a good one) but not everyone is of God. That's not just a fact, it's a reality that must be dealt with on a regular basis. And not everyone in the book is a man of God. Most don't try to be. A few happen to be members of a competing religion. It's fairly obvious which one, too.

That's good though. Every epic saga needs a definable enemy and Del Arroz has picked an ancient foe of his religion.  The battle for souls is not a new one and it translates well over interstellar distances. Del Arroz has packed just enough history into his fanciful setting to make it work while still realizing that he's not writing history and he doesn't have to get all the details of the Siege of Wherever correct, because that's not what he's writing about.

The point I was trying to make before I so effectively derailed myself though is this: Drin loves to proselytize his religion. It's his calling. Not everyone he witnesses to believes at first. That's normal. It doesn't work that way in real life. In the end though, many do. That's also realistic. Christianity is the world's largest religion. It didn't get that way because people refused to convert.

The battles in Justified sometimes feel a little more Fantasy than they do Science Fiction. I think it has to do with Drin's use of a light sword and the enemy's use of battlemages. I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. Battlemages are potent opponents and present a massive threat. It's fun to watch Drin sweat when he knows there's one around. Suspense is a good thing.

Most of the combat takes place on the ground. I'm good with that. In any real world military campaign the most important actions always take place between armies. Fleets are good and aircraft can certainly turn the tide of a land battle, but at the end of the day if one wants to take a city, they'd better put some boots on the ground. Justified is no exception. On the other hand, Drin spends a bit of time on a massive starship and I wouldn't mind seeing a deep space slugfest at some point.  I mean, this IS Space Opera.

Del Arroz does a fine job of mixing the cultures in his book. Not only do we get a good look at the culture of the culture of the hated Sekarans, but also the Skree and a bit about a race known as the Deklyn. I love the fact that space isn't covered with a monoculture. There are actually serious differences between the groups and it's fairly easy to tell which species someone is a member of based on how they're acting. That makes sense. Culture is a thing.

The world building here is both good and somewhat limited. Drin is separated from his fellow Elorians in the first few chapters and we don't see much of them after that. We get a good look at Drin's personal dislike of the enemy and how he manages to gather some allies but what we don't see a lot of is him interacting in his native culture. This is the first book in the series, so it's not like we won't see more in the future and it's also not like there was a whole lot of opportunity for it but it still strikes me as a bit weird that the only culture we don't see a lot of is the one the main character is part of. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to buy the sequel.


Bottom Line: 4.75 out of 5 Nannites

Justified
Jon Del Arroz
Superversive Press, 2019

Justified is available for purchase at the following link: