Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Book Review: Star Wars - The Princess and the Scoundrel

 


The Princess and the Scoundrel is the first Star Wars novel in the new canon (since Disney's takeover of Lucasfilm) to be set directly after the events of Return of the Jedi (in this case immediately after) that featured the legacy characters in more than just secondary or ancillary roles. The Aftermath trilogy did use Han and Leia somewhat, but they were not the focus of any of those novels. This one picks up the day after the celebration that ended Return of the Jedi. Leia is dealing with her feelings for Han, the realization that Darth Vader was her biological father, and the complications that may create in her relationship with Luke, whom she also just found out was her brother and trying to lead after "winning" the war. Han, almost on a whim, proposes to Leia and she says yes. The Ewoks, hilariously, insist on performing the ceremony, and then Han and Leia begrudgingly agree to go on a space cruise for their honeymoon, which Leia turns into a diplomatic mission. Luke, Lando, 3P0, R2, and Chewie are all in the novel in the beginning (and notably, "the kiss" from Empire is brought up in a quite funny way), but after the first third of the book, it focuses just on Leia and Han.

The bulk of the story is set aboard the luxury yacht that the two are traveling on for their honeymoon, and a moon that has a valuable resource that could be helpful to the Republic. The chapters alternate back and forth between Han and Leia's points of view. For about 2/3 of the book, it seems like there will be little to no action, but it actually turns into a nice adventure story in the last third. The best part of the story for me is Leia trying to decide if she wants to train as a Jedi and her conflicted feelings because of her hatred for Vader, and the fear of becoming like him. We also get insight into Han and Leia's early life together and the complicated nature of a relationship that was interrupted by a year in carbonite for Han and the defeat of the Empire a week after he was freed from the carbonite.

For those who like Star Wars stories with a ton of action, this one is definitely going to be harder to get into. But, if you can get through the slower start, chances are you will like the last part of the book. For those who might wonder, the novel does not include adult Leia's perspective on the events that played out in Kenobi, but hopefully, we will get that in a future novel. Overall, the book is very good and is definitely worth reading.

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