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. 

Showing posts with label Han Solo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Han Solo. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Book Review: Star Wars: Solo: A Star Wars Story Expanded Edition

 


This is the novelization of Solo: A Star Wars Story. It was written by Mur Lafferty and published in 2018, following the movie's theatrical release. Solo is a story that got a pretty bad (in my opinion) rap, mainly because of all the chaos surrounding the movie's filming. The movie, which is much better than it got credit for, and the box office returns showed, suffered from the backlash over The Last Jedi and being released so soon after it. Had they stuck with the December release schedule, I think it would have done much better and not have been written off. So, if you avoided seeing the movie because of bad press, I would suggest reading the book because the quality of the story may surprise you.

The hardcover version of the book is about 300 pages long. It sticks pretty closely to what you see in the film (assuming you have seen the movie). It does have some additions that add to or expand what is in the movie, but they do not add anything all that substantive that radically changes the story shown in the movie. I do think the novel could have fleshed out a little more detail from the time jump between when Han gets off Cordelia and when he meets with the crew of smugglers. It did add some additional details from during that time period, but not a ton.

Overall, I think if you enjoyed the movie, you will enjoy the novel. If you hated the movie, there is not much about the novel that is likely to sway you off that point. I think it is a good story that flows well and makes for a fairly quick read.