The (Almost) Forgotten Star Wars Sequels

Originally Shared on my new website:  writershemisphere.wordpress.com

In 1991, ten year old me sat spellbound as I watched the events of the sequel to Star Wars unfold in front of my very eyes.  "Wait!"  I hear you say, "There were no sequels to Star Wars in 1991.   The last movie was 'Return of the Jedi' in 1983."  Ah, my young apprentice, I sense your impatience flow through you.  What I speak of is no movie, it was a series of books known as "The Heir to the Empire" or better known as "The Thrawn" trilogy.  

Shortly after Star Wars original trio of movies ended there was an enormous fanbase ready and waiting for more stories from the universe.  People wanted Han and Leia and Luke and Chewbacca along with Lando Calrissian and others to return and continue their adventures.  George Lucas, being the enterprising man he is, granted permissions for authors to continue his work in novelizations since he had no plans at the time for any follow up movies.  For better or for worse, the Thrawn Trilogy was the force which convinced him otherwise and which sparked the fire that spread to the farthest sides of the Star Wars Universe that was to come after the new millenium.  

At its heart, the Trilogy is about the lives of our characters after the Empire's fall, about how Han and Leia start a family and how Luke struggles to be a symbol of hope despite being the last jedi.  The series does re-hash many of the themes and ideas of the original movies, but it also introduces new characters and situations as our characters and the rising "New Republic" face off against a resurgent Empire.   

This alone is a great premise for a series of books, but what makes the Thrawn trilogy truly great are the new characters.   There are many supporting characters that fans would come to know and love for years including the mysterious Mara Jade, a smuggler and assassin with shadowy ties to the Empire.  There's the smugglers around the suave and sly Talon Karrde, who are played one off another as they decide which side of the war they should side with.   By far the most striking characters we are introduced to, however, are not on the good guy's side.  

The three books are known as "The Thrawn Trilogy" because of one character, the central villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn.  Thrawn is a brilliant tactician, an alien who rose to the highest military rank in an otherwise racist Empire due to his brilliance as a tactician.  There is a humanity in this alien who studies the history and philosophy of his enemies as much as he does military tactics.  Thrawn is introduced to us studying art, and through the officers and creatures surrounding him we start to realize a strange fact.   We can see where he comes from, how he works, the value he puts in his work. 

Where Darth Vader showed us the humanity behind a fearsome cyborg mask, Thrawn shows us the tenacity of a man driven by vision to make everyone around him the best they can possibly be.   Of course, the story is driven by his actions, and he executes this masterfully up to the very end.

It has been years since I read these books, but with a recent re-release for the 25th anniversary on audible, I snatched up the opportunity.   The series is read by Mark Thompson, who is a masterful voice actor, and I was reminded how masterfully the author, Timothy Zhan, executed his work.   I harkened back to myself in 1991, excited and anxious with each act as it unfolded, and when it was done I felt both sad and satisfied as I did watching the movies.   I remember that it was Zhan and Thrawn, which I first emulated in my earliest writing.  

Today with the new sequels and a new canon, Star Wars has mostly forgotten this series.  While Thrawn's popularity has vaulted him back into the canon, it was not him alone that made the books great.  It is a series worthy of movie adaptation, but the likelihood of that happening vanished long ago.   Even so, the so called "legends" universe still stands a test of time even 25 years later.  If you are a fan of Star Wars, if you like or dislike the new series of movies, you should give these books a try.   They are the (almost) forgotten Star Wars Sequels, and the force is strong with them.  

What Next?

Originally Shared on my new website:  writershemisphere.wordpress.com

Nothing is certain,
Not the skies nor trees
The land nor sea.
Not you or me,
Not life nor death.
With each passing breath
Destiny untold may yet unfold
Every motion, a different potion.
Wake or sleep, upon high or down deep
Shall in us forever mysteries keep.

Travels in Japan, Himeji: The White Heron Castle

Originally Shared on my new website:  writershemisphere.wordpress.com

Himeji Castle is in a word, magnificent. Sitting atop its stone base, it rises like a bird stretching its wings towards the sky, like a great white heron as its namesake suggests.  Strange to say that this picturesque building so famous as Japan’s most famous castle has no single image of a heron in it.  The feudal symbol of the lord of this place was, instead, a butterfly.  Not a ferocious beast like a dragon or a griffon, but in Japan such a thing still holds power, and there is no mistaking the power of Himeji Castle.

Picture the classic European castle and you might imagine a large, brooding stone fortress with a drawbridge, high cornice towers, dungeons full of terrible implements, maybe even a fantastical dragon and a princess in the highest parapet.  Such fantasies and realities define the castles of many youths, but in Japan is not only a fortress, it is a thing of beauty.   It has sleek stone walls, all perfectly symmetrical, support wide arching roofs of black tiles that create a contrast to the white stone beneath them.  On the tallest points, one finds the trademark “Dolphin fish” meant to ward off lightning and fire.

Of course, there can’t be a castle without a ghost story, a bit of a fantastical and sad element to this beautiful place.  Himeji Castle has such a specter, the ghost of a beautiful servant named Okiku.  You can read the sad story here but the tale involves the familiar veins of love, betrayal, and ultimately Okiku is thrown down the well.  To this day there is a story of a soft, whispered voice of the servant as she counts dishes down in the well, or the figure of an ethereal woman floating around it.

Ghost or not Himeji castle is a perfect example of beauty in ferocity and perfection along with imperfection, a distinct Japanese aesthetic.  Look here and there and you can find subtle imperfections in a roof tile end being upside down, one tower being slightly askew from the lines and size of another, or the shape of paths.  Some of these are functional, creating narrow choke points for invaders and allowing the castle defenders a better option for attack.  The castle never faced intrusion however, and it is one of the longest standing examples of its kind.

Like many structures, the castle has been constructed and reconstructed over the centuries.  The last time was just before World War II when artisans reconstructed the whole superstructure with new wood.  Such refurbishment is essential in such a wet, humid climate where wood rots quickly, but the people who maintained the castle were so good at their job that the visitor could imagine it hasn’t changed in centuries.  When we arrived the castle had just undergone a renovation that restored the white coloring that gives its distinctive color, a coloring created with a form of seaweed.

The castle itself has no bad view towards it, and now bad view away from it.  It dominates the town that grew up at its foot, but even from the furthest reaches where the noblewomen maintained the lord’s court, one has a view of the keep.  Going in early spring, there were not as many flowering cherry trees, but this place is famous for its sakura blossoms in view of the building.  Even at our perspective day, there were enough blossoms to add a hint of pink color to contrast the whites and blue-blacks.

Himeji Castle’s city bears little resemblance to the castle, a modern metropolis with buildings and shopping streets lining the main road.  My parents and I enjoyed a walk down some of these lanes, including a brief stop to watch a man rolling out soba noodle dough in the front window of his shop.  When we paused to watch, he grinned at us and flashed two fingers to indicate when his shop opened.  We never got a chance to sample his soba, but I made a mental note to come back someday and try.

One has plenty to see of the castle’s exterior, but I would also say the interior is worth a visit.  My family and I were warned that there wasn’t much to see inside the castle.  We heard warnings that the interior was just “empty rooms” but even these empty rooms held mystery and majesty.  There was a sense of how things work, how the castle is built and plenty of exercise as we climbed many -very- narrow stairs.  Yes, unfortunately, there is no wheelchair access into the keep’s main tower turret and there is no easy escalator.  Sorry.

Overall Himeji Castle and City are well worth a visit, a definite day trip or an overnight stay.  It’s conveniently located along the Shinkansen route to the west, and just a half hour from Osaka and some other major cities.  If you are going to Japan, I would highly suggest that this castle is an appointment that you keep