Voyager Theory Part 1: Pax Federation

Hello guys and gals. After a few years, I am back to posting on the blog. Something that prompted this was a few weeks ago, I was watching a video on Youtube where they counted the actual number of torpedoes fired by Voyager. The actual number is several times larger than the actual stated number. I posted that I had a theory that Voyager was actually a Section 31 ship and that Katheryn Janeway was specifically chosen to be captain due to her unwillingness to break the Prime Directive even if it meant getting home faster. A youtuber commented they wished to read the full theory, so here we go.

Voyager Theory Part 1: Pax Federation

- The trouble is Earth. 

- Really? 

-On Earth there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window of Starfleet headquarters and you see paradise. Well, it's easy to be a saint in paradise, but the Maquis do not live in paradise. Out there in the Demilitarised zone, all the problems haven't been solved yet. Out there, there are no saints, just people. Angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive whether it meets with Federation approval or not.

 - Benjamin Sisko, Kira Nerys, "Deep Space 9 - S2 E22: The Marquis Part II"

The Federation had been a shining example of social government and equality. In the nearly 300 years of it's existance, it had beaten back every enemy it had come across. It had even made alliance with it's enemies, such as the Klingons during the 2293 Khitomer Accords. It had become so secure in it's own power that it had actually dismantled many of it's own starbases and stripped the military aspect of its Starfleet, declaring Pax Federation throughout the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. 

There had been the occasional border disputes. Such as with the Cardassians and the Tzenkethi, who had brought about their own small conflicts. But these had been resolved, with only the Cardassian peace causing any sort of scandal with the creation of the Demilitarized Zone, which placed many Federation citizens on the wrong side of the border, taking away the security they had enjoyed in the Federation. 

There were of course the occasional scandal. Perhaps the biggest one came in the form of a parasitic race that had infiltrated Starfleet Command itself. The parasitic race had originated from the Delta Quadrant, and as they took over the bodies of members of the Starfleet Admiralty, they eliminated any person who were not bamboozled. 

As with all thing Trek though, this conspiracy was defeated in one fell swoop. Our heroes of the Enterprise-D dispatched the parasites with perhaps the single-most goriest death of Star Trek history.

But such events were the the exception and not the norm. The Federation had grown to a state where the economy was not based off money, but apparently off a barter system. The pursuit for material gain was gone, replaced by a pursuit to simply push one's self, improving one's natural abilities. 

- The economics of the future are somewhat different. ...You see, money doesn't exist in the twenty-fourth century.

- No money? That means you don't get paid? 

- The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. ...We work to better ourselves ...and the rest of humanity. Actually we're rather like yourself and Doctor Cochrane.

-Jean-Luc Picard and Lily, "Star Trek: First Contact"

Personally, I have always wondered just why anyone would actually go do anything in a society where need has been eliminated. Without gain, why would anyone, such as Joseph Sisko, open businesses? Why would someone write books like Jake Sisko? With the introduction of holodecks and replicators, why would anyone want to leave their own homes?

Not to keep pushing this tangent, but we even see that creativity in pop culture has all but ground to a halt. We don't see new books being released. Outside of Jake Sisko's books he's written, almost every book we have ever seen comes from Earth's past. Music seems to have all but been restricted to either classical or Jazz. 

Most holodeck programs that Federation citizens seemed to focus on the outdoors or old time bars. Novels from the past made up the majority of holodecks based on books. Few were centered on action, instead focusing on peaceful environments.

Starfleet as well changed its focus. The majority of activities were scientific related. No longer was it focused on preparing for major conflicts. Without major opposition to challenge them, the need for keeping a keen tactical edge was negligible.

-I prefer brains over brawn as well. I think it's a waste of effort to test our combat skills. It's a minor province in the make-up of a starship captain. 

-William T. Riker, "The Next Generation - S2 E21: Peak Performance"

They went so far as having families on-board starships. Out of the just over 1,000 people on-board the Enterprise-D, a good portion of this was made up with children and spouses of crew personnel. 

This feeling of luxury the Federation was experiencing actually created a feeling of goodwill towards all their neighbors. They went so far as to allow people from non-Federation worlds to serve in Starfleet.

The Federation of United Planets was in a golden age. An age of plenty, sickness free, poverty vanished. If one simply wished to step outside their door, a whole galaxy awaited for them. 

But then Q came onto the scene. And a simple discourse passed between him and Captain Picard that signaled that this complacent Federation had been lulled into the worse type of feeling: a feeling of false security.

- Oh, the arrogance. They don't have a clue as to what's out here. 

-They're moving faster than expected, further than they should. 

- But they will learn, adapt. That is their greatest advantage. 

- By whose calculations?  

- You judge yourselves against the pitiful adversaries you have encountered so far. The Romulans, the Klingons. They are nothing compared to what's waiting. Picard, you are about to move into areas of the galaxy containing wonders more incredible than you can possibly imagine, and terrors to freeze your soul. I offer myself as guide only to be rejected out of hand.  

- We'll just have to do the best we can without you. 

- What justifies that smugness? 

- Not smugness, not arrogance. But we are resolute, we are determined, and your help is not required. 

- We'll just have to see how ready you are.

-Q, Jean-Luc Picard, William T. Riker, Guinan, "The Next Generation: S2 E16: Q Who"

Coming up next: Part 2: Assimilation

Dealing with online baiters

It can be hard dealing with these type of people.

We all know their type. You go online, state your opinion, and there is always that one person who jumps down your throat for saying it. I call these people, quiet properly, "Online Baiters". They are trying to bait you into long, drawn out war of words, in which they can use everything at their disposal to try to make you feel like you are in the wrong.

I recently encountered one of these. The particular site is a Star Trek online message board site. We were discussing a character from Deep Space Nine, who I felt was supposed to be representative of transgenders. There was a cacophony of people of the LBGT community who felt that wasn't the case because "well, the symbiot the character has doesn't have a gender itself, so it can't possibly be one." Except the character's symbiot had had many hosts, roughly half male and half female. But that is not important.

Now, there is a user on the site who is always looking for a fight. A couple years back, I posted about Sir Patrick Stewart was rumored to be performing the marriage of Ian McKellan to his boyfriend. I asked him his thoughts, only to get yelled at by the user that I had no right asking him about this, since it isn't real. Now, this user was one of the reasons I left the site for over a year.

I even got warning on my profile for being and suspended for a week for defending being a Republican when he and his friends ripped into the GOP, calling all Republicans unreasonable and all good ones dying out with Reagen.

There was also my response of "Your mom died with Reagen" that also contributed to it.

So forward to 2017. I finally return to the site. The election is over, Trump is Prez, so there should be less of a problem. Nope, the site is still pretty toxic. But, that's fine, as I'm there to post fanfics and other stuff. So....forward to a week after my return. The longer we delve into the topic, the more the one guy gets more and more wound up about the need to explain that every relationship in ST if it's male has sexual undertones to it. I finally respond with a lengthy response that there is no basis for what he says and people need to stop looking for homosexuality where there is none.

Yep....that didn't go over well. He launched into a massive attack, saying everything that I said but reversing it to make me look like a bigot.

A good rumble can do the soul some good!

So.....what do you do in such a case? The obvious answer is to try to decelerate the argument. So, I told him to stop being an arse about it, I wasn't bashing gays and we should get back on topic. I worded it more eloquently, trying to bring the situation under control before it got out of control any more.

Did that work? Nope. This guy loves the idea of fighting anyone who isn't homosexual. Having known this guy for seven years, I'm speaking with lots of experience.

So, said man continues his attack, trying to make me out to be an idiot. He tries baiting me, for he and the guy who suspended me are tight buds and that was how the got me suspended in the first place. Riling me up, so that we he could go bawling to the other moderator so the other moderate suspended me.

So what do you do now? You tried to decelerate the argument but the other guy won't take it. My response was simple. "It's done. It's over. Let's get back on topic."

That was the last of it....which happened actually an hour ago. So, we shall see what happens next!

With such a site, one that obviously my brand of ideas is best kept to myself, why would I return to it? One where my views are seen as bad? Where the site has gotten even worse, the continual need to bash anyone down who doesn't see their viewpoint? So bad that the almost strictly liberal crowd is tearing itself apart as they seem unable to post any topics anymore without it going political and angry?

Well, it's the online Star Trek forum I currently am subscribed to. There is some good conversations on there and I can post my fanfics pretty easily! I'd hate to leave again so soon after getting back, but I get the feeling that might have to be what happens.

I'll keep you guys informed on what transpires!

Episode VIII Predicitions

With the end of episode VII, it set up for a very interesting future for the saga. The movie ended with the First Order and New Republic reeling from very hefty destruction being wrought (one with a loss of government and military and the other a loss of a major superweapon). You have Rey finding Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren being brought back for training.

It's a set up for a very interesting sequel to the Force Awakens.

What I will do with this post is talk about my predictions on what will happen in the hereto unnamed Episode VIII. What my thoughts will be on the future of different aspects of the Star Wars galaxy at large.

Status of the First Order, Resistance and New Republic

First, we shall tackle the First Order.

The Galactic Empire still lives on in the hearts of the faithful

Highly do I doubt that the First Order has suffered a mortal wound. The military leadership more or less escaped Starkiller base intact, with Kylo Ren not being killed, but only wounded. Even then, his wounds I don't think were nearly as sever as we are initially led to believe.

The loss of Starkiller base actually seems to be of minimal interest to Supreme Commander Snoke and we can be certain the Finalizer, our newest variation on the Star Destroyer design, is merely the flagship in a whole line of these beasties. We also know that a good deal of the military hardware (mainly vehicles such as starships) also escaped and we see that they are pretty good pilots, if their flying in Jakku, Takodana and Starkiller Base are any indication.

A very interesting idea to note is just how wealthy the First Order really is. They built an entire planetary weapon that is capable of draining stars. They've built star destroyers that dwarf their predecessors. Kylo Ren even makes an off-handed comment about, "Perhaps Supreme Leader should consider using clones." 

The clone Grand Army of the Republic was not inexpensive by any means and all but bankrupted the Old Republic during the Clone Wars. The fact that Kylo Ren talks pretty lightly about using a clone army suggests that either the First Order has the tech to create a clone army or are rich enough that they can actually afford a clone army.

We can also assume that the First Order has a good deal of influence, planetary wise. With the loss of the New Republic's leadership and military, we could see that the First Order actually grows in strength during the time between The Force Awakens and Episode VIII.

Next let us move onto the Resistance.

A singular victory by the Resistance doesn't mean it's going to be stronger later on

The Resistance is in a better bad way by the end of TFA. They lost roughly half the pilots they sent against Starkiller base and they weren't a very large organization beforehand. At no time was it indicated that the Resistance had really much in the way of support.

The Resistance was created for a two fold purpose. The finding of Luke Skywalker and the hindering of the efforts of the First Order. 

However, despite the hefty responsibility it had, the Resistance really was given very little with which to do their duty. With the loss of the Republic's leadership and military, we are going to see either of two options happening here. The Resistance will either step in to lead the New Republic with which it is a Republic run military organization or two, the remnants of the New Republic's military will join the Reistance without it taking over the leadership of it. Either way, I highly doubt we will be seeing much in the way of the Resistance really recovering from the losses they incured during TFA.

Last but not least the New Republic.

I am not sure I liked how they've handled the New Republic up to this point in the new canon. Frankly, the new EU has really poo-pood the Republic. Instead of learning from the past, they are managing to fudge it up. During the really awful book Aftermath there is a scene that Mon Mothma decides that it is in the best interests of the Republic that at the end of the war they will cut back the military by a massive 90 percent. 

You read that right. Despite they are facing the antagonistic remnants of the Empire which never cuts back it's own military output and actually has the majority of the economic and industrial worlds under their control  by the end of the conflict (according to the book Lost Stars), the Republic decides to cut back dramatically. Therefore, it is very easy to understand why their entire military would be wiped out by a single blow to the Republic.

Even in the novelization of TFA, it is revealed that the New Republic was about to implode. Most of the planets that fell under Republic control after the conflict actually preferred the Palpatanian Regime's telling them what to do and didn't like the democratic ways of the Republic. 

I think that the remnants of the New Republic will either have more or less dissolved by Episode VIII or they will rally together under the leadership of the Resistance but either way, it's going to be a very weak Republic that's going to enter the new movie. As stated above, the First Order will probably find itself with a lot more control by the new movie, having proved their superiority over the larger government.

The Training of Jedi and Knight of Ren

Most people commenting have been excited over the prospect of Luke taking on the mantle of teacher with Rey. I also find it a very alluring prospect. However, we seem to have forgotten Kylo Ren in the mix. But, let us start with talking about Rey.

Going from scavenger to Jedi never took such little time

We never have seen Luke in the capacity of trainer before. But before we get excited by the prospect, let us remember he failed to keep his nephew from falling to the Dark Side. Nor did he prevail in saving his Jedi Order from the Knights of Ren. Frankly, Luke is a failure as a teacher and as a Jedi Master.

We are going to see a ton of reluctance on the part of Luke to train Rey. Eventually he will and Rey will be on par with the pre-Endor ROTJ status Luke was by the end of the movie. I think that perhaps Luke himself will be far more powerful as he is at the First Jedi Temple and that Rey will a very fast learner. 

Personally though, despite all that, I am actually much more excited to see what will happen with Kylo Ren. 

A lot rides on Episode VIII for Kylo Ren

Up to this point of time, we have never witnessed Dark Sider training in the movies. It had its place in the Clone Wars series but the movies have never gone in depth with the training of evil. Personally, I don't follow the theory that states that Kylo Ren is acting as double agent, working for Snoke but taking his orders from Luke. Why would Luke encourage the massacre of his new Order?

Kylo Ren lost a lot of his street cred with the audience in TFA. He lost to a girl who had no Force training. He lost to a girl whose only actually combat experience prior to the movie was against low-end thugs. As a villain, the movie destroyed him and it will take a sizable victory over Rey in the next movie to really get him back into our collective good graces.

But I am interested to see how his murdering his father will affect him. Will it cause more turmoil for him? Or will our friend Snoke be able to purge him of the emotions of regret and push him further into the dark?

Rian Johnson as director

I am actually very intrigued by the idea of Rian Johnson being the director. He is a director that always writes the script for what he directs, which makes him very unique in a world where the scripts are usually doled out to someone else. Also his work on the movie Looper resulted in one of the most unique and unpredictable sci-fi films of all time. 

What I think will happen in the movie

First off, I don't think it will be so adherent to plot-points from Empire Strikes Back. Unlike Abrams, who apparently wasn't given much creative control, Johnson does have the creative control and we will see a very original movie compared to it's predecessor.

This will very much be a Rey/Ren movie.

I think the closest thing it will resemble ESB is the Jedi training. But with the induction of Sith training, I think we will see two very similar but different plots in VIII. We might have a war very similar to ESB with the First Order, resurgent from the defeat at Starkiller base hunting down the Resistance. Yet, unlike ESB, I think the Resistance will be much more of a fight than its ESB counterpart.

I think we will also learn who Snoke is. While I am holding out for a Plagueis the Wise, I'd be kinda fine if he was a very different character. However, Andy Serkiss has confirmed he has a connection with the Old Republic and even the novelization of TFA states he saw the Republic fall and the Empire rise and was observant of the controlling Sith.

We will also learn who the parents of Rey are. In some ways, I hope it is Luke. The dynasty of the family directly linked to the Force I highly doubt would be allowed to die off by the Force. However, it would nice if there was also someone not of the Skywalker linage who was the main Jedi of this trilogy.

I think we shall also see Captain Phasma and Hux getting more of a due in this movie and not so underutalized. But who knows?

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens Review (Spoilers Ahead!)

As a major Star Wars fan, I was excited and yet apprehensive for this film. Excited because it was Star Wars and it was the first film we had gotten in 15 years. Well, no technically true. We got Clone Wars in '08, Sparks of Rebellion in '13 and Siege of Lothal earlier this year. Personally, I think SOL was an excellent movie show-casing the Darth Vader we all knew and love effectively. It was also superior to the other three cartoon movies.

But as for an official Star Wars episode, this would be the first in a long time. Gone were the days as a kid that I said, "There's no way I'm watching anything more than 1-6 because it's the story of Anakin Skywalker! Lucas said so!" It is a very exciting time for the Star Wars universe and I looked forward to seeing where we had ended up.

I was however apprehensive. We were getting Abrams doing this film. And we all knew the debacle that was Star Trek Into Darkness, one of the most universally panned ST films. Even Star Trek '09 despite it's originality, made almost no sense and many fans weren't even able to finish the film because of the sheer volume of nonsense that went on. Heck, even his films Cloverfield and Super 8 were nothing to write home about and his Mission Impossible movies offer nothing in terms of original story telling, following the same basis as what had been seen in the first three movies.

Obviously, Abrams wasn't exactly the fans best choice for the new SW films.

But all that said, we hold our collective breaths and plunge headlong into the movie.

Story:

We will start by talking about the story. Luke Skywalker has gone missing and two factions have arisen for two conflicting purposes. The First Order arose with a simple goal, finding and killing Luke Skywalker and ending any hope of the Jedi rising again. The Resistance was created by the backing of the New Republic to hinder the First Order and find Luke Skywalker to bring him back to the fold. 

In theory I get on board with this plotline. And yet, here is where my first problem arises with the story. Why was the New Republic not completely invested in hunting down and destroying this Imperial Remnant which clearly was antagonistic? If they really had an invested interest in keeping Luke alive, why did they do really so little to protect him? But for more problems I have with the story, I'll leave it for another section.

Anyways, moving on. 

The Resistance and First Order have learned that an old man on the desert planet Jakku has a piece of the map to finding Luke Skywalker. The Resistance beats the First Order there by sending their best pilot. He gets the information but barely has it before the First Order arrives. He gets captured but not before hiding it in the now famous BB-8 droid.

BB-8 escapes and finds Rey, a girl who has been abandoned by her family on Jakku, As she befriends

the little droid, she soon becomes entangled in the larger mission to save Luke Skywalker. This happens because one of the troopers who attacked the Jakku village deserts the First Order, rescues Poe Dameron the pilot and they end up crash landing on Jakku and separated, the stormtrooper deserter who has been called Finn finds them. 

They escape TIE Fighter pursuit on a derelict Millennium Falcon only to be caught by a First Order transport which just happens to be piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca, who are back in debt to gangster organizations. After a hectic three way battle between gangsters, our heroes and monsters out of Edge of Tomorrow they end up blasting away in the Falcon.

This is perhaps the most celebrated scene of the movie.

When Han learns that BB-8 has a piece of the map that will help them find Luke Skywalker, he immediately decides to help them. Years have gone by and he has been converted to the ideas of the Force and has become an ardent supporter of it. But, he can't go to Leia who he has had a severe falling out from. So, he takes them to a backwater forest planet where an old friend of his can help them.

They are able to secure this aliens help, but Finn refuses to go to the Resistance, finally confessing to Rey that he's not Resistance, which he had been telling her the entire time. He's left the First Order but fears the wrath they are about to unleash. Rey's Force abilities begin to awaken as she is called by Anakin Skywalker lightsaber and we see a force vision that shows the end of the Luke Skywalker's original attempt to create a new Jedi Order. The ancient alien who Han went to seek her help, tries to convince Rey that it is her destiny to take up the calling of the Force but Rey, frightened by the implications, runs off into the woods.

Up to this point, Kylo Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren under the mysterious Supreme Commander Snoke, has been trying to track down the droid BB-8. Him and General Hux, the military leader of the First Order military, have been at odds on how to carry out this mission. General Hux convicnes Snoke it is time to demonstrate the power of their super-weapon and with his approval, destroys the government and military of the New Republic in one fell swoop. At the same time, Kylo Ren attacks and captures Rey before being beaten off by Resistance forces led by Poe Dameron. 

The scene has the feeling of an old Western cavalry coming to the rescue.

Han Solo and company go to the Resistance headquarters where we learn that Leia and Han had a son. This child became Kylo Ren and he destroyed Luke's New Order after being seduced by Snoke to the Dark Side. This drove the two apart even though they still obviously love each other. This also drove Luke into hiding, feeling responsible for not only allowing his nephew to fall, but also the damage done to the relationship of those he felt closest to.

They plan to destroy the superweapon, the Starkiller Base before it can wipe out the Resistance, and with Finn's knowledge of the planet-sized superweapon, they are able to damage the weakpoint enough that the Resistance pilots lead by Poe are able to destroy the superweapon. Rey starts to allow to start using her new-found Force powers and is able to escape capture.

However, during the escape and damaging the weakpoint, Han tries to convince his son whose real name is Ben, to turn from the Darkness. Kylo Ren has been conflicted, torn between the call of the Light Side and the lure of the dark path he wishes to follow. Just when Kylo seems as if he will be redeemed, he murders his father and after being wounded by Chewbacca, pursues Rey and Finn. In an epic lightsaber clash, he overwhelms Finn and nearly kills him. But Rey, finally fully embraces the Force and defeats him. She doesn't kill him but he is badly maimed. Both are rescued as the planet falls apart. One is saved by the Falcon and the other is saved by General Hux, who acting under orders of Snoke is retrieving him so that Kylo can finish his training.

Harrison Ford claims the battle between Rey and Kylo is his favorite scene of the movie.

After the destruction of Starkiller base, R2 awakens and reveals he has the rest of the map that BB-8 only had a part of. From there, they learn the location of Skywalker and Rey, Chewbacca and BB-8 are chosen to go to Luke. So, they rush to the planet he is on and the movie ends with Rey standing before Luke, holding out his lightsaber to him.

Things that work well for the movie:

Let us start with the good the movie has to offer. The acting in this movie excels for the most part. There are many newcomers to the big screen, most notably Daisy Ridley, with this being her first project for the most part, besides a few minor roles on tv. But you could never tell with how she holds her own against veteran actors like Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. The same can be said for the rest of the cast, who really play well off each other.

This leads to another point I wish to make. Abrams is a master at interpersonal relations. It was a genuine thrill to see the interactions between Oscar Issac's Poe Dameron and John Boyegas' Finn, Finn and Daisy Ridleys' Rey, Rey with Harrison's Han Solo. Even Adam Driver's Kylo Ren and Domnhall Gleeson's General Hux worked very well together, even though they were villains. 

Very epic pieces of dialogue can be found in the movie.

The writing for the movie was very stong. There were some parts they didn't make much sense, but the most part, the dialogue was exactly what was needed and they towed the fine line between witty and seriousness masterfully.

This also feels like a natural progression of technology. A big complaint about the PT is that the tech is so much more advanced that in the OT. My personal theory is that Palpatine actually banned the advancement of tech except for his military so people were forced to watch the tech they had degrade. It's also my belief that there was a gender purge as well, which would account for the lack of so many of the female gender.

It felt indeed like 30 years had passed,

This did feel like a natural progression of society. The Jedi are basically a myth, something that they were in the OT, only this time, it is more commonly accepted at the level of the Knights of the Round Table. The Galaxy seems to have more or less moved on from the need of the Force, even though Factions realize it's potential.

By the end of the movie, it left me feeling very hopeful for the next movie. You have Rey meeting Luke and we are hopefully going to see Luke as the teacher. We will meet Supreme Commander Snoke and I hope he will be revealed as Darth Plagueis the Wise who faked his own death, even to a Sith as powerful as Sidious. We will also see something we have never seen before.....a dark sider being trained.

Things that didn't work so well:

Despite the strength of the film, they fell extremely short in several regards. 

One of the worst decisions in the movie was to hype Gwendoline Christies' character. Captain Phasma was made in the trailers to be far more formidable and a bit more involved in the story then what we got. Her character was so underplayed that was all but a nonentity. In fact, we all but forget about her because she simply has no bearing on the story.

Why make such a big deal out of her if you weren't going to really use her?

Another was their seeming desire to rush Adam Driver's character. Kylo Ren failed in many regards because Abrams and company wanted to rush his origins and backstory. They stripped away the mystery of the character far too swiftly and we were left not with an imposing figure that the layers of his complexity were revealed in a good pace, to a character rushed, taking away much of the power of his persona.

Fin was also misused. There is no sense that he was a programmed trooper who broke his conditioning. He seemed more to have been someone who had never fully been convinced of the rightness of the Cause and it just seemed that Abrams and company never really knew what they wanted to do with him. I truly never felt he had been a true believer, despite his claims.

At least Finn wasn't always out of breath and sweating like the trailers made it out to be,

In the story section, I mentioned the sheer minimalist support the New Republic gave the Resistance. If Luke was so important, why did they do so little to safeguard him? This bleeds over into another problem I had with the movie. How was it possible that the entire military of the New Republic and it's entire government could be wiped out by a single blow? Are you really saying that there wasn't senators that were out of town visiting their own systems or on diplomatic missions? Was there really no fleets of patrol ships patrolling the Republic's borders? The level of sheer incompetence is not realistic and is a serious flub in the story.

Why did R2-D2 wait until Starkiller Base was destroyed before coming back to life with the rest of the map? Wouldn't he want his old master to be found as soon as possible? In fact, why couldn't the Resistance use existing starcharts, compare them to the piece of the map BB-8 brought? Sure, it's not a part of space they know, but surely they can use what they've got and figure it out.

They also mishandled the revel of Luke. It was never going to meet the hype, but the music they used for it was subdued, and in no ways did it fit the tone that there should have been for the moment the whole film had been building towards. In fact, the whole scene felt very anti-climatic.

I also had a problem with the First Order. There seemed to be no goals of the First Order beside the elimination of the Jedi. The destruction of the New Republic government did not seem so much to be for an actual bid for getting a better political position in the galaxy at large, but merely as a tool to prevent the Resistance from their meddling in the destruction of Luke Skywalker. In fact, for the Heirs to the Empire, they seemed to have no real grand purpose beyond extinguishing the light, making the whole regime feel utterly one-dimensional.

You have the ability to easily defeat the New Republic and yet you squander it merely on hunting a single Jedi?

Originality of the story:

What originality? I have heard people on Facebook comment on it, "It's Episode IV, only with better graphics." And that's utterly true, although they use plot elements from other movies as well. This isn't surprising, as Abrams was never a master at original stories.

Lets count a few ways this is true.

- Abandoned girl on desert planet finds a droid carrying important secret document. Orphaned boy on desert planet finds a droid carrying important secret documents.

Abrams was never a master at originality.

- Stormtrooper rescues rebel pilot from Star Destroyer. Luke disguised as stormtrooper rescues Leia from Death Star.

- Rey is a master at fixing equipment and flying ships. Anakin Skywalker is a master at fixing equipment and flying ship.

- First Order has a super-weapon that can destroy several planets. Empire has a super-weapon that can destroy plants.

I think they understood the non-originality of the story by having Ackbar even point it out.

- Starkiller base has building that is weakness that can be destroyed with missiles. Death Star has exhaust shaft that can be destroyed by missiles.

- Kylo Ren can communicate to his master in holocommunications in scenes very similar to the ESB Vader's chamber scene. They even have a conversation very similar. "There is a great disturbance in the Force." "I have felt it."/"There has been an awakening? Have you felt it?" "Yes."

- Both VII and IV open with a stormtrooper attack that wipes out the defenders. One takes place with a ship-to-ship boarding, the other is a planet-side landing.

- Both Poe Dameron and Princess Leia hide the secret plans in a droid.

- Episodes I, IV and VII all have a mentor being slaughtered before the eyes of their proteges. 

- Episodes III, V, VI and VII have a "Come with me" speech. III, VI and VII revolves around, "Come away with me and abandon the dark side. V and VII take place on a bridge.

- IV, V and VII both have Jedi that are self-exiled. Both V and VII the young Jedi-to-be must go search out the Jedi Master.

Need I go on? I left the movie theater with an odd lack of feeling any originality from this film. This happened in STID and the Mission Impossible movies. Heck, even Colverfield felt nothing more than an alternate version of the Blair Witch Project. The one major movie that seems to break that mold Star Trek '09 had so many plot holes you could fly the Enterprise through. Or, if we want to keep in line with Star Wars references, it had as big a holes in it as the Second Death Star.

In summary:

As a movie, it was a thrill to watch. The acting was more or less incredible and there was never a dull moment. It feels like Star Wars. Yet don't expect to come away feeling anything as if this will reshape the entire franchise.

On to book 3...

Hello chickadees. I know it's been a long while since I updated the blog, and for that I'm sorry. So....the Confederacy Trilogy has been wrapped up. Still getting mixed reviews from it. Also did some other alternate history stuff as well. However, the main focus of this post is going to be book 3 of the Adnar Chronicles.

The Folly of Kings

This is a pretty nice cover, if I say so myself.

The working title was "Kingdoms Fall" but I decided to change it to the "Folly of Kings" as it fits the events far better than what the former title suggests. I won't give away too much of the story line, but let me give away a few sneak peeks of the next book.

-There will be a scene involving Polgar the Black-Bladed at a solitary mountain. He will have his legion captains with him. 

-Another scene has a general with a bad temper in a bog. The bog nulls magic and he is accompanied by a magical creature.

-A scene where a man visits a prisoner and has a philosophical discussion with them about the nature of truth.

-One chapter we learn a character's backstory. It is very dark and shows that even royalty are not immune to corruption.

On Facebook, I posted a few paragraphs of one of the chapters. This will probably change a bit in due time. Yet I have a July 1 release date planned so I will need to wrap up everything before then. Yet here is the scene.

"Khad frowned. “What for?” he asked, turning to his father. “What are we all doing here so late?”
“Mind your insolent tongue before I do it for you!” Tretcher snapped, walking over to the hand in the star scape. He turned around and sat, and only then did Andrew realize that it was the throne. “I wish you all to be here when I present the Crown Princess, the true heir to the throne.”
Andrew glanced sideways at Khad, and the still groggy lad shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He glanced back as Tretcher clapped his hands together and from behind the throne stepped out a woman who was illuminated by a passing comet that threw the entire room into light for a few seconds."

How much further do I have to do before the July 1 release

A few more chapters for certain. The final draft has to be uploaded by June 21, so I have a good while to get it done and sent to my editor. However, the guy who usually does it, which is extremely good compared to the guys who have done my alternate history novels and novellas, just moved and is having a baby. So I might just have to hire someone else. Wish I didn't though (this guy, besides being really good, also does it for free!).

Conceptual Ideas

Last but not least, here are some conceptual sketches I drew myself for scenes from "Rise of the Dragonlord" that I think are pretty cool. Don't laugh though, I never was much an artist!

This, for those who read book 2, should instantly pick out which scene this is from!

This is a very basic concept of what a strago would like with, with the crouched posture on the right.

Stragos, who mutilate themselves as part of rites of passage.

In summary

I really hope to get this done and have a very good story for everyone! I know I'm enjoying it, as the pace is much more blase and not so much focused on battle but on the people involved and their evolution. Dragons and empires at peril and personal crises all combine to make really good stuff!

Happy New Years Brought by Massive Battles

So for all those who are not in the know, I am internationally renowned. I've got copies of my alternate Civil War trilogy circulating nearly all corners of the globe. I've got readers and fans in Europe, North America and Australia. And with today, I release the last book of the Rise of the Confederacy Trilogy. Book 3 features massed battles, political intrigue and a few non-historical characters.

What is the Rise of the Confederacy Trilogy about?

Perhaps one of the most asked alternate history questions revolves around a Southern victory in the American Civil War.I explore what would have happened if Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia had destroyed a much larger portion of the Army of the Potomac during the Chancellorsville Campaign. Thus began a trilogy in which a desperate United States gives command of it's largest army to a man who has a plan to defeat the South, even if it means burning Northern farmlands to defeat them and launching a terrorist campaign against the South.

It's a rather fun read and I had lots of fun writing it. Part of the fun of it was going through and researching the Civil War again. I used to be an aficionado of the Civil War but time (and Netflix) helped shift from a sole concentration of the Civil War. Yet, going back through and finding out new stuff that I had never know was more than fun and helped shape incredible ideas for the story.

What the critics say?

For the most part, I've had a much better reception than bad. As of New Years Day at 12:01 am, I had sold over 600 copies of the stories. Sure, it comes down to the rather reasonable price for the books (all three books combined only come up to $3.75) but I am surprised by the flood of readers. Even my reviews have been on the up and up. I've had seven 5 star reviews, one 3 star review and only four reviews have been under 2 and under stars. And one of the four was a person who mistook the book for a factual telling of the Civil War and was confused at why I was adding a different history to the books!

The Future of my Books

It's not my last book that I'll ever write and I already have another books that will be released this month. It's an alternate history set during the Roman Republic which I think will appeal to all my fans. We also have two other books coming out in the next few months and I have no reason to doubt that by July there will be a multitude of new books out. Most will fall under alternate history, but I think most people will like it!

My Author Ventures

With my addition of my books to Amazon.com through the Kindle Publishing, I have seen a dramatically large increase in sales of my books. So much so, that in the past three days I have sold almost 40 copies. That's ten times the amount of books I sold in the prior seven years using Lulu.com. Therefore, I am switching over my publishing almost exclusively to Amazon, and I plan on using their Createspace to make paperback copies of the books.

I currently have copies being sold in Australia, Germany and the UK besides those in America and in the past two months, I've sold over 200 copies. That's a 500% increase of my sales in the prior years! Wowsers!

Now, with that being said, here is my current plans over the next few months. I will release the last book of Rise of the Confederacy Trilogy and book 2 of my Adnar Chronicles. Be prepared for dragons and sea battles!

I also will be publishing in January a story I've dreamed about writing for a long time. Desert Eagles will be the newest alternate history set in the Roman Republic. Let your minds ponder those hints. Deserts, Roman Republic and Eagles. Not too much fits that description!

Following that, I will be finishing up a short story set in a history in which Napoleon's 1812 Invasion of Russia was a success. It shall be called Napoleon's Eagles. Not to mention book 3 of the Adnar Chronicles.

Look out for these exciting titles and more!