A short film by Erik Wernquist, narrated by Carl Sagan from his book Pale Blue Dot.

Day 18: Name 5 books that are on your mind right now. Seriously, just do it. (Freestyle)

 

- - -

 

I've been having crazy mad re-reading urges all year for lots of different books, so that's what I'm thinking about right now. It's super hard to resist reading all the books I want to reread. I'm not even going to bother listing them out here. There are too many, but this is one of the series/authors I've been craving.

 

I discovered one of Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy books in my library shortly after I discovered Star Wars (at the age of sixteen, mind you). This led me to the Barnes & Noble shelf full of NOTHING BUT STAR WARS and my brain FREAKED THE FUCK OUT. I spent the next three years buying two or three Star Wars expanded universe books every weekend.

 

The Timothy Zahn Thrawn Trilogy were the second EU books I read, because a BN bookseller was kind enough to tell me they were "awesome." Unfortunately, they also set me up for disappointment where pretty much all the other EU books were concerned (although I really loved I, Jedi, the X-Wing books, and the A.C. Crispin Han Solo trilogy). I didn't get to read Specter of the Past or Vision of the Future until my freshman year of college, but I remember absolutely devouring both of them. I especially thought it was interesting how they switched my interest from Han Solo to Luke Skywalker, and I love love LOVE Mara Jade.

 

I've done a lot of growing as a reader and a writer since I first discovered these books, so I'd be interested to see how well they hold up. Maybe next year?

If I haven't mentioned it before, let me iterate that I love Carl Sagan; I've even said that my first born child will be named after him.

 

While this was dry in some places, which was unusual for Sagan, it was a fantastic work nonetheless. I found it very interesting that astrophysics could potentially solve a lot of problems with finite resources such as mineral deposits once we find a cheaper method of doing the thing that solves it. It was also pretty cool that he went into why NASA is so important to humanity as a whole.

 

I strongly recommend this book to people who love science as well as to those who don't understand why NASA is still around.

When did you last despair of the fleeting nature of the human enterprise? It is a constant thought with me now. Humans have endangered the prospects of life on this planet that we call home through a consistent defiance of sensibilities. Consider the conceits that afflict us: of being a superior species with intelligence, of being the centre and purpose of this universe, of religion, of race, of gender and what not. The psychology of this species holds the planet a hostage and is a constant danger to all life forms. Call me a misanthrope if you like but is there nothing that we can call noble in homo-sapiens?
Carl Sagan lays bare the human arrogance and does an extremely good job of identifying its roots, which as I understand, lie in ignorance. Being ignorant is not such a crime, in fact it is the default state, but choosing to stay ignorant is an unpardonable atrocity for those who consider themselves the "special beings". But there is a greater abomination than this, and that is to resolve ignorance through convenience. It happens when instead of looking for answers to difficult questions, humans resort to personal or communal interpretations. That is how religion came to plague the lives of billions. God, as we know him, is a concept mired in such irrational beliefs.
Sagan was a visionary who understood the need for exploration of other worlds, not to extend the human project but for the sheer wonder of it. I second him, though I will not be among the mourners when the human race wipes itself out through its own arrogance!

I have enjoyed Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels, and I enjoyed this one. My only contention with it is that Zahn is unable to write romance. The 'romantic' scenes between Luke and Mara are stiff and awkward, which is a shame, because I think Luke finally getting a girl deserved a bit more than that. Maybe that's just because I am a girl, and one who likes romance, but still ...
I have enjoyed Mara's character from the first and I was happy to see her evolution as a character in this. Luke's character also goes through some significant development, which I felt was handled well. I also enjoyed the action and storyline.