Dead and Alive sort of wraps up Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein series. Originally, these books were meant to be a trilogy. Later, Koontz revisited them and wrote two more books. The ending of Dead and Alive is a bit open ended; enough that a sequel was viable, but not so much that readers will feel dissatisfied with the ending. The story here is a bit more fast-paced than the first two books. The characters know what is going on and things are more out in the open now. All that is left is stopping Victor Helios’ (Dr. Frankenstein’s) mad plan.

The thing is, the characters don’t really do much to accomplish that. The main characters against Helios are Deucalion (Frankenstein’s monster) and the two detectives. The detectives are just kind of…there. They spend most of the book surviving, not actively going after Victor. Deucalion himself straight-up says that he needs them because he cannot directly kill Victor. Their role in the plan is really to just pull the trigger once he’s been cornered. Deucalion takes a more active role by learning about Victor’s plans and sabotaging them. But even still, he is not the one who causes Victor’s downfall.

Ultimately, it is Victor who sabotages Victor. As Deucalion stated in the previous books, Victor’s weakness is his vanity. He considers himself and his work so perfect that he assumes his victory is a matter of when, not if. So, when it all starts to fall apart around him, Victor is blind to the issues at hand. He considers his work so perfect and infallible that it never even occurs to him that something he created could be fundamentally broken. While this is a great hubris for a character like Victor, it diminishes the protagonist’s role in the story. They help, but they’re not directly the cause of the villain’s downfall.

With each new book in Koontz’s Frankenstein series, I grew less impressed. More so with the 4^th and 5^th books that were tacked on later. But those have their own plotline and were unentertaining enough that I don’t even intend to take the time writing up reviews for those two. The real issue with Dead and Alive was that things didn’t get sewn up nicely by the end. Rather, they all fell haphazardly into place. Things are ok for the protagonists once the story is over, but not by their own merit. They didn’t win because they did well, they won because the villain did poorly. The victory didn’t feel earned and that makes for a dull conclusion.

For you anime watchers, Volume 3 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime covers episodes 16 – 19(-ish) of the show. The beginning of episode 20 has some events from the very end of Volume 3, but most of that episode kicks off the events of Volume 4. This book starts off following the aftermath of Volume 2. With the Jura Tempest Federation solidified into a new but still budding country, the new nation’s leadership face new challenges. This more or less divides the book into two parts: the political aspect and military actions.

As Rimuru begins organizing the country’s resources and top people, other nations begin to take notice of the new nation. While he and his subordinates are skilled in combat, politics is a whole new battlefield for them. New allies will be made who seek to partner with the Federation and learn from their technological advances. At the same time, enemies who covet the forest’s rich resources set their hungry eyes upon the new, small country. In this dog-eat-dog world, it is only a matter of time before the Federation is pressed into military action.

Every book in this series has had a big fight sequence so far and Volume 3 keeps that trend moving. The exact details of the fight are spoilery, but the battle goes to show that Rimuru and his gang are far from all-powerful. It is true that their strength has grown by leaps and bounds in a short amount of time. But in this world of monsters, they are still little fish in a big pond. They can hold their own when working together, but there are still enemies far beyond them individually. Rimuru having a Naraku/Majin Buu/Sylar/Borg power makes this less of an issue with each defeated enemy though.

Aside from the cringy cover art (that new character gets more clothes during the story, I promise), Volume 3 was pretty on par with the first two books. With the characters’ powers increasingly so dramatically from one book to the next, that may or may not remain the case as the series progresses. Isekai’s tend to be littered with overpowered protagonists and this is no exception. Heck, this series would probably set the high-bar for that if Overlord didn’t exist. While That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime comes across as more of a YA series than other light novels, it is still entertaining enough.

Triumphant is the finale of the Genesis Fleet trilogy, the prequel to The Lost Fleet. Going in, I did not know whether this was the last book or if the Genesis Fleet would keep going. But Jack Campbell’s original Lost Fleet series was 6 books. Then the follow-up, Beyond the Frontier, was 5 books. And the spin-off series The Lost Stars was 4 books. Now the Genesis Fleet wraps up with 3 books. I am sensing a pattern here. Are we in for a duology next? And maybe a single, standalone book that wraps up everything? Time will tell and Triumphant hints on the series future, but more on that later.

Things kick off shortly after the end of the last book, unlike the time-skip between books 1 & 2. Campbell’s other series focused on massive wars and other conflicts between powerful, established space nations. The Genesis Fleet tells the story of how those nations were first established. There is a fair amount of parallelism with the real world here. People are traveling out into the unknown to stake their claim and get land of their own. But away from established civilization, there is an increasing threat of lawlessness. Now is the time when whether the people choose to fight will determine not only their future, but the futures of generations to come.

If you have already read Campbell’s other books, you have a rough idea of how Triumphant will end. Many of the characters here are ancestors of the previous books’ casts, so assumptions can be made regarding how survives. But while the stakes in Triumphant are no less extreme than the previous series, the battles are much more small scale. It is not a fleet of hundreds of warships threatening a galaxy-spanning civilization. It is a single-digit group of ships threatening new colonies. But a single ship is more than enough to kill everyone on a world.

While the previous series focus on large-scale, broad military conflict, The Genesis Fleet is more of a revolutionary war. People are fighting with military cast-offs and makeshift weapons. But it does not change the fact that they are fighting for their homes and families. And they will fight with every ounce of strength and courage they have to see them protected. While at the same time, others put the same amount of effort into subjugating their fellow man.

This series was an absolute blast. It was low-stakes, yet it was not. It was a prequel with a semi-determined ending, yet it keeps you on the edge of your seat. There is a fantastic balance between combat, politics, personal character development, and world-building (something hard to do which Jack Campbell has greatly improved upon in his career). And it features a nice little epilogue with some more familiar characters that leaves the Lost Fleet universe very open. I am excited to see where Jack Campbell takes it next.

Tie Fighter is the graphic novel tie-in prequel to the novel Alphabet Squadron. Originally published as a mini-series, the 5^th and final issue of Tie Fighter did not actually come out until after Alphabet Squadron was published. So, it is hard to argue that reading Tie Fighter beforehand is really a requirement. Whereas Alphabet Squadron is about a ragtag group of pilots still more used to being Rebels than New Republic, Tie Fighter tells the story from the other side. This mini-series focuses on the Imperial fighter squadron that Alphabet Squadron spends their story hunting: Shadow Wing.

Being a mini-series, Tie Fighter is fast paced. There were only 5 issues to tell a story and the author knew that going in. Normally this would raise my hackles a bit, but Tie Fighter also has the benefit of being a prequel comic. It was never the intention of this mini-series to tell the whole story. It is distinctively not supposed to do that; that is the Alphabet Squadron trilogy’s job. Instead, it is a rare look at things from the Imperial side of the war. And it takes place in one of the most interesting time periods in Disney’s new canon: the immediate years following Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars as a franchise has a very impressive cast of villains. From Tarkin to Thrawn to Darth Vader and the Emperor, the villains are often much more interesting than the heroes. But not all the baddies are big bads. There are also the boots on the ground (or in this case, wings in the air). Seeing how the common, everyday soldiers do things is rare in Star Wars. And rarer still to see it from the Imperial side. It is always fascinating to see how these people justify their actions when we, as the audience, know how evil the Empire can be.

These stories taking place after Episode VI are amazing for how quick the Empire fell given the scope of it. Just a few years prior to this, the Empire reigned supreme. The largest military in galactic history, ruling from one side of the galaxy to the other with an iron fist. And now…they are dying. Things started to fall apart from the moment the Emperor died. And some Imperials are struggling to cope with that. Shadow Wing knows they are part of a dying breed, but they will do their duty. Like the more common Rebel protagonists, they are still people. With hopes and dreams and aspirations and fears. And villains who seem more human are always better for it.

Master and Apprentice once against displays Claudia Gray’s skill as an author and understanding of Star Wars. Like her previous three books for Star Wars, the key element here is character development. Star Wars is such a large franchise that plot rarely matters for little side adventures like this. While there is some sense of danger, everyone reading this knows Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon will be ok at the end. Master and Apprentice is about just that, the master and the apprentice. How Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon got to where they are at the beginning of The Phantom Menace. And more about their characters as a whole.

Obi-Wan is a character who needs little introduction. Throughout the Star Wars franchise, we see the better part of this man’s entire life. The key thing here is that Master and Apprentice is one of the earliest point of his life audiences have seen in the new Disney canon. His initial relationship with Qui-Gon was not great. There is an air of respect between master and student, but they are not really friends. They have more of a parent and child relationship as they each struggle to understand the other person.

While Qui-Gon is tackling this same problem, he also has other issues going on. Qui-Gon’s views as a Jedi are viewed as somewhat flawed by his colleagues. He has been told, politely, more than once that he needs to curb his ideas. This is exemplified by the fact he was trained by Count Dooku, one of the few Jedi to ever leave the Order (and, you know, other things). Not to mention the other Jedi dangling a carrot in front of him (a seat on the Council) if he agrees to step in line. There is a huge inner conflict between what he is being told is right and what he personally believes is right.

But the reason this all works is because Claudia Gray takes the time to know the characters. One of the biggest complaints about the pre-Disney EU was that the characters were all over the place. When you have dozens of different writers behind the helm of the same characters over the course of decades, there are going to be consistency issues. But Claudia Gray portrays characters the way real people are: flawed. These Jedi are not there to just swing lightsabers and look cool. They are real people with hopes, dreams, and responsibilities who sometimes make mistakes. And in the end, they ultimately learn from the teacher that is failure.

And as a side note, this book finally delves into the whole “Chosen One prophecy” that the prequel trilogy revolves around. Even in the pre-Disney Lucas-canon, it was a very poorly explained concept for something so important. Kudos to Claudia Gray for addressing the issue without removing too much of the mystique from it.

Thrawn’s new trilogy concludes in this final new book from Timothy Zahn. The premise of this one is that Thrawn, while on an Imperial mission, runs into his own people, the Chiss. With loyalties divided between the Chiss military and the Empire, choices must be made. This book does have tie-ins with Star Wars: Rebels, even more so than the previous book. Thrawn: Treason takes place at the same time as season 4, episodes 9 & 10 of Rebels. If you have not watched the show in a while, this is the point where Thrawn is called away from Lothal for a few episodes.

Treason also features a proper introduction for the Chiss, properly reintroducing them into the Star Wars canon. This book shows audiences more about their technology, culture, and more. Namely, the fact that there are hostile races in the Unknown Regions being kept in check by the Chiss. It also features the return of Eli Vanto, Thrawn’s apprentice from the first book in the trilogy. Like many Star Wars materials taking place shortly before A New Hope (a la Rogue One), the events of Treason are closely linked to The Death Star.

The previous books already who Thrawn is and his integration into Imperial society. He is much more skilled at politics now than he was at the start. He is used to the less rigid structure of the Imperial military (compared to the Chiss) and the little games the leadership plays while trying to one-up each other. And still, years into his military career, Thrawn is repeatedly underestimated by his opponents. Both politically in the Imperial military and militarily by the alien threat being confronted in this story.

One interesting thing about this whole trilogy is the timing aspect of it. The first book came out before the 4^th season of Rebels. Audiences had already been reintroduced to Thrawn and it filled out his backstory. But Alliances and Treason both came out after Rebels concluded. Anyone who has seen the show knows what happens to Thrawn later down the road. The events of Treason fill in a few holes from Rebels and leave a lot open to speculation about the future for Thrawn and related characters. On a final note, this book makes a lot more sense if you have watched Star Wars: Rebels to its conclusion. Doing so is highly recommended to fully appreciate Thrawn as a character.

A copy of Benevolent King was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Benevolent King is my second time reading something by Joe Albanese, the first time being Caina. Unlike Caina, Benevolent King is a full-fledged novel rather than a novella. The genre is also a bit different; while both are crime stories, Caina was more of a mystery story while Benevolent King is a thriller. This story is more about suspense and focuses its attention across an array of characters. It is not really about just one person, but rather one story. And how all the different characters are connected through that story’s telling.

This book takes place in Baltimore, which is a great setting for crime fiction for obvious reasons. More importantly, it takes place in the bad parts of Baltimore. The places filled with desperate people who scare the daylights out of “normal” folks. In fact, there really are not many normal people throughout Benevolent King. Some pop up here and there, mostly as background characters, but the cast is almost entirely made of criminal underworld elements. Even the normal people who are not merely background are only minor characters.

Despite how all the characters could be described as “a criminal”, the characters are incredibly diverse. The key factor here is why each character is a criminal. Some live that way because they have no choice, or at least think they have no choice. Others chose this lifestyle because things outside the law like drugs and violence appeal to them. There is a wide gap between the people who seek power and the people who just want to survive. Not to mention the relative isolation of the characters from the rest of the world as the city does its best to ignore them or sweep them under the rug.

While certain elements of Benevolent King are exaggerated, everything in this novel is real. That goes without saying for Baltimore’s crime rate (although the level of homicide in this book teetered on the edge of believability). It is also true for the Colombian Devil’s Breath drug. While the effects are exaggerated for the sake of the story, it is a real drug with similar effects.

On the whole, Benevolent King shows how Joe Albanese is improving as his career a writer continues. The extra page count of a novel vs. a novella really gave him the chance to spread his wings. There was more room for character development, story progression, and everything else that makes any novel great. This is a good story that shows a side of society rarely if ever seen by most people. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.