https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z en-us 2017-11-17 02:09:33 UTC 2017-12-04 05:38:49 UTC hello@padlet.com bradams37 https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/207960600 Luceno, James, Star Wars: Catalyst. Century, 2016.

The book is a prequel to the movie, Star Wars: Rogue One. Right now I am about a chapter in and the main protagonist is a man named Galen Erso. Galen is a gifted scientist working on a special project on a relatively quiet planet while a galactic war rages in the rest of the galaxy. The planet he is conducting research on has changed hands to the Separatist Alliance, the opposing side to Galen's, and orders him captured so that they can obtain his research and intelligence.

Character Chart:
Galen Erso- A brilliant human Scientist who is a part of the Galactic Republic.
Lyra Erso- Galen's wife, she also happens to be pregnant during this novel and is captured along with Galen.
Assis- One of the research droids that helps in Galen's lab.

The setting is on a the snowy world of Vallt. All that is currently known is that it is really cold and snows a lot, especially at night. There are no maps of the planet but that is the description of the planet so far.

Another novel, Tarkin, is also written by James Luceno. His writing style if very similar in both of these books, giving very vivid descriptions of the setting and characters. Although since these books are both about characters that have appeared in movies it isnt really that hard to imagine their looks and some of the settings in these books.

Adams, Brycen. “The Timeline for Catalyst.” Padlet Is the Easiest Way to Create and Collaborate in the World, Padlet, 16 Nov. 2017, padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z.]]> 2017-11-17 02:11:53 UTC https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/207960600 bradams37 https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/209324152 https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/18222/james-luceno
Author bio

So far in the book I've gotten a little bit farther. I am 4 chapters in so far. When I stopped reading, Galen and Lyra were both taken to separate cells. The Chieftain tries to convince Galen to join the Separtists and aid them but he still refuses. The story then changes and takes us to a very important meeting on the capital planet of Coruscant. In the meeting they discuss a new super weapon, what seems to be the beginning stages of the Death Star. Orson Krennic, a former officer in the Corps of Engineers and now an adviser on the Advanced Weapons committee, begins to slowly move up in the ranks. He realizes that he can use Galen to help build the Death Star so he brings the idea to the Vice Supreme Chancellor who approves Krennic's "rescue mission".

Character Chart:
Galen Erso- A brilliant human Scientist who is a part of the Galactic Republic.
Lyra Erso- Galen's wife, she also happens to be pregnant during this novel and is captured along with Galen.
Assis- One of the research droids that helps in Galen's lab.
Orson Krennic- A former officer in the Corps of Engineers and now an adviser on the Advanced Weapons committee
The Chieftain- From the planet Vallt. Not much is none quite yet except that she is an antagonist.

The setting is on a the snowy world of Vallt. All that is currently known is that it is really cold and snows a lot, especially at night. There are no maps of the planet but that is the description of the planet so far.
Coruscant is another setting. It's a world in the core of the galaxy that is one huge city. It's the seat of power and capital world for the Republic.

So far I'm really finding Krennic interesting. He's very determined to make his way to the top and it definitely shows. He positions himself close to key Republic officials at meetings and such. Right now he is a protagonist but since this is a prequel to Rogue One, I know he becomes an antagonist along the way. The character is trying to become the leader, but isn't at the moment.


Adams, Brycen. “The Timeline for Catalyst.” Padlet Is the Easiest Way to Create and Collaborate in the World, Padlet, 16 Nov. 2017, padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z.]]> 2017-11-22 03:47:15 UTC https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/209324152 bradams37 https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/210251360 Luceno, James, Star Wars: Catalyst. Century, 2016.

In Catalyst I have covered quite a lot of ground. After my last post Krennic starts the beginnings of his rescue mission. He blackmails a smuggler to help him and his crew get to a Separatist science lab. They make their way inside and kidnap three of the scientists. They stuff them into these crates and almost get away but a guard notices something funny and sounds an alarm. For them to be able to escape, Krennic has to detonate one of the crates. It killed the guards and one of the scientists. After the daring attack it cuts back to Galen and Lyra after the birth of their daughter, Jyn. A few months go by while the three of them are being held prisoner when Krennic arrives. He does a hostage exchange to get Lyra and Galen back. As soon as they board the ship they are betrayed by the Separatists and are fired upon. But Krennic has an ace up his sleeve and a Republic Cruiser comes into the system and destroys the Separatist Ships, along with Vallt's capital. Galen and Lyra both begin to get angry about the capital being destroyed but Krennic reminds them that this is war. He then proceeds to take them to Galen's homeworld where a massive battle is raging in orbit. From there, Krennic could manipulate Galen to help with the secret Death Star.

Character Chart:
Galen Erso- A brilliant human Scientist who is a part of the Galactic Republic.
Lyra Erso- Galen's wife, she also happens to be pregnant during this novel and is captured along with Galen.
Assis- One of the research droids that helps in Galen's lab.
Orson Krennic- A former officer in the Corps of Engineers and now an adviser on the Advanced Weapons committee
The Chieftain- From the planet Vallt. Not much is none quite yet except that she is an antagonist.
Jyn Erso- Daughter of Galen and Lyra Erso. Born in a Separatist Prison on Vallt, she's destined to be important in galactic events.

I couldn't find a webpage for him so here's the bio again: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/18222/james-luceno

James Luceno is currently alive and writing books. This one I'm reading actually came out earlier this year. Since it's a Star Wars book there really aren't too many cultural influences I can see.

Adams, Brycen. “The Timeline for Catalyst.” Padlet Is the Easiest Way to Create and Collaborate in the World, Padlet, 16 Nov. 2017, padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z.

]]> 2017-11-27 04:04:09 UTC https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/210251360 bradams37 https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/212142291 Luceno, James, Star Wars: Catalyst. Century, 2016.

So far there has been some stuff that happened. Galen has been brought back to the capital world of Coruscant. There are espionage suspicions, mainly from Wilhuff Tarkin, a very important member of the Republic Navy. Krennic clears these suspicions and puts Galen to work in studying Kyber crystals. Meanwhile, we learn that the Geonosians are working on what will be known as the Death Star in orbit of Geonosis. The planet that the Erso's are moved to comes under regular Separatist attack. But, the assassination of the Separatist leadership and the execution of Order 66 brings an end to the dreaded Clone Wars, and The Republic. In its place, the dreaded Galactic Empire. Krennic has also somewhat mislead Galen, he told Galen his research was being used for sustainable power, but in all actuality he was using it to power the Death Star's massive laser. The Erso family is then moved back to Coruscant to complete the research.

Wilhuff Tarkin has to be one of my favorite characters in Star Wars, and it was exciting to see him in this book. He's one of the two people that can somewhat control Darth Vader, which just goes to show how much power and respect he commands within the Empire.

Character Chart:
Galen Erso- A brilliant human Scientist who is a part of the Galactic Republic.
Lyra Erso- Galen's wife, she also happens to be pregnant during this novel and is captured along with Galen.
Assis- One of the research droids that helps in Galen's lab.
Orson Krennic- A former officer in the Corps of Engineers and now an adviser on the Advanced Weapons committee
The Chieftain- From the planet Vallt. Not much is none quite yet except that she is an antagonist.
Jyn Erso- Daughter of Galen and Lyra Erso. Born in a Separatist Prison on Vallt, she's destined to be important in galactic events.
Wilhuff Tarkin- One of the first Grand Moffs of the Galactic Empire. A very important man in the Empire and a veteran of the Clone Wars. He is one of the few that know the Emperor and Darth Vader for what they are.

This book is a character building book. Being that most of these characters have appeared in other Star Wars media and this adds to what we know about them. This book was mainly intended to be a prequel to Rogue One, and as such we have learned a lot about the main players in that movie.

Adams, Brycen. “The Timeline for Catalyst.” Padlet Is the Easiest Way to Create and Collaborate in the World, Padlet, 16 Nov. 2017, padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z.]]> 2017-12-01 04:01:27 UTC https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/212142291 bradams37 https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/212709798 Luceno, James, Star Wars: Catalyst. Century, 2016.

Since last time I have actually finished the book. So since I left off Galen has been really working on his energy problem. He's started to get suspicious about what his research is actually being used for but has kept these thoughts to himself. Meanwhile, he was able to amplify energy beams with one of the crystals which was a huge breakthrough. Once this was figured out Krennic decided to test it with one of the Star Destroyers and it worked successfully. One of Krennics research teams started to realize that their work wasn't actually being used for what they thought and wanted out of the contract. Krennic agreed to let them out, but then destroyed their lab and them along with it. Upon Krennics return to Courscant he is confronted by the Erso's about what the project is really about. He then orders security to hold them. After realizing that the security is too late to detain them he runs out and watch as the Erso's escaped with the help of the rebel extremest, Saw Gerrera.

Character Chart:
Galen Erso- A brilliant human Scientist who is a part of the Galactic Republic.
Lyra Erso- Galen's wife, she also happens to be pregnant during this novel and is captured along with Galen.
Assis- One of the research droids that helps in Galen's lab.
Orson Krennic- A former officer in the Corps of Engineers and now an adviser on the Advanced Weapons committee
The Chieftain- From the planet Vallt. Not much is none quite yet except that she is an antagonist.
Jyn Erso- Daughter of Galen and Lyra Erso. Born in a Separatist Prison on Vallt, she's destined to be important in galactic events.
Wilhuff Tarkin- One of the first Grand Moffs of the Galactic Empire. A very important man in the Empire and a veteran of the Clone Wars. He is one of the few that know the Emperor and Darth Vader for what they are.
Saw Gerrera- A rebel who does things in a very extreme manner. His methods were deemed to extreme for even the Rebel Alliance and so they have no association with him. The Empire sees Saw and his partisans as terrorists because of their attacks on civilian targets.

Based off of the chart I would say that the book would be an adult level book. I wasn't that surprised, the book can get pretty dark at certain points. Since it's a Star Wars book and made for everyone then I would say of someone has the capacity to read it and has an interest in Star Wars or Sci-Fi in general then they should read it.

I really enjoyed this novel. There weren't plot twists in it but it was still good. Since it was a prequel it was mainly made to give backstory to the characters that appear in the movie Rogue One. I would say that this novel was a good read and I would highly recommend it to those that enjoy Star Wars and reading books.

Adams, Brycen. “The Timeline for Catalyst.” Padlet Is the Easiest Way to Create and Collaborate in the World, Padlet, 16 Nov. 2017, padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z.]]> 2017-12-04 05:15:59 UTC https://padlet.com/bradams37/n56b9qylek3z/wish/212709798