Review: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (Star Wars)
By Matthew Stover. ISBN 978-0-345-47744-6
. One of the most acclaimed authors to stoop to Star Wars tie-in fiction finally tackles the classic heroes of the series and the result is… decidedly mixed. The prose is as sharp and vibrant as ever, if a little self-satisfied. He does not waste the opportunity that Luke Skywalker presents as a protagonist, offering his most nuanced exploration of good and evil yet. Luke's perspective forces him to adopt a sunnier outlook than he's known for, which made for a nice change of pace. unfortunately, his characterizations otherwise fail to line up with what we've previously been presented for these iconic characters. Much of the humor that comes naturally to other, less ambitious authors feels strained here and often falls flat. The dynamic between Han and Leia, while compelling, was a very vague approximation of what we got in the movies and other tie-in fiction. His attempt to spice up the storytelling with frequent profanity is undermined by the cringe worthy lexicon of vulgarity that has sprung up since the movies, when "hell", "damn" and other earthly swearing was sufficient. Because the novel uses the framing device of an intelligence report, it's hard decipher whether the defects are intentional or not. Either way, they detract from a great if overly complicated story shoehorned into the immediate aftermath of Return of the Jedi.
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By Rajiv Chandrasekaran. ISBN 
. The author's depiction of post-war Iraq is definitely colored by a strongly-held point of view. His descriptions of what he encountered are at times absolutely merciless. Yet the facts, which Chandrasekaran lays out with careful and deliberate precision, seem to merit his scorn. The first half of the book recounts the lack of planning following the invasion and the extraordinary hubris that followed. One week before the United States pulled down Saddam's statue, the section of the "Unified Mission Plan for Post Hostilities Iraq" pertaining to civil administration had yet to include a mission statement, a concept of operations, or any timelines. The retired U.S. Ambassador assigned to manage Iraq's Foreign Ministry, left in the dark by the government, turned to an internet message board for guidance. As massive looting and riots ravaged Baghdad after the invasion, the Americans assigned to manage the provisional government tried to match the buildings being pillaged on CNN with their assigned ministries. "It was like, 'There goes your ministry!' 'There goes mine!'" Chandrasekaren quotes the interim minister recalling. The list of sites that needed security never made it to the military, leading to Secretary Rumsfeld's infamous explanation that "freedom's untidy." Decision-making before and after the invasion Secretary Powell at the State Department against Rumsfeld and Vice-President Cheney at the Pentagon. The intelligence and advice coming out of State conflicted with the Pentagon's vision of a democratic, Western-friendly Iraq. When L. Paul Bremer was appointed to lead the provisional authority, he came to Iraq with the desire "to make some bold decisions." His boldest decisions came right out of the gate, with the first two Coalition Provisional Authority Orders. Order Number 1 called for the "De-Ba`athifcation of Iraqi Society", banned anyone from the top four tiers of Sadaam's party from future employment in the public sector. This resulted in the firing of just about everyone with specialized knowledge needed to run the country, along with nearly all of the teachers. Order Number 2 disbanded the Iraqi military, putting 250,000 - 300,000 military-trained personnel out on the street, with a grudge against the people who did it. They would come to form the backbone of the Sunni insurgency. Example after example follows.
