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[katara]

Title: Darth Vader (2017-) #4
Author: Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.95/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: August 5, 2017
Book Summary: Vader's first mission isn't going well. The dark side is the way of power. But no one said it would be easy.
Book Review: Real Rating: 4.95

This issue picks up right where three left off. We find Vader at the bottom of the cliffs. He has been torn to pieces from his fight with the Jedi Master and he is struggling to keep himself alive. Using pieces of debris from various left over parts of droids he and the Jedi Master tossed over the cliffs during their fight, Vader slowly starts to rebuild his armor.

The scene changes to that of the Jedi Master, who is in the city. He has come to reclaim the ship he had left here sometime ago. He has a new mission now and that is to go out there and find the Sith Lord that sent Vader out and destroy him. Afterward, he hopes to rebuild the Jedi Order. Unfortunately all that will have to wait. You see since he placed himself in a quite a long time of an exile, his ship has been sitting there kinda not being used. Because of this, it will need a bit of a tune up. While discussing matters of the ship, the Jedi Master feels a stir within the force.

We find Vader has not only climbed back up the mountain but he has also rebuilt himself. During the fight between himself and the Jedi Master, Vader has realized exactly what is the Jedi Master's weakness - his compassion for life. Vader decides that he will use this against him and begins to crush the dam. This causes the Jedi to run out and face Vader again. The Jedi Master pleads with Vader to take his life, rather than the life of those below the dam. Unfortunately for the Jedi Master, Vader does just that and also takes the lives of those who lived below the dam. All this and the Jedi Master's lightsaber.

This issue was interesting. Not only was Vader forced to rebuild himself but the idea that someone had managed to one up him caused him to realize that he had a lot more to work on - especially his human emotions - in order to fully become a Sith Lord. He now has the Jedi Master's lightsaber and kyber crystal. Does this crystal become part of his lightsaber? That seems to remain to be seen. I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next issue.

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[katara]

Title: The Fearsome Foursome (Tales from the Haunted Mansion #1)
Author: Amicus Arcane, Kelley Jones (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 3/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: August 5, 2017
Book Summary: Welcome, foolish mortals, to Disney Press' spookiest chapter book series yet: Tales from the Haunted Mansion! Based on the attractions from the Disney Parks, each new book tells the story of one of the Haunted Mansion's 999 ghosts. With eerie illustrations throughout and a beautiful three-piece cloth cover, the books are designed to look like they came straight from the library in the Haunted Mansion. Tales from the Haunted Mansion is a fun, spooky ride, just like the attraction from the Disney Parks. And if readers are familiar with the ride, they'll see elements of it throughout the entire story, from items straight of the Mansion (are those pictures stretching?) to lyrics from the narration that is heard in each Doom Buggy. In this bone-chilling book, you will hear the terrifying tales of the Fearsome Foursome--four kids who look to out-scare each other. But just wait until they hear my spooky stories. Who am I? I am Amicus Arcane, your librarian and host. Your Ghost Host. So read on... if you dare!
Book Review: As a kid, did you like "Are You Afraid of the Dark"?

That is exactly what these stories felt like.

There was really no tales of the ghosts within the Haunted Mansion or even how the haunted mansion came to be, which is quite was a big let down when I started this book. No, we are given four children and the Ghost Host who weaves tales for each of the children. All of the stories are pretty much predictable and end with some sort of moral to the story.

These stories are truly geared to the young adult crowd. I think they would definitely find them extremely entertaining as we did those stories from "Are You Afraid of the Dark?". They are fun, a bit cheesy, but overall worth it.

However, I wish these tales were more about the 999 ghosts within the Haunted Mansion. I mean I would have loved to know how they came to be there or what happened to make the mansion's owners become part of the ghostly lore.

Still, these stories are interesting and worth gifting them a young person who loves ghost stories.