before reading The Black Dahlia, i knew nothing about the case except that it’s a true story of the unsolved, brutal murder of a young woman named Elizabeth Short that took place in California a long time ago—in 1947, i found out later. thus, i didn’t know which of the characters were real or made up, though it’s clear that Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Dwight “Bucky” Bleichert, the protagonist and narrator, belongs to James Ellroy.

Ellroy’s fictionalization isn’t about the Elizabeth Short, aka The Black Dahlia, case. it’s the story of a young man’s rapid descent into a personal hell of his own making. Bucky, as well as most of the characters, are completely disturbed and seem to have no redeemable qualities. the one exception is Kay Lake, the woman who stands between Bucky and his partner, Leland (Lee) Blanchard. if you have a weak stomach, don’t bother reading this book. the description of Elizabeth Short’s beaten and hideously mutilated body is nowhere near as sick as these characters. the writing is excellent-vivid and dramatic-and as such, Ellroy doesn’t hold back in describing the characters’, especially Bucky’s, flaws.

the book is divided into four parts. “Fire and Ice,” introduces readers to Bucky and explains how he and Lee become partners. “39th and Norton,” named for the Los Angeles intersection near which Elizabeth Short’s body was found, is the book’s longest section and unfortunately, begins dragging towards the end. Part III, “Kay and Madeleine,” is named after the two main female characters in the book and in Bucky’s life: Kay Lake and Madeleine Sprague. like Part II, this section moves slowly, but is mercifully short. “Elizabeth,” in which events pick up again at a lightning pace, concludes both Bucky’s work on the case and his story.

aside from the disturbed characters and slow middle section, i had other difficulties while making my way through the novel. one was the incredible amount of violence, most of it inflicted by the LAPD. violence normally doesn’t bother me, and i’m still not sure why it affected me the way it did here. maybe because the LAPD is portrayed as corrupt, which isn’t necessarily a fictionalization? i also disliked the portrayal and treatment of women and minorities. however, the story takes place in the ‘40s, so perhaps these representations are merely a Zeitgeist. finally, Ellroy employs a lot of 1940s slang, with which i’m unfamiliar. of course i could have looked it all up, but i was too lazy. besides, i was caught up in reading, and anyway, some of the terms can be defined based on the context.

despite my complaints, i absolutely loved The Black Dahlia, which is an excellent read that i highly recommend to anyone looking for a real page-turner.

WHY IS IT STILL SHOWING THE PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF THIS THAT I DELETED???

in issues 1 and 2, three young Jedi, brothers Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma and Twi’lek, Tott Doneeta, are given their first mission by their Jedi Master Arca: to bring peace to the war-torn world of Onderon. for centuries, the planet has been divided into two factions: the citizens of the walled city of Iziz and the Beast Riders of Onderon, descendants of criminals cast out of the city fifty years prior. shortly after the Jedi’s arrival, Princess Galia, the heir of Onderon and daughter of reigning Queen Amanoa, is abducted by Beast Riders. the Qel-Dromas and Doneeta chase after the Outcasts and meet with surprise.

Ulic is described as “headstrong and overconfident,” qualities that may doom the mission. in addition, he’s naive but his intentions are good. Cay and Doneeta are also likeable.

issues 3 – 5 comprise the story of Nomi Sunrider, the Jedi best known for her skill in Battle Meditation. though Sunrider has long been sensitive to the Force, she has always shied away from its power, allowing her husband Andur to train as a Jedi and, when old enough, their daughter Vima. however, tragic circumstances transpire that force Sunrider to take up her role as a Jedi, albeit reluctantly. Nomi Sunrider’s story is more suspenseful and less predictable than that of the Qel-Dromas and Doneeta.

in both of these tales, family is involved: the Qel-Droma brothers train together and Andur and Nomi Sunrider are married and have a child. these events take place circa 4000 BBY (before the Battle of Yavin), so when did the Jedi stop allowing familial attachments, and what situation(s) brought about that decision? perhaps that’ll be answered in one of the later comics in the Tales of the Jedi series. stay tuned!

that’s right—Kevin J. Anderson should stick to editing the Star Wars short story anthologies and stay away from writing comics. although the opening crawl on the first page of each issue makes it unnecessary to read previous issues as it summarizes what’s happened so far, it’s way too wordy. even the intro to the movies are only three short paragraphs long, not six wordy ones. in comics, the pictures are supposed to tell the story. duh.

and what’s with Jedi-scholar Odan-Urr just handing over his lightsaber to Jori Daragon, who isn’t a Jedi, to use in battle? i don’t care if she was offered the chance to train as a Jedi when she was a child. she turned them down and is not a Jedi.

lame lame lame. read my original review here. or not. i didn’t like it the last time i read it, either.

...why they’re dressed like Greco-Romans. i didn’t like this the first time i read it, and no matter how many times i re-read it, i still don’t like it. you can read my original review here. i’ve discovered that i can no longer write reviews the way i used to, thanks to the ECTs. sigh

and why haven’t my two duplicate entries been deleted, even though i clicked “delete”?

i can’t even remember how many times i’ve seen ROTJ, but this is the first time i’ve seen this version-where young Anakin appears at the end with Obi-Wan and Yoda, rather than the older Anakin that Luke reveals when he removes Vader’s helmet. (speaking of which, how cool would it be to have a Vader goalie helmet?) i guess it makes sense-if Luke redeemed Anakin, then his Force ghost or whatever would revert back to his young self before he was corrupted. right?

this is a reference book that i seriously doubt i’ll read cover to cover. it would be like reading an encyclopedia or something. i have no doubt, however, that i’ll continually refer to it as long as i’m part of this Star Wars RPG group that Brian and i joined (see previous entry).

well, let’s see. i had ECT since the last time i consumed this, so i don’t remember most of what happened in the book. this is the first novel of the Legacy of the Force series. Bloodlines, the second novel, will be out on the 29th.

so it didn’t take me as long as i thought it would to finish reading this. i ordered Tales #10 from Things From Another World and it arrived today.

well, it isn’t taking me forever, but it’s going to take me longer than usual because i don’t own Tales #10. Tales, Vol. 3 includes issues 9 – 12.

i don’t actually own any TPBs (trade paperbacks) because individual issues are better. the TPBs that Dark Horse publishes are very, very, VERY poorly bound.

actually, why i want to consume this for the however many-th time is so i can fall in lurrrrvve with Carth Onasi all over again! :P what?! never heard of Carth??? well, click here, here, and here!