Welcome back, Lanzothians!
This week’s reading consisted of a variety of works. I’m still working through The Count of Monte Cristo, Star Wars: Dark Force Rising, and The Library: A Fragile History. I had a busy week between my two jobs and prioritized other things, and read a lot less than I have been. In the meantime, I decided to check off two shorter works, novellas if you will, that were on my TBR. One a story from the one and only Arthur C. Clarke, best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, which I read about 5 years ago; the other is a Lucasfilm/Audible audio-only production of a new Star Wars story that takes place between the films The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
Of Writing
Check back next week. Those things I said I prioritized? Not writing. Ya’ll need to start holding me accountable.
Of Reading
#23 A Meeting with Medusa by Arthur C. Clarke
Oh, Mr. Howard Falcon, you hero. I finally got around to reading another Clarke story, this novella is about the pilot of a helium-based balloon system spaceship that he takes into the lower atmosphere of Jupiter to search for life or other discoveries on the planet. He indeed finds life. Boy, was he in awe. A “Medusa” as he refers to it, is about a mile-long jellyfish-looking behemoth, hence the name “Medusa” for its tentacle-y appearance. Actually, he discovered more than one form of life, another notable life-form he came across was a manta-ray-like creature, also massive, no surprise, that seems to prey on the “Medusa”.
Clarke does an amazing job describing the atmosphere of Jupiter and the environment that Howard experiences. Vivid, colorful, full of life and movement. I could easily visualize the elements he illustrated in every line of the story. I’m going to rate this a 7.8/10 on my scale that I presented last week.
#24 Star Wars: The Jaws of Jakku by Cavan Scott
Lucasfilm has released several audio productions, exclusive to Audible, that are usually short junior novels. The Jaws of Jakku is one I just hadn’t gotten to yet. The story is interestingly told by a brand new character, Leesa, who is telling her story to another character about her encounter with Rey, Finn, and BB-8. The story she tells involves the three encountering a First Order Officer and troops after overhearing and then discovering a vault in a crashed Imperial Dreadnaught on Jakku. BB-8 also gets hacked by the system and begins to attack Rey and Finn before needing to be rebooted. Actually, Leesa ignored Rey’s advice upon their initial meeting to go and search for the vault, listen she is only trying to help her sick dad. While going there alone, however, she is chased into the crashed ship by a pack of gnaw-jaws, which are like gross, large bugs that hunt in packs. And Rey saves the day.
The story falls a bit short as it gives us a lesson that we’ve already learned, and from a story directly involving Rey. Remember in The Force Awakens when Max Kanata tells Rey “The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.” This, I suppose, it meant to apply both to Rey and Leesa: Rey who is battling with who she actually is – a Jedi Padawan or a scavenger; and Leesa who is trying to help her father get better so that he can return to work and continue caring for his family.
The stakes were extremely low, and I felt like we could have gotten a lot more depth concerning Rey and Finn. Scott tends to write really good stories, and I love most of what he contributes to Star Wars, but this one fell a bit flat. This I’m going to rate a 4.1/10.
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I’m currently reading several books as stated above: The Library: A Fragile History; Star Wars: Dark Force Rising; Star Wars: Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon; and The Count of Monte Cristo (360 pages in).
If you’d like to read any of my reviews from this year so far, I have them all linked below:
Science Fiction: Saturn’s Monsters; The Time Machine; Starship Troopers; The Martian Chronicles; Project Hail Mary; A Meeting with Medusa
Dystopian: Anthem
Fantasy: Prince Caspian; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (full-cast production); Throne of Glass
Star Wars: The Mask of Fear; X-Wing: Wraith Squadron; X-Wing: Iron Fist; Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter; X-Wing: Solo Command; The Courtship of Princess Leia; Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost; Star Wars: Heir to the Empire; The Jaws of Jakku
Contemporary: They Both Die at the End
Literary Classic: The Metamorphosis; Moby-Dick; Wuthering Heights; Treasure Island
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Thank you for reading along. My hope is to inspire more and more readers across various genres. Farewell, and see you again next weekend!
T.P. Lanzarotto
22 February 2026
T.P. Lanzarotto 
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