Welcome back Lanzothians!
This week I’m going rearrange my blog so that my reading section is first, writing is second, and study is third. Ah yes, I’ve added a study section. Nothing to necessarily add for this week, though last year I decided that a life goal of mine is to become a true polymath: one who studies every subject (math, science, literature, history, linguistics, languages and everything in between), while also practicing art (which is a past life of mine), and to be extremely well-read (working on that). I’m going to pick up my studies again this coming week or the following week, and here in my blog I’ll describe or summarize what it was I studied that week, whether it was a few hours of Spanish or Arabic or Latin, or advanced biology or physics, or some type of historical subject, or whatever else I decide on.
I also read, or rather finished, three books last week, two Star Wars, and one Harry Potter, hence the title for “Comfort Reads”.
Of Reading
#35 Star Wars: Outlaws: Low Red Moon by Mike Chen
Okay, so this book was written as a prequel to the Star Wars video game “Outlaws” which has been out for a few years. As up to speed as I am on most Star Wars media, I have not played Star Wars: Outlaws. In fact, I’ve not played very many Star Wars video games. If I don’t play the game, I’ll usually watch the cut scene videos/movies that fans edit together on YouTube so that I can still learn the story of the characters, which is what I mostly care about. This time, however, I have not watched anything related to Outlaws, so going in, I had no idea what this new backstory will lead into.
The story revolves around Jaylen Barsha, son of the owners of the Barsha Corporation, a Corellian ship building company. When I first heard the name of the company, I immediately thought of Master and Apprentice, a Star Wars book that focused on Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, though it was briefly mentioned. Still the name sounded very familiar. Jaylen is appointed by his parents to be the next CEO of the corporation, when he is suspecting his half brother, Sliro, to be instead. A little later, a Clone Wars battle droid, ND-5, shows up, and obliterates his family. Jaylen puts a restraining bolt on him so that he obeys Jaylen and not acts out against a still-living Barsha, and spends the next 300 pages as his “partner in crime”. They go into hiding from the Empire, and while taking odd jobs, Jaylen is set to revenge his family by attempting to find the one who sent the droid to murder them.
I definitely enjoyed this book by Mike Chen, maybe even a little more than his other Star Wars book, Brotherhood, though I’m tempted to give that a re-read since it’s been a few years, and maybe I didn’t appreciate it nearly as much as I should have. Something I thought interesting was that I have recently come off of reading the greatest revenge story in history (The Count of Monte Cristo), and now reading a pseudo-revenge story in the form of Star Wars, albeit with character I’m unfamiliar with. The revenge took a lull a little more than half way through the book, but the climax burst through with the reveal of who sabotaged and killed the Barsha family and expunged their company’s history and records to look as if it never existed. My biggest critique, or one of, is that I secretly guessed the culprit at the very beginning, and I turned out to correct, so the reveal wasn’t as surprised as I’d hoped it be. I’m going to rate this a 7.8/10.
#36 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (full-cast production) by J.K. Rowling
Here’s yet another review of another masterpiece of a classic Potter book. I grew up in the Potter era, called myself a Potterhead throughout middle and and high school, went to the weekend and midnight premieres, and read the books before I was in high school. Had friends in HS who were also obsessed with the series and we even made our own “Harry Potter” themed parties. Yeah, we were nerds, but we loved it. I’ve read this series, and this book so many times. This book, at least five times (knowingly recorded), but likely six or seven, or maybe even upwards of eight times. The last few times (for the series) on audiobook, and this time in particular the full-cast production that Audible recently released. They’ve been releasing one book a month since November until the final one in May of this year.
The full-cast production just adds so much more depth to the story. With sound effects, music, and different voices for different characters, bringing the story more to life than even Jim Dale did (and he was a spectacular narrator). Each book I’ve listening to with this new recording makes me fall in love with the series over and over again. They make me notice things I didn’t notice before, providing a brand new perspective for the story. We all know what The Order of the Phoenix is about. A wizard boy named Harry in his fifth year at Hogwarts School, which is being slowly taken over by a Ministry official, whom all the students and staff loathe, all while Lord Voldemort, who recently returned is seeking a “weapon”, the prophecy that is told about him and Harry.
In this version, we get an even sweeter, girlish voicing of Professor Umbridge, making her that much more menacing and dangerous. The voice of Voldemort is so good and getting to see him interact with Harry at the end is chilling. I’m so excited for the sixth book, The Half Blood Prince, to release later this month. I have re-rated this book to be a 9.5/10 for its near perfection, and everlasting emotional impact on its audience (me).
#37 Star Wars: Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon by L. Neil Smith
My goodness have I been taking a while, generations in fact, to read this trilogy. I began the first book, Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, more than two years ago, put it down, picked it up a year later – basically restarting it (January 2025), and then finally picked it up to finish it in December. And it was only 140 pages long. I just kept putting it down to read other things. The same thing happened with book two “The Flamewind of Oseon”, though with a much shorter timeline. I began reading it in January of this year, and just finished it last weekend. Also, about 125 pages. It’s a short trilogy, compacted into about a 400 page anthology, at least for the version I’m reading. I hope to finish the third book by the end of April (at the latest).
This book had Lando and Vuffi Raa, his five-limbed droid, visit the Oseon system, one filled with asteroids and planetoids (asteroids the size of small planets), and in particular Oseon 6845 from an anonymous invitation. While gambling at 6845, he destroys a high-ranking police officer which results in legal trouble and a possible death sentence (these books are chalk full of unlikely scenarios since they were published the same year the Return of the Jedi film was released (which means they were written beforehand or during its filming, basically one of the first “Legends” or “Expanded Universe” books). In order to escape this punishment, Lando is coerced into catching a trillionaire drug dealer who seemingly turns out to be Rokur Gepta, of the Sorcerers of Tund. While flying 5792 to catch this trillionaire, Lando is caught off guard by fighters firing at him, all while he is trying to navigate the Flamewind, a radical, yet gorgeous, annual solar storm in the Oseon system.
Overall, this book was a quick read with a mildly interesting plot. Likely because of when it was published, this series is full of outdated terminology (from the Star Wars universe), and the situations the Lando finds himself in are either unlikely or downright odd. Despite this, I am enjoying this series for what it is, and I’m prepared to read book three, The Starcave of ThonBoka, as well as, The Han Solo Adventures trilogy which was published around the same time, and likely has many of the same inconsistencies and verbiage as this one does. I’m going to rate it a 6.7/10.
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I’m currently reading several books: The Library: A Fragile History; The Sea Wolf; Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Wars: The Mandalorian Armor; Star Wars: Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka; The Illustrated Man; 1984; Crown of Midnight; and Bleak House.
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; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (full-cast production); Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (full-cast production)
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; Tatooine Ghost; Heir to the Empire; The Jaws of Jakku; Dark Force Rising; The Last Command; I, Jedi; Outlaws: Low Red Moon; Lando Calrissian and Flamewind of Oseon
Contemporary: They Both Die at the End
Horror: Carmilla; The Turn of the Screw
Literary Classic: The Metamorphosis; Moby-Dick; Wuthering Heights; Treasure Island; Notes from Underground; Typhoon; The Count of Monte Cristo; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
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Of Writing
I did not write much of anything last week, and I’m trying to motivate myself to dedicate more time to doing so. I really need to buckle down and continue writing Mortimer.
Of Study
This is a mere placeholder for what I will be studying in the following weeks. The last time I was actively studying was last fall. I spent my time studying and learning (or rather re-learning) Algebra 2 (so that I can advanced to Calculus and beyond), AP Physics, Linguistics, World History (with an emphasis on Ancient Egypt), Philosophy, Latin, Spanish, Arabic, and French. I don’t think I’m forgetting anything. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to get back into a rhythm of studying these subjects again so that I can maintain and advance my knowledge in them and others to not only be well read in literature and other genres, but to be well versed in STEM, history, philosophy, languages, and linguistics.
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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!
Be sure to check out my Instagram and TikTok for bookish posts and book review videos! @tplanzarotto
T.P. Lanzarotto
29 March 2026
T.P. Lanzarotto 
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