Spore

Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear #9

by John Whitman

Tash, Zak, and Uncle Hoole stop on the planet Ithor for supplies, including a mineral the Shroud needs for its engines. The mineral isn't available on Ithor, but one of the Ithorians knows where they can find it--on a mining colony in the middle of a space slug-filled asteroid belt. The journey to the colony is filled with many dangers. But nothing prepares Hoole, Tash, and Zak for what they meet when they reach their destination. An ancient life-form has been released from its tomb. It has lurked there, waiting, for many years. It cannot be seen. It is made from pure evil. And its name is Spore.  

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Horror, Juvenile, Fantasy, Ebooks

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 9, 1998

Reviews

[Jaime K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 2.5 GOF book. It fell flat. Whitman could have done a better job to defeat Spore.

But Jeric was in it and he was so in-character that I wanted to make this a 3-star instead of a 2-star.

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear 09 Spore by John Whitman

3.5 Stars

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

Fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters are a main focus: Yes

I'm not a fan of this Middle Grade / Junior series. It is frustrating to be around protagonists that KEEP making the same mistakes...over and over, and over, and OVER again. Ugh.

Also, I'm not a fan of spores or contagion, so the thought of this being loosing in the galaxy, is not a peaceful realization.

The terror that is involved in these stories are horrible, with the added nonsense of middle grade protagonists...that do STUPID things. Ugh.

This was less than some of the previous novellas, but still...I'm over this series...but the completionist in me...just cannot stop. There are only a few more stories...to go. Thank goodness. Ugh.

Galaxy of Fear 10 The Doomsday Ship. Three more in this series and I'm done. Yes!

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://twitter.com/Spongey445/status...

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, if there's any time a writer is clearly going for fan service over genuine character development, it's when he includes a video game character into his story. Whitman does just that in Spore by including Jerec from the Jedi Knight game from the mid-1990s. He was a fine character for the game, but pulling him out and using him as a secondary character in a kids' book is reaching.

Spore takes us to the Ithorians' planet, where Hoole is looking for a particular mineral to use as fuel for their ship. Their quest for the mineral takes them to an asteroid belt, where they find something far more concerning that just space slugs. By the time it reaches the surface of the planet, though, they discover just how threatening Spore can be.

To be honest, Spore is pretty convoluted. It doesn't feel anchored, since it takes us from place to place, seemingly on a whim. That we go from needing fuel to finding an ancient crypt on an asteroid, back to the planet, all with Jerec dancing around the periphery of the story, just means we can't get a grip on the story itself. If not for Zak and Tash there to keep us reminded of the connection to the rest of the series, it would feel like a book outside of the current series.

The story is compelling, just as all of the books in this series have been, but this is probably the weakest of the books so far. I think it's also the shortest, though. That's something, at least.

[Ben Briles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a fan of this series, but I never expect anything groundbreaking whenever I start one of these books. This one is definitely the weakest that I've read. It seemed like a bunch of disparate elements all kinda shoved together before coming to a very quick and unsatisfying resolution. It had potential on premise, but didn't really deliver. Oh well. The rest have been fun so far, so one slight stinker isn't a big deal.

[Alexandr Iscenco · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel in the Galaxy of Fear series turned out to be quite enjoyable. For the main "villain" the author has likely drew inspiration from zombifying fungi, which is a good choice for a scare. It was also interesting to see the appearance of Jerec from the Jedi Knight game, however, his depiction and role in the plot were limited. Finally, the "Spore" has somewhat of a mystery and a plot twist as well, which definitely adds interest to continue reading the novel.

[Noel Thingvall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still choppy, and still fails to sell any sense of scale with a story that feels populated by just a handful of people, which stands out given the size of the threat. Still, it's got some fun twists and turns, moves at a snappy pace, does some rich delving into the Hammerhead people, has a juicy Sith villain in Jerec from the Dark Forces game and books, and there's some wonderful setpieces, primarily involving an asteroid field full of slugs.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, this isn't the greatest book and certainly not the best in the series, but it had a HUGE impact on me as a kid. So creepy. So fascinating. So I definitely know where my obsession with sentient trees came from. Ha! Derec was a cool villain and it was many, many years before I realised where he originated from (despite his description being vaguely familiar). I also remember being intrigued by Fandomar, having encountered her in an adult novel before reading this one.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

are you ever reading a boring, boring, not scary and BORING star wars knockoff goosebumps and then, out of nowhere...

"Tattoos covered the lower part of his face. Strangest of all, he wore a band of black cloth over both eyes."

MISSED U JEREC

five stars

[Kay Iscah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I waited too long between finishing this book and writing my review. So just hitting a couple highlights. I really enjoyed having a book set on Ithor, at least partially. I'm not familiar with the cameo character, so can't say how well he's handled here.

[S.J. Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ithorians and evil parasites. Also some harmless links to other stories.

This one falls into more tropes than some of the series...or maybe just some of the tropes I'm not crazy about.

[Wolverinefactor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m maybe being overall too generous but I enjoyed this hybrid of Star Wars and the Thing.

[Jay Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this series when I was a child, had no idea until recently that there was more than 6 books, I'm damn sure going to finish it, still enjoying it even at my age

[Ronnie Gardocki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring, stupid, video game character as guest star. Tash learns that be careful what you wish for when you want friends: you could end up with a hivemind instead.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #266

Background: Spore was written by John Whitman and published in March of 1998. It is the ninth in the Galaxy of Fear series, all written by Whitman.

Spore takes place 10 months after the Battle of Yavin, not long after The Swarm (my review). The main characters are Tash and Zak Arranda and their adoptive Uncle Hoole. The Dark Jedi Inquisitor Jerec also plays a major role in the story, along with Fandomar Nadon, wife of Momaw (the exiled Ithorian who frequents the Mos Eisley Cantina). Most of the story takes place on and around Ithor.

Summary: Hoole and the Arrandas arrive on Ithor in search of a special mineral and some much-needed repairs. Their search leads them to a small mining colony in a nearby asteroid belt, but the miners have uncovered something long-hidden . . . a sinister force of nature that, if unleashed, could threaten the nearby planet, and the entire galaxy. Not that Zak or Tash will be around to see it!

Review: It definitely feels like Whitman is phoning it in at this point. I liked that the first half of this series was constructed into a single major plot arc, but it wouldn't have made sense to continue that too long. I also liked the choice to not continue this half of the series with a new major plot arc, and instead focus on stand-alone stories. What I don't like is that there are no real character arcs happening across the books either. I'd like to see some real sense that our heroes are growing and developing in some meaningful way through their adventures. As it is, this entry feels totally disposable in every way.

Plus, the core concept here is not only far from original, but not even that original to this series. This feels like stale leftover bits of several of the previous stories churned into a bland Galaxy of Fear sausage. And I won't get into it here because of spoilers, but when you stop to deconstruct the plot, the central conceit makes no sense at all. Jerec is . . . I'm trying to think how to put this . . . an "interesting" choice as the "known character" cameo for this book, but mostly because he's such a deep cut and such a weird character, not because he's particularly interesting as a character.

So why didn't I rate this lower? I dunno, it's not bad. If you've enjoyed the series so far . . . here's another one that's more of the same, and a lot of the stuff you've enjoyed about the series so far is still present. I like these characters and I enjoy spending time with them, even when they don't have a lot going on.

C

[Schimmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

lorena-this book is about space and adventures if you read this book you would love it so much that you would want to read all of the "star wars galaxie of fear".

[Matthew Hellscream · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relived some of my childhood today. It's Goosebumps in the Star Wars universe!