Thrawn Book Review

By: Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: Paperback, 470

Author: Timothy Zahn

Intended audience: Adult

Timeline: Between 13 and 11 BBY

Main characters: Thrawn, Ahrinda Pryce, and Eli Vanto

Brief synopsis: After mysteriously being picked up by the Empire, Thrawn starts to apply his military genius to the Empire and rapidly rises in rank.

Gut Feeling

I think I understand the hype behind Thrawn’s character and this trilogy. I have already started the second book of this series, am currently reading the new Thrawn novel, and have started rewatching Rebels just to get some more of Thrawn. I am very glad they decided to make his character Canon again as I’m sure that Legends Thrawn was pretty awesome too. That being said, I enjoyed this book more than I expected. Especially because all of the main characters of the book were fairly new (aside from Rebels), this makes it more difficult for me to buy into it. Because of that, it took a little while for the book to get going, but once it did, I was definitely hooked! I don’t have too many specifics to say that won’t be covered in the rest of the review, so I’ll just say that I loved this book and am excited to continue the series!

Characters (10/10 pts)

As I mentioned, the main characters in Thrawn were almost all new. Even though they had some appearances in Rebels, Ahrinda Pryce and Eli Vanto are not mainstream characters. Also, Thrawn is fairly new to Canon as well. Because of that, Zahn had his work cut out for him to develop these characters and cause the readers to like them. For the most part, the book follows two different storylines. One was of Thrawn and Eli Vanto and the other followed Ahrinda Pryce. From my experience in Star Wars novels, when there are two storylines like this, usually one is more interesting and well developed than the other. And usually, the storyline that the reader becomes less invested in is the one without the main character. So, I expected the story of Ahrinda Pryce to be rather boring. Boy was I wrong. All three of these characters were great. Their stories were compelling and relatable. When I was reading about Thrawn and Eli, I found myself wondering what Ahrinda was up to- and vice versa. Thrawn didn’t even overshadow Eli’s character. Eli shone almost as proudly as Thrawn. I say almost because Thrawn was the most developed character in this story, as he should be. I learned a lot about how he thinks, his motivations, and his behavior while also wanting to learn more. Good thing there are more books! Thrawn gets a perfect score for the characters.

Writing Style (9/10 pts)

Another Star Wars novel and we have yet another New York Times Bestselling Author. This book was pretty long and was dense with many details. Usually, when that happens, the book is difficult to read, but this was not the case with Zahn’s writing. The details included were both interesting and vital to the story. It also never really felt like too much. So despite it being dense, I still found it rather easy to read. The book was also dialogue-driven at points. While this was effective at expressing the character’s thoughts, the dialogue did feel a little awkward at points. While I understand that Thrawn’s character does speak differently, this wasn’t exclusive to his character. This is the only reason I am not giving full points for the writing style. It is left with a still great score of 9 points.

Plot (9.5/10 pts)

The plot was very strong. Perhaps more importantly, it really felt like the first book in a series. While alone it was a very exciting story, it set the stage for what I hope are excellent second and third books. The only downside I have for the plot is that it did start pretty slow. Zahn did a lot of work developing these characters from the ground up. However, it paid off well. There were balanced amounts of peaks and valleys and the peaks felt a little bit higher each time they came around. This appropriately raised the excitement until it reached an exciting and climactic finish. The book also successfully reached a satisfying closure for each character, which is no easy task. However, along with giving closure, it also opened up the story for new beginnings for each character- again making the reader excited for the next books. Overall, the plot was near perfect. I am giving 9.5 points.

Intrigue (9.5/10 pts)

Once I got past the character development stage of the novel, it became very intriguing. Even though it was dense, I found myself lost in the details. They were thought-provoking and I loved it. As the characters were thinking through different problems, it caused me to do the same. This really put the reader inside of the novel and made it so compelling. It was a book that I didn’t want to come to an end. That isn’t always the case for books that I read, especially books this long. But Zahn accomplished it anyway. 9.5 points for Intrigue. 

What does it add? (6.5/10 pts)

Here we arrive at perhaps the weakest point of the novel. When considering what Thrawn added to the Star Wars universe, I’m pretty limited to thinking Thrawn and his species, the Chiss. While Thrawn alone is an awesome addition to the Star Wars universe, he was already a character in Rebels. So instead of introducing an awesome new character, Thrawn simply provided considerable character development for that character. So I can’t award the book strong points just for Thrawn. The Chiss, however, can be considered as an addition to Star Wars lore. While there were some details about the species, I expect to hear more in book two and especially in Thrawn Chaos Rising. The score won’t be great for this section, but that shouldn’t take away from the excellence of the novel. So, just for this book, I am only giving 6.5 points for what it adds.

Logic (0 pts)

Thrawn neither took away nor added logic to the Star Wars universe. So I am neither taking away nor adding extra points.

Final Thoughts

So, my final score for Thrawn is an 8.9/10, or a B plus. This is a pretty strong score for books that I have scored and especially high for the first book in a series. I have only given four books As, and this book almost joins that elite copany.Don’t be surprised if you like the book even more than the score suggests. It is a novel of top tier quality, as expressed by the score for the first four sections. Thrawn is a really awesome character in Star Wars and a compelling antihero. If you have any interest in the time period of the Empire, you should pick up this book and take it for a ride. You won’t regret it.

I hope you enjoyed this book review and if there is a book that you want me to read or review, please let me know at christiancorah@gmail.com. As for now, I will only be doing Canon books (but in the future that might change).

Lords of the Sith Book Review

By: Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: Hardcover 320, Paperback 340

Author: Paul S. Kemp

Timeline: Follows Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel, precedes Tarkin 

Main Characters: Darth Vader, The Emperor, Cham Syndulla (shown below), Isval, Belkor Dray, and Moff Delian Mors

Brief synopsis: Freedom fighters Cham Syndulla and Isval attempt to cripple the Empire through one deadly mission that Darth Vader and The Emperor hope to survive.

Gut Feeling

I really enjoyed this book. When I started reading it, I wasn’t that excited for it. I basically chose it to read because I had just finished another book and it was the only one I owned that I hadn’t read yet. Once I got more books in the mail, I was a little frustrated that I had started Lords of the Sith. Admittedly, the book did start slow with the introduction of new characters. The book is not just about Darth Vader and The Emperor, which is what I was expecting. Since they were on the cover and the book was named after them, I felt annoyed that so much of the book was devoted to developing new characters. However, I came to change that opinion. While not the entire book is told from Vader’s and The Emperor’s perspectives, there is a lot to learn about them through the perspective of others. The reputation of Darth Vader grew throughout the book as the freedom fighters could not even comprehend Vader’s power. And the time that was devoted to just The Emperor and Darth Vader was done very well. There was much to learn about the relationship of a Sith Master to their Apprentice. There was manipulation, fear, and trust and mistrust at the same time. So my original bias against the book was reversed and I ended up grateful that I chose to read it.

Characters (9/10 pts)

Having characters like Vader and The Emperor can be an easy win for a Star Wars novel. The characters have already been fairly developed so they have existing strong reputations among fans. What I look for in these characters is what the author adds. We do learn some interesting content about them. I don’t want to give away too much, but Vader has some character defining moments in this book concerning his path to the dark side and we learn more about The Emperor as a Master. He is incredibly manipulative, and seeing it play out was fairly interesting. So for these two characters, the book was definitely a win. My only con is that I wish more of the book was told about them.

Since Vader and The Emperor were not the only main characters, the book was tasked with bringing characters like Cham, Isval, Belkor, and Mors to life. Although Cham does have some significant time in the animated series, readers won’t be too knowledgeable of the character. Kemp did a fantastic job with developing both Cham and Isval. I especially liked Isval who went through various moments in the book that made her standout as a unique character in the Star Wars Universe. Belkor and Mors were also developed well due to their limited time, but I didn’t feel committed to their characters. This isn’t necessarily a con, but just some nit-picking because Kemp did so good with the characters in this book. It is definitely a strength that stood out. 9 points for characters.

Writing Style (8/10 pts)

Kemp has a great talent for making action scenes come to life inside the reader’s mind. This made the climactic scenes that much more enjoyable. I was able to create a vivid image in my mind of what was going on. Also, through dialogue and reactions of others, he made the characters come to life as well. The characters were a strength in this novel, and it is largely because of Kemp’s writing style. For example, we learned a lot about Vader through the eyes of the other characters. Even when the emphasis was not directly on the Lords of the Sith, Kemp was able to keep in indirectly on them. This allowed for the development of multiple characters at once and kept the theme of the book true to its title.

Continuing on the strength of the characters, the book was told from all of the main character’s perspectives at differing points. Each of them gave unique outlooks on the events at hand and it made a more complete picture of what was going on. While I mostly consider this a strength, sometimes it was frustrating because I wanted to see what was going on with a certain character and it would sometimes be focused on an event or character that I wasn’t interested in. When done well, I thoroughly enjoyed it though. This writing style was unique and again highlighted a strength of the book, the characters. 8 points for the writing.

Plot (10/10 pts)

So this plot was awesome. It is partially because of how it was told (from so many perspectives), but the gradual build up of the book was incredibly satisfying as it climaxed near the end. Around halfway through the book, it is as if the climax began and it just kept building and building until at the end it all came together in beautiful fashion. It was a really awesome experience. It also accomplished in giving closure to each character/storyline. I wasn’t left wanting more, I was satisfied with what I got. Lords of the Sith is one of my favorite stories that I’ve read, and that is why I am giving it full points for the plot.

Intrigue (8.25/10 pts)

For the beginning part of the book, I did not feel the internal pull to keep turning pages. While characters were a strength to the book, the beginning felt slow since Kemp had to develop all of these characters and that took time. However, once the development set in and the story began to gradually climax, I couldn’t put the book down. Like I stated regarding the plot, the climax of the story seemed to start halfway through the book and it kept rising until at the end of the book everything came together. While it started slow, the intrigue peaked at the end and I couldn’t put the book down. I definifelt binged the last quarter of the book because I just had to find out what happens next. So intrigue started as a weakness and ended as a strength: 8.25 points.

What does it add? (8/10 pts)

In regards to what this book adds to the Star Wars Universe, I am most interested in The Emperor and Darth Vader. This is because of their prominent roles in the universe. I was wanting to learn more about their relationship as Master/Apprentice, and the book did not disappoint. It did examine how The Emperor trains/manipulates Vader and how Vader responds to it. Following the dark side is full of suffering, pain, and hatred and this book explains that more explicitly. It also peeks inside of Vader’s mind and provides some information on the conflict going on in his mind. We know he is conflicted from the movies, but we never fully knew what that meant. Now we have a better idea and it creates more understanding regarding Vader’s character. 

The events in the book also supposedly resulted in some of the spark that started the Rebellion. This is obviously significant, but how it acted as a spark is only inferred to in this book and not spelled out. It is interesting, but it doesn’t affect how I view anything in Star Wars.

I am giving this category 8 points because I enjoyed what it adds to the universe, but I don’t think it will make me view the movies/shows in a different light. We already knew Vader had conflict and that The Emperor is manipulative, we just know more about it now. It was done beautifully, but it more of explained what was unknown instead of adding something completely new.

Logic (-0.5 pts)

There were a couple of events in the book that didn’t quite make sense. Vader was able to use the force to throw buzz droids off of his ship, which wasn’t done by him in Revenge of the Sith. While it makes sense that he could do it, it just raises the question why neither he nor Obi-Wan did it in the movies. Vader also basically force ran everywhere in this book. If he was moving, he was force running. This makes me question why he didn’t run anywhere in the movies when in his armor, even though he clearly can and should. Instead he seemed fairly slow during the original trilogy.

These things made me scratch my head a little bit, but the book gains some points back by explaining something in the movies. When Darth Sidious quickly kills the three Jedi surrounding Mace Windu in Revenge of the Sith, it doesn’t look that believable. It appeared that the Jedi should have defended themselves better. I don’t want to give it away, but there is a short scene near the end of the book that explains how Sidious did this. So I am only deducting two points for logic because the book helped to explain something in the movies that was perplexing.

Final Thoughts

The final grade for Lords of the Sith is a 8.55/10, so a solid B. The book used the characters as a strength in multiple aspects, and it made the story-telling unique. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the master and apprentice relationship of Sith. The rest of the book involves a great story regarding a spark behind the Rebellion, but the interest is founded in Vader and The Emperor. 

I hope you enjoyed my first review and if there is a book that you want me to read or review, please let me know at christiancorah@gmail.com. As for now I will only be doing Canon books (but in the future that might change).

Alphabet Squadron Book Review

By: Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: 408, hardcover

Author: Alexander Freed

Timeline: Follows Return of the Jedi and precedes the Aftermath trilogy

Main characters: Yrica Quell, Chass na Chadic, Wyl Lark, Kairos, Nath Tenset, Caern Adan, Devon Lhent, and Hera Syndulla

Brief synopsis: Alphabet Squadron is made up of unlikely members, including outlaws and imperial defectors, but they are united over one thing: taking down Shadow Wing.

Gut Feeling

Alphabet Squadron is a book that I’ve put off reading for a while. I have realized that something I am really looking for in my Star Wars novels is additions to Star Wars lore. This is something that I was not expecting from Alphabet Squadron, so it kinda fell under my radar. But, I have still heard really good things about the book and knew that there was a ton of anticipation for Shadow Fall, so I figured the story itself had to be great. As you can see from the main character list, there are many characters that are featured in this novel. The only one that we are familiar with is Hera Syndulla (and she really isn’t featured), so this caused most of the first half of the book to move kind of slow. I was not sure if I was going to like it or not, but the last quarter of the book was very good. This is when it all came together and the development of sections of the book paid off well. Something that I was keeping in mind while reading this book was that it is the first of a trilogy. And it certainly felt like it. On its own, it was a good book. But as the first book of a trilogy, this book was excellent. I am reading Shadow Fall now and expect it to be even better. But we’re talking about Alphabet Squadron, so let’s get into the details.

Characters (10/10 pts)

Alphabet Squadron was certainly a character led novel. Alphabet Squadron itself is made up of six new members of the Star Wars universe (only five are shown below because Caern Adan works in intelligence for the squad instead of flying with them). What Freed did so well is give each of these characters their own unique backstories. No two characters were alike and although Yrica Quell did have the most attention from the novel, all characters had main- character-like depth. This did cause the first half of the book to move slowly (which I’ll discuss later) as these characters were developed, but because this is the first book of a trilogy, that makes sense: where if this were a standalone book, it would be too much time devoted to development of the characters. But because there are so many well developed characters, there is a lot that the reader can relate to. They can either relate really well to one of the characters, or a little to all of them. Something else the book did was have a somewhat separate storyline for Devon Lhent (I’m going to avoid spoilers on his character) who didn’t have a major impact on the story in Alphabet Squadron, but set him up to have an impact in Shadow Fall. This means that this next book won’t have to have hardly any development stage and should get right into action. I am easily giving 10 points for this section.

Writing Style (8.5/10 pts)

I’ve said this a million times and I’ll say it again, there is no poorly written Star Wars novel. They have always done a great job at selecting excellent authors to write the books. Freed’s style definitely leans towards being more detailed than normal. This carries beyond just the writing style to the plot itself, Freed loves going an inch wide and a mile deep. However, this didn’t make the book especially hard to read. It did lose some readability to the details, but not as much as I’d expect. It still flowed very well and the details that he added were important to the book so it paid off well. I am giving a slightly above average score of 8.5 for the writing style.

Plot (7.25/10 pts)

Although it is true that the book served its purpose as the first in a trilogy, it will still get hurt on some of the sections as I grade all novels as essentially being standalone. This will certainly be true for the book’s plot. The plot was definitely used by Freed as a device to develop the characters in the book. It wasn’t really about what was happening in the book, it was more so about what was happening to the characters and learning more about them. Like I said, this book was character led. After reading the book and just looking at what actually happened during the story, it wasn’t that much. And again I’ll say that it makes sense because it is setting up the rest of the trilogy, but it is true that the plot was not super exciting in Alphabet Squadron. What I can say that is good about the plot is from very early on the reader knows where the book is headed. We understand the objective. It also finished very strong, as all novels should. All characters reached closure for this part of the story and had intrigue for what was going to happen next in Shadow Fall. But despite this, because the plot was mostly used to develop characters, I am giving 7.25 points for the plot.

Intrigue (6.75/10 pts)

Like with the plot, this intrigue section will also get hurt due to Alphabet Squadron being the first book of a trilogy. While in the present most of what I was learning about the characters was interesting, that type of writing does not do much for the intrigue. Intrigue is built when something exciting is happening and the reader is compelled to find out what is going to happen next. Because most of the book was developing characters, I wasn’t on the edge of my seat waiting to learn about other characters. While the book did an excellent job at developing characters, it just isn’t super exciting. But the book still did it’s job and the next two books won’t need to spend much time in a development stage and should be excellent as a result of that. Once Alphabet Squadron got to the climactic finish, it was excellent. While I am giving a slightly below average score of 6.75 points for the intrigue, it is understandable being the first in a trilogy. It should not deter you from reading the book.

What does it add? (6/10 pts)

As I stated in my “gut reaction”, I mostly read books to learn more about Star Wars lore. I love what books can add to the Star Wars universe. This is a reason why I hadn’t read Alphabet Squadron for so long. And my assumption turned out to be right, it did not really add anything substantial to the Star Wars universe. While the book itself did provide a great story, it was lacking here. All I could think of that it added was blurring the lines between good and evil in Star Wars. It is not as clear cut as the Original Trilogy made it. But, Alphabet Squadron is not the first book to have done this and did not do it the best (Lost Stars by Cluadia Gray did it the best in my opinion). So, I am only giving 6 points for this section.

Logic (+0.5 pts)

While Alphabet Squadron didn’t add anything new to the Star Wars universe, it did help to explain one of Star Wars’ most prevalent plot holes (I say plot hole, but it is more of something that isn’t explained well). I am talking about the fact that the Jedi went from being protectors of the galaxy to a myth very quickly. This novel does help to provide an explanation for that. So, I am giving an extra half point.

Final Thoughts

So my final score for Alphabet Squadron is a 7.8 out of 10, or a C plus. This score is slightly below average for Star Wars novels that I have reviewed, but I hope that it does not deter you from reading it. If you are wanting a series of books that is high stakes and character led, I encourage you to start off by reading this book. It served its purpose perfectly as the first in the trilogy. I am reading Shadow Fall now and expect it to be better than the first. So if you like great stories in Star Wars, check this series out. But, if you just read Star Wars novels to learn more about Star Wars, this might not be the series for you.

I hope you enjoyed this book review and if there is a book that you want me to read or review, please let me know at christiancorah@gmail.com. As for now, I will only be doing Canon books (but in the future that might change).