Resistance Reborn Book Review

By: Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: Hardcover, 295

Author: Rebecca Roanhorse

Intended audience: Adult

Timeline: Follows The Last Jedi, precedes The Rise of Skywalker

Main characters: Poe Dameron, Leia Organa, Finn, Rey, Wedge Antilles, Rose Tico, Winshur Bratt, and other Resistance fighters

Brief synopsis: Following the events of The Last Jedi, the Resistance has limited resources and leadership. In order to fight the First Order, they must re-group and re-build.

Gut Feeling

This book definitely did its job in the series of “Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” There is a large gap between Episodes 8 and 9, and Resistance Reborn helps to bridge that gap. It should also make the viewing of Episode 9 more meaningful as there is significant background information that should be applied during the movie. So for this purpose, the book accomplished what it was supposed to. Outside of that, I wish we got more content on characters like Rey and Rose. They are crucial members of the Resistance, but they didn’t get much time in this book. I understand why we didn’t get much of Rey (because she is SUCH a crucial character that is explored largely in TROS), but Rose should have gotten more time. We still don’t know much about her, and this book had potential to be a great learning opportunity (especially since we got almost nothing about her in TROS). This is one of the reasons that made it somewhat disappointing. 

However, the story that followed the Resistance fighters was not the entire focus of the book. A separate story line followed Imperial Winshur Bratt. Going into the book, I wasn’t expecting a story told from an Imperial’s perspective, and if I had known it was coming, I probably wouldn’t have been looking forward to it. However, Winshur’s storyline was my favorite part of the entire book. It ended up being an important part of the entire story, and it was a clever add from Roanhorse. In an overall somewhat average book, Winshur’s story shone bright.

Characters (8.25/10 pts)

Most of this book is going to be fairly hard to rate. This is because the story that followed the Resistance and the one that followed Winshur Bratt differed in quality. I could rate both of them separately and have completely different scores. However, because this book follows main characters in the Star Wars universe, I feel I must give the Resistasnce’s storyline the most consideration in my ratings.

Because many of the characters were already established, I look to what additional information I can learn from them. I want it to be both somewhat surprising, but for it to also make sense inside of the Star Wars universe. While there is some new character development for Leia, Poe, Rey, and Finn, I didn’t like the direction that Resistance Reborn took these characters. It didn’t really make sense. There also wasn’t much character development outside of what I didn’t like or any character defining moments for them. It failed to build upon my existing emotional attachment to these characters. The quality of the main characters in the Resistance was the biggest weakness for the “characters” section.

The redeemable qualities come from the new characters. Others are brought into the Resistance and have significant depth to them. I enjoyed their backgrounds quite a bit. But the real strength did lie with Winshur’s story. His character, accompanied by Yama Dex and Monti Clay, is very strong. Their storylines were pretty complex, especially for a Star Wars story, but it was done excellently. Their arcs were both surprising and made a lot of sense. It was the strongest part of the book and pulls the score from being below average to being slightly above average at 8.25 points. By themselves, Winshur, Yama, and Monti would have received a perfect score.

Writing Style (9/10 pts)

This may be the first Star Wars book that I’ve read that did not have New York Times Bestselling Author next to the author’s name (but Resistance Reborn itself became a bestseller). Regardless, this was still a well-written novel. The storyline that followed the Resistance seemed up to par in quality with other Star Wars books. It included much detail that made it a slower read, but the detail was welcoming as it made the story have more depth. Interestingly enough, Roanhorse actually switched her writing style for Winshur’s story. This was a stylistic choice that paid off very well. I don’t say this lightly when I say that this storyline was the best written Star Wars arc that I’ve encountered. They way she developed the characters and told the story was intoxicatingly good. Even though the events of the storyline on the surface weren’t especially exciting, through her masterful writing she made them matter to the reader. It was a pretty sophisticated style and it fit it's plot so very well. Winshur’s story on its own would again receive a perfect score, but overall I am giving a 9/10 for the writing style. 

Plot (8.5/10 pts)

For the plot, I will consider the Resistance and Winshur’s story together. Overall, it was essentially what I would expect from a novel titled Resistance Reborn. It made sense to what should have been happening in this time period. The plot was also well developed as it slowly ramped up to a satisfying and exciting conclusion. Overall, she did a good job with the plot as there weren’t blatant weaknesses to it. What I do point out is that the beginning of the book was somewhat unexciting, but it was made up for with a strong conclusion. Roanhorse did a great job at bringing different storylines together into a climactic finish that reminded me of the style done by Paul Kemp in Lords of the Sith. It worked very well as the ending of the book was the part where I did not want to put it down. Because of the strong ending, I am giving the plot 8.5 points.

Intrigue (7/10 pts)

While the writing style’s density may have been a strength for applying depth to the story, it did take a little away from the intrigue. I didn’t feel that I could read large amounts of the book in one setting without needing a break. This combined with the fact that, outside of the ending, parts of the book were not that exciting. Even though this book was just under 300 pages, it was definitely not a quick read. At the end I was intrigued to finish the book, but it does not take away from my feelings regarding the intrigue for the whole book. This is something I was not expecting since the book is about some of the most favored characters in the sequel trilogy. Because of this, I am giving 7 points for intrigue. 

What does it add? (6/10 pts)

Outside of supplying clues to TROS, I don’t think Resistance Reborn adds much significant content to the Star Wars universe. Because the purpose of the book was to add content to TROS, what it added was completely expected. With that in mind, I then look to see what else the book adds to the entire Star Wars universe. Resistance Reborn, much like books similar to Most Wanted, does not supply any information outside of the book’s intended purpose. It does not become bigger than itself. If Rey was a more central part of the story, this could have been different. This is the biggest weakness of the book. That being said, I am only giving 6 points.

Logic (0 pts)

The only thing that comes to mind for this section is that some of the characters went directions that I didn’t like. It didn’t seem to make sense with what happened to them previously and then what happens in TROS. But I think this is largely open to interpretation so I will not be taking away any points for that reason. It just seems too biased for me to do so. Overall, Resistance Reborn neither adds to or takes away from logic within the Star Wars universe.

Final Thoughts

So my final grade for Resistance Reborn is a 7.75/10, or a C plus. The storyline of Winshur Brett was the highlight of the entire book, even though his story was far from the emphasis of the book. On its own, Winshur’s story would have scored very high. While the storyline of the Resistance was good, it just didn’t have the same high quality. This story felt fairly self-contained among the Star Wars universe, outside of supplying clues for TROS. Independent from TROS, it wasn’t my favorite read. But if you want more information on the movie, I would suggest Resistance Reborn as a must read. 

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).

Free Fall Book Review

By: Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: Hardcover, 384

Author: Alex Segura

Intended Audience: Young Adult

Timeline: Follows Return of the Jedi, precedes The Force Awakens

Main characters: Poe Dameron and Zorii Bliss

Brief synopsis: Having a dream of a life more than being stuck on Yavin 4, Poe joins the Spice Runners of Kijimi and gets more than be bargained for. 

Gut Feeling

Personally, I thought that Poe was one of the less exciting main characters in the sequel trilogy. I didn’t dislike him, but his arc was all over the place and it was hard to keep track of. Free Fall certainly helps fill in some of the holes in his character arc, specifically for new plot points added to his character in The Rise of Skywalker. However, I think that the book should have given Poe’s character more depth. I would have liked to see more than just his life with the Spice Runners of Kijimi. With a larger scope, we would have learned more about Poe. However, his character wasn’t the main reason why I was interested in reading this book. I was really excited to learn more about Zorii Bliss. She didn’t have a ton of time in The Rise of Skywalker, but I loved what we got of her. She truly has the potential to be one of the better strong, female characters in Star Wars. She did get more depth in Free Fall, but like with Poe, I wish we got more. This will be a common theme moving forward in this review. However, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the read. It was an overall exciting story that was easy to read. So without further ado, let’s get into the details.

Characters (7/10 pts)

Because this book’s purpose was to essentially provide a background for Poe’s character, I expected it to be full of character development. Mostly for Poe, but also for other characters like Zorii. What Freed added for these characters was good. We get to learn a little bit about Poe’s life before he left home and learn the most about him as a spice runner. I do wish we got more details about him than with this period in his life and as I said before, a broader scope of his life would have allowed us to get a better overall understanding of his character. However, there was a significant character-defining moment for Poe that helps out the score for this section. It was essentially at the climax of the book and you’ll understand what I’m talking about if you read it. I still wish we got more details on Poe, but this moment was powerful and I’m glad it was included. 

I also think it is important to talk about Zorii. We do learn more about her, but a lot of it is through Poe’s perspective. She is a second main character to Poe and I wish more of the book was devoted to giving her character depth. Like with Poe, the content with her was quality, I just wish there was more to it. There was potential to make her a strong character in Star Wars, and I don’t think that happened. I still love Zorii, I could just have more reasons to love her. For all of these reasons, I am giving 7 points for the characters.

Writing Style (7.5/10 pts)

For being a young adult (YA) novel, I thought that the writing style was a bit too simple. It felt more like a novel intended for teenagers. Not necessarily in the content (the content fit what I expect for a YA novel), but just how it read. It seemed there could have been many details added to the writing that would have helped the story come to life more. Also, at points, the flow of the writing seemed a little bit awkward. However, I do want to note that this never really took away from the overall quality of the book. All Star Wars novels are well written so I am just being nitpicky here. This is just how I can differentiate between different books. So even though this book is overall well written, it felt slightly less than average for Star Wars novels. I am giving 7.5 points.

Plot (6.5/10 pts)

I was pretty disappointed with the plot. It jumped around a lot and was sometimes hard to connect what just happened to what was now happening. It really lacked scenes in between the peaks to give the plot time to breathe (pretty similar to The Rise of Skywalker). These scenes would have also set up the peaks better giving them more meaning. Without them, the peaks weren’t high enough. So for about 75% of the book, the plot was pretty weak. But the ending of the book, which is very important, was excellent. Like I said in the character section, it was crucial for Poe’s character. It also brought multiple character arcs together which made it the most exciting part of the book, as it should be. While I did enjoy it, I think it could have been a lot better if there were more details in the plot prior to the climax. The plot was one of the weaker parts of Free Fall, so I am only giving 6.5 points.

Intrigue (7.5/10 pts)

As I stated before, Poe was not one of my favorite characters in the sequel trilogy so I have to try and control my bias for this section. Naturally, I had less intrigue than normal, but I understand that if you decide to read this book you probably like Poe more than I do. However, there were still reasons why the intrigue for Free Fall was less than average. While there were many exciting moments, because they lacked scenes that gave them meaning, it makes it more difficult to get invested in the story. Also, it was difficult to know what the book was leading towards (it doesn’t help that we know that Poe leaves the Spice runners) so I wasn’t as motivated to find out what was going to happen. Even though I did enjoy the ending, the intrigue only started to peak near the end of the novel. What is working for the intrigue is the easy to read writing style. I could read much of it at a time with hardly any effort. This helps the score a little bit, but I am still only giving 7.5 points for the intrigue. 

What does it add? (6.5/10 pts)

This is the weakest part of the novel. There is nothing really that Free Fall adds to the Star Wars universe that is significant to more than the characters of Poe and Zorii. This makes the book mostly self-contained. This makes sense because the purpose of the book is mostly for these characters, but it just means that it won’t score well here. It isn’t a deal-breaker for the book, it is just the truth. The only thing that I can really think of that adds to Star Wars is more information on the Spice Runners of Kijimi. They seem to be a significant part of the universe in the New Republic era. Also, their leader at the time was VERY cool. However, it still doesn’t really change much about how I view Star Wars holistically. I am only giving 6.5 points for this section.

Logic (+0.5 pts)

The Rise of Skywalker introduced us to lightspeed skipping and although it is a cool concept, it is difficult to wrap one’s mind around. Lightspeed travel itself is difficult, but there are plausible explanations like computers having to path out strict hyperspace lanes to travel by. Lightspeed skipping kind of throws that to the curb. But, through Free Fall, we do get an explanation for how this method works. For that reason, I am giving an extra half point.

Final Thoughts

My overall score for Free Fall is a 7.1/10, or a C minus. This is below average for books that I have reviewed thus far. As you can tell from the scores, there is no real strength to this novel and that is probably its biggest weakness. There’s nothing really that I can point to and say “this is what makes this book great,” outside of the defining moment for Poe’s character. I’d only really read this novel if you love the characters of Poe or Zorii. If you do, I don’t see any real reasons why you would dislike the book. But if you’re just looking for your next great Star Wars book to read, there are better options available. 

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).

Lost Stars Book Review

By: Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: 551

Author: Claudia Gray

Timeline: 11 BBY - 5 ABY (before and after the Battle for Yavin)

Main Characters: Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell

Brief Synopsis: Ciena and Thane have formed an unlikely bond growing up on the mountain planet of Jelucan, but joining the Empire proves to considerably change their lives.

Gut Feeling

After I finished reading Master and Apprentice, I looked up what other books Claudia Gray had written. I loved her writing so much that I just HAD to read more of her work. When I first saw Lost Stars, I was actually pretty underwhelmed. It didn’t appear to follow any main characters and the timeline was kinda confusing, so I looked past it. Not to mention it is kinda long. However, the book's reputation soon caught up with me. I’ve only heard great things about it, fans LOVE this book. So my excitement for the book started to grow and I became fairly excited about it too. I ended up having high expectations for it, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. From the beginning to the end of the book I did not want to put it down. 551 pages did not seem like enough, it left me wanting more and I will be one of the many irate fans if we don’t get a sequel (there are rumors that a sequel is already in the works!). It is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read, Star Wars or not.

Characters (10/10 pts)

Since Lost Stars was not written about characters that have already been developed, Gray had a more difficult task on hand than she did with Master and Apprentice (this book is about Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan). However, it did not take long for me to become attached to Ciena and Thane. I was worried about liking the characters, but it was only Chapter 1 when that worry was put aside. Throughout the entire book, my attachment to them only grew. As the book was coming to an end, I felt myself rooting for the characters from deep within myself. I actually felt distraught worrying about what was happening to them. Gray gives her characters so much depth and Ciena and Thane were both relatable due to it. These characters were incredible and I hope we get more of them, that is why I’m giving Lost Stars a full 10 points for this category.

Writing Style (10/10 pts)

Gray’s writing is really, really good. What she describes and creates is fairly complex, but she does it in an easily readable way. It had depth, but it doesn’t always feel like it, which is a good thing. She also uses the character’s thoughts to bring the characters and story to life. It is a little hard to describe, but their thought processes are clear, and they make sense almost as if I was thinking the same things along with the characters. They are also often subtle, leaving the reader to connect the final dots. This only made me feel more connected to the characters and is something unique that Gray does so well. Beyond that, Gray’s writing style doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses. It was at its best in this novel. Lost Stars gets another full 10 points.

Plot (8.5/10 pts)

The plot follows Ciena and Thane from just before the Original Trilogy to just after. It gives a vastly different perspective on many large events from the OT and uses those same events to advance the book’s own plot. While it followed the same timeline and shared events, it still remained unique from the OT. We got additional insight into those events and viewing them from a different perspective gives them more depth and meaning. How Ciena and Thane’s characters evolved throughout the plot was believable, complex, and compelling. My only complaint about the plot is it felt rushed at some points. While the book was 551 pages, I felt that some sections could have used more depth. Overall though the plot was great and it will still get 8.5 points.

Intrigue (10/10 pts)

Just like how my attachment to the characters began early in the book, so did my intrigue. I was attached to the characters and there weren’t any parts of the book that I wasn’t intrigued about. The exciting finish of the book had me so compelled that I HAD to finish the book. I hadn’t felt this type of commitment to a story in other books like I did to Lost Stars. Even though it was quite long, it did not feel that way. I would often look down and get surprised at how many pages I’d read. This tells me that I was truly engrossed in the story and even flipping pages were forgotten, multiple times. Lost Stars definitely deserves another perfect 10 points in this category.

What does it add? (7.5/10 pts)

After reading Lost Stars, I have a new perspective on both The Empire and The Rebellion. In the OT, The Empire is clearly evil and The Rebellion is clearly good. But Lost Stars makes the binary of good and evil more of a gray area (get it? Cause Claudia Gray wrote the book?). This is closer to what real life is like and it made the whole Star Wars universe more relatable and realistic. It also gives some insight into the Battle of Jakku, which is actually my first insight on it. I know there is material on the battle, I just haven’t read it yet. But there is still more understanding of the battle and it even gives some background to the Star Destroyer that crashed into Jakku. This may not have been needed, but I’m still glad to know it and will think of it when watching Episode 7. So Lost Stars does add some interesting content to Star Wars, but there was nothing in the book that stood out to me as changing how I look at the universe. This is the only weakness I see in the book. This is why I am giving this section only 7.5 points.

Logic (+0.5 pts)

Lost Stars gives some insight into the perplexing battle strategies of The Empire. For example, why they seem to hold back at times even when it seems they should be winning large battles in mere minutes due to their superior firepower. I always took this as The Rebellion being that good, but now I have a better understanding of it. I don’t want to say any more on the topic to keep this spoiler-free, but I am giving Lost Stars an extra half point for the logic.

Final Thoughts

A 9.3/10 makes this book one of the highest rated books I’ve reviewed! And that is saying a decent amount as I’ve rated over 20 books. Any rating over 9 is significant coming from me. Star Wars aside, it was a fantastic book. I recommend it to my friends who don’t even like Star Wars. I don’t think you need to be a fan to enjoy this story: it is that good. So if you love good books and want an exciting Star Wars story (with a considerable amount of romance I should add), Lost Stars is a must-read. I’m confident you will like it as much as I did and I’ll be waiting desperately with many other fans for the potential sequel.

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).

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).

Attack Of The Clones Book Review

By: Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: Paperback, 368

Author: R. A. Salvatore

Timeline: Follows The Phantom Menace, precedes Revenge of the Sith

Main characters: Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padmé, Jango Fett, and more.

Brief synopsis: Now a late teenager, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé try to discover the mystery behind the assassination attempts on the senator’s life while the Republic’s fragility promises an impending war.

Gut Feeling

This book was surprisingly good. I do enjoy all of the Star Wars movies, but even though the Prequel Trilogy is my personal favorite, I certainly understand the flaws within the Attack of the Clones movie. There are a lot of points where I can’t help but cringe. But most of this, in my opinion, is due to the acting. This is obviously eliminated in book form. Salvatore did a great job with the writing of the characters, so I felt that they became much stronger in writing. This is the first novelization that I can say may change some people’s opinions on the movie. Specifically, Padmé and Anakin’s relationship was a strength in this novel. It was simply much more believable and less forced. This, and many other points of the story, were given more depth. The book’s length allowed the story to be explored with more detail. I could go on and on regarding my gut reaction, but let’s get into some details.

Characters (9.5/10 pts)

One of the biggest problems of the movie is Padmé and Anakin’s relationship. It does not come off as genuine, feels rushed, and there was no on screen chemistry between the two characters. But in the novel, this became a strength. We understand a lot about Anakin and why he would essentially throw his life away for Padmé, but we don’t really understand her motivations. She is a former queen and current senator of the Republic, so it doesn’t make sense for her to do something so illogical. But through the book, her motivations are clearer. It is a classic forbidden love story that comes across much better in written form. This is one of the biggest strengths I see in the book, especially because it erases a weakness from the movie’s story.

Along with Padmé and Anakin, there were SO many other characters that got additional character development. Specifically, I want to highlight the work done on Boba and Jango Fett. These characters are essentially the characters that look cool but have no depth in Star Wars. But Salvatore shed a lot of light on these characters individually and on their relationship with each other. There is much more understanding to their actions and I even found myself rooting for them at points in the book, which never happened during the movie. Instead of cheering over Jango’s death, I felt some hurt. This made the overall story more compelling and complex, a strong addition.

Finally, I must point out the development done to Shmi Skywalker. We never learned much about her, but we get a lot of content focused on her in the book. The first few chapters revolve around her life on Tatooine after Anakin leaves, and I absolutely loved it. We understand the impact of what it did to her to have her son leave and we see how she changes when she gets freed and married. I could add more details about what this book did well considering the characters, but these were certainly the strongest points. I wrote about it a lot, so I’m confident to say this section is the strongest point of the book. I am giving 9.5 points for characters.

Writing Style (9.5/10 pts)

I feel so repetitive when I write these sections. But we have another Star Wars novel and another well-written gem. Because the book was written a while ago, I am unfamiliar with Salvatore’s work. But he did a great job. For novelizations of movies, I think a detailed writing style is important, because otherwise the author is just retelling events of the movie without giving it more depth. Salvatore’s style was detailed with a strong balance of dialogue. It felt easy to read, even though the material was fairly dense at points. It simply had quality prose. Because of that, I am giving 9.5 points.

Plot (8.75/10 pts)

Because the main points of the story’s plot is already set in stone, I mostly look to see what is added to the story. As I mentioned previously, we get more background on Shmi Skywalker’s life after Anakin left and before the Tusken Raiders got her. This gave more impact to a major scene in the story, when she died in Anakin’s arms (spoiler alert). While I enjoyed this content, I realize that everyone may not. It is rather lengthy and for some it will appear to move too slow. But if you’re reading the novelization, you’ll probably be wanting material like this as I did. Salvatore also made the low points of the movie into strong points of the novel, specifically the Anakin and Padmé scenes. So instead of low valleys in the movie, they become interesting plot points of the book. My only downside to the plot is that the book ended fairly abruptly. It did end like that in the movie, but this is where I would have liked some additional depth. Especially for wrapping up the first battle of the war and bridging some of the gap to Anakin and Padmé’s wedding. But overall, the plot was a strength due to the added content. I am giving 8.75 points.

Intrigue (8/10 pts)

The writing style was easy to read and the story was exciting, so my intrigue was mostly high throughout the book. If I let my personal bias decide the score, it would probably be a little higher, but I realize that for most people the intrigue will not be as high. If there is less interest in the added scenes, I think the reader will perceive them as dull and it will be difficult for them to get through it. Especially as the book begins, it takes awhile for the actual story to get going. But, again, if you like added content you shouldn’t have a problem with that. As for the rest of the book, the scenes we are familiar with are very easy to read because we know what to expect. Novelizations of the movies get a natural boost in this section. For these reasons, I am giving 8 points for the intrigue.

What does it add? (8/10 pts)

I was pleasantly surprised with what this book added to Star Wars. Most novelizations and books written to supplement movies only have content that applies to the movie. While most of the book did just apply to the movie, there was some pretty cool content regarding fighting styles of those who use lightsabers. Specifically regarding the preferred fighting style of the Jedi and why Count Dooku’s fighting style differed and was superior. It isn’t often we see information like this directly from a novel, so I greatly embraced it. It may also explain why some Jedi seem helpless in duels. So I am giving 8 points for what the book added.

Logic (0 pts)

There is nothing in the novel that added to nor took away from the logic within the Star Wars universe. So I am neither adding nor taking away additional points.

Final Thoughts

So, my final score for the novelization of Attack of the Clones is a 8.75/10, or a high B. This is a surprisingly high score for a novelization of a movie. It is also a rare case where your opinion may change regarding the story by reading the book. It turned cringey moments of the movie into strong points when written. There were also many strong, additional scenes. Salvatore did everything I was hoping for and more. I was very pleasantly surprised overall. Even if, like most Star Wars fans, you didn’t enjoy the movie, I want to encourage you to try out the book. You may be pleasantly surprised as I was!

Ahsoka Book Review

By Christian Corah

Descriptives

Page count: Hardcover, 356

Author: E. K. Johnston

Timeline: Follows Revenge of the Sith, precedes A New Hope

Main character(s): Ahsoka

Brief synopsis: Ahsoka’s life has drastically changed and she is working to stay safe from the Empire while attempting to find her identity.

Gut Feeling

I really enjoyed reading this book. I love Ahsoka, like many fans do, so I am not surprised that this book was so good. E.K. Johnston would have really had to mess it up to make a book about Ahsoka unappealing to me. But she did not mess it up, she delivered a very good book that would have still been quality if it were about a different character. It was a pretty quick read though, I finished it within a week of starting it (which is quick for me). The audio book is also fairly short, only being six hours. But even though it was quick, there was a lot packed into it. Johnston was economical with each page used. It seemed like every section had something important happening in it. There was no wasted space and no meaningless sections. Because of that, there were not many lulls throughout the book. Ahsoka was a hit, so let’s get into the details of the book.

Characters (10/10 pts)

Because this book was centered around a beloved character in the Star Wars universe, Johnston’s job was a little easier because most of us already love Ahsoka. She is also a character that already has much depth to her. So because of that, I look for what the book adds to the character. Ahsoka is obviously in a drastically different part of her life than we are used to. She is no longer a Jedi and on the run from the Empire. It is really interesting seeing how her character must adapt and change to the world that is changing around her. There is much development in her character in Ashoka and her character arc fits well within her Clone Wars and Rebels versions. Ahsoka’s character alone would receive a high score for this section, but it would not quite be perfect.

There were also other characters important to the story that were developed well, but what puts this book over the edge is the perspective from other major characters in the Star Wars universe. I won’t mention who they are to avoid spoilers, but we do get short sections from other characters that had character development all over them. It was an excellent use of space in the book and did not take away from the main storyline; these sections supplemented it. So for these reasons, I am giving a perfect score for characters.

Writing Style (8/10 pts)

E. K. Johnston’s writing styles in Queen’s Shadow and Ahsoka were vastly different, but had similar quality. They were both excellently written books- no Star Wars novel is poorly written- but Ahsoka had less depth to it and relied more on dialogue. This caused it to read a little easier, as it was intended for a slightly younger audience. In some cases, I’ve taken away a point for the writing style being simpler, but Johnston did it very well in Ahsoka so I will be giving 8 points for the writing style. This would be above average for the common book, but it is on par with other Star Wars  books.

Plot (7/10 pts)

The biggest strength for the plot is that I don’t have much bad to say about it. It started out a little slow as the setting was developed, it slowly built up as the reader became more familiar with the story, and it climaxed near the end with a satisfying conclusion. There were peaks and valleys throughout the book that worked well with each other. The peaks weren’t too climatic and there was time to breathe between each big event. I never really had a great idea of where the plot was headed, but I knew enough to want to keep reading. It wasn’t a complete mystery. But, the plot also wasn’t extraordinary. It was a little on the simple side and even though I enjoyed it, I can understand that it could come across as boring in parts. So despite it not having any real significant flaws, I am only giving 7 points.

Intrigue (9/10 pts)

There were a few things that were adding to the intrigue. The book is about Ahsoka, so obviously this caused me to be interested early on in the book. The writing style was easy to read, so I could read much at a time without feeling like I needed a break. And finally, when the plot was exciting, it was very good and motivated me to keep reading. This caused me to not want to put the book down and read it fairly quickly. And even in the more boring sections, I knew there was something exciting probably coming up. Even if the reader does not love Ahsoka, I think the intrigue will still be rather high for them because the quality of the book was so good. That is why I am giving 9 points for the intrigue.

What does it add? (10/10 pts)

A prominent reason why I decided to read this book (other than loving Ahsoka’s character) was to learn more about kyber crystals. I knew there was some really cool information about them in this book. It is likely you know what I am referring to, but, in case you don’t, I won’t mention it specifically. You’ll just have to read it for yourself! There was also more about the kyber crystals than what I knew was in the book, so that was a pleasant surprise. Ahsoka easily scores 10 points for this section.

Logic (0 pts)

Ahsoka neither adds to nor takes away from logic within the Star Wars universe. So, I am neither adding nor taking away extra points.

Final Thoughts

My final score for Ahsoka is an 8.8/10, or a B+. This ranks Ahsoka pretty high up there with my favorite Star Wars novels. The score is actually a little higher than what I expected based on my gut reaction, so it is entirely possible you’ll enjoy it even more than I did. If you like Ahsoka’s character, it’s a no-brainer to check this book out. If you’re just wanting another cool Star Wars story that adds to the universe, you should like it too. However, I will say that if you’re only really concerned with the story, there may be other books to read if you’re not interested in Ahsoka’s character. But if you do have a reason to pick the book up, I’m sure you’ll enjoy 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).