A Star Wars Triple Feature!
We’ve got less than a month until Rise of Skywalker. I figured I should review a few Star Wars novels!
It’s safe to say Star Wars novels drew me into reading science fiction. When I was eight years old, I was at Barnes and Noble and walked into an aisle with dozens of different Star Wars books. I was floored. I didn’t even know they existed!
Needless to say, I’m excited for the future of Star Wars literature. And below, I’ve reviewed three Star Wars novels I recently listened to on Audible.
Over the years, I’ve gobbled up almost every Star Wars book ever released. When Disney bought the franchise, I was immediately sad, like many other fans of the Expanded Universe. However, since the launch of the Force Awakens and the many other stories set within the “Disney” version of the Star Wars continuity, most of my fears have been placated.
There are a lot of old stories I loved that will never be a part of the current Star Wars universe—whether it’s James Luceno’s ingenious Darth Plagueis or the epic New Jedi Order multi-author series.
But there were a lot of really bad books in the old Star Wars universe. Since Disney bought the franchise, there hasn’t been a book I’ve thought was bad. Not every book is great, but new authors breathe new life into the franchise are telling Star Wars in a way Star Wars has never been told before. Chuck Wendig, for instance, received a lot of flack for his writing style (I personally liked it) in the Aftermath series, but those books include some of the most original characters ever to hit the page in a book set in a Galaxy Far Far Away. (I’m talking about Mister Bones)
Or, consider Lost Stars, a YA novel spanning the entirety of the Original Trilogy. It’s brilliant. Hands down one of the best stories I’ve ever read. And it was one of the first books released after the continuity switch.
Enough rambling. I could talk about Star Wars books for days. Without further ado, here are my reviews of Thrawn: Treason, Alphabet Squadron, and Resistance Reborn.
Thrawn: Treason
The original “Thrawn” trilogy of the mid 1990s kickstarted the modern era of Star Wars literature. We’re now in the post-modern era, perhaps? TImothy Zahn, a prolific scifi writer, was given the opportunity to pen three novels occurring after Return of the Jedi. In doing so, he made potentially the most iconic off-screen character in the franchise: Grand Admiral Thrawn.
When Disney bought Star Wars, many readers became quite angry they’d never see Thrawn again.
Disney apparently heard that fear, and reintroduced Thrawn not only in novels, but their animated TV Series, Star Wars Rebels. And the novels they gave back to Zahn to write, giving him the opportunity to retell his most famous character’s story in the new continuity.
Thrawn: Treason is the culmination of a trilogy taking place between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One, and it features Thrawn’s rise to power in the Imperial military complex. Thrawn’s enigma as a character stems from his origin: he’s a blue-skinned Chiss who convinces the Emperor himself that he is necessary to the Empire’s safety. While the Empire usually only has human officers, Thrawn becomes an exception—much to the chagrin of his human counterparts.
While in Star Wars Rebels, Thrawn is portrayed as a villain, in the novels, he’s the principle protagonist, with complicated motivations regarding his desire to protect his people—the Chiss—and be loyal to his new liege—the Emperor. And Thrawn: Treason caps off a brilliant trilogy with a narrative that leaves open plenty of strings for future stories (a new one is coming next year) while resolving pressing plotlines. The novel also nicely ties into Star Wars Rebels, a TV series I highly encourage Star Wars fans to watch. It’s much more significant than you might think.
What Timothy Zahn does so expertly is write a novel from the perspective of the Empire while making readers sympathetic to typically “evil” characters. In most Star Wars stories, we only see the motivations of the Imperials through the lens of the “good guys,” but novels like Thrawn: Treason complicate morality in incredibly fun ways.
Not to say Thrawn, as a character, is a good person. He’s not. But his arguments sway you to see how he thinks, and you root for him, even as he promotes a worldview fundamentally flawed in its treatment of people.
I give Thrawn: Treason five stars.
Alphabet Squadron
Written by Alexander Freed, Alphabet Squadron is one of the few Star Wars novels to take place in the unknown narratives occurring after Return of the Jedi. Following a crew of rag-tag pilots, Alphabet Squadron will remind Star Wars fans of the old Rogue Squadron novels.
I enjoyed listening to this novel, though I do wonder if the stakes of the novel really worked. I suppose for someone who’s not read every Star Wars novel, this book will intrigue them—especially the characters. But this book takes place before the Battle of Jakku. It tells a story about pilots trying to bring down the remnants of the Empire after the death of the Emperor. But we heard that story in the Aftermath trilogy. No matter what, we know how the Empire falls, in the end, as our heroes in this novel fight against a particularly deadly squad of Imperials.
That being said, Freed brilliantly weaves together a multiplicity of character narratives, creating a family of pilots you want to win, even as they fight against one another. The climax of the novel includes an intense space battle which goes in a direction I don’t think many will expect—but it’s brilliant, and inputs a moral dilemma often lacking in the Star Wars universe.
If you’re looking for an action-packed space opera with characters you’ve never met before, but you want to love, Alphabet Squadron is the right book for you.
I give Alphabet Squadron four stars.
Resistance Reborn
Rebecca Roanhorse is a new author to the Star Wars stage, and I’d say her debut was a success.
Before discussing the book itself, I think it’s worth noting she was given a herculean task: write a novel between The Last Jedi—the most controversial Star Wars story in history—and The Rise of Skywalker. The latter is the culmination of over forty years of storytelling.
No big deal Rebecca, just fill in the gaps and you’ll be fine.
I’d say she succeeded.
Resistance Reborn follows the heroes of The Last Jedi as they attempt to rebuild the resistance following the events on Crait. We get a number of characters as POVs we’ve not really seen before in novels: Poe Dameron, for instance. And old favorites: Leia Organa, and it’s nice to see her story continue with grace after the death of Carrie Fisher. And then Wedge Antilles returns, along with the intriguing Maz Kanata. The list goes on. Roanhorse even brings in characters from stories throughout the franchise, including Star Wars: Battlefront II’s campaign and the Aftermath trilogy.
It’s a lot of fun.
And she tells a story illustrating the pain of these characters as they realize the First Order has won.
In reaction, they find new ways to fight. And through the fight, they find new ways to resist with skill. The book ends on a cliff-hanger, as it should—The Rise of Skywalker will finish it, after all. But Resistance Reborn wasn’t about telling the whole story. It’s about telling how the characters pick up the pieces after loss, and (in particular for Poe) how to handle the mental toll of failure.
Though embedded in a fairly run-of-the-mill action heist plot, Roanhorse gives readers a fantastic opportunity to sit down with their favorite characters before the end. Because who knows what’s going to happen on December 20.
I give Resistance Reborn four stars.
Enjoy audiobooks? C. D. Tavenor’s first novel, FIRST OF THEIR KIND, is available on Audible today!