The Road to Episode Infinity: August 2017

Friday, August 25, 2017

Before the Awakening Book Review

“Before the Awakening” is a middle-grade Star Wars book by Greg Rucka, which focuses on the characters of Finn, Rey, and Poe. As the title suggests, the events in the book lead up to the events of “The Force Awakens”.

I have to admit, I love all three of these characters, and stepping into their world to learn more about what makes them tick, was a treat. You pretty much understand what Rae and Finn’s motives are in “The Force Awakens”, but those ideas are a little more fleshed-out in this novel. We don’t have a real sense of Poe’s backstory in TFA, so this book digs into that.

Finn’s Story
In “The Force Awakens” Finn is obviously struggling with his place in The First Order. The audience has no real idea how long Finn has been having these feelings or what triggered it.

This book features Finn’s time as a cadet. He is part of a group that has been selected by Captain Phasma herself and she is grooming them to be an elite force. Though FN-2187 is the top cadet in his class, Phasma has noticed that he has a high capacity for empathy, something she has tried to train out of her forces.

It is the empathy that eventually forces FN-2187 to come to grips with his place in the First Order. He truly cares about his team members, even the ones that are struggling to make it. Finn is sort of a socialist in a world where only the strong are meant to survive.

Rey’s Story

Rey, for me, is the most compelling character in Disney’s new Star Wars films. In some ways she is the ultra-version of Luke Skywalker. Her struggles are greater than Luke’s, yet her attitude is less whiney. The one major difference between Luke and Rey is that Rey doesn’t want to leave her lifeless planet.

In “Before the Awakening”, we see more of Rey’s day-to-day struggles. Though TFA shows Rey as a skilled pilot and engineer, this novel explains exactly why this is. When the story presents Rey with a means of escaping her life of poverty, the reader truly hopes that she will succeed on a deep and visceral level- all the while knowing that success is impossible. The eventual outcome of this tale is obvious from the get-go, and yet the reader hopes against hope until the very last paragraph that Rey has escaped her impoverished reality.

Poe’s Story
Poe’s tale in this book fits very neatly between the novel “Bloodline” and the Marvel Comic series “Poe Dameron”.

This story finds Poe as a Pilot for the New Republic in a time where the New Republic is not taking the threat of The First Order seriously. Furthermore it has become obvious that many New Republic senators secretly support The First Order. Poe is obviously frustrated with the New Republic, partially because his parents fought for the Rebellion (See the comic "Shattered Empire") and it was their greatest fear that everything they fought for would not last.

Poe begins to challenge the orders that the New Republic has given him and someone takes notice. That someone happens to be General Leia Organa, who has secretly founded The Resistance, a group that will do what the New Republic cannot do- squash The First Order before it gains too much power.

Star Wars For All Ages

“Before The Awakening” is a great introduction for upper elementary students into the world of adult Star Wars novels. It is a bit surprising that most Star Wars books are actually aimed at adult readers. I remember struggling through many heavy Star Wars tomes when I was in middle school. It is nice to discover that Disney has not forgotten the younger readers, and “Before the Awakening” is challenging enough for kids and adults to enjoy equally, much like the films themselves.

This book was released one day after “The Force Awakens” and was preceded by three junior novels, published three months earlier, which focused on Han, Luke, and Leia. A fifth book, called “Cobalt Squadron”, features the same color scheme and will release this December shortly after “The Last Jedi”. “Cobalt Squadron" will focus on Rose, a new major character introduced in “The Last Jedi”.

Brock’s Star Wars Book Reviews
(Organized by Timeline)

Before the Battle of Yavin

32 BBY – 19 BBY (Prequel Trilogy)

19 BBY – 5 BBY (Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston)

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/08/ahsoka-book-review.html

11 BBY (A New Dawn by Jonathan Jackson Miller)

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-new-dawn-book-review.html

11 BBY – 5 BBY (Lost Stars by Claudia Gray)

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/06/lost-stars-book-review.html

11 BBY – 2 BBY (Thrawn by Timothy Zahn)
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/06/thrawn-book-review.html

After the Battle of Yavin

0 ABY – 4 BBY (Original Trilogy)

4 ABY – 5 ABY (The Aftermath Trilogy by Chuck Wendig)
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-aftermath-trilogy.html

28 ABY (Bloodline by Claudia Gray)

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/07/bloodline-book-review.html

34 ABY (Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka)

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/08/before-awakening-book-review.html

34 ABY (Sequel Trilogy)

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Ahsoka Book Review

Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston

The year was 2008. A new Star Wars movie was coming to cinemas and I didn’t have the least interest in seeing it. That might be surprising for someone who has lined up to see all eight Star Wars films. But in 2008, I had no interest in being a Star Wars fan. I had been severely disappointed with “Revenge of the Sith” as I still am to this day. The thought that the future of Star Wars would be a cartoon series, perpetually locked between “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”: it did not interest me. If Disney hadn’t purchased Lucasfilm, I fear that we would be on The Clone Wars Season 9 by now… and that I would still be angry at Star Wars.

This was the state of mind I was in when I was first introduced to the character of Ahsoka Tano (aka Snips).

So Ahsoka and I have had a rough past. Still today, I don’t really like the design of her character. In a Youtube review video I referred to her only as “Orange Clown Apprentice”, which made people in the comment section very, very angry. Yet, in the wake of “Star Wars: Rebels” I have come to appreciate Ahsoka.

First of all, Ahsoka is a fan favorite. And it’s not hard to see why. “The Clone Wars” TV series is kind of all over the place in terms of focus, but if there has to be a “main character”, I think most people would skip over Anakin (who is unlikable and unrelatable) and move right ahead to Ahsoka Tano. In this way, Ahsoka was the female lead of Star Wars, years before Rey or Jyn Erso.

E.K. Johnston’s “Ahsoka” chronicles Ahsoka’s story between when we last see her in “Clone Wars: Season 5” until we next see her in “Rebels”. I would recommend watching the last four episodes of “Clone Wars: Season 5” before reading this book. These are some of the best episodes of that show and, in my opinion, some of the only ones worth watching: “Sabotage” / “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much” / “To Catch A Jedi” / “The Wrong Jedi”. Knowledge of these episodes really inform the reader exactly where Ahsoka is coming from and to what her internal struggles are (none of this is really reviewed at all in the book itself).

In fact as far as this book is concerned… it doesn’t really stand on its own legs. The book is short, and there isn’t much to it. But we do learn how Ahsoka survived Order 66 and how she gets her new white lightsabers. She also battles an Inquisitor. In short: This book serves as a bridge between the Ahsoka we know in “The Clone Wars” and the one we meet in “Rebels” and that’s pretty much it.

If you read the audio version of this book, it is narrated by Ashley Eckstein who has voiced Ahsoka for “The Clone Wars”, “Rebels”, “Forces of Destiny”, and several video games.

Until next time: Happy Reading Star Wars Fans!

Brock’s Star Wars Book Reviews

June: "Thrawn" by Timothy Zahn
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/06/thrawn-book-review.html

Mid-June: "Lost Stars" by Claudia Gray
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/06/lost-stars-book-review.html

July: "Knight Errant" by Jonathan Jackson Miller
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/07/knight-errant-book-review.html

Late-July: "Bloodline" by Claudia Gray
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/07/bloodline-book-review.html

Early-August: "A New Dawn" by Jonathan Jackson Miller
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-new-dawn-book-review.html

Mid-August: "Ahsoka" by E. K. Johnston
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/08/ahsoka-book-review.html

Thursday, August 3, 2017

A New Dawn Book Review

John Jackson Miller’s 2014 novel, “A New Dawn” is aptly titled considering it was the first story in the Star Wars Disney Universe. The novel also introduced fans to Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla a whole month before the launch of Rebels Season 1.

The Death of a Universe

April 2014 represented a changing of the guard for Star Wars. Disney announced that the old expanded universe was being dismantled in favor of the new Disney Universe. This meant that 35 years of comics, novels, and video games were no longer canon would be rebranded under the Star Wars “Legends” line. Dark Horse Comics lost its license to produce Star Wars comics and Disney-owned Marvel Comics started working on brand new titles. The final season of Clone Wars (Season 6) had been released to Netflix, and Rebels was to premiere later that Fall. “A New Dawn” was announced to be Disney’s first Star Wars novel and serve as introduction to its first Star Wars television show.

Kanan & Hera

Six years before the events of Rebels Season 1, Kanan Jarrus met Hera Syndulla on a planet called Gorse. Kanan was working as a freighter pilot, hauling resources from Cynda, Gorses lone moon. Hera was working for the Rebellion and investigating an Imperial named Count Vidian, whose secret plan to mine more thorilide from Cynda included blowing up the moon entirely. Kanan and Hera decide to team up to stop Count Vidian. These two have always been my favorite characters in “Rebels” and this book covers the very beginnings of their partnership or relationship or whatever it is.

Captain Sloane

John Jackson Miller created the character of Rae Sloane for the book “A New Dawn”. Though Sloane is fresh out of the academy in this novel, she begins to learn the competitive nature of the Imperial Navy. Throughout New Dawn and the Aftermath Trilogy, Sloane slowly works her way up the ladder. Shortly after the Emperor is killed on Endor, Sloan becomes the highest ranking officer in the Navy. It has been said that Rae Sloane is actually the founder of “The First Order”.

The Bottom Line

“A New Dawn” is not my favorite Star Wars novel, but it does provide some great set-up for things to come. Herein we see the very beginnings of the journey of Kanan and Hera- a journey which will probably conclude with Rebels Season 4. My guess is that things won’t turn out too well for Kanan and Hera’s relationship. We know that Hera will survive the Season 4 finale and live on to fight in the Battle of Scarif. Yet I have a bad feeling about the fate of Kanan Jarrus.

“A New Dawn” can be found in a library near you.
Happy reading Star Wars fans!