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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
A nice quick entertaining read. It loses a star for 1) too much repetition of the phrase 'There's a war on.' and 2) for mentioning midichlorians.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was an interesting premise, because as fans we cheered when the first Death Star blew up. This book kinda turns the tables on the reader as it couches the Rebel victory as an act of terrorism. The characters were flat and the romance forced but I enjoyed reading about the construction of the Death Star along with seeing favorite characters in a different perspective. I like the fact that the authors show Imperial soldiers thinking about how evil the Empire is becoming and they do deliver on how Alderaan affected soldier morale. It's an different take on the Death Star but could have been much better.
Really really enjoyed this. The final third of the book is A New Hope from the Death Star's perspective, which fleshed out a lot of backstory. There are a lot of characters, which were a bit difficult to keep track of at times, but it got easier and made for a really in-depth story. An excellent read for any Star Wars fan, even those who may not be interested in going full in to the expanded universe.
Star Wars: Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry delivers an engaging look at the construction and downfall of the iconic Death Star from unique, humanized perspectives. This novel peels back the layers of Imperial life, spotlighting ordinary workers, troopers, and commanders entangled in the Empire's grand plans. Reaves and Perry succeed in merging action with insightful character moments, which give readers a deeper sense of the moral complexities behind the behemoth structure. While certain sections feel somewhat formulaic, the story's fresh point of view and thoughtful pacing make it a satisfying read for both die-hard Star Wars fans and those curious about the darker side of the galaxy far, far away.
Sara | Book Confessions of an ExBallerina | Instagram
Sara | Book Confessions of an ExBallerina | Instagram
Really entertaining story but a little disappointing that the majority of the EU had already been written by the time this one came out. Great characters but it would have made a lot more sense for them all to die instead of just some of them. Vil and Uli are great characters and never getting to hear what happens doesn't make much sense. It was really interesting to give the people of the death star a more human side. Very enjoyable
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An OK addition to (the books I've read in) the Star Wars canon, the main focus of this one is obviously about the eponymous Doomsday device built by the Empire: the dreaded Death Star.
The vast majority of the book is actually about the construction of the same, told from the viewpoint of several different characters involved in and living on it, with the culmination of the novel the events that take place during "A New Hope".
In short, there's better 'expanded universe' Star Wars books out there.
The vast majority of the book is actually about the construction of the same, told from the viewpoint of several different characters involved in and living on it, with the culmination of the novel the events that take place during "A New Hope".
In short, there's better 'expanded universe' Star Wars books out there.
Oh my goodness! This book is awesome! Fan of Star Wars: It's a must read!
This book really exceeded my expectations. Being a Star Wars book, I was interested enough to pick it up, but given that it appeared to focus on the story of an inanimate battle station, and a story which has been covered before by A New Hope, I approached it with the expectation that it would not be up there with the best books of the Star Wars saga. In addition, critics had condemned it as boring, slow and too long. Assuredly, it did take a couple of chapters to get into. The protagonists, our "ordinary beings", were new, so they needed to be introduced and given a little while for the reader to care about them. This took up the first six chapters, and it was a little disjointed, jumping from one new character to the next in order to get all the introductions done. However, once this part was over and done with, the plot starts to move along at a steady pace. Once you get to this stage, the book becomes a real page turner. Usually, each chapter deals with one of the characters, the next chapter jumping to another one, and so forth, but each chapter is just long enough to provide an extra titbit of meaty information or action for our characters, and just short enough that you’ll be eagerly turning the pages to find out what happens to them next, and whilst you’re doing that, you find out the next little bit of what happens to that character you read about three chapters ago, and so forth.
The big names appear where appropriate, and oversee events throughout – Motti, Daala, Tarkin and Darth Vader – but they do not overshadow the book. The stars of this show are our nine ordinary guys – plus of course, the Death Star itself. That said, the brief scenes with our bigshots do reveal a bit more information about them, their motivations, and this period in the Star Wars galaxy, and in addition, some of most exciting scenes involve incidents where our ordinary guys come face to face with their formidable superiors – there’s a hilarious scene where one of them encounters Darth Vader coming the opposite direction down a corridor, I won’t say any more, but it was pure gold. Because we’re mostly sitting on the shoulders of the ordinary folk, these encounters with the higher ups, who will already be familiar characters to Star Wars readers, become thrilling, nerve-wracking and awe-struck – like an average joe running into a celebrity on the street. This speaks of the quality of this collaboration of authors, that they have made brief encounters with these highly familiar characters, exciting and new again. The ordinary characters do strike you as quintessentially ordinary, yet each of them has a unique backstory, finely tuned personality, and their own reasons for being on the Death Star. There wasn’t a massive amount on the backstory of these characters, but there didn’t need to be – these were totally new characters that the readers wouldn’t care for yet, an extensive backstory would have been unnecessary, and enough was given for the purposes of establishing their origins and the point from which they all begin. I sort of sensed that the individual strands would come together in the end, but despite that, the story was still engaging.
Another criticism that was levelled at this book was that the ending was boring – a tiresome retelling of the original, Episode IV: A New Hope film, except from a different point of view. After reading it myself, I feel this is an unfair criticism. The reappearance of film scenes are few in number, and built up a steadily increasing pressure all the way to the end – will our protagonists make it off the Death Star before Luke drops a proton torpedo into its reactor core? In addition, I thought these scenes were great because it showed that new characters could interact with an established story and still get away with the whole thing being plausible as canon. Perhaps one criticism that can be made is that the book is a little lacking in action, and it was slightly conventional that the two couples survive, also there were hints that there might be a confrontation scene between Darth Vader and Kornell Divini who puts in an illegal request for medical information on midi-chlorians in response to a patient’s affliction, but. Such a scene would have been fantastic. Nevertheless, the writing is high quality, the pacing perfect, and the characters detailed and realistic.
7 out of 10.
The big names appear where appropriate, and oversee events throughout – Motti, Daala, Tarkin and Darth Vader – but they do not overshadow the book. The stars of this show are our nine ordinary guys – plus of course, the Death Star itself. That said, the brief scenes with our bigshots do reveal a bit more information about them, their motivations, and this period in the Star Wars galaxy, and in addition, some of most exciting scenes involve incidents where our ordinary guys come face to face with their formidable superiors – there’s a hilarious scene where one of them encounters Darth Vader coming the opposite direction down a corridor, I won’t say any more, but it was pure gold. Because we’re mostly sitting on the shoulders of the ordinary folk, these encounters with the higher ups, who will already be familiar characters to Star Wars readers, become thrilling, nerve-wracking and awe-struck – like an average joe running into a celebrity on the street. This speaks of the quality of this collaboration of authors, that they have made brief encounters with these highly familiar characters, exciting and new again. The ordinary characters do strike you as quintessentially ordinary, yet each of them has a unique backstory, finely tuned personality, and their own reasons for being on the Death Star. There wasn’t a massive amount on the backstory of these characters, but there didn’t need to be – these were totally new characters that the readers wouldn’t care for yet, an extensive backstory would have been unnecessary, and enough was given for the purposes of establishing their origins and the point from which they all begin. I sort of sensed that the individual strands would come together in the end, but despite that, the story was still engaging.
Another criticism that was levelled at this book was that the ending was boring – a tiresome retelling of the original, Episode IV: A New Hope film, except from a different point of view. After reading it myself, I feel this is an unfair criticism. The reappearance of film scenes are few in number, and built up a steadily increasing pressure all the way to the end – will our protagonists make it off the Death Star before Luke drops a proton torpedo into its reactor core? In addition, I thought these scenes were great because it showed that new characters could interact with an established story and still get away with the whole thing being plausible as canon. Perhaps one criticism that can be made is that the book is a little lacking in action, and it was slightly conventional that the two couples survive, also there were hints that there might be a confrontation scene between Darth Vader and Kornell Divini who puts in an illegal request for medical information on midi-chlorians in response to a patient’s affliction, but
Spoiler
disappointingly this promised scene never occurs and Divini is simply arrested7 out of 10.