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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
A lot of Star Wars books (of both the old and new official canon) often lost sight of the original trilogy's sense of hope and goofyness--they would be so grim and filled with unintentionally hilarious angst it was more like looking at someone's unpublished Star Wars Grimdark AU Of Sadness. So I approach basically any book of this franchise with some caution.
I was extremely pleased to find out that A New Dawn joyously embraces the hopeful, feel-good sense of a SPACE ROMCOM. Which really is what they should all be.
Kanan is one of the few survivors of the Jedi massacre. It happened when he was only a young padawan, and it's left its scars of trauma and paranoia deeply rooted. Leading a nomadic lifestyle, embracing his new identity of a reckless knockabout, he happens to be working on mining planet Gorse with it's thoraline-rich moon Cynda when the Empire comes a-calling. Vidian, a cybernetic corporate manager, is out to strip every grain of thoraline from the moon, regardless if it will destroy the moon, the planet, or countless civilians and workers in the meantime.
Enter Hera, the AGITATOR, out on a spying and recon mission where she'll meet a fellow rebel sympathizer. Little does she know he's been arrested, and his well-meaning supervisor Zaluna is trying to find out why one of her workers was suddenly taken into custody. All this while a disillusioned miner with a knack for bombs is trying to alert the authorities of the precariousness of the moon's geology...
It's a little Speed (IN SPACE) in terms of good action, silly coincidences, and a good ol' romantic spark. Frankly, everything I'm looking for in a sci-fi novel! The prose is clean and quick, and I like that it primarily takes places in only a few locations, compared to the galaxy-trotting this series often indulges on.
Do you need a good sci-fi romcom with political and corporate subterfuge, an extended bus chase sequence, and an unlikely motley of characters? Pick this up.
I was extremely pleased to find out that A New Dawn joyously embraces the hopeful, feel-good sense of a SPACE ROMCOM. Which really is what they should all be.
Kanan is one of the few survivors of the Jedi massacre. It happened when he was only a young padawan, and it's left its scars of trauma and paranoia deeply rooted. Leading a nomadic lifestyle, embracing his new identity of a reckless knockabout, he happens to be working on mining planet Gorse with it's thoraline-rich moon Cynda when the Empire comes a-calling. Vidian, a cybernetic corporate manager, is out to strip every grain of thoraline from the moon, regardless if it will destroy the moon, the planet, or countless civilians and workers in the meantime.
Enter Hera, the AGITATOR, out on a spying and recon mission where she'll meet a fellow rebel sympathizer. Little does she know he's been arrested, and his well-meaning supervisor Zaluna is trying to find out why one of her workers was suddenly taken into custody. All this while a disillusioned miner with a knack for bombs is trying to alert the authorities of the precariousness of the moon's geology...
It's a little Speed (IN SPACE) in terms of good action, silly coincidences, and a good ol' romantic spark. Frankly, everything I'm looking for in a sci-fi novel! The prose is clean and quick, and I like that it primarily takes places in only a few locations, compared to the galaxy-trotting this series often indulges on.
Do you need a good sci-fi romcom with political and corporate subterfuge, an extended bus chase sequence, and an unlikely motley of characters? Pick this up.
This book was a mess. Somewhere in the mess were reasonably interesting (or potentially interesting) ideas, but I'm afraid the mess got them and/or the author had no idea what to do with them. When I read Kenobi (also by Miller), I thought it drew very heavily on western tropes, which was fitting for Star Wars. This...this was more of an explosion in a trope factory.
I think it was going for a film noir sort of thing, with Kanan, the asshole who reluctantly gets involved in stopping the bad guys, and the grubby mining colony, and all, but it took far too long for the plot to actually kick off, and Kanan is too unpleasant for me to want to spend that much time just hanging out with him while potential plot bits float by and fail to coalesce into anything. (And the book is very much about Kanan. The villains and side characters get more "screen" time than Hera; which is too bad, because, unlike Kanan, she's actually on the mining world for a reason. One that isn't: get drunk, get in fights, and maybe chase some tail.)
(Yeah, I really didn't like Kanan. But I am very tired of loser jerk "heroes," especially ones who just sort of wallow in manpain and spout sexist crap.)
The villain, a mostly cybernetic efficiency expert, was so over-the-top, I kept wondering if his actions were supposed to be black comedy. Especially when he did things like muse on the motivational power of murder right after beating someone to death with his bare hands. And his convoluted plot to discredit his rival and make still more money was all stuffed into the second half of the book. In fact, large portions of it were stuffed into the last quarter of the book.
There were too many WTFs, too. Like, it's safe for someone who's trying to hide their Force abilities to get drunk and get in bar fights? Does alcohol inhibit the Force? How is he not at risk of accidentally giving himself away doing this? Or, how do you fist fight a mostly metal guy who has beaten one person to death and left another critically injured without getting hurt? (They are literally described as punching one another, despite everyone else who is punched by the villain getting broken bones with each blow. And since the book is pretty clear about when Kanan is using the Force, that can't be the explanation.) How does being a cyborg make you basically immune to being blown up? Since when can you point a weapon at an Imperial accompanied by Stormtroopers with no repercussions whatsoever?
Perhaps with a competent editor, this book might have been saved. As it stands, it's one of the worst Star Wars books I've read.
Edit: This is the same author who wrote The Knights of the Old Republic comic? I would never have guessed that in a million years. Dude, what happened to you?
I think it was going for a film noir sort of thing, with Kanan, the asshole who reluctantly gets involved in stopping the bad guys, and the grubby mining colony, and all, but it took far too long for the plot to actually kick off, and Kanan is too unpleasant for me to want to spend that much time just hanging out with him while potential plot bits float by and fail to coalesce into anything. (And the book is very much about Kanan. The villains and side characters get more "screen" time than Hera; which is too bad, because, unlike Kanan, she's actually on the mining world for a reason. One that isn't: get drunk, get in fights, and maybe chase some tail.)
(Yeah, I really didn't like Kanan. But I am very tired of loser jerk "heroes," especially ones who just sort of wallow in manpain and spout sexist crap.)
The villain, a mostly cybernetic efficiency expert, was so over-the-top, I kept wondering if his actions were supposed to be black comedy. Especially when he did things like muse on the motivational power of murder right after beating someone to death with his bare hands. And his convoluted plot to discredit his rival and make still more money was all stuffed into the second half of the book. In fact, large portions of it were stuffed into the last quarter of the book.
There were too many WTFs, too. Like, it's safe for someone who's trying to hide their Force abilities to get drunk and get in bar fights? Does alcohol inhibit the Force? How is he not at risk of accidentally giving himself away doing this? Or, how do you fist fight a mostly metal guy who has beaten one person to death and left another critically injured without getting hurt? (They are literally described as punching one another, despite everyone else who is punched by the villain getting broken bones with each blow. And since the book is pretty clear about when Kanan is using the Force, that can't be the explanation.) How does being a cyborg make you basically immune to being blown up? Since when can you point a weapon at an Imperial accompanied by Stormtroopers with no repercussions whatsoever?
Perhaps with a competent editor, this book might have been saved. As it stands, it's one of the worst Star Wars books I've read.
Edit: This is the same author who wrote The Knights of the Old Republic comic? I would never have guessed that in a million years. Dude, what happened to you?
mr miller you made kanan a miso gyneist.... some crimes can never be forgiven
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There problem with the Star Wars novels are that fan fic does it better. And by better I mean character work. Though this one manages to do that pretty well. I read it to get the canon meeting of Kanan and Hera. I was not disappointed on that front, and the character arc for Kaman going from hunted and haunted padawan to the carousing wanderer to traveling with Here rang true. Also, Hera is a badass and always was and always would be.
Not the worst SW novel I have read, but not quite at Bloodlines levels for me but close.
Not the worst SW novel I have read, but not quite at Bloodlines levels for me but close.
Knowing the eventual fates of the main characters, the story wasn’t good enough for me to continue reading.
I really enjoyed learning a bit more about Kanan and Hera's backstory, but at least half of this book was really slow-paced. Hoping things will pick up as the series continues.
The first novel in the "new cannon" of Star Wars created under the direction of the Lucasfilm Story Group, A New Dawn tells the story of how two of the characters from Star Wars: Rebels first met. Kanan is a wanderer, hauling explosives for a mining concern in a backwater world when the Empire comes to the system. Hera comes to the same system to collect information about the Empire, working to get the new rebellion off the ground, she crosses paths with Kanan. While none of the characters in this book are from the movies, the cast is well defined and references to old aliens puts them into context for the reader. While not feeling like a part of the bigger picture (yet) the universe in which this story takes place is familiar to Star Wars fans and it feels like it takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
I might have liked it better if I knew who these people were or if I cared. But neither was true for me so I mostly found it boring.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes