Reviews

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Alexander Freed

Only show reviews with written explanations

casualdarings's review

4.0

Probably one of the best novelizations I've read. Rogue One is easily my favorite star wars film made in recent years and the upcoming Andor show has me all kinds of excited.

I already loved Rogue One as its such a different Star Wars film. I think this book, in conjunction with Catalyst, Rebel Rising and Guardians of the Whills, has added so much more depth to the already amazing story. I also loved how Alexander Freed focused on the emotions of all the characters during the course of the book and I think this is the best Star Wars novelization.

callieisreading's review

Go to review page

4.0

This wasn't especially novel or beautifully written, but it was an excellent novelization of a movie I love (my favorite Star Wars movie). Btw, it is very faithful to the movie, so if you're looking for RebelCaptain content, you'll be disappointed. I did love spending some time in the POV of all the characters I love- it really fleshed them out and gave them even more depth.

fdr_girl's review

Go to review page

5.0

Her fire shone bright ✨

Star Wars has always been special to me; Princess Leia was one of my heroes growing up, and then Padmé, then Rey. Ladies of the resistance who fought for what’s right and what’s good and what they believe in. That’s who I wanted to be.

Then Jyn Erso came along and she was haunted and hurting and harsh and she wasn’t bright like my other heroes, she didn’t believe in the cause and she’d been broken by everything around her. Jyn grew up in a war zone and her life was controlled by others but she was bold and she let herself feel again and she opened up the cave inside her heart to find herself.

Jyn Erso saved the galaxy. She realised that rebellions are built on hope, that she wasn’t just a survivor or a broken child left in the wake of a war, she was fire; unstoppable and burning. Jyn Erso saves the galaxy and her fire shone bright.

harrowhcrk's review

Go to review page

4.0

Rogue One is easily one of my top-3 favorite Star Wars movies, if not one of my favorite movies just in general. I’ve seen it countless times and loved it more and more with every watch. So when I heard there was a novelization, and that it was actually *good* (a friend sent me quotes to convince me; I was easily convinced), I picked it up immediately.

And this didn’t disappoint. It tells the story that I know and love, but it goes beyond that, turning it into something much richer than you get on screen. The book shows you the inner workings of all the characters, their struggles and triumphs. It makes everything—all the inspiration and loss and hope—that much more poignant and that much more heartbreaking. I’m so glad I read this, and I can’t wait to rewatch the movie again with this extra context in mind.

naphoeleon's review

Go to review page

4.0

jess_789's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

biblioauds's review

Go to review page

4.0

Alexander Freed remains one of my favorite, if not my favorite, author(s). I read this book largely as a challenge to myself, because I don’t *really* love novelizations. However, Freed still nailed it on the head as always, creating a capturing experience for a film I love so much I know it like the back of my hand. Earns a 4/5 just because personal preference; it’s hard to read a book that you already know every detail of. Probably won’t read again but would recommend to others!

neilrcoulter's review

Go to review page

3.0

In a kinder universe, [Jyn] would have walked away from Scarif. I cannot imagine who she would have become, but I think she would have been extraordinary.
I am grateful I knew her, no matter how short the time. (322)

I completely agree with Mon Mothma's concluding words about Jyn Erso: I am glad she was created and glad to have even just a couple of hours of Rogue One to get to know her.

I love the film. Before seeing it, I'd read James Luceno's excellent prelude novel, Catalyst, which was almost required preparation for the movie. And then we saw the movie twice in the theater, which is a rarity for us. And still I wanted more. What amazed me was the powerful emotional arc the movie builds for Cassian and for Jyn, in the space of only one movie. In addition, the look, the feel, the relatively understated acting . . . the whole tone of the movie is perfect. The only thing lacking is the music, though Michael Giacchino's score does have a few high points.

In order to return to Rogue One's world (and also because I've become embarrassingly obsessive about reading every book in the new Star Wars canon), I checked out Alexander Freed's novelization from the library. When I was a kid, I loved movie novelizations. I read the original Star Wars novelizations over and over, along with Indiana Jones, Tron, Back to the Future, and others. I don't read them very often these days, but for Star Wars I'll make an exception. One thing that I enjoyed in those movie tie-ins was how the novels would sometimes include things that weren't in the movies, or show things from a slightly different perspective.

In this case, knowing that Rogue One had a lot of reshoots, and that perhaps there was a lot of material that didn't make the final cut, I hoped for a lot of new material. There is some, but nothing especially significant. Conversations that extend just a little further than in the movie, motivations and thoughts explained with more clarity. But in general, this book is simply a novelized form of the movie. Because this is Alexander Freed, however, who previously triumphed with his Battlefront: Twilight Company book, the writing is very good. And even though the book is not much more than just the story of the movie, it's nice to be able to enjoy that story at a somewhat slower pace.

One extra bit that I particularly enjoyed was the series of memos between Galen Erso, his engineering supervisor, and Krennic, which shows how Galen was allowed to incorporate the reactor core weakness into the Death Star. Brilliant and hilarious!

Anything that extends the time I get to spend with Jyn is welcome. I love her and I love Rogue One. Thanks to Lucasfilm/Disney for selecting your two best Star Wars authors (Luceno and Freed) to take care of the Rogue One writing. That's made a great movie even better.