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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
fast-paced
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
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:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this more than the other recent tie-ins. The ending was particularly killer.
Pros: Bail and Breha Organa are great! As are most of the characters. But I especially loved getting a chance to experience them as characters and see Aldaran as a thriving place.
Mon Mothma - also great. I think, honestly, my favorite characters were Breha and Mon Mothma.
Tarkin is also very familiar. :D
Cons: It acknowledges the prequels and treats them as -ugh- canon. Well, I guess that was necessary. It at least salvages some plot from the grossness, but I didn't care for any of those slight bits. I... could rant for ages about how Luke and Leia's mother's story should have been anything but that...
Pro again: It acknowledges events of Rogue One! YAY! The rebellion is shown in all its necessary complexity and contradiction, with factions unsure how much they are willing to risk and why.
Con: there's a romance arc. Gross.
Also this Leia doesn't QUITE feel right to me. I don't know. She's too good? I wanted her to be a bit more biting and sarcastic?
Pro: The writer came up with a semi-legit reason why a 16-year-old would be in the senate.
Con: This whole thing just reminded me how stupid it is that Leia's character was written so young and underscored my strong suspicion that pedophilloic hollywood is to blame.
GROSS.
Not sure how I feel about Amilyn Holdo. On one hand I like her, on the other I felt she was the hardest to relate to.
Anyway, yeah, it's a solid book. Maybe aimed a bit young, but then it's protagonist is 16. Quick read.
Pros: Bail and Breha Organa are great! As are most of the characters. But I especially loved getting a chance to experience them as characters and see Aldaran as a thriving place.
Mon Mothma - also great. I think, honestly, my favorite characters were Breha and Mon Mothma.
Tarkin is also very familiar. :D
Cons: It acknowledges the prequels and treats them as -ugh- canon. Well, I guess that was necessary. It at least salvages some plot from the grossness, but I didn't care for any of those slight bits. I... could rant for ages about how Luke and Leia's mother's story should have been anything but that...
Pro again: It acknowledges events of Rogue One! YAY! The rebellion is shown in all its necessary complexity and contradiction, with factions unsure how much they are willing to risk and why.
Con: there's a romance arc. Gross.
Also this Leia doesn't QUITE feel right to me. I don't know. She's too good? I wanted her to be a bit more biting and sarcastic?
Pro: The writer came up with a semi-legit reason why a 16-year-old would be in the senate.
Con: This whole thing just reminded me how stupid it is that Leia's character was written so young and underscored my strong suspicion that pedophilloic hollywood is to blame.
GROSS.
Not sure how I feel about Amilyn Holdo. On one hand I like her, on the other I felt she was the hardest to relate to.
Anyway, yeah, it's a solid book. Maybe aimed a bit young, but then it's protagonist is 16. Quick read.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Part of the Disney plan for Star wars that I enjoy as a nerd is that they are publishing canon books up to the events of the saga. Before Force Awakens there were several "Journey to the..." books I enjoyed that I felt added depth to the story and even answered questions. The absolute best of those Journey to the Force Awakens novels was a General Leia novel called Bloodline written by Claudia Gray. I am quickly coming to the opinion that Gray is the best author writing expanded universe novels at the moment. Her short story was the best in "From a Certain Point of View" and bloodline was a stunner.
For fans of Leia as a character Bloodline is a must read. It details more of the how how and why the first order happened, and the resistance to it. All of this happens against the back drop of the galaxy finding the true bloodline of Leia. Claudia Gray nailed that story in way that you understand why Lucasfilm came back to her to tell this prequel story that is about a young teenage Leia.
You might wonder how this serves to bridge the story to Last Jedi but it does. Introducing us to how Leia the rebel was born and forged despite her privledge. It introduces us to the young Amilyn Holdo who was played by Laura Dern in the film. Some of this books best moments add a depth to Holdo's sacrifice and her last scene with Leia. A scene that Carrie Fisher suggested herself.
It also introduces us to one of the most important settings of Last Jedi and explains it's existence. So yes it is tied to the new film in ways that are sometimes small sometimes big. I enjoyed alot of the scenes that should the resistance in-fighting that tied to Rogue one and saw Bail Organa butting heads with radical Saw Gurrea.
To me the best moment in the book is when Grand Moff Tarkin surprises the Organa family on Alderaan and is invited for dinner. He suspects them of being in the rebellion. The dinner is fantastic scene that shows Leia and her whole family working together to deceive Tarkin and protect rebels. It also adds an extra level of evil to his actions in New Hope. This scene stole the whole book for me.
Well I am convinced enough I decided to read Gray's original YA space opera novel Defy the Stars. I am reading that now so I will of course write a review. I need to read her SW novel Lost Stars but if Gray writes a Star Wars novel you can bet I'll be reading it. Give her a Star Wars movie!
For fans of Leia as a character Bloodline is a must read. It details more of the how how and why the first order happened, and the resistance to it. All of this happens against the back drop of the galaxy finding the true bloodline of Leia. Claudia Gray nailed that story in way that you understand why Lucasfilm came back to her to tell this prequel story that is about a young teenage Leia.
You might wonder how this serves to bridge the story to Last Jedi but it does. Introducing us to how Leia the rebel was born and forged despite her privledge. It introduces us to the young Amilyn Holdo who was played by Laura Dern in the film. Some of this books best moments add a depth to Holdo's sacrifice and her last scene with Leia. A scene that Carrie Fisher suggested herself.
It also introduces us to one of the most important settings of Last Jedi and explains it's existence. So yes it is tied to the new film in ways that are sometimes small sometimes big. I enjoyed alot of the scenes that should the resistance in-fighting that tied to Rogue one and saw Bail Organa butting heads with radical Saw Gurrea.
To me the best moment in the book is when Grand Moff Tarkin surprises the Organa family on Alderaan and is invited for dinner. He suspects them of being in the rebellion. The dinner is fantastic scene that shows Leia and her whole family working together to deceive Tarkin and protect rebels. It also adds an extra level of evil to his actions in New Hope. This scene stole the whole book for me.
Well I am convinced enough I decided to read Gray's original YA space opera novel Defy the Stars. I am reading that now so I will of course write a review. I need to read her SW novel Lost Stars but if Gray writes a Star Wars novel you can bet I'll be reading it. Give her a Star Wars movie!
This book was perfect. I did not want it to end.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes