A review by quadrille
Star Wars: The Last Jedi by Jason Fry

4.0

Somehow she was certain of his presence—it was like a fleeting something captured in peripheral vision, or the tickling sensation between the shoulder blades that hinted at a presence behind you.

Goddamn, was this a good novelisation. Faithful to the movie while including a few extra cut scenes and moments, and expanding on the interiority & psychology of its characters -- everyone from Leia to Rey to Poe to BB-8 to freakin' Captain Canady (I really love the old grizzled Imperial veterans who just kind of secretly eyeroll at each other behind Hux's back? they were great). The voice is good and varied throughout, appropriately capturing things like Luke's melancholy; Leia's grief and determination; Rey's feisty stubbornness and yearning; Poe learning to rein in his hotshot impulsive nature; and Hux's hilarious snootiness and prim arrogance.

There's the occasional line of characterisation which just nails it, like: As the turbolift doors shut, General Hux tugged at the cuffs of his uniform even though he knew they were perfect.

Or this from Maz's POV: Maz recognized two of the others. Poe Dameron looked like he'd stepped out of one of Leia Organa's recruiting posters, but war heroes were a decicred a dozen. He needed to fail a few times to become intriguing.

The long tangent on Canto Bight drags a bit here, as it did in the film, but mostly because Rey's interactions with Luke and with Kylo are absolutely electric and nothing can compare. Fry's prose is lovely: descriptive and emotive at all the right bits. It doesn't hit the heights of Alexander Freed's [b:Rogue One: A Star Wars Story|30008713|Rogue One A Star Wars Story (Star Wars Novelizations, #3.5)|Alexander Freed|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1480095701l/30008713._SY75_.jpg|50417096], but it's also far, far, far better than the dreck that was the Force Awakens novelisation.

The only downsides are:
• Finn's haplessness & ineptitude is really played up for laughs and emphasised in a way that I don't like, because it just doesn't jive with my image of him; he is a precious cinnamon roll, yes, but he was also a trained stormtrooper and I wish the canon wasn't so inconsistent about this. I read [b:Before the Awakening|25319258|Before the Awakening (Star Wars)|Greg Rucka|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451838047l/25319258._SY75_.jpg|45052215] quite early, which depicts him as one of the best and most talented stormtrooper trainees but who landed on his superiors' shitlist because he was helping his squadmates too much when they failed. I prefer something more balanced and in-between, if that makes sense.

• Honestly, Poe's mutiny makes even more sense in this book, and Holdo's reticence seems even more absurd when you have the extra expanded backdrop of all the miserable, dispirited rebels and how morale is at a crushing, crushing low. Poe comes across less a renegade mutineer and loose cannon; more a mouthpiece and figurehead for literally everyone's else's feelings. I love Amilyn Holdo but this novelisation made it harder for me to square with her plan.


But! Anyway. I still love The Last Jedi so very, very much, and this is a solid novelisation.