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A review by allisonjpmiller
The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition by Rae Carson
3.0
The second half of the book ended up being a much better read than the first 100 pages—thank goodness. The tightly-written, heartfelt prose I so enjoy in Carson's other work found its footing during the important scenes here, for which I'm grateful. While this doesn't fix the film for me, it does clarify WTF was happening during several key moments, which didn't have a chance in hell of getting communicated properly thanks to the go-go-go directing style Abrams adopted for this installment (even more breathless and afraid of the pause button than his other movies). I'll always have my problems with this story, but by restoring many of the dropped connections it contains, this book allowed me some closure, at least—and gave me a chance to even appreciate some of the thematic elements that I was previously quite resistant to.
Now what I really need is an animated series set post-IX with Rey trying to establish a non-dogmatic Order and yes, looking for Ben in the World Between Worlds, because if a Force dyad is the real fulfillment of the Rule of Two, y'all, we cannot just DROP this concept. (And let's face it: Rey deserves an arc that isn't "completing Leia's Jedi path", c'mon Terrio. This in no way feels like the end of her story.) The Clone Wars added so much depth to the prequels; the sequels deserve their own shot at redemption, since apparently all the creative/experimental material in the SW galaxy gets reserved for animation these days, and everyone is just terrified of New Shit in Live-Action. Ahem. I will step off my Star Wars Opinion Box now!
Now what I really need is an animated series set post-IX with Rey trying to establish a non-dogmatic Order and yes, looking for Ben in the World Between Worlds, because if a Force dyad is the real fulfillment of the Rule of Two, y'all, we cannot just DROP this concept. (And let's face it: Rey deserves an arc that isn't "completing Leia's Jedi path", c'mon Terrio. This in no way feels like the end of her story.) The Clone Wars added so much depth to the prequels; the sequels deserve their own shot at redemption, since apparently all the creative/experimental material in the SW galaxy gets reserved for animation these days, and everyone is just terrified of New Shit in Live-Action. Ahem. I will step off my Star Wars Opinion Box now!