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lesserjoke 's review for:
Lost Stars
by Claudia Gray
An outstanding story of star-crossed lovers in the Star Wars universe, following a pair of Imperial cadets (one of them later a Rebel) as they weave in and out of the major events of the original film trilogy. This is obviously a novel that couldn't exist without those movies, but it's so well-told that it actually comes pretty close to standing on its own. It also improves upon the movies in several respects, offering a stronger and more moving love story and providing some much-needed moral shading to the Empire. Instead of treating every Imperial as a villain, author Claudia Gray wisely humanizes her characters and shows them grappling with a stable government whose atrocities and corrupt leadership are only gradually made clear. She also neatly avoids so many lazy tropes that could easily have fleshed out this story in the hands of a weaker writer; there are no rom-com misunderstandings or awkward love triangles, and no quick abandonment of love for honor or the reverse. Thane and Ciena are devoted to one another as well as to their respective causes, and Gray makes us ache along with her characters over the inevitable conflicts that arise from that divide. It's a great story, and one I recommend wholeheartedly to any lover of Star Wars, even if it's the only spinoff novel you ever read.