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A review by neilrcoulter
Spark of the Resistance by Justina Ireland
3.0
I have next to no interest in the sequel trilogy era, but this book was a fun minor adventure with Rey, Poe, Rose, and BB-8. As usual, each of the main characters is assigned their one defining character trait, because this era of Star Wars doesn’t allow any character more than that. It’s just enough to get them through this short, one-off story, but it wouldn’t be sufficient to carry them much further (for example, through a trilogy of movies).
Also as usual, this story introduces a new First Order villain (because authors writing in this era are rarely allowed to use Kylo Ren or Hux). And if you’re going to create a new First Order doofus who won’t survive this story anyway, why not name him Commander Branwayne Spiftz?
This story hints at a number of intriguing directions and future plot points, none of which has any payoff in The Rise of Skywalker. Obviously Justina Ireland wasn’t given many specific details about the movie. But that’s really what the sequel trilogy era is, isn’t it—a jumble of potentially interesting but ultimately unconnected details that never add up to anything substantial?
The writing style is aimed at younger readers, and it is more successful than a lot of other SW books targeted to that audience. Everything is kept engaging but simple, and the good guys (usually) set their blasters on stun. Occasionally a sentence made me chuckle—this one, for example: “That provided an odd counterpoint to her white smock, which seemed odd compared with the uniforms of the First Order” (23–24). (So...pretty odd, I guess.)
Also as usual, this story introduces a new First Order villain (because authors writing in this era are rarely allowed to use Kylo Ren or Hux). And if you’re going to create a new First Order doofus who won’t survive this story anyway, why not name him Commander Branwayne Spiftz?
This story hints at a number of intriguing directions and future plot points, none of which has any payoff in The Rise of Skywalker. Obviously Justina Ireland wasn’t given many specific details about the movie. But that’s really what the sequel trilogy era is, isn’t it—a jumble of potentially interesting but ultimately unconnected details that never add up to anything substantial?
The writing style is aimed at younger readers, and it is more successful than a lot of other SW books targeted to that audience. Everything is kept engaging but simple, and the good guys (usually) set their blasters on stun. Occasionally a sentence made me chuckle—this one, for example: “That provided an odd counterpoint to her white smock, which seemed odd compared with the uniforms of the First Order” (23–24). (So...pretty odd, I guess.)