More Star Wars. Yay~
Journey to the Star Wars The Force Awakens : Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure by Cecil Castellucci & Jason Fry
Prior to Force Awakens, General Leia was approached again by the droid PZ-C04 to try to finally start on recording her memoirs. Finally relenting on the request, she started recalling about a mission called Operation Yellow Moon where she acted as a moving target in order to gain more time for the Alliance in order to prepare for the future battle on the second Death Star.
The main story sets prior to the beginning of the Return of the Jedi. While still worrying about the fate of Han Solo, news of a second Death Star was heard. Not wanting to remain idle, Leia started to suggest a dangerous mission to redirect the Empire's main force away from the battlefield. During that mission, she learnt a valuable lesson that she felt all of them needed to keep to heart.
I'm neutral about this novel, not because it was boring or anything... but because half of the novel did involve a lot of covert action et al. Which might be a bit tedious to read by some. But there were some interactions between Leia and Luke (I'm a bit biased, okay. I have a soft spot for the older twin. Sorry) and it's a bit flattering really. Since there were some hints here and there about her actions being guided by the Force without her realizing, as well as the fact that Leia started to notice that she had a certain kind of affection to Luke (that was different to how she feels for Han) and that she also noticed that Luke also had been acting differently to her since Cloud City. I loved this part especially since it hinted on how Luke and Leia had already unconsciously being drawn (and protective) to each other as the twin siblings they were. (I had my twin biases too, okay?)
That aside, this novel had Leia being mostly in charge so THAT'S COOL!!!!! Leia leading a squad team of her own~ yay. Also a nice easter eggs from this novel, you get to find out on how the Alliance managed to acquire shuttle Tydirium. Also some other few teeny tiny bits that would eventually led towards the rescue mission on Tatooine.
Tatooine Ghost by Troy Denning
The deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine by no means spelled the end of the Empire. In the aftermath, the New Republic has faced a constant struggle to survive. Now a new threat looms: a masterpiece of Alderaanian art-lost after the planet’s destruction-has resurfaced on the black market. It conceals a vital secret-the code used to communicate with New Republic agents undercover within the Empire.
When a dispute at the auction erupts into violence, the painting vanishes in the chaos. Han and Leia are thrust into a desperate race to reclaim it. As they battle against marauding TIE fighters, encroaching stormtroopers, and Tatooine’s savage Tusken Raiders, Leia’s emotional struggle over the specter of her infamous father culminates in the discovery of an extraordinary link to the past.
This is a good read, regardless of how canon it could be now... after the announcement that the Expanded Universe would no longer be considered canon. And to be honest, if one would still wanted to believe it... they can still--if they want--believe that the events in the novel are still considered canon. (Or any novels set prior to the birth of Leia's child/ren as well as Luke's eventual marriage really. To whomever it could be in the future movies)
Many of the things in the novel were referring to the prequels and original trilogies, so nothing much would have affected the story's validity. That said, it was thrilling to read... that (as in Luke's and Obi-Wan's Legends novel series) Leia; as had Obi-Wan and Luke (the setting of Luke's Legend novel was cleverly set to be some time before Tatooine's Ghost), had also ended up being led towards the old (now) sacred Tusken encampment... which was the scene of where Anakin took the first step towards the Dark Side. To me, this was an important scene... to have these important characters (finally) being aware of what happen at that place. For Obi-wan... who was Anakin's master, as well as Luke and Leia who were Anakin's children.
Something else about this novel that I loved, was the fact it highlights a part of Leia that was seldom being focused on. And coincidentally, reading this kinda make me happy since it just so happen to be the very thing that I was looking for right now. (In light with recent incidence with a certain recurring post I kept seeing lately.) The novel just summed up the many things that people often overlooked. That I wanted addressed. That is, Leia's... dark side.
That said, this is a good novel about Leia. Especially regarding her Skywalker side of the Star Wars narrative.
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Two books... and slightly longer reviews. Then again it's because most of my gushes on those other novels ended up on my tumblr where I shamelessly shared random excerpts from the novels.
Yeah...
Then again I'm mostly going to start these kinda reviews on the books that REALLY captured my interests. XD This entry was originally posted on Kaleidoscope World.