Star Wars novel reviews 3
Star Wars, a New Hope the Novelization by Ryder Wyndham
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
A young Jedi is discovered. A rebellion grows. A deadly weapon unleashes its power. A master confronts his old apprentice. The journey begins a new chapter.
A very good novelization if I could say so. And, added with the supporting narratives from 'Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi' as well as 'A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker'... this novel added to the Star Wars experience. If you still wanted more than what the movie was able to give; even with all the extra additions and special editions. And if you're the type that disliked all those second hand latter edits that George Lucas had done to the original movies during the past decade visually, you could enjoy them through this novel, since this version also added some extra reference back towards the prequel era plot. That wasn't there in the original novelization (by George Lucas, or whoever's ghost writing as him). Which I feel were better made (plus you could use your own imaginations on how the scenes appear in your mind) and you do not need to see some of those CGI edits that you hated.
I can't remember much about the original novelization (I read it by chance when I found it at my uncle's house) so I can't really comment on how much the narrative style differed. (Because I could have sworn THAT novel was a properly written novel with paragraphs. But all that I could find of that older novelization was in form of actual screenplay). I wish I could find the novel again, because I wanted to check if the original novelization had included all the extra parts that ended up being cut from the original movie release. Just being a stickler for details, I guess.
That said, I think I've repeated too many times on how I love Ryder Wyndham's writing. He's one of the few select Star Wars novel writers that I love that could make all the weird lines George Lucas have written sounded good.
Rebel Force series by Alex Wheeler
#01 Target
The Death Star has been destroyed. But back at the Rebel base, the celebration is over. The Alliance has intercepted a coded transmission, indicating that the Empire is determined to discover which pilot was responsible for the destruction of the Death Star. New security protocol is in effect: The details of the Death Star mission are now top secret, and no one is to know that Luke fired the decisive shot.
But that's hardly the Alliance's only problem. Almost all their finances were lost with the destruction of Alderaan -- and they are out of money. Their last hope is to access the secret accounts on Muunilinst, the former home of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and the financial heart of the galaxy. So Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids head for Muunilinst. The Empire's top assassin will be waiting for them.
A good start for the novel series. Set a few weeks after the Battle of Yavin, the book started with the Emperor being angered that his Death Star was destroyed. He called on some officers as he tried to sniff out if there were any spies in his ranks. If you've read any other Star Wars novels other than this or if you're observant enough to notice some names mentioned in movie, you'd see some few familiar names. Regardless, the Emperor calls for the search for the one responsible for the destruction of the Death Star and one of those officers begun to form his own plans. Using a spy called X-7.
Since this was set a few weeks after, we get to see Luke in a less skillful form. Well, just because he destroyed the Death Star doesn't mean he's already a seasoned warrior. Now that the festivities had ended, Luke was as clueless as ever. Despite having the potential to do many great things, he still had a lot to learn. He needed to learn how to be a Jedi yet there was no one who can help him. Ben had not appear again in front of him and Luke started to feel that Ben's voice that had guided him before during the Battle of Yavin was a hallucination.
It's pretty interesting so far. We get to be introduced to some new characters, in which you might need to look up some info to try to imagine how they looked. Though Muunilinst wasn't a new world... if you pay much attention to the prequel series. There's some pretty interesting thing, like Luke getting into a Podracing tournament. And fell short of almost finding out about Anakin's past... who, so far was the only human that ever win in a podrace. I was kinda tense a bit at that point... but I suppose the gang weren't supposed to find out about THAT part of Anakin's past yet.
#02 Hostage
The deadly assassin contracted by the Empire, X-7, is closer than ever to discovering the identity of his target. He's already infiltrated the top levels of the Rebel Alliance and gained Leia's trust. But he still hasn't been able to get Leia to give up the classified information he needs. After all, Leia Organa is unbreakable: the youngest, toughest member of the Galactic Senate, and after its dissolution, the fiercest opponent of the Empire. She's survived kidnapping and torture under Darth Vader, but she's never had to do anything more difficult than her latest mission. She is going home. And X-7 knows it will be the perfect opportunity to destroy her.
Yoda appeared in this novel's opening!!!! With Ben!!! I didn't expect that, since the main story would be focused on the kids. But yay!! Kinda cool, since they had a scene where Ben appeared in front of Yoda (and talked about their failures). But also interesting as we learned some extra stuffs. Like why later on Yoda said Luke was too old to be trained.
The novel touched on a mission that would involve Leia returning to Alderaan; or more like, Alderaan's sister planet Delaya. With that, we also got a glimpse of Leia's childhood... which turned out, not be so different compared to Tatooine. Except Tatooine was much more deadly. Even more, the gang ended up encountering yet another lost Jedi. Ferus Olin... who turned out to be someone that Obi-Wan tasked to protect Leia in the shadows!
X-7 don't do much action in this novel, the focus was mostly on Leia and Luke... as well as Ferus. Not that I mind. Ferus Olin immediately became yet another character that I grew fond of.
#03 Renegade
Deadly assassin X-7 has infiltrated the Rebel Alliance. Trained by ruthless Commander Rezi Soresh, X-7 is the best there is: he feels nothing and sees everything. Now, he's gunning for the ultimate prize: Luke Skywalker, the pilot that destroyed the Death Star. The seemingly clueless kid from Tatooine proves more resourceful and difficult to eliminate than X-7 could ever have imagined. Surrounded by friends and allies, and with a connection to the Force that grows stronger every day, Luke seems all but impervious to the usual tactics. But X-7 isn't done with him yet. This time, he knows how to bring Luke down. He'll shatter the trust that holds the Rebel Alliance together -- and manufacture the ultimate betrayal.
The last novel ended with a cliffhanger, as X-7 set his trap. But Luke managed to escape death but was gravely injured. Suspicions ran high and X-7 framed Han as the culprit. Han escaped with Chewie, despite no idea how to clear his name. Not like he cared much. Luke? Since someone was aiming for his life, he needed to go into hiding. Yet would Luke even consider it? He went home, with Leia and the droids. Ha... and in doing so escaped X-7's grasp for now. No one was aware that the assassin was hiding amongst them. Such a drag.
I didn't anticipate this... but this novel had mentions of Biggs in it. And of course, it dealt with his death. Luke returned to Tatooine accompanied by Leia and his droids. Thus, he gets to meet some old friends. There's a lot of stuffs happened that revolve around Biggs. Luke acted a bit childish some times, but it's understandable. Bigg's his best friend. Also... since this was supposed to be his first time back on Tatooine since... Death Star, well... some recollection of sad memories are bound to come up.
I can't sum up how I love this novel. Tatooine always tend to give you the best actions. You get to see Luke race again on a skyhopper, Leia shooting at a krayt dragon, Obi-wan and Ferus did some sneaky thing... and of course, Han being attached to the Skywalker twins. It's just full of nice sweet stuff... I kinda pity X-7 a bit now. Cos for the last two books he's like... barely there.
And oh! There's two bounty hunters made appearance--well, one.... the other was barely mentioned--in this novel. Both would end up appearing in Empire Strikes Back.
#04 Firefight
Deadly assassin X-7 has never failed to complete a mission--until now.
Unmasked and unarmed, he narrowly escapes from the Rebels with his life and little else. His cover may be blown, but he's not returning to Commander Rezi Soresh until his target has been eliminated. This time, he has a new plan. He'll gather six of the best pilots in the galaxy-all of them roguish mercenaries who care nothing about money-and turn them loose on Red Squadron. He counts on his pilot's mercenary instincts to keep them in line. But one of them has a secret that could cost X-7 his victory
Not much X-7 here. But we get to see a bit of him at the beginning to try secure the best mercenary pilots that he could get to gun Luke down. So, we get to see a bit of the mercenary pilots sides... plus one of them that happened to be a 'familiar' character. Well, relatively... I guess. Since like Ferus Olin, this guy was likely also originated from the prequel side of the Rebel Force series; the Jedi Quest series.
That aside, the novel is easy to go though. Even more if you know your Star Wars aliens, planets and ships as well as people. If you're the kind of need to see how they look like so that you can better visualise what you read. Because this novel was exactly as the title said. Full of firefight. Han, Luke, Chewie, Artoo... and what remained of the original Red Squadron were sent to Kamino to investigate it. Where they found an ambush... as well as the newest Imperial project that backfired.
Extra part that you might want to look forward for. Han and Chewie on X-Wings. Luke's increasing mastery of his skills. Artoo saving the day. Leia piloting the Falcon AND saving the day. Artoo and Threepio bickering like husband and wife. Oh! Also Han being a tsundere...
#05 Trapped
Old secrets make new trouble for our heroes as they try to track down their latest enemy.
When valuable prisoner Lune Divinian disappears from his cell on Yavin 4, Luke is determined to find him. As the only link to X-7, the assassin sent to kill Luke, Div is the only hope to staying a step ahead of the Empire. Across the galaxy, X-7 has escaped from Imperial custody. Caught between the past and the present, X-7 must fight the only battle for which he's not prepared: the battle with his identity. But his desperate confusion makes him more dangerous than ever. A chance encounter and a figure from the past bring X-7, Luke, and Div together for a final showdown that will reveal everything-or destroy them all.
The novel opened with Luke dreaming that he could use Jedi Mind Trick ability but turned out he still can't. Though it sure could help with the interrogation with Div, I mean... Luke of all person would be desperately wanting to know X-7's location. In between that, some spies tries to take Div away. In which Luke somewhat foiled, and nearly putting his life in danger. And also driving Leia crazy with worry. But then, he met again with Ferus Olin who... had a plan to lure out X-7 to them and manipulating him against the Empire.
You know, now on the second last book of this series... I shouldn't have expected this book to be any less exciting than the ones before. Not just because of the believable interactions between the characters, but also of the emotions that could be felt from them. Also the fact Alex Wheeler tend to include things that I would have wanted to see or read. I mean... Div thought Luke some of the forms of lightsaber fights! Which would have fit well with what happened in Empire Strikes Back but could have clashed with 'Weapon of a Jedi'. Or it might not.
Plenty of X-7 action but well, it's about time. There's some pretty interesting conflicts and issues being covered and we see more of Rezi Soresh. Ferus is back and with Div and the gang, you get some pretty interesting team ups. And we get a bit of Vader! I shouldn't sound too happy, but well I have a special place place in my heart for Vader. But I'm always happy at seeing every scene of Vader wanting to keep Luke alive, even for his own purposes. Like... even if he was on the side of the Empire; he still... in his own special way, had kept Luke safe. It's just so sweet...
#06 Uprising
It was supposed to be a simple mission to the palace of Nyemari. Quick, covert, easy. But before the Rebels can get off the planet, Luke receives a mysterious--and deadly--message from former Imperial Commander Rezi Soresh. Though Soresh's assassin, X-7, didn't manage to kill Like, Soresh hasn't given up on vengeance.
Luke must surrender himself, or Soresh is prepared to kill a ship full of innocent travelers. Luke has no choice: to save the hostages, he must follow Soresh's directions. Even if they lead straight into a trap.
This being the last of the set, kinda gave me a mixed feeling. Because for sure... some things will end; some characters... fond ones, perhaps. But aside from that, reading this novel was a bit painful. Not that it's bad... but sometimes you just can't bear seeing--reading--the characters you loved to get hurt. Because this one had tons of it.
X-7 had died, but Rezi Soresh was still free. Not only did he wanted Luke dead; he wanted to destroy the Rebel Alliance, Darth Vader too... in order to regain the Emperor's grace. And I thought Tarkin was mad. Rezi Soresh had a plan that could solve all of his grievances all at once. If it worked.
Well... since we know that the good guys would still win in the end, we can rest assured that the end of this novel won't get too bad. But still, doesn't help that half of the novel gonna stab your heart so much. I really hate seeing Luke get hurt. Though yeah, painful things aside... this novel featured even more of Leia's piloting skills; that's as good as Luke's and Anakin's. Just shows that in the Star Wars universe... all Skywalkers so far, did end up having a natural talent in piloting freighters. That's cool. And seeing Obi-Wan and Ferus insisting that their Skywalker twin deserved higher priorities were amusing.
Still, reading beloved characters die--albeit a hero's death--hurt. It's like reading Biggs die all over again. Uprising ended with an epilogue, leading right into a very familiar moment on Hoth. In which the end would lead towards another new journey.
xxx
Well, having read the novels so far in order; 'Target' would be referring to Luke, 'Hostage' would refer to Leia, 'Renegade' would refer to Han (and Chewie), Firefight... would be self explanatory; and for Trapped as well as Uprising, the titles 'meanings' were more broad compared to the first three. In which they were really referring to specific people.
I love how Alex Wheeler made a point to slip in details like... how Leia already placed her confidence on Luke, as well as feeling protective of him. It's nice also to have Luke also seeking out and cherished the approval from Leia. Sure, this Luke was probably is still that Luke that had a crush on Leia... but the vibe I'm getting here felt more like they were drawn to want to support each other as sibling. This is probably just me trying to see their interaction as nothing more but misplaced belief. But considering that this was written with the knowledge that Luke and Leia were twins, it can't be too far to assume the writer would want to develop their relationship towards that direction. While I'm no expert on a twin's familial relationship, I'd expect that they would be able to sense the other even without them being aware of it. Like Leia's words at Endor when told that she's Luke's twin sister; she said that she'd 'always known'. Similar to how Luke right away exclaimed to Ben saying that Leia's his sister. That line was not him asking for confirmation from Ben, he knew for sure and wanted Ben to confirm it.
And this six novels done that a bit too well. There was a lot of growth in the relationship between Luke, Han and Leia; and it certainly bridged the kind of development on their relationship between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Like... at the very beginning, the three were strangers... a farmboy, a princess and a smuggler. But then by the time of the second movie the three had gotten more close, like comrades who've known each other their whole lives. Certainly, for such development to have happen... there must be something that happened in between that had strengthened that bond between them. Also, Luke had become the leader of the Rogue Squadron by the time of Empire Strikes Back. So in between that time, you'd need Luke to actually grew up stronger to qualify that position. And the tension between Han and Leia should have started brewing during that time period.
In this series of novels, you see Luke trying to figure out his place, and who he should become. See him gradually figuring out on how to use the Force as an ally. You see Leia trying to get a grip on the aftermath of Alderaan's destruction, and then finding comfort in having new comrades in form of Luke and Han. Growing attached to the twin brother she never knew she had, fighting alongside her; and becoming fond to that nerf herder that kept making her angry. You see Han becoming frustrated over the reason why he kept stalling and remaining with the Alliance, yet becoming even more attached to those two that sometimes he couldn't help noticing how similar they have acted and behaved. Growing fond of them so much that he couldn't help to want to keep them safe.
Alex Wheeler didn't disappoint in providing an engaging narrative to keep one reading this to the end. He also spared no expenses in writing out all of the emotional scenes. And occasionally putting up witty quips and pulling out unexpected twists out of nowhere. This had been a very enjoyable adventure.
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Just decided to dump everything together. And compile all the Rebel Force set review all in one post. Never thought I could love the series so much.
This entry was originally posted on Kaleidoscope World.