Books: Star Wars: The Last Jedi By Jason Fry (2018)

Most of the time, novelizations of films and TV episodes is a bit of redundancy. Most are just prose translations of the script, and add little to the narrative you saw on screen. But they do sell, and at times, can offer a small glimpse into the workings of a script, as things can sometimes change between the end of principle photography and release. Because sometimes, to help the flow of the film along –which works on a linear process- things be changed in a film that are not reflected in the book form of it. 

It’s been pointed out that Alan Dean Foster, who adapted The Force Awakens, wrote his book based on an earlier script, so when Episode VII was in post-production and scenes that were filmed but were deleted and new ones shot, some of that could not be changed in the book (which, again, happens a lot as these books are being written while filming is still going on). So while Foster, a prolific writer of his own original science fiction along with a lot of novelizations of movies, wrote a fairly true novelization of The Force Awakens screenplay, due to pressure of getting the book done to coincide with the film’s release in 2015 (though it actually came out about three weeks after), there could be no adds or deletions. Still, the writer is very good and knows his way around the Star Wars Universe, so the book was still good.

With The Last Jedi, adapter Jason Fry (who also has spent many years writing in this universe) was aided by writer/director of Episode VIII, Rian Johnson. This enabled Fry to craft a novel that more closely followed the movie, and because Johnson could not add everything he wanted to the film (the deleted scenes on the Blu ray release show up in the book), it enabled Fry to give them life.

This book does give a better understanding of why Luke Skywalker wants to end the Jedi –even though screenplay does explain this somewhat. The book also gives a reasons why Luke decided to burn the tree that contained the ancient Jedi texts –it was something he planned to do, but Rey showing up on Ahch-To delayed that move. And then we get a better understanding of Kylo Ren and his motivations here. When he hesitated to kill Leia near the start of the film, it was because he felt no anger from her in the Force. And later, as he tempted Rey, it becomes clear that the conflict within Ben Solo –and his justification for destroying the Rebellion, is that he needs this anger to kill them (which is a throwback to both the original trilogy and the prequels).

Also, because the new books in the Star Wars line since Disney bought them from George Lucas, are considered canon, this book explains a bit about Snoke and how he rose to power. Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath series revealed that Emperor Palaptine had a contingency plan just in case the Rebellion proved successful and that the planet of Jakku –isolated, dirty, on the edge of the Unknown Regions of space- would be a perfect place to hide the remnants of the Empire. The book reveals that Emperor Palpatine sensed Snoke through the Force, though he wasn't sure exactly who or what he was sensing. Maybe if he'd learned Snoke's true identity, Palpatine might have taken steps to eliminate him, assuming he saw Snoke as an opponent (which he likely would have). And while the book does not explain where Snoke came from (though again, it’s fair assumption it was somewhere in those uncharted areas of space), it does shed a bit of light on how he became The First Orders Supreme Leader (the computer game Battlefront II explores this a bit).

It is also revealed that long before Luke ended up on Ahch-To, when he was traveling with R2-D2 in search of the remnants of the Jedi, Luke met Snoke. Whether Skywalker knew who he was then is never delved into, but it’s clear that Snoke and Luke (much like Ren and Rey) were Force connected in some way.

All-in-all, a fairly good adaptation of a movie that has divided fans. I can clearly see now why, though, and understand what Rian Johnson was doing with the legend here. Part of it has to do with knowing that the Force is not just connected to the Skywalker family (the prequels laid this out pretty well), but anyone can be Force-sensitive. Anyone.

Plus, obviously, as the franchise begins moving forward after 2019’s Episode IX, it will need to lay the foundation for that expansion in this newest trilogy and novels.  

Books: Moving Target by Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry (2015)

Star Wars: Moving Target by Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry is the last volume that made up the first part of Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And like the previous two books in this series, the story is framed as flashback. We open prior to the events of the new movie, with General Leia Organa wrestling with her duties to the Resistance and how she must balance those responsibilities with her own personal wishes. Which reminds her of a story from St Olaf…wait, that’s not right.

Well a little bit. This loose trilogy of books has all been about the same thing, how Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie are thrown into leadership roles against their better wishes (except for the princess of course, she’s been fighting the Empire in one way or another since she was a child) and how their desire to end the Imperial rule allows other people to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. And it’s apparent, after fighting for thirty plus years, no one thought of recording Leia’s thoughts about what it all means. But now on the eve of her sending Dameron Poe to Jakku, she agrees to begin setting the record straight so to speak, and she unwinds a tale set just before the events of Return of the Jedi.

The mission of this story revolves around Leia taking a small group on a recruiting mission along some outer rim systems that is actually meant to draw imperial attention away from the actual fleet gathering at Sullust to attack the incomplete second Death Star. The group jumps around, setting an electronic bread crumb trail for the Empire to follow, all while Leia wrestles with truth that she is setting up outlier rebels to prevent the Imperial forces from discovering the rebel fleets true location.

The plot is your basic mismatched group heroes with certain abilities that must work together to achieve a goal (it’s Gun on Ice Planet Zero for the original Battlestar Galactica). And like Smuggler’s Run, the interaction between the characters makes this YA title work. We get some good speeches about what the rebels are really fighting for and why some would give up their own lives to achieve the goals of Resistance. 

One the things that really stopped me from reading the original Expanded Universe books after a few years in the 1990s was, as it happens here, that threats the Imperials make on heroes always rang hollow with me. You always knew that if a stormtrooper, or some other Imperial villain pointed a blaster at the head of Leia, Han, Luke, Chewie, or threatened the destruction of C3PO or R2D2 the reader knew they would not die, would not be destroyed. Leia getting captured was an easy trope to do in those books, and happens here again. It’s these things that made me sort of start not wanting to read them (and this includes the Star Trek books as well). I know that the hero always wins, but that’s TV and movies for you. Sometimes, in these series books, I wish a writer would be able to break out of the formula. But even as I write, I know it’s the formula that readers apparently want and are dictated by the publisher. 

There is a lot of good things about these books –mostly the loss of subplots- so even Leia getting captured is not that annoying. I enjoyed them. Now the question is do I go and start reading the handful of other titles in this new Expanded Universe that Disney has created?

Books: Star Wars: The Weapon of a Jedi By Jason Fry (2015)

My exploration of the new Expanded Star Wars Universe continues...

Timeline ways, we’re not given the exact date as to when this prologue opens, though Threepio has his red arm we all saw I the movie. So speculation on my part, this begins just before the events of The Force Awakens.

Anyways, Star Wars: The Weapon of a Jedi by Jason Fry opens with a Resistance X-Wing pilot named Jessika Pava who meets C-3PO in a hangar and realizes who he is and what kinds of stories he can tell. 3PO’s mention of Luke prompts her to inquire about a Luke story not as well known as his other heroic exploits. So, in his own unique way, the protocol droid begins telling her a story set shortly after events of A New Hope, when Luke, 3PO and R2D2 go on a data retrieval mission. But the simple journey goes a bit awry, when they encounter some Imperial entanglements. This leads Luke to land on Devaron for repairs, which also coincides with recent visions he’s been having. It seems the Force is directing him there. In the town of Tikaroo, Luke requests a guide to take him to what is called the Eedit ruins; the place the Force wants him to go. But the remains, he is told, are off limits, mostly by Imperial edict (whom also has perimeter alarms around the temples), but also because the place is thought to be haunted. Eventually, Luke he ends up hiring a scavenger named Sarco Plank to take him into the forest. Plank is an eyeless insectoid member of the Melitto species, who is also a amoral scavenger, bounty hunter and arms dealer. After Luke’s visions help him locate a hidden cave entrance that gets him past the Imperial perimeter, he uncovers 3 training remotes and trains for a few days at the temple before the Imperials catch up with him and the time comes to put his training to use. 

There are some distant ties to The Force Awakens here, especially the notion of the Jedi Order temples we hear Han Solo talk about briefly in the film. While this is new to the movies, if memory serves me right, the Jedi temples were first mentioned in The Clone Wars animated series (unified canon, baby). And Sarco Plank appears on Jakku, but is given no real mention there. 

Also, it’s an easy read (well, it is for the 9-14 range), but for fans, this gives a wider look into the new timeline created, especially since these books are now considered canon. 

Not sure if it matters, but this YA title, Star Wars: Weapon of a Jedi is the second book in this Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens series. I was unsure if there was a certain order to them, so I started with the Luke Skywalker one first.