Beware the Power of the Dark Side!

So, the final instalment out of the new Star wars novelizations. Will it bring me joy as the first book or disappointment as the second one?

A bit of both, apparently. The book does contain a bit of new material, including rather bizarre backstories for Mon Motma and commander of the Death Star 2 Jerjerrod, who out of sudden turned out to be a talented civil engineer. Who knew, right? The Jabba sequence sadly did not improve. It was boring in the movie, it is boring in the book.

The weird aspect, which really turned me off, was the way the narrator uses characters physical characteristics to justify their perception as good/bad. In particular, he goes on and on about how Darth Vader is evil and his mask is ugly. The was it is phrased leaves the impression that Vader is evil simply because he looks repulsive. The author concentrates on the poor mask so much that I was quite inspired to start a movement for the rights of disabled clone wars veterans in the Galaxy far, far away.

Even more interesting is author’s explanations, that Han and Leia did not kill ewoks at the first encounter because the latter were cute and fuzzy. But if the looked like Greedo, the narrator emphasizes, our heroes would have blasted them to pieces. What a wonderful message in a book aimed at middle-schoolers: if you don’t like how someone’s looks, feel free to hurt them, kids!

Overall, the story itself is not badly written, but questionable moral lessons force me to recommend to avoid this version of the Return of the Jedi. The original novelization  was much better.

So You Want to Be a Jedi?

You already know this, because you are Luke Skywalker, but I’ll remind you.

I’ve always though that second person narration is a gimmick used by bored fanfiction writers. But apparently professional writers employed by giant companies for a famous franchise do that as well.

So, in this book the reader/listener has to pretend they are Luke Skywalker himself. Everything that happens to Luke is described like “you are being mauled by wampa”, etc. To be honest, it is very distracting. I thought hard whether I would have liked such narration device as an eight year old, but decided that probably no.

 When Luke is not around we are back to normal storytelling. The narrator makes a lot of puns in Percy Jackson style, though less funny. On the one hand, it livens the story, on the other, really clashes with the mood  of the original movie. Sadly, the humour goes more and more the way of the toilet as the story progresses, ending up with multiple peeing jokes.

On an unrelated note: I really doubt that galaxy far, far way has elephants.

Another device used in the book is having a “Jedi training” lesson at the end of each chapter. Initially it seemed like an excellent idea,  because it was giving kids easy tips on beginning mindfulness and meditation.

However, at some point the task ended up being to “battle your fear” by going into a scary unknown place along without telling anyone. Right! Just what every parent would want their child to do!

I found very disappointing the description of the Vader’s reveal at Bespin. The author had a brilliant opportunity to show Luke’s and/or Vader’s thoughts there, but the scene felt flat and boring.Overall, it is not a great book. Too many questionable tricks and not enough substance. I wish Alexandra Bracken could have done this one.

The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy

So, what new can be said about the galaxy far, far away? Especially about the beginning of Luke Skywalker’s adventures, known from the original film, then original novelization, comics and so forth. Alexander Bracken proves that there is some life in that story.

The author does not experiment with the form of the storytelling, unlike Adam Gidwitz in So you want to be a Jedi? However, she does expand on the content. The book does not just retell the movie plot, but goes inside the characters heads. For example, we hear Leia’s thoughts on her first encounter with Palpatin and on the reasons she joined the Rebellion.

More crucially, the book answers the question that burned me for years: how did the rebels entrusted an X-wing to a farmboy? Well, now we can find out all about Luke’s training and testing prior to the Death Star run.

The book is split into three parts, corresponding to point of view of the three main characters. Unsurprisingly, Han’s part if the most interesting one. The audiobook has two talented narrators, doing a great job imitating the voices and mannerisms of the original performers.

The main drawback that I can point out was the lengthy middle part: it took almost 50 minutes of audiobook time for the protagonists to get from Leia’s cell to the Death Star hanger.

Apart from that, the book is very well written and entertaining. A good introduction to the universe for the freshly initiated, while having enough new material to keep the fans engaged.

And, in case you are wondering, Han did shoot first in this version!