 |
| "Star Wars: Lost Stars" by Claudia Gray Hardcover |
Five hundred fifty-one pages and I finished reading it in four days. Yeah it's that good! This book succeeded in taking me to a Galaxy Far Far Away and this story is exceptionally better than Episodes VII-IX!
I have not picked up a book and proactively read since my early college years. I am not against reading, it was just never a hobby I could get in to... up until I read this book. As of July 2021, I had come into more free time especially when my kids are asleep. Since then, and even to this day, I have been consistently watching YouTube videos that help expand understanding of the Star Wars Universe before and after Disney. My favorite channels so far have been MetaNerdz Lore and Eckhart's Ladder. Both are extremely informative and helped inspire me to pick up reading and learning about characters and worlds beyond the Movies and TV Shows.
I do not want to boldly claim that I am a "true fan" however I can say that since I watched "The Empire Strikes Back" in my pre-school at the age of four, I have been a fan since. Just to let you know how important Star Wars is, I skipped on ditching my senior ditch day back in 2005, and ditched the day of the premier of "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" as my friends and I had our own lightsabers. Since the toy company back then was just capitalizing on movie releases and did not seem to care how true to the character the lightsabers were, I was wielding one with Qui-Gon Jinn's hilt and a purple blade so if you know which background Jedi that belonged to, then I'm happy to give credit to him or her.
So back to my experience with this novel, I must say that even though this book was listed as a Young Adult entry, the story itself is beyond amazing and feels like any fan of Star Wars could appreciate the world built within. Up until now, I have never read a book that had such amazing detail that fully immersed me in the story. It truly felt like I was in every scene. It was so compelling that I finished this four hundred plus page book in only four days and that is a lot for someone who does not read novels often.
 |
| Back |
 |
| Rear Zoomed In |
Maybe it is because I am already familiar with the original trilogy and this story follows that timeline, it was nice to experience the events through the eyes of two Tie Fighter Pilots who had different views of the Empire. The story stars when the two protagonists meet as children on the planet of Jelucan. Thane Kyrell is an aristocrat whose parents only favor his brother as his own growth and success consistently goes unseen; thus leading him to distance himself from his family. Ciena Ree is a girl from the countryside, opposite that of Thane, she has an appreciation for her family as well as upholding tradition and standing by her convictions regardless of any opposition. Both characters shared a dream and that is fly with and for The Empire. Though their reasons are different, their love for flying brings them together. We follow Thane and Ciena grow together in their childhood on opposing classes of Jelucan, then come together as they are accepted in Coruscant's Imperial Academy. Naturally an unspoken affection for each other begins to spark into a full blown romance, however as the events of the original Trilogy unfolded; from the destruction of Alderan, to the Battle of Yavin, the Battle of Hoth, and even after the Battle of Endor; we see the characters end up in opposing sides yet their love for each other never fades.
 |
| Inside the protective sleeve |
I honestly do not want to spoil anything and really wanted to give this book a genuinely positive review as it truly brought me back to opening up more books. As I have been saying, I have not read such an amazing book in forever and it is a bonus that it happened to be Star Wars related. Thanks to this book, I have been inspired to reading more books. I have already read, "Star Wars: Inferno Squad" and currently reading "Star Wars: Ronin." I will more than likely write about them eventually. This book is a great read for sure and you will not regret reading it as it surprisingly did get me hooked from the first ten pages.
To be honest this book also inspired me to create my own Star Wars characters and I do plan on posting about their stories and designs once time permits me. Stay tuned and until then, please do not hesitate to check out my other projects through the following link: https://linktr.ee/pd9customs
Until the next one,
PD
No comments:
Post a Comment