Gray, Claudia
About the Author:
Claudia Gray lives in New Orleans, USA with her husband Paul.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
4 out of 5
(5 books)
TOP PICK:
Star Wars: Lost Stars
Star Wars: Leia, Princess Of Alderaan
3 BBY. As Princess Leia turns sixteen she begins the ceremonial quest to earn her place as heir to the throne of Alderaan. Joining the Empire's Apprentice Legislature she meets other young people from across the galaxy all intent on being future leaders. However, her rebellious and headstrong nature leads Leia to a shocking discovery; there is an armed insurgency building to oppose the Empire and her parents are deeply involved.
Part of the so-called 'Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi', I avoided this novel for a long time for the dual reasons of having no interest in (evil) Disney's post-RotJ new canon and of having hated 'The Last Jedi' specifically. However, discovering that it's set entirely before 'A New Hope' I decided to give it a go and am very glad that I did.
Leia has never been among my favourite Star Wars characters and the idea of a story about her as a teenager learning to be a leader would once have definitely put me off as well, however E. K. Johnson's 'Queen's Shadow', about young Amidala, showed me that there was definitely some interesting mileage in the concept. It was therefore interesting to see Leia as a young aristocrat raised on principles of service and self-sacrifice but with a strong rebellious streak long before there was such thing as a Rebellion. I particularly liked how she discovers the resistance against the Empire through her own refusal to stay out of trouble and that rather than just inheriting a place with the rebels due to her parents, she actually earns that place despite their efforts to keep her out of it.
I'm also a big fan of stories which deal with the early days of the rebellion before they're an alliance, so it was nice to see more of that, particularly how Leia accidentally gets caught up in some of the extremist activities of Saw Gerrera that later see him ostracised by the other rebels.
Overall a surprisingly enjoyable story about Leia coming into her own as a person, as a leader and as a rebel. I have to say, however, that the book's last line ('My parents. My friends. My world. These are things the Empire can never take away') was way too on-the-nose.
Also, if you're not like me and you actually did enjoy 'The Last Jedi' (seriously, what's wrong with you?), then you might enjoy seeing Leia's growing friendship with young Amilyn Holdo and the appearance of the rebel base on Crait.
4 out of 5
Star Wars: Lost Stars
11 BBY - 5 ABY. Two childhood friends dream of flying together and eventually join the Imperial Academy to do just that. Over time their feelings for each other deepen into love, but they are torn apart as one remains honour-bound to her oath to serve the Empire but the other is driven to make a moral stand and joins the Rebel Alliance. In the ensuing years the Force keeps bringing them together but their opposing ideologies keep them apart.
This was another of the (evil) Disney canon books that I avoided for a long time but it gets such positive reviews that I figured I'd finally give it a go and it was absolutely worth it. What we get here is an epic tale of love and honour set against the famous events and battles of the Galactic Civil War, with two compelling main characters whose relationship, whilst somewhat inevitable at the beginning, forms a powerful emotional core to the story. It's also very much the type of Star Wars story I love, featuring familiar settings and events (plus the odd famous face making a cameo) but showing us that there are many more stories going on in the Star Wars universe than just that of the movie characters.
There are two downsides to this book, but neither of which I felt is bad enough to mark the book down, because he has a caveat to them. The first is having to see one of our protagonists justify the fascist policies and outright genocide of the Empire. It plays into the weird thing that the new canon has done of telling numerous stories with Imperial characters as the protagonist (Tim Zahn's new Thrawn trilogy, 'Tarkin' by James Luceno and Christie Golden's 'Inferno Squad' to name but a few), wherein we're supposed to get behind characters who are loyal to a regime that was genuinely modelled on the Nazis in the real world. I know there's two sides to every story, but Star Wars should definitely be about good triumphing over space Nazis. Here, at least, as Ciena Ree rationalises things like the destruction of Alderaan, we can see the flaws in her reasoning and come to understand that it is her culturally-ingrained refusal to break an oath that makes her remain loyal to the Empire. It also lets us be there, in her head, when she sees the second Death Star and realises that all of her rationalisations were lies to herself.
The second downside is that the ending feels a little weak, even though it takes place on a crashing Star Destroyer amid the the Battle of Jakku. I felt the final moments here between Ciena and Thane were still too morally ambiguous, despite us having seen the two of them both come to new moral understanding over the course of the book. The caveat that softens this flaw, however, is that whilst it's not quite satisfying narratively, there is something very real about these two people who realise that there is still a lot of hard work ahead of them if they want to make their love work. Relationships are rarely 'they kissed and lived happily ever after' in the real world and the main theme of this book is these two being in love despite everything else going on, so having them simply be ready to face whatever's next together rather than having their relationship nicely tied-up in a bow felt appropriate (although, as I say, a little unsatisfying).
Overall this is an excellent Star Wars novel and should not be dismissed as just another YA romance (as some have done).
5 out of 5
Star Wars: Master & Apprentice
40 BBY. When Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is offered a seat on the Jedi Council, it throws his mentorship of Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi into question. The two Jedi are sent on one last mission together; to the planet Pijal at the request of Jedi Rael Aveross who, like Qui-Gon, once trained under Master Dooku. Tasked with ratifying a treaty on behalf of the Republic, Qui-Gon is compelled to disobey the orders of the Jedi Council when a vision of the future hints at dangers no-one suspects or believes.
I've made no secret of being a big fan of the old Star Wars Expanded Universe and was thoroughly disgusted when (evil) Disney decided to throw out (or, in some cases, clumsily strip-mine) the EU canon in favour of their Sequel-friendly new canon. Between this, the fact I hated 'The Last Jedi', felt 'The Rise of Skywalker' was a mess and am offended by the very idea of 'Solo' (seriously, he was arbitrarily assigned his iconic name whilst filling in a form!?), it has to be said that the shine has thoroughly worn off the Star Wars franchise for me. Anyone who knows me will know how heartbreaking an admission that is too. So, I went into this book very warily, fearing that at the least it would trample all over the Jedi Apprentice books (by Jude Watson) which were my first love of the Prequel Era of stories (Xanatos was such a great villain).
To my surprise and delight, not only is this a thoroughly enjoyable Star Wars adventure, but it also doesn't feel the need to go out of its way to overwrite the old EU stories. It's a book which can be enjoyed as a stand-alone of the new canon or, as I did, as a continuation of the established tales of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in the run-up to Episode I. Sure, there are some discrepancies but nothing which makes the two canons incompatible.
But, to review this book as if you've not spent the last 23 years collecting Star Wars books, here we get a classic stand-alone tale of Jedi Knights on a mission to bring peace to an isolated world. What makes this story stand out is the development we get to see in the two main Jedi; Qui-Gon in particular. He's always been characterised as a Jedi maverick, but here we get to see him measured against both Obi-Wan, who's something of a stickler for the rules, and Rael Aveross, who's a rag-wearing, planet-ruling, slang-talking Jedi who, in one notable scene, justifies getting laid (he uses that terminology too) when Qui-Gon catches him at it. As the offer of a seat on the Council forces Qui-Gon to contemplate how he can best make the changes he wants to see, we also see him come up against the reality that working within a flawed system like the Republic means compromising his morality.
This is absolutely the sort of Star Wars book I want to read and has managed to reinvigorate my interest in the franchise to a level that it hasn't been at since 'Rogue One' (novelised by Alexander Freed) came out.
4 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic - Into The Dark
The first YA novel of the High Republic publishing programme, set 232 BBY. A group of Jedi, including the bookish Padawan Reath Silas, set off towards the frontier of the Republic bound for Starlight Station. However, a disaster in hyperspace diverts them to a mysterious space station where a dark power is being held dormant.
The High Republic programme is, honestly, a mess. Jumbled storylines across novels, YA books, audio dramas, comics and younger reader books (not to mention the weird jump backwards in time for Phase II) has made it near impossible to really get invested in the stories being told. As an example, this book was literally the first High Republic story released but, since I no longer have the shelf space or money to be buying everything in hardback, it has taken two years for the paperback edition to be released. What makes this a particular shame is that, so far, this is absolutely the best High Republic book I've read.
Because it was the first released, this book isn't bogged down by the crisscrossing storytelling of the rest of the series and, unlike the first adult novel (Charles Soule's 'Light of the Jedi'), actually takes the time to get you fully invested in its interesting cast of characters. So what that leaves us with is a group of Jedi and their smuggler friends undertaking an adventure that includes mystery, danger and action in equal measures.
In short, this is what a Star Wars novel should be.
4 out of 5
Star Wars: The High Republic - The Fallen Star
The third novel of The High Republic and the conclusion to Phase I. The Jedi, believing the Nihil to be broken, have spread themselves thin hunting down the remaining marauders. This leaves Starlight Beacon, the shining symbol of the Jedi and the Republic, vulnerable to a surprise attack orchestrated by the Eye of Nihil Marchion Ro.
This was definitely my favourite of the first three High Republic novels, with Gray doing a fantastic job of building tension in such a way that we feel the frustration of the Jedi as their every move goes awry. The dread and horror represented by the Nameless (AKA the Eaters of the Force) is also brilliantly portrayed, adding a level of darkness to the story that the other books of the series have lacked.
But it's still not a great Star Wars book. Most of its problems aren't so much the author's fault as they are a consequence of how the High Republic publishing scheme has been put together. The High Republic story has been spread thin across novels, YA books, younger readers books, comics and audio dramas, when I think the adult novels should've been the core that the rest was spun out of. Instead we get characters and situations referenced that you could only possibly understand the significance of if you've read the whole publishing arc (which would be nigh-on impossible given how they've been released at different times by different publishers and just trying to keep track of them all is a nightmare). Really this book, as the finale of Phase I, should have been an epic conclusion to what has gone before but instead feels like the middle part of a story yet to be completed. Now, I'm sure that Lucasfilm intend to pick up these threads, but for some baffling reason Phase II of the High Republic is a prequel arc set a hundred and fifty years earlier, so God knows when we'll actually see any follow up to this so-called conclusion.
On top of the bizarre publishing background to this book, Gray has also inherited a pretty dull cast of characters. With Stellan Gios, Elzar Mann and Bell Zettifar all being pretty boring and uncharismatic, we're only left with a handful of non-Jedi to get behind as protagonists. To be fair, there are a couple of Jedi here who are interesting, charismatic and engaging characters, but they're so obviously intended for us to like them that it's immediately clear that they're not going to survive in an attempt to add emotional stakes to the story. Honestly, I couldn't have cared less whether Stellan, Elzar and Bell lived or died. Finally, the High Republic's biggest failing on the character front is Marchion Ro. He is simply the blandest most generic villain ever to turn up in Star Wars. We're supposed to buy into him as some sinister mastermind in this book but, honestly, he's done nothing to warrant that. In fact he's done practically nothing at all across the entirety of Phase I.
Gray's a very good Star Wars writer, but even she couldn't salvage this High Republic 'climax' from being pretty bland overall.
3 out of 5
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