Monday, December 16, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse




Star Wars Resistance Reborn is a novel in the "Journey to The Rise of Skywalker" project - a series of tie-in novels and other media meant to take advantage of and add content to the upcoming release of Star Wars Episode 9, The Rise of Skywalker.   A similar series was released prior to The Last Jedi, and featured two books that I enjoyed quite a bit (Leia, Princess of Alderaan and The Legends of Luke Skywalker), so I was excited to see what this year's tie-in would look like: even more so, when it was announced this novel would be by Hugo award winning author Rebecca Roanhorse (Trail of Lightning).

And Resistance Reborn has some really nice moments here and there between the characters....to go along with a Star Wars story that has some fun moments but seems mostly pointless in the grand scheme of things.  It's not a bad novel, but it feels entirely empty, not standing on its own or adding much to The Last Jedi (which it immediately comes after) or likely The Rise of Skwyalker.  So unless you really need more Star Wars content to go in with the upcoming movie, this novel is definitely skippable.


---------------------------------------------------Plot Summary------------------------------------------------------
The Resistance may have survived Crait....but what exactly is left of it?  That is the question Leia, Poe, Finn, Rey, and the rest of the survivors now must face, as their resources are now basically down to a squadron of X-Wings and the Millenium Falcon.  To answer the question, Leia and Poe send out word to try and recruit as many potential allies - former Rebels and disgruntled Imperials - and leaders they can find, while searching as well for any untapped resources and ships they can get their hands upon.

But the First Order has not been sitting on its hands since Crait either, and has moved to consolidate its power, with planet after planet surrendering to its rule.  Moreover, anyone who might be a dissident - and thus a Resistance Ally - seems to be disappearing without a trace.  For the desperate Resistance, the situation could hardly be more perilous, as even their potential allies are afraid to support them now in the open, and the only hopes of regrouping will require every Resistance member to put their own lives on the line....even those who thought the battle was long since past them.
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Resistance Reborn begins shortly after The Last Jedi, and basically tells the story of the first efforts of the Resistance to try and regroup into a fighting force that can possibly contest with the First Order (the entire fleet having been destroyed).  The book alternates perspectives between multiple characters, some from the movies - Leia & Poe (Wedge may count?) in particular - and some from prior novels and other new canon works - Snap Wexley, Shriv Suurgav - and an occasional viewpoint from an all new character, particularly a few people who work for the First Order.

The result is mixed.  As someone who has only limited experience with the new canon works, I found it hard to really care for most of the newer characters - so Shriv's plotline in particular where he and his team have to try and steal a bunch of abandoned New Republic ships really didn't do anything for me, and wasn't helped by being the only major plotline not to occur on Correlia or Ryloth.  On the other hand, the plotlines involving our major film characters worked a lot better, and Roanhorse does an excellent job in the viewpoints of Poe and Leia, as well as showing us character moments for Finn and Rey, which are really nice touches.  None of these plotlines are that interesting, and where they touched on books I haven't read (Bloodlines) or didn't like (Aftermath), they definitely didn't work as well on me as they might on others.

Still those character moments are appreciated, and the new characters introduced here working for the New Order on Correlia are really well done.  Most focus is given in particular an administrator named Winshur Bratt, who is tasked with doing minor paperwork for the New Order and dreams of rising up in its ranks....and who seemingly is given the chance when he is tasked with arranging the transfer and detainment of dissident prisoners.  It's not an exciting plotline, but it's a really good showing of how an ordinary person, with an ordinary career, could be swept up in an authoritarian government....and his banal evil treatment of his subordinates, particularly one whose talents aren't what expects, makes him a truly different antagonist.

But really other than Winshur, there's very little here that's new or interesting.  If you were wondering how the Resistance would regroup and become significant prior to the next movie, you won't find that here despite the title - you see here merely the first steps the resistance takes after The Last Jedi, which are far from the steps that they will eventually have to take for sure.  Nothing in this book is boring or bad, and it's an easy read, but it seems honestly a waste of Roanhorse's talents, and not up to the level of some of the lead up books to The Last Jedi.
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