Review: Star Wars- Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel

Quick Summary

Pros: The book’s main narrative has a relevant theme and contains a ton of interesting information about how the Death Star came to be. Orson Krennic’s individual narrative is great and is consistently entertaining.

Cons: Some of the book’s subplots are simply not that interesting, and the book’s conclusion feels rather rushed. Saw Gerrera’s minimal role in the narrative is slightly disappointing to see.

Overall: This book shines in a few places but struggles in others. The successes occur in the book’s general storyline, which contains interesting themes and information, and in Orson Krennic’s personal story. The struggles come from a number of small problems that prevent the main narrative from living up to its full potential. In the end, this book will likely appeal to readers who simply want to learn more about the Death Star’s birth or who want to see Krennic’s origins, not readers simply looking for a good, standalone narrative.

Story

The main positives in Star Wars Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel, by James Luceno, come from the general narrative surrounding the early days of the Death Star. Galen Erso’s storyline mirrors the world of real-world scientists, who’s pursuit of pure knowledge led to the creation of humanity’s greatest weapon. The book also contains a lot of interesting details about the Death Star’s transition from pure plans on Geonosis to the feared weapon it would become. On top of all of this, it is also simply fun to see Jyn before the events of Rogue One.

The standout storyline here though is Orson Krennic’s individual narrative. Krennic is a conniving and intelligent man whose lust for power puts him at odds with a variety of enemies. This makes his struggles against Poggle the Lesser, Has Obitt, and Tarkin consistently tense and interesting to see play out. Watching Krennic’s plans unfold is easily the best part of Catalyst.

However, while the larger and more general narrative in Catalyst is good, the smaller details within this narrative creates problems. There are far too many places where characters make stupid mistakes and overlook seemingly obvious details, which is problematic considering how intelligent nearly everyone in this book is supposed to be. There are a number of subplots that feel unnecessary and distract from the narrative’s better features. And, the book’s conclusion feels rather rushed.

In addition to this, I was pretty disappointed that Catalyst didn’t include more from Saw Gerrera. Given his role in Rogue One, I was hoping to learn more about his personal connection to the Ersos.

Continuity

Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel starts before the events of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and ends at a point sometime after.

The story here continues in the opening of the Star Wars: Rogue One movie then continues in the entirety of the Star Wars: Rebel Rising (Review) young-adult novel that ties in to the movie.

This book also makes a few references to other Star Wars works:

• The capture of Poggle the Lesser is mentioned. This took place in “Legacy of Terror”, the seventh episode in Season Two of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.
• Tarkin’s capture by the Separatists is expanded upon in “The Citadel”, the eighteenth episode in Season Three of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.
• The liberation of Ryloth from the Separatists is depicted in “Liberty on Ryloth”, the twenty-first episode in Season One of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.
• Saw Gerrera’s story of resistance and loss against the Separatists is told across Episodes 2-5 in Season Three of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.