Review: Star Wars- Lost Stars
Quick Summary
Pros: The main storyline contains thrilling action and equally thrilling personal drama. The main characters are great and are a joy to see develop. The book’s main message is relevant to the real world and is well-executed.
Cons: Small aspects of the conclusion conflict with the book’s other themes.
Overall: This is a book that expands the definition of what a young-adult Star Wars book is capable of accomplishing. At the center of the book is a highly engaging story filled with awesome action and intriguing personal drama. Then, layered around this is a meaningful and thought-provoking message, which directly connects the politics of Star Wars to the real-world. In the end, this book has plenty of appeal and is something most Star Wars fans will enjoy.
Story
Star Wars: Lost Stars, by Claudia Gray, is a highly successful blend of fun action and thrilling suspense with an undercurrent of intriguing political forces and positive messaging. This creates a book that does Star Wars right by proving an engaging story while also delivering a meaningful message.
The main storyline in Lost Stars focuses on the lives of two people who become involved in the Imperial Navy and, subsequently, become involved in the entire war between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. This allows for plenty of moments of action and excitement, as they participate in wild space battles or take on political rivals. This is further enhanced by the way in which these events provide a different point of view of the events from the Star Wars movies, elaborating on how regular soldiers felt during the events of the Original Trilogy.
Just as entertaining as the action is the personal drama that unfolds. Both of the main characters experience a wealth of emotional development, personal strife, and romantic trouble as their lives progress. This adds a fantastic, character-driven experience into the narrative.
However, where this book really defines itself is in the way it handles its political message. The novel attempts to show how a harsh authoritarian government, like the Empire, may be attractive to young people whose personal struggles led them to believe that law and order is always the path through which peace is obtained. This serves a real-world message by providing examples of how real-world authoritarian regimes garner followers. The only downside is that the conclusion feels a little too sympathetic to the Empire, which conflicts with other pieces of the book. Besides this though, the message here is positive and relevant to today’s world.
Continuity
Star Wars: Lost Stars is a mostly standalone book. However, the events in this book take place over a long period of time and, thus, reference the events of several movies. Specifically, events from Episode IV- A New Hope, Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI- The Return of the Jedi are mentioned.
As of now, the story here does not directly continue in any other Star Wars work. However, the aftermath of the book’s conclusion is reflected in something from Episode VII- The Force Awakens.