I
initially stayed away from Star Wars: A New Dawn. The Rebels television show
didn’t impress me at the start, and I didn’t want to spend more time with the
characters. The book however seemed to
be getting decent reviews. A New Dawn has a different tone than the television
show. It is darker, but not to an extreme level. I enjoyed the book, and it was
interesting to see how Hera and Kanan meet and begin their journey together.
The
novel starts out with Kanan hauling explosive mining material back and forth
between a moon and a planet. An Imperial Star Destroyer makes a quick
appearance and our main villain is introduced. At first I thought the villain
was going to be a Darth Vader clone. The character, Count Vidian, is a cyborg
who had a disease which ate away most of his human body. He replaced most of
his human parts with robotic ones. Eyes, ears, voice, arms, and legs are all
mechanical. My worries about a Vader clone where misplaced. He has a few similarities
to Vader, such as ruthlessness, but is different enough to stand alone. One reason this book has a darker tone than
the show is we read about Vidian killing individuals, and one is particularly
graphic. The murder truly hit home, invoking an emotional response from me. It
helped that I was listening to the novel and the production added in classic
Star Wars music to elicit more emotion from the scene.
Kanan
at the start of the novel is in full Han Solo mode. He’s not a smuggler, but if
the mood struck him he could be. He drinks and may or may not be a ladies man.
No matter how hard he tries, he still does the right thing. His Jedi training
is ingrained in him. No matter where he runs to, he still intervenes on behalf
of those who need help. Kanan tries to limit his involvement and puts on a face
of indifference, but he still acts when he must.
Hera
on the other hand is already a rebel leader in some capacity. We don’t find out
much about who she is working for, or where her funding is coming from. It is
one complaint I had with the novel, more backstory would have fleshed Hera out.
She’s still a strong character in the novel, and it’s a good introduction to
her. I just wanted more, because hey, I’m greedy. Hera is meeting a contact to
get information about how Imperials collect surveillance. She gets caught in the middle when Count
Vidian shows up and starts wreaking havoc on the planet and moon.
Along
with Hera and Kanan we get introduced to a couple of sidekick characters. One
is a clone wars explosive expert who is a bit unhinged. Scully is a bit of a
conspiracy theorist, and doesn’t really see the way the universe truly works. I loved his character, the author, John
Jackson Miller, wrote him perfectly. Everyone dismisses the crazy old coot, but
in the end he knows what he’s talking about. The other character is an Imperial
surveillance expert named Zaluna. This was another great side character. It
showed us as a reader just how invasive the Empire has become in the universe.
Zaluna had some hard choices to make during the course of the novel, and the
deliberation to act or not to act was well done.
This
band must try and stop Count Vidian from accomplishing his goal. It’s a fun
adventure which is a great first addition to the new Star Wars cannon. The plot
is fairly standard adventure novel, but it’s Star Wars, and it fits nicely
within the galaxy far far away. I did like a few of the twists and turns, and
the small amount of political elements introduced into the novel. I get the
feeling this novel is trying to hook me as an adult to then watch the Rebels television
show. If I would have read it last year it would have done just that. The first
few episodes of Rebels were rough, but I enjoyed the second half of the season
and I am excited for the second season.
I
would rate A New Dawn as my second favorite book, of the new canon, next to
Lords of the Sith. It has great characters and a solid plot. If you are a Star
Wars fan and haven’t checked this book out, give it a chance. It’s a book I can
revisit and listen or read again. The characters alone are good enough for
another read. This is a great start for the Rebels show, and while the show is
geared more for kids, this book is meant for adults.
My
Rating: Must Read for Star Wars Fans
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