SWBC: 'Ahsoka' review + book recs
SWBC: 'Ahsoka' review + book recs
Plus: Excerpts from "From a Certain Point of View."
Review: Ahsoka
Last week, I told you all I was headed to Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World to screen the first two episodes of Ahsoka, which dropped last night.
Well, I went, I saw the episodes, and I loved them.
A reminder: I’m a professional journalist when I’m not doing this newsletter or teaching. So, while I attended the Orlando fan event and watched the show early, my coverage appears in a professional news outlet. Did I also have fun? You bet I did.
Read more about my thoughts on covering struck work like Ahsoka has both a journalist and a content creator in last week’s newsletter.
But in short, Ahsoka is the series Rebels fans have been waiting years for. It’s got the slow-burn intensity of Andor with the magic and lore of Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian.
While there are prerequisites to watch to fully get the story, Ahsoka’s sizzling lightsaber duels, organic pacing, and action sequences will keep more casual fans invested.
Snippets from my review for Orlando Weekly:
“At its heart, Ahsoka is a continuation of Star Wars: Rebels, an animated series from legendary Star Wars creator Dave Filoni (The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars). Based on teasers and trailers, fans have dubbed the new series a live-action Rebels season 5.
The first two episodes — “Master and Apprentice” and “Toil and Trouble” — confirm it.”
“(Natasha Liu) Bordizzo is a standout as Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian who trained under Ahsoka after “Rebels” ended. Sabine’s live-action introduction in the first episode is perfect — a former Rebel speeding away from being recognized as a hero on Lothal while her bold purple and orange hair streams behind her.
Based on the first two episodes, it’s safe to say this is the Ahsoka and Sabine show.”
“…as arguably the most anticipated Star Wars series to premiere this year, Ahsoka is more than deserving of the hype.
It’s dynamic and fresh while still delivering the classic magic of Star Wars’ signature space fantasy storytelling. The characters, the villains, the lightsabers and the locales — they’re just plain cool.
If Thrawn is the heir to the Empire, then Ahsoka is the heir to the next exciting phase of Star Wars storytelling.”
Reading recs for Ahsoka, Thrawn, and Rebels
With the premiere of Ahsoka, it’s a great time to reshare my reading recommendations from a SWBC newsletter I sent out back in June.
Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston: What happened to Ahsoka Tano after Order 66 and the events of Revenge of the Sith? She went into hiding and tried to hide her Force sensitivity. But even someone who is “no Jedi” can’t stay away from people who need help. And this young adult book follows Ahsoka in her journey from former Jedi to leading spy in the growing Rebellion.
The new Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn: With the return of Thrawn to the new canon of Star Wars stories via Rebels, the character’s creator just had to write a new trilogy. That’s where Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, and Thrawn: Treason come in. The three books chronicle Thrawn’s fascinating journey from Chiss Ascendancy exile to Grand Admiral of the Galactic Empire. Treason, in particular, shows what Thrawn was up to right before the finale of Rebels. These books offer a deep dive into Thrawn’s mind — one that’s endlessly clever and several steps ahead of everyone else but is still hopelessly terrible at politics.
Star Wars: Thrawn from Marvel: This limited-run comic series adapts the events of Thrawn (2017) into a visual format. It’s a great way to get the key details from that book quickly or to read as refreshing supplementary material after reading the new trilogy’s first book.
Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed: While Hera isn’t a member of the titular squadron, she’s a main character in this incredibly underrated trilogy of books set right after the events of Return of the Jedi. The war is far from over, and the New Republic is struggling to fully wrest control of the galaxy from the Empire. These books also delve deep into the traumatized psyches of the Rebellion’s pilots and leaders beyond Luke, Leia, and Han. These stories will be key to understanding Hera and other characters years later in Ahsoka.
Aftermath by Chuck Wendig: Another post-ROTJ trilogy, the Aftermath books feature similar events as Alphabet Squadron, but from different perspectives and locales. The trilogy is a lead-up to The Force Awakens but also features characters like Admiral Rae Sloane, Cobb Vanth (The Mandalorian season 2), and Armitage Hux. The final book, Empire’s End, sees the signing of a peace treaty between the Empire and the New Republic and the birth of Ben Solo. With Ahsoka set around 9 ABY (five years after Return of the Jedi), that puts the series about 4 years after the events of the Aftermath trilogy.
A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller: This one is a prequel to Rebels and shows how Kanan met Hera. But it also adds fun and deep context to Hera’s history — basically, her whole life being an agitator fighting against oppressive authority.
New excerpts from From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi
There’s only one week left until everyone can get their hands on 40 short stories that expand the story of Return of the Jedi.
To tide you over until then, there are two excerpts featuring Boba Fett and the return of the legendary Dexter Jettster.
Author Tara Sim wrote the Boba story “Reputation,” which follows his thoughts after delivering Han Solo in carbonite to Jabba the Hutt. It also shows his perspective on the chaos that erupts at the Great Pit of Carkoon and the moments before he unceremoniously falls into the Sarlacc pit.
“Boba wasn’t a fool. No amount of credits or praise could cover up that he, too, had become a status symbol. That all the years he’d spent building his reputation now amounted to serving a crime lord he couldn’t afford to cross.
He glanced back at the throne, where thankfully Jabba had released the dancer to take up his pipe again. Wondered what it would be like to sit there, to be the one handing out orders, instead of lurking in the alcoves with the nobodies.”
Read the full excerpt — and listen to Jon Hamm read it — at USAToday.com.
The Dexter Jettster excerpt has been shaking up the fandom for days.
“The Veteran” short story comes from Adam Lance Garcia, who writes of the ancient Besalisk reflecting on the end of this war with the Empire as well as all the people he’s met and lost over the decades.
“Dexter Jettster thought of the boy he had met on Lenahra and all that the boy would never see. He thought of the warrior the boy had become and the war that had been lost.
The war Dexter Jettster had helped start.”
The excerpt also shows Dex briefly thinking back to his life during The High Republic — he’s a main character in The High Republic Adventures Phase 2.
“Dex had heard this song before, played to a different tune but familiar all the same. He heard it when the Nihil had been defeated, when the Republic became the Empire, on countless worlds for countless reasons. The song of hope. Dex knew better; he had learned the hard way that hope was a hollow thing, promising everything and granting nothing. Hope was for the foolish, and tonight the fools were feasting.”
Read the full excerpt at StarWars.com.
From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi arrives on Aug. 29. My full review will be in next week’s newsletter!
MORE: All the stories and authors in From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars books and comics out this week
Aug. 22
The High Republic (2022) Vol. 2: Battle for the Force trade paperback
Aug. 23
Doctor Aphra #35
