Star Wars Catalyst, a Rogue One novel is the 12th novel released in canon. It was written by New York Times Best Selling Author, James Luceno. Luceno is no stranger to the Star Wars universe. He’s written several books in the Legends canon and recently wrote Tarkin as part of the new canon.
Summary: The tale takes place between the events of episode 2 through 4. The battle between the separatists and the republic, the Clone Wars, tears the galaxy asunder. A brilliant scientist, Galen Erso and his family are held captive. He wants his work to be used for the good of the galaxy… not for the military.
Characters: This is a great introduction to some of the characters we are to see in Rogue One. Every character fits in to the universe. Some characters we already know, Luceno actually spiked my interest with some of the old characters we’ve met before. I always like to mention at least two of my favorite characters from the book. One of them was introduced to us through marketing for Rogue One.
Orson Krennic: He’s an imperial officer who’s somewhat obsessed with rank and title. He’s overseeing the construction of the a massive space-station/super-weapon. The man is sly, a trickster and a smooth talker. An excellent villain, the best I’ve read yet.
Galen Erso was fantastic, but I’d rather talk about Has Obitt. Has is a smuggler. Has is a smuggler who’s been mixed up with the separatists, republic, and then the empire. He’s a humanoid with some morals. He gets caught up in the lies and web of some imperials before making a drastic decision.
Overall Review: I absolutely loved this novel. James Luceno knocks it out of the park with characters, dialogue, plot and even the subplot. The pacing of the story was fast and entertaining. Not a single moment did I think, “pick up already!” In my opinion, some events/characters from the prequels were polished, having them make more since and fit into the overall saga a lot better. There is plenty exploration into the Jedi. Creating new lore and myth for them, the Force, and for the power source of light sabers… kyber crystals. We get s look into the empire like we haven’t seen before. Luceno paints the devastation taking place on so may worlds in great detail. Thank you Luceno, for this awesome book.
Rating: I give this book a 5 out of 5