Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
From the Intergalactic AP:
Emperor Palpatine has signed an executive order lessening the penalties for Hutts under prosecution in the illicit blaster industry. This comes on the heels of the Emporer eliminating environmental regulations on several planets, stating "there is absolutely no evidence that global strip mining operations have anything to do with lack of vegetation."
Some have referred to Catalyst as a "mostly useless" backstory for Rogue One. I find, however, that if you liked the movie and enjoy the stories set in that particular universe then you will probably like this one. Though, it focuses more on the technology leading up to the Death Star, the Force and the Jedi are not entirely absent. Galen Erso is sort of the stereotypical 1950s father who manages to pull off the magical trick of being an absent parent while still in the same room. "Jyn, honey leave daddy to his calculations now. . ."
It does a good job of clarifying the relationship between Krennic and the Ersos, among others. I would like to read more of Tarkin's story and may pick that one up soon. I am pretty far behind on my books per year quota and so will probably be reading a lot of Star Wars in my effort to catch up.
Emperor Palpatine has signed an executive order lessening the penalties for Hutts under prosecution in the illicit blaster industry. This comes on the heels of the Emporer eliminating environmental regulations on several planets, stating "there is absolutely no evidence that global strip mining operations have anything to do with lack of vegetation."
Some have referred to Catalyst as a "mostly useless" backstory for Rogue One. I find, however, that if you liked the movie and enjoy the stories set in that particular universe then you will probably like this one. Though, it focuses more on the technology leading up to the Death Star, the Force and the Jedi are not entirely absent. Galen Erso is sort of the stereotypical 1950s father who manages to pull off the magical trick of being an absent parent while still in the same room. "Jyn, honey leave daddy to his calculations now. . ."
It does a good job of clarifying the relationship between Krennic and the Ersos, among others. I would like to read more of Tarkin's story and may pick that one up soon. I am pretty far behind on my books per year quota and so will probably be reading a lot of Star Wars in my effort to catch up.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this book. It was the first I’ve read written by Luceno, and I enjoyed their writing. Though nothing really happens in this book except showing you how the Death Star was secretly built and filling in a few gaps of what happens to the Erso family in the years before Rogue One, I still thought it was a fun read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gaslighting, War
Catalyst, a prequel novel to the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue One film, is a tightly-focused character piece revolving around the dreaded Empire's initial steps in constructing the moon-sized weapons platform, the Death Star (Note: that's no moon!).
James Luceno focuses his narrative on the Erso family and the Empire's engineer Orson Krennic. After Galen Erso and his wife, Lyra (pregnant with their baby girl, Jyn, who will be the all-grown-up lead heroine in Rogue One), are jailed, Krennic begins a long-game of strategy and manipulation to bring Galen, an energy systems researcher and pacifist, into the Empire's employ.
While the Erso's are a sympathetic bunch, this is really Krennic's book, in my opinion, and he's the most interesting and dynamic figure in the novel. Luceno draws on various characters from the Clone Wars animated series and prequel trilogy, with this book overlapping Episodes II and III, some of whom I had to Google to figure out why they were important. Not having seeing any of Clones Wars and having blanked out most of the prequel stuff, I had to do a little bit of research while reading to sate my curiosity, but it's hardly mandatory. But, again, Krennic is really star of the show, here.
Krennic is a classic Empire villain through-and-through. He's a bold chessman, duping and moving those unfortunate enough to orbit him into executing his larger plans, oftentimes unknowingly, and I really appreciated the level of subterfuge and guile this dude's capable of. He's cold, cunning, and calculating, and demonstrates exactly why the Empire is a supreme power to be feared and fought. Using the on-going battles against Separatist forces, Krennic all but gaslights Galen into working for the side of evil, and Catalyst demonstrates how easy it could be for otherwise good men to be swayed into the employ of fascism through domineering propaganda and the normalization of hate and corruption.
Star Wars has always been political, but to read this book so soon after the Electoral College appointed Donald Trump - a man who campaigned on a platform of racism and fear, and who lost the popular vote by at least 2 million ballots at the time of this writing - President of the United States hit a few still-raw nerves for me, but Catalyst is certainly a timely read given all that. Set firmly within the burgeoning fascistic Empire, the manipulation of good by evil, and the various degrees of in-fighting within the Empire, make for nicely dark subject matter, but Luceno keeps things light enough to prevent his story from being overwhelmingly dark. There's room for hope, particularly as Lyra scrappily fights to save her marriage and family. As Jyn states in the Rogue One trailer, rebellions are built on hope, and, frankly, I'm with her.
James Luceno focuses his narrative on the Erso family and the Empire's engineer Orson Krennic. After Galen Erso and his wife, Lyra (pregnant with their baby girl, Jyn, who will be the all-grown-up lead heroine in Rogue One), are jailed, Krennic begins a long-game of strategy and manipulation to bring Galen, an energy systems researcher and pacifist, into the Empire's employ.
While the Erso's are a sympathetic bunch, this is really Krennic's book, in my opinion, and he's the most interesting and dynamic figure in the novel. Luceno draws on various characters from the Clone Wars animated series and prequel trilogy, with this book overlapping Episodes II and III, some of whom I had to Google to figure out why they were important. Not having seeing any of Clones Wars and having blanked out most of the prequel stuff, I had to do a little bit of research while reading to sate my curiosity, but it's hardly mandatory. But, again, Krennic is really star of the show, here.
Krennic is a classic Empire villain through-and-through. He's a bold chessman, duping and moving those unfortunate enough to orbit him into executing his larger plans, oftentimes unknowingly, and I really appreciated the level of subterfuge and guile this dude's capable of. He's cold, cunning, and calculating, and demonstrates exactly why the Empire is a supreme power to be feared and fought. Using the on-going battles against Separatist forces, Krennic all but gaslights Galen into working for the side of evil, and Catalyst demonstrates how easy it could be for otherwise good men to be swayed into the employ of fascism through domineering propaganda and the normalization of hate and corruption.
Star Wars has always been political, but to read this book so soon after the Electoral College appointed Donald Trump - a man who campaigned on a platform of racism and fear, and who lost the popular vote by at least 2 million ballots at the time of this writing - President of the United States hit a few still-raw nerves for me, but Catalyst is certainly a timely read given all that. Set firmly within the burgeoning fascistic Empire, the manipulation of good by evil, and the various degrees of in-fighting within the Empire, make for nicely dark subject matter, but Luceno keeps things light enough to prevent his story from being overwhelmingly dark. There's room for hope, particularly as Lyra scrappily fights to save her marriage and family. As Jyn states in the Rogue One trailer, rebellions are built on hope, and, frankly, I'm with her.
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a struggle to get into, but it was worth reading. I didn't actually finish it before seeing Rogue One but that's okay. For the most part, it's a pretty decent read. It's separated into 3 parts and if you can get through the VERY slow and very large Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 are far more palatable.
The problem is that there's so much information the reader needs to be given, so I don't think anything could have been left out, but it was such a tedious journey to get through all of the information at the beginning. Once you get into Part 2 and Part 3 where all of that information starts becoming relevant, it's a solid read, but that Part 1, man. That was a struggle. I had to MAKE myself read a certain number of pages every day, but I didn't want to.
But like I said, once you get past Part 1 it's enjoyable to read and you actually WANT to read it.
I would recommend reading this book if you watch/watch to watch Rogue One.
The problem is that there's so much information the reader needs to be given, so I don't think anything could have been left out, but it was such a tedious journey to get through all of the information at the beginning. Once you get into Part 2 and Part 3 where all of that information starts becoming relevant, it's a solid read, but that Part 1, man. That was a struggle. I had to MAKE myself read a certain number of pages every day, but I didn't want to.
But like I said, once you get past Part 1 it's enjoyable to read and you actually WANT to read it.
I would recommend reading this book if you watch/watch to watch Rogue One.