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Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel
by James Luceno
In preparation for the movie, I decided to check this book out. This book is primarily about the construction of the Death Star and the engineering behind a key system in this battle station. There is a lot of information in this book on kyber crystals, which the Jedi used to power their lightsabers. Galen Erso is researching these crystals in an effort to develop an energy source for the galaxy. Galen is a brilliant guy, whose math and engineering ideas are way above the heads of even his peers. His pregnant wife, Lyra, is on this team and transcribes his ideas and thoughts into coherent form for others on his research team. (More on her soon.)
When the story opens, the two are on a planet testing some of Galen's ideas on a massive kyber crystal. The Clone war is still in progress, and Galen and Lyra are captured by Separatist-friendly planetary authorities, and the two are are imprisoned. An old engineering colleague of Galen's, Orson Krennic, eventually extricates them from prison and brings them back to Coruscant.
Krennic has been tasked with managing the engineering of the major weapon on Palpatine's new massive battlestation. Krennic has got the whole evil plotting thing down pat; he's willing to lie, to cheat, to murder, anything, to make his way up Palpatine's military food chain. Krennic recognizes that Galen's research can be applied for use in the battlestation, and proceeds to woo Galen.
Meanwhile, Lyra has given birth and is spending all her time taking care of their daughter, Jyn. (Yup her.) Lyra is an interesting woman, and is smart and caring. Lyra had her own career previously, and travelled to many planets, exploring, and, incidentally, has a soft spot for the Jedi and their use of kyber crystals.
While the focus of the story is on the efforts behind a specific aspect of the Death Star, I found much of the time I spent with Galen to be kind of tedious. He wasn't terribly interesting, and I just never felt sufficiently sympathetic towards him. I cared about Lyra and Jyn, and felt increasingly worried about them as the story progressed. Krennic is a bad guy, and nothing he did really surprised me.
I've never read anything else by James Luceno, but I didn't find this to be a particularly quick read, where you are devouring words and desperate to find out what happens next. Not sure if that's because we already know that the Empire figured how to destroy planets with the Death Star, or because the guy with the big brain we're supposed to be caring about is kind of dull. I wanted to hang out with Lyra, who has a much more practical bent, and puts pieces of information together to protect her family.
When the story opens, the two are on a planet testing some of Galen's ideas on a massive kyber crystal. The Clone war is still in progress, and Galen and Lyra are captured by Separatist-friendly planetary authorities, and the two are are imprisoned. An old engineering colleague of Galen's, Orson Krennic, eventually extricates them from prison and brings them back to Coruscant.
Krennic has been tasked with managing the engineering of the major weapon on Palpatine's new massive battlestation. Krennic has got the whole evil plotting thing down pat; he's willing to lie, to cheat, to murder, anything, to make his way up Palpatine's military food chain. Krennic recognizes that Galen's research can be applied for use in the battlestation, and proceeds to woo Galen.
Meanwhile, Lyra has given birth and is spending all her time taking care of their daughter, Jyn. (Yup her.) Lyra is an interesting woman, and is smart and caring. Lyra had her own career previously, and travelled to many planets, exploring, and, incidentally, has a soft spot for the Jedi and their use of kyber crystals.
While the focus of the story is on the efforts behind a specific aspect of the Death Star, I found much of the time I spent with Galen to be kind of tedious. He wasn't terribly interesting, and I just never felt sufficiently sympathetic towards him. I cared about Lyra and Jyn, and felt increasingly worried about them as the story progressed. Krennic is a bad guy, and nothing he did really surprised me.
I've never read anything else by James Luceno, but I didn't find this to be a particularly quick read, where you are devouring words and desperate to find out what happens next. Not sure if that's because we already know that the Empire figured how to destroy planets with the Death Star, or because the guy with the big brain we're supposed to be caring about is kind of dull. I wanted to hang out with Lyra, who has a much more practical bent, and puts pieces of information together to protect her family.