Forces of Destiny: Tales of Hope and Courage (as told by Maz Kanata) by Elizabeth Schaefer

Forces of Destiny: Tales of Hope and Courage (as told by Maz Kanata) written by Elizabeth Schaefer, illustrated by Adam Devaney

     This entrant into the Forces of Destiny print media collection was quite good with well-written stories all "novelized" from the show itself. And the artwork (including several fold out panels) was fantastic! It's told from the point of view of Maz Kanata so there are several insights that come into the telling that the characters in the stories wouldn't have any handle on. Apparently it's meant to be a replica journal of sorts and Maz does make reference a couple of times to this being her diary. Stories from the lives of Leia, Sabine, Ahsoka, Padme, Jyn, and Rey are told. Loving the fact that Ahsoka and Padme each get their own separate story!!

     Leia's story is that of her saving Chewie from the Wampa in Echo Base. We start off with a beautiful intro into who Leia is and where she comes from. "You may know that she was not born a princess, but was the daughter of a brilliant senator and a powerful Jedi. Although her birth parents' story ended in sadness, she was adopted by a kind and loving couple: Queen Breha and Viceroy Bail of Alderaan." Loving how Maz describes Padme and Anakin!! *heart* We then are given Leia's Rebellion backstory leading up to the Rebels' time on Hoth. Which leads us right into the story proper, a wonderful retelling of how Chewie gets caught by a Wampa and Leia and R2 come up with a plan to get him out of the Wampa's clutches. At the end, Maz says, "I, for one, was excited to watch on as she continued to lead in the galaxy." And we all know that Maz does indeed get to see Leia accomplish amazing things as the leader of the Rebellion and the Resistance! See an adorable image of Chewie and Leia hugging after the rescue below.

     Sabine's story is that of her and Ketsu saving the Chadra-Fan boy from stormtroopers when they were trying to get a food shipment for the Rebellion from Garel City. This one begins with some background on Sabine and then introduces Ketsu. Never shying away from moral lessons, the narrative says in reference to Sabine's feelings about leaving Ketsu years ago, "Sometimes a friend might ask you to do something wrong. But if you close your eyes and listen, you will hear a voice encouraging you to stop. That voice is the Force, telling you what you already know in your heart." Throughout the entire story, Sabine is super nervous because she so desperately wants Ketsu to join her in the Rebellion. And of course we know from the Forces of Destiny short this story is based off of, Ketsu does join the Rebellion and says she's excited to finally be fighting for what is good and right. See one of the neat little character additions this book has many of below.

     Ahsoka's story is that of her claiming her silka beads as a true Padawan...but of course remember there's some trouble along the way! We start with a beautiful introduction of Ahsoka's history and see a gorgeous illustration of tiny Ahsoka and Plo Koon when they first meet (see below). Maz distinguishes Jedi in the following way: "Although the Force touches all creatures, there are some who are gifted with the talent to connect directly to its power, to feel the Force flowing through them, and then use its strength for good." A little tangent on the narrative's take on Anakin (which I love!): "the most powerful Jedi to join the Order in some time...rumored he might one day become the youngest Jedi ever to be named to the Council." As for the trouble that occurred along the way, a giant droid was malfunctioning and attacking the beings in the city, Ahsoka stopped her run to the Temple to try and immobilize the droid. Interestingly enough, she used non-violence to do so (similar to Luke in The Last Jedi!). Instead of slashing the droid to bits with her lightsaber (a move she seriously considered), she cuts down a water pipe that causes the droid to spark, smoke, and buzz as it deactivates. Ahsoka figures the droid could in this way be used again and not be a pile of useless parts. *smile*

     Padme's story is that of the dinner party with the Arthurian delegates that gets sabotaged by a Clawdite assassin whom Ahsoka and Padme working together manage to stop. Again we get a wonderful intro to the character including this, "Padme felt a burden of responsibility--a need to make her planet and her galaxy a safer place for everyone." Then we get to the start of the story with this tasty nugget, "Ahsoka was the Padawan of Padme's dear friend Anakin. [Of course, you and I both know that Padme and Anakin were more than just 'dear friends,' but that is a story for another time.]" Having Maz's point of view in telling these stories is so delightful because we get to see the bigger picture--Maz certainly does not shy away from connecting canon!! There's one misstep in regards to ages that I am surprised wasn't caught in editing--"[Padme] had to admit: She didn't mind having someone her own age around for company." Hmmm...Ahsoka is somewhere between 15 and 18 in this story. And Padme is somewhere between 25 and 28. The two are 10 years apart. Padme and Anakin are only 5 years apart so that I might could consider "her own age" but not 10 years... But then, I'm just nitpicking here. The assassin it turns out is none other than Cato Parasitti!!--the bounty hunter who aided Cad Bane in stealing the holocron from the Jedi Temple. Totally forgot about that connection! After the two friends defeat Cato, Ahsoka says to Padme, "That was a nice trick there with the vase...You know, you remind me a lot of Anakin sometimes." To which the narrative says in response, "Padme blushed. If Ahsoka only knew. Padme looked everywhere else in the room but at Ahsoka." Again, I love the repeated references to Anakin and Padme's relationship! We end with another great moral, "Heroes like Padme often try to carry the weight of the galaxy on their shoulders. But a galaxy is much easier to carry when you have a friend to help you do the lifting." See another neat little character addition below.

     Jyn's story is that of when she saved a little girl's Tooka cat from being taken away by Imperial stormtroopers. Her intro is so sad. Maz starts by talking about how Padme and Ahsoka were lucky to have each other as friends and then says, "I wish I could say that the woman in my next story had grown up with such friends. But life was not kind to Jyn Erso. Jyn's father was a brilliant scientist and her mother was a brave adventurer...the time Jyn had with her parents was all too short for the Ersos had powerful enemies...Saw was the best father he could be to Jyn, but his first priority would always be his fight against the Empire." See her and Saw together below--so cute and so heartbreaking! An insightful moral is plugged into the opening as well, "When you must always pretend to be someone else, it grows harder and harder to remember who you truly are." That is so incredibly true! So apparently Jyn was exchanging a data cube for 10,000 credits when she over heard the commotion over the Tooka cat. I like that they added some context to the story. I love that Jyn throws a meiloorun at one of the aggravating stormtroopers without even giving it a second thought. She doesn't even realize she's done it until after the fact. Her heart is so big!! no matter how hard she tries to hide it! We end the story with Maz saying, "I hope you will never have to bury your heart as deeply as Jyn did. But if you do, I also hope that the Force will find ways to open your heart again." *tear*

     Rey's story is that of her and BB-8 running away from the Nightwatcher Worm (see it in its entire glory below) on Jakku. Her opening from Maz goes like this, "My last story for you is about a woman with a powerful destiny. Her future would change the galaxy forever. But her past was a mystery." She makes a pretty good point. Where would the Resistance be now if it hadn't been for Rey?? Once the story gets underway and the Nightwatcher Worm is actively hunting the two new friends with BB-8 having actually been captured and pulled underground, the narrative says, "Rey closed her eyes and concentrated. Sometimes when Rey focused very hard she felt as if she could feel the energy of everything around her. Of course Rey dismissed this feeling as merely intuition. But you and I know that Rey was reaching out through the Force. As she quieted her mind, she clearly saw the worm slithering beneath her." I like how this shows that Rey had been using the Force for some time although she didn't realize that's what she was doing. So once she did recognize that she had that power within her it was easier for her to tap into it since she'd been doing that unbeknownst all along. Interesting.

     To end the book, Maz says, "Each of these heroes come from different worlds--even different times. And yet they all shared the same fire in their eyes, the same spirit that led them to become forces of destiny. It is important that you know you have that power, too." I love Maz!!! Such wisdom and grace and building up of other people. I really hope she makes some sort of appearance in IX...and possibly even Resistance!!

     Trivia:

-In the intro Maz mentions a couple of interesting travel destinations: the Forbidden Gardens of Nuswatta and the Cathedral of Winds.

-Apparently Leia was the youngest leader ever to be chosen for the Galactic Senate at the age of 16. This brings up an interesting question--how old was Padme when she went from being a queen to being a senator?? Hopefully Queen's Shadow will address this.

-Blumfruit juice is a beverage.

-Ahsoka was 14 when she became Anakin's Padawan.

-Theed Quoits is a Naboo children's game.

-The Ersos lived on Lah'mu for 5 years.

-A couple of Jyn's cover names were Tanith Ponta and Lyra Rallik.

     A truly enjoyable book regardless of the fact that some of these stories have been novelized already - see Forces of Destiny: Daring Adventures: Vol 1. There was just so much extra backstory and Maz-inspired narrative that it made the stories worthy of reading in a different format! I definitely recommend this one, especially for children who want more of their favorite heroines!