The Rise of Skywalker: Junior Novelization by Michael Kogge
The Rise of Skywalker: Junior Novelization by Michael Kogge
This book took me all of 3 days to read, it was so quickly paced and so well-written!! And at only $4.99 for a Kindle copy, you really don't have an excuse not to read it if you're a canon junkie, especially since it references Spark of the Resistance several times (a middle grade novel about Poe, Rey, Rose, and BB-8's mission to free the Zixon of Minfar). I spent the last 20% or so of the book absolutely drowning in tears as I experienced joy, fear, bittersweet contentment, and pretty much every other emotion under the sun. It didn't help that the epilogue was so dang heart-wrenching by reaching all the way back to little slave Ani on Tatooine. It truly encapsulated the entire Skywalker Saga and the tears just kept pouring faster and faster as this story that means so much to me came to a beautiful conclusion.
My only downside was that the narrative only told one timeline of events. In other words, if two things were happening simultaneously, only one of those things got told in narrative format. The other thing was either skipped over or told briefly in hindsight. I personally wouldn't have minded if this book had been longer and included all the sides of the timeline separated by markers like the adult novelization did. But I get making decisions for the sake of brevity.
For the rest of this review, I will include excerpts I found to be the most powerful (or inclusive of good trivia questions/answers) and provide some commentary along the way. After my chronological review of the book you will find a section on new species and a section on trivia. Enjoy!!
We start off with a prologue that mirrors the epilogue but focuses on the main characters of this particular movie: "Once there was a woman who was born to lead. […] Once there was an old man who wanted never to die. […] Once there was a boy born with an extraordinary gift. […] Once there was a girl who had many dreams." These of course refer to, in turn, Leia, Palpatine, Ben, and Rey--truly powerful ways to introduce our protagonists and antagonists! Each of these beginning statements is followed by a couple of paragraphs providing us with backstory and context that really flesh out the characters. The only thing I wasn't so sure of was this statement about Rey: "She read, watched, and listened to everything she could about the Jedi of old, who had mythic powers that defied belief." Did she really though?? I'm not so sure about this one because I've read all the "ancillary" canon Rey material and none of it broaches Jedi stories.
Then we start the story proper and Rey is training with the remotes. Apparently she cannot feel them in the Force since they are inanimate, but through sights, sounds, and smells can clue "into the remotes' locations so she could stay one step ahead of them and their precisely timed shots." I found this interesting because then I'm not sure what Luke was sensing in A New Hope when he was training on the Falcon with the blast remote...I mean, there was not a whole forest for him to react off of. In regards to the shattered crystal from Anakin's light saber, Rey had somehow mended the crystal--I think this is probably referring to more of a metaphysical, Force-y mending than a mechanical mending because it had to have been something powerful and permanent, noting Kylo's cracked crystal and the resulting instability.
Moving on to Kylo on Mustafar, we see the Eye of Webbish Bog again so I'm wondering if that was a deleted scene since it's in both novelizations (check out my review of the adult novelization for more information). The only difference being in this one, the wayfinder rests in the ruins of the castle, while in the adult version it's in the bog itself. Once Kylo arrives on Exegol, the great statues in the colossal chamber he enters are of Locphet, Mindran, Sissiri, Felkor, and Sadow--all Sith Lords. Kylo thinks an interesting thought as he approaches Palpatine that turns a phrase we all thought we knew the meaning of on its head, "Ren would finish what his grandfather had started and kill the wretch once and for all." Huh...so it ends up that his goal is not to finish what his grandfather started in taking over the galaxy, but in well and truly killing Palpatine. As I started to wonder after reading the adult novelization, even Kylo mentions his confusion about the whereabouts of the Imperial Remnant post the Battle of Jakku, thinking perhaps they are what is now the Sith fleet. So the First Order is NOT necessarily the fleet "hiding in the Unknown Regions." Hmmm...
As Finn, Poe, Chewie, and Klaud are racing away from Sinta Glacier Colony and lightspeed skip, they encounter, "a colossal forest of translucent stalagmites, which Finn recognized from holo-adventures to be the legendary Crystal Chaos of Cardovyte," "kilometer-high reflective spires that formed the architecture of the famous mirror city of Ivexia," and "an interstellar cloud of glowing green gases known as the Typhonic Nebula." Don't you love how they come up with these wonderful names?!?!
Kylo goes to "Niful, a moon-sized asteroid in the Aniras belt [...with...] a thin, breathable atmosphere and a surface covered in sticky mud" where he finds the Symeong, Albrekh who welds his helmet back together. Of course with him on Niful are the Knights of Ren which include: "Vicrul, the self-proclaimed reaper of souls, who gained strength from every innocent life he harvested with his electro-staff," "Ushar, the interrogator of the bunch, skilled at using his war club to pound answers from prisoners," "Kuruk served as the group's pilot and long-range sniper," "Cardo was their incinerator, equipped with a flamethrower cannon on his arm," "the collector among them, Trudgeon, liked to incorporate trophies of his victims in his gear, which included the visor of an Imperial death trooper and a Houk gladiator's vibrocleaver," and "Ap'lek, a mastermind of traps and trickery, [...with...] a Mandalorian executioner's axe and […] a mask that was bent in a look of mock amusement." We learn later in the book that the true leader of the Knights of Ren is Palpatine, himself....probably why Snoke and them seem so chummy in the "Rise of Kylo Ren" comic series. At the end of this chapter, it is proclaimed that, "He would follow his grandfather's path and become the Dark Lord of the Sith." So despite not being a true Sith in the first two movies, he deems this to be his ultimate goal.
In the books Rey stole from the ancient tree on Ahch-To, there are many insights and mysteries that she uses the help of Beaumont Kin (a history professor) to uncover. In the Poetics of a Jedi, Master Lyr Farseeker writes, "The mind of a Jedi can move mountains. But the heart of the Jedi can move souls." There's also of course the Rammahgon and the Aionomica. In the former is a chapter written by Kli the Elder that says, "The Prime is One, but the Jedi are Many. The Sith were Many but often emerge Ruled by Two. The Seeds of the Jedi have been Sown throughout the Galaxy, on Ossus, Jedha, Xenxiar, and Others. The Sith have no Seeds, since what they Bury does not Grow. They are the Despoilers of Worlds, and have Laid to Waste once Fertile Habitats such as Korriban, Ziost, Ixigul, Asog, and Others." Ixigul being Exegol!! And Jedha gets a mention!!! I definitely wanna know more about each and every one of these planets!! In the Chronicles of Brus-bu, she reads, "The Jedi attune themselves to their saber's crystal, but the Sith attune the crystal to themselves. They corrupt and bleed it of power, as they do to everything they dominate." Obviously, I knew about the bleeding of the crystal by the Sith but didn't realize the dichotomy of attunement--pretty darn cool.
When Kylo enters the conference room on the Steadfast, he doesn't trust anyone in the room except Allegiant General Pryde. "Having served in the Imperial military, Pryde had spent his career championing the Empire's authoritarian methods of domination and oppression. He believed in the First Order's supremacy with a religious zeal." In regards to the other officers present, "General Quinn was a hot-tempered cynic whose vocal distrust of Ren made him a suspect. Also in attendance were chief strategist General Parnadee, intelligence officer Kandia, Commander Trach, and General Engell, whom Ren had put in charge of the stormtrooper legions after Captain Phasma's demise." And then we come to Hux, "an arrogant man with an arrogant face." Hahaha!! Those two really hate each other to the bone. General Quinn is the one Kylo Force-slams against the ceiling and subsequently kills.
In an interesting turn of events, Rey originally figured Leia would be the one going to Pasaana...can you imagine Leia, as feeble as she was at the time, going on such an adventure?? Rey really was that incredibly terrified of the darkness rising within her. On the flip side, Leia had been having nightmares of Rey following in the footsteps of her son! *shiver*
Chapter 12 takes an intriguing tack as it starts out being told from the point of view of 3PO!! *my heart* It starts as his head's innards are showing as he lays against Babu Frik's workbench. He thinks about how he feels major embarrassment in this moment. All his friends are Master and Mistress in his mind. And there's a heartbreaking thought from him, "The last time he'd had a wipe, he had lost all memory of his maker." *tear* I wonder if Leia knows that 3PO was made by her dad...
In a divergence from the adult novelization, we get this exchange after Rey mind tricks the stormtroopers on the Steadfast, "Poe leaned over to Finn. 'Does she do that to us?' Finn knew Poe was joking and that Rey wouldn't use a mind trick on any of her friends. What was worrisome was if someone who lacked Rey's principles wielded such powers." So, in the adult novelization, Rey very blatantly Jedi mind tricks Finn on Pasaana into letting her out into the desert without him...and he later figures out that's what she did. Hmmm...I think it's too goody goody of Rey to go the way of this junior novelization.
As Leia dies, she remembers all those in her life who meant a great deal to her...including Padme and Anakin *heart*. "Her mother, who had died during childbirth yet whose kindness had left such an impression that Leia had felt close to her throughout her life. Her father, who had done great evil and whose face she always associated with his black mask. She saw another face now, a man's face, lined with shame and remorse. Leia had never reconciled with Darth Vader, yet Luke had said he'd felt the good in him. Leia felt it now, too. This was not the time to erect more walls and cast blame. She accepted her father's apology and returned his love. The lines in his face lessened and his eyes lit up. He smiled." Oh my goodness!!! This really got me in the gut. (Also explains the Return of the Jedi line about Leia remembering her mother being kind, but sad.) And then after Kylo feels her reach out to him, "He regretted having repressed his birth name for so long. He had been so occupied with forcing Rey to accept her name that he hadn't realized he was the one who needed to accept his." EMOTIONS!!!
And as for how Ben gets off Kef Bir?? "Ben Solo was strong in the Force, thanks to his mother. But he also had his father's luck, at least at the moment. For it was by luck that he found a working TIE fighter in the Death Star ruins on Kef Bir. And it was by luck that Ben had managed to intercept Rey's course-signal markers so he could navigate a path through the Unknown Regions to Exegol. Or maybe it wasn't luck. Maybe luck was just another name for the Force." Finally accepting his Solo side!
As we wrap up the story, we have Ben on Exegol after Palpatine's death and Rey's death and it reads, "Ben remembered what she had done on Kef Bir. She had given him some of her life so that he could live. This part of her was still inside of him. Following her method, he placed his hand on her waist and sank into the Force. He found her spirit within him and gently returned that essence to her, along with what he had left of his own." So this means she really was giving away part of her essence whenever she healed another--including the vexis on Pasaana. I wonder if it's possible to run out of this essence or if it gets renewed as you continue to live...
And then...the part that really got the waterworks going, "The intensity of seeing R2-D2, when C-3PO had determined there was zero probability of ever seeing him again, flipped some bits in his neural network. This caused a memory file that R2-D2 had restored to be accessed and read. It was a record of the moment when C-3PO's maker had fitted a photoreceptor into his eye socket and he had experienced the visual spectrum for the first time. The initial image his photoreceptors had captured was of a blue-and-white astromech. The circuits that modulated his mood buzzed in jubilation. No wonder he and R2-D2 were strong counterparts--the two had been together since C-3PO's original power-on!" OMG!! I cannot explain how hard this hit me. Pure joy and tears for the fact that it just couldn't get any better than this.
Finally we come to the framing epilogue, "Once there was a boy who was good of heart. […] The boy was called Anakin, the young man Darth Vader. Only Anakin was Skywalker by name, but both were Skywalkers by blood. […] Once there were twins, a boy and a girl. The twins were called Luke and Leia. Only Luke was Skywalker in name, but both were Skywalkers by blood. Once there were twins, not of blood, but of the Force. This dyad was made up of a girl and a boy. […] Despite a consuming darkness, the girl returned the boy to the light. The girl was called Rey, the boy Ben. Only Ben was a Skywalker by blood. Rey was a Skywalker by choice. She chose to take the family name of her teachers, Leia and Luke. […] They were her family and she was theirs." And...I started crying again just typing this out!!! I'm telling you...in...the...gut! And I feel like this does such an incredible job of framing Rey taking on the Skywalker name in the most positive and powerful of lights.
The very last paragraph??? Wrapping up the Saga with aplomb??? "Once there was the Force, an energy field that surrounded and bound all living things. It had a dark side, and it had a light, and the tension between them maintained a balance. For a time the balance was upset and all seemed dark. But then came those who dared walk the skies to face the darkness and find a light. The Force will be with them always." And...the tears are still falling. This is the BEST ending a fan could possibly ask for. I'm just in absolute awe of what Michael Kogge was able to pull off with this novelization. It is just SO good.
New species:
-zymonds: have poisonous tongues, found on Ajan Kloss
-fanged flowers: have petal mouths that can snatch things out of the air, found on Ajan Kloss, big enough to devour a training remote
-Jakku sand urchin
-Klaud is a Trodatome
-Boolio is an Ovissian
Trivia:
-Nimi is a new human Resistance recruit who cooks root stews, she's the one who alerts Rey that the Falcon has returned after its adventure to Sinta.
-Lieutenant Chireen is the Resistance Quartermaster
-It is made quite clear several times that Finn and Rey consider themselves best friends!
-The Resistance damaged Kylo's flagship the Finalizer at the Battle of Batuu (I'm assuming this is referring to the adult novel Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire). He has replaced that ship with the Steadfast.
-The necklace given to Rey by the Aki-Aki girl is made from kern-nut husks. The girl's name is Nambi Ghima.
-I feel like this is going to come up in trivia in some form, so, Zorii calls out for her thugs to enact Djak'kankah on Kijimi
-The location of the Emperor's wayfinder on Kef Bir in the Death Star II wreckage is delta-three-six transient nine-three-six, bearing three-two
-Jannah's group of stormtroopers is Company 77
-Elna Zibsara is a Rebel veteran who had flown during the Battle of Jakku and is now a part of the Resistance
-The transport lander that Company 77, Rose, Kin, BB-8, Finn, and the Orbaks ride on is called the Fortitude
-The Steadfast is the ship above Exegol that contains the navigation array to guide the Sith star destroyers into space
-Kallie Lintra was an A-wing pilot who was sister to Tallie Lintra (who died when TIE missiles hit the Raddus's hangar in The Last Jedi)
-The Resistance refers to Poe as "Alpha Leader" during the Battle of Exegol
-Jannah's trooper number is TZ-1719
Again, a beautiful book that is an easy, quick read and really packs an intense punch! I highly recommend it.
My only downside was that the narrative only told one timeline of events. In other words, if two things were happening simultaneously, only one of those things got told in narrative format. The other thing was either skipped over or told briefly in hindsight. I personally wouldn't have minded if this book had been longer and included all the sides of the timeline separated by markers like the adult novelization did. But I get making decisions for the sake of brevity.
For the rest of this review, I will include excerpts I found to be the most powerful (or inclusive of good trivia questions/answers) and provide some commentary along the way. After my chronological review of the book you will find a section on new species and a section on trivia. Enjoy!!
We start off with a prologue that mirrors the epilogue but focuses on the main characters of this particular movie: "Once there was a woman who was born to lead. […] Once there was an old man who wanted never to die. […] Once there was a boy born with an extraordinary gift. […] Once there was a girl who had many dreams." These of course refer to, in turn, Leia, Palpatine, Ben, and Rey--truly powerful ways to introduce our protagonists and antagonists! Each of these beginning statements is followed by a couple of paragraphs providing us with backstory and context that really flesh out the characters. The only thing I wasn't so sure of was this statement about Rey: "She read, watched, and listened to everything she could about the Jedi of old, who had mythic powers that defied belief." Did she really though?? I'm not so sure about this one because I've read all the "ancillary" canon Rey material and none of it broaches Jedi stories.
Then we start the story proper and Rey is training with the remotes. Apparently she cannot feel them in the Force since they are inanimate, but through sights, sounds, and smells can clue "into the remotes' locations so she could stay one step ahead of them and their precisely timed shots." I found this interesting because then I'm not sure what Luke was sensing in A New Hope when he was training on the Falcon with the blast remote...I mean, there was not a whole forest for him to react off of. In regards to the shattered crystal from Anakin's light saber, Rey had somehow mended the crystal--I think this is probably referring to more of a metaphysical, Force-y mending than a mechanical mending because it had to have been something powerful and permanent, noting Kylo's cracked crystal and the resulting instability.
Moving on to Kylo on Mustafar, we see the Eye of Webbish Bog again so I'm wondering if that was a deleted scene since it's in both novelizations (check out my review of the adult novelization for more information). The only difference being in this one, the wayfinder rests in the ruins of the castle, while in the adult version it's in the bog itself. Once Kylo arrives on Exegol, the great statues in the colossal chamber he enters are of Locphet, Mindran, Sissiri, Felkor, and Sadow--all Sith Lords. Kylo thinks an interesting thought as he approaches Palpatine that turns a phrase we all thought we knew the meaning of on its head, "Ren would finish what his grandfather had started and kill the wretch once and for all." Huh...so it ends up that his goal is not to finish what his grandfather started in taking over the galaxy, but in well and truly killing Palpatine. As I started to wonder after reading the adult novelization, even Kylo mentions his confusion about the whereabouts of the Imperial Remnant post the Battle of Jakku, thinking perhaps they are what is now the Sith fleet. So the First Order is NOT necessarily the fleet "hiding in the Unknown Regions." Hmmm...
As Finn, Poe, Chewie, and Klaud are racing away from Sinta Glacier Colony and lightspeed skip, they encounter, "a colossal forest of translucent stalagmites, which Finn recognized from holo-adventures to be the legendary Crystal Chaos of Cardovyte," "kilometer-high reflective spires that formed the architecture of the famous mirror city of Ivexia," and "an interstellar cloud of glowing green gases known as the Typhonic Nebula." Don't you love how they come up with these wonderful names?!?!
Kylo goes to "Niful, a moon-sized asteroid in the Aniras belt [...with...] a thin, breathable atmosphere and a surface covered in sticky mud" where he finds the Symeong, Albrekh who welds his helmet back together. Of course with him on Niful are the Knights of Ren which include: "Vicrul, the self-proclaimed reaper of souls, who gained strength from every innocent life he harvested with his electro-staff," "Ushar, the interrogator of the bunch, skilled at using his war club to pound answers from prisoners," "Kuruk served as the group's pilot and long-range sniper," "Cardo was their incinerator, equipped with a flamethrower cannon on his arm," "the collector among them, Trudgeon, liked to incorporate trophies of his victims in his gear, which included the visor of an Imperial death trooper and a Houk gladiator's vibrocleaver," and "Ap'lek, a mastermind of traps and trickery, [...with...] a Mandalorian executioner's axe and […] a mask that was bent in a look of mock amusement." We learn later in the book that the true leader of the Knights of Ren is Palpatine, himself....probably why Snoke and them seem so chummy in the "Rise of Kylo Ren" comic series. At the end of this chapter, it is proclaimed that, "He would follow his grandfather's path and become the Dark Lord of the Sith." So despite not being a true Sith in the first two movies, he deems this to be his ultimate goal.
In the books Rey stole from the ancient tree on Ahch-To, there are many insights and mysteries that she uses the help of Beaumont Kin (a history professor) to uncover. In the Poetics of a Jedi, Master Lyr Farseeker writes, "The mind of a Jedi can move mountains. But the heart of the Jedi can move souls." There's also of course the Rammahgon and the Aionomica. In the former is a chapter written by Kli the Elder that says, "The Prime is One, but the Jedi are Many. The Sith were Many but often emerge Ruled by Two. The Seeds of the Jedi have been Sown throughout the Galaxy, on Ossus, Jedha, Xenxiar, and Others. The Sith have no Seeds, since what they Bury does not Grow. They are the Despoilers of Worlds, and have Laid to Waste once Fertile Habitats such as Korriban, Ziost, Ixigul, Asog, and Others." Ixigul being Exegol!! And Jedha gets a mention!!! I definitely wanna know more about each and every one of these planets!! In the Chronicles of Brus-bu, she reads, "The Jedi attune themselves to their saber's crystal, but the Sith attune the crystal to themselves. They corrupt and bleed it of power, as they do to everything they dominate." Obviously, I knew about the bleeding of the crystal by the Sith but didn't realize the dichotomy of attunement--pretty darn cool.
When Kylo enters the conference room on the Steadfast, he doesn't trust anyone in the room except Allegiant General Pryde. "Having served in the Imperial military, Pryde had spent his career championing the Empire's authoritarian methods of domination and oppression. He believed in the First Order's supremacy with a religious zeal." In regards to the other officers present, "General Quinn was a hot-tempered cynic whose vocal distrust of Ren made him a suspect. Also in attendance were chief strategist General Parnadee, intelligence officer Kandia, Commander Trach, and General Engell, whom Ren had put in charge of the stormtrooper legions after Captain Phasma's demise." And then we come to Hux, "an arrogant man with an arrogant face." Hahaha!! Those two really hate each other to the bone. General Quinn is the one Kylo Force-slams against the ceiling and subsequently kills.
In an interesting turn of events, Rey originally figured Leia would be the one going to Pasaana...can you imagine Leia, as feeble as she was at the time, going on such an adventure?? Rey really was that incredibly terrified of the darkness rising within her. On the flip side, Leia had been having nightmares of Rey following in the footsteps of her son! *shiver*
Chapter 12 takes an intriguing tack as it starts out being told from the point of view of 3PO!! *my heart* It starts as his head's innards are showing as he lays against Babu Frik's workbench. He thinks about how he feels major embarrassment in this moment. All his friends are Master and Mistress in his mind. And there's a heartbreaking thought from him, "The last time he'd had a wipe, he had lost all memory of his maker." *tear* I wonder if Leia knows that 3PO was made by her dad...
In a divergence from the adult novelization, we get this exchange after Rey mind tricks the stormtroopers on the Steadfast, "Poe leaned over to Finn. 'Does she do that to us?' Finn knew Poe was joking and that Rey wouldn't use a mind trick on any of her friends. What was worrisome was if someone who lacked Rey's principles wielded such powers." So, in the adult novelization, Rey very blatantly Jedi mind tricks Finn on Pasaana into letting her out into the desert without him...and he later figures out that's what she did. Hmmm...I think it's too goody goody of Rey to go the way of this junior novelization.
As Leia dies, she remembers all those in her life who meant a great deal to her...including Padme and Anakin *heart*. "Her mother, who had died during childbirth yet whose kindness had left such an impression that Leia had felt close to her throughout her life. Her father, who had done great evil and whose face she always associated with his black mask. She saw another face now, a man's face, lined with shame and remorse. Leia had never reconciled with Darth Vader, yet Luke had said he'd felt the good in him. Leia felt it now, too. This was not the time to erect more walls and cast blame. She accepted her father's apology and returned his love. The lines in his face lessened and his eyes lit up. He smiled." Oh my goodness!!! This really got me in the gut. (Also explains the Return of the Jedi line about Leia remembering her mother being kind, but sad.) And then after Kylo feels her reach out to him, "He regretted having repressed his birth name for so long. He had been so occupied with forcing Rey to accept her name that he hadn't realized he was the one who needed to accept his." EMOTIONS!!!
And as for how Ben gets off Kef Bir?? "Ben Solo was strong in the Force, thanks to his mother. But he also had his father's luck, at least at the moment. For it was by luck that he found a working TIE fighter in the Death Star ruins on Kef Bir. And it was by luck that Ben had managed to intercept Rey's course-signal markers so he could navigate a path through the Unknown Regions to Exegol. Or maybe it wasn't luck. Maybe luck was just another name for the Force." Finally accepting his Solo side!
As we wrap up the story, we have Ben on Exegol after Palpatine's death and Rey's death and it reads, "Ben remembered what she had done on Kef Bir. She had given him some of her life so that he could live. This part of her was still inside of him. Following her method, he placed his hand on her waist and sank into the Force. He found her spirit within him and gently returned that essence to her, along with what he had left of his own." So this means she really was giving away part of her essence whenever she healed another--including the vexis on Pasaana. I wonder if it's possible to run out of this essence or if it gets renewed as you continue to live...
And then...the part that really got the waterworks going, "The intensity of seeing R2-D2, when C-3PO had determined there was zero probability of ever seeing him again, flipped some bits in his neural network. This caused a memory file that R2-D2 had restored to be accessed and read. It was a record of the moment when C-3PO's maker had fitted a photoreceptor into his eye socket and he had experienced the visual spectrum for the first time. The initial image his photoreceptors had captured was of a blue-and-white astromech. The circuits that modulated his mood buzzed in jubilation. No wonder he and R2-D2 were strong counterparts--the two had been together since C-3PO's original power-on!" OMG!! I cannot explain how hard this hit me. Pure joy and tears for the fact that it just couldn't get any better than this.
Finally we come to the framing epilogue, "Once there was a boy who was good of heart. […] The boy was called Anakin, the young man Darth Vader. Only Anakin was Skywalker by name, but both were Skywalkers by blood. […] Once there were twins, a boy and a girl. The twins were called Luke and Leia. Only Luke was Skywalker in name, but both were Skywalkers by blood. Once there were twins, not of blood, but of the Force. This dyad was made up of a girl and a boy. […] Despite a consuming darkness, the girl returned the boy to the light. The girl was called Rey, the boy Ben. Only Ben was a Skywalker by blood. Rey was a Skywalker by choice. She chose to take the family name of her teachers, Leia and Luke. […] They were her family and she was theirs." And...I started crying again just typing this out!!! I'm telling you...in...the...gut! And I feel like this does such an incredible job of framing Rey taking on the Skywalker name in the most positive and powerful of lights.
The very last paragraph??? Wrapping up the Saga with aplomb??? "Once there was the Force, an energy field that surrounded and bound all living things. It had a dark side, and it had a light, and the tension between them maintained a balance. For a time the balance was upset and all seemed dark. But then came those who dared walk the skies to face the darkness and find a light. The Force will be with them always." And...the tears are still falling. This is the BEST ending a fan could possibly ask for. I'm just in absolute awe of what Michael Kogge was able to pull off with this novelization. It is just SO good.
New species:
-zymonds: have poisonous tongues, found on Ajan Kloss
-fanged flowers: have petal mouths that can snatch things out of the air, found on Ajan Kloss, big enough to devour a training remote
-Jakku sand urchin
-Klaud is a Trodatome
-Boolio is an Ovissian
Trivia:
-Nimi is a new human Resistance recruit who cooks root stews, she's the one who alerts Rey that the Falcon has returned after its adventure to Sinta.
-Lieutenant Chireen is the Resistance Quartermaster
-It is made quite clear several times that Finn and Rey consider themselves best friends!
-The Resistance damaged Kylo's flagship the Finalizer at the Battle of Batuu (I'm assuming this is referring to the adult novel Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire). He has replaced that ship with the Steadfast.
-The necklace given to Rey by the Aki-Aki girl is made from kern-nut husks. The girl's name is Nambi Ghima.
-I feel like this is going to come up in trivia in some form, so, Zorii calls out for her thugs to enact Djak'kankah on Kijimi
-The location of the Emperor's wayfinder on Kef Bir in the Death Star II wreckage is delta-three-six transient nine-three-six, bearing three-two
-Jannah's group of stormtroopers is Company 77
-Elna Zibsara is a Rebel veteran who had flown during the Battle of Jakku and is now a part of the Resistance
-The transport lander that Company 77, Rose, Kin, BB-8, Finn, and the Orbaks ride on is called the Fortitude
-The Steadfast is the ship above Exegol that contains the navigation array to guide the Sith star destroyers into space
-Kallie Lintra was an A-wing pilot who was sister to Tallie Lintra (who died when TIE missiles hit the Raddus's hangar in The Last Jedi)
-The Resistance refers to Poe as "Alpha Leader" during the Battle of Exegol
-Jannah's trooper number is TZ-1719
Again, a beautiful book that is an easy, quick read and really packs an intense punch! I highly recommend it.
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