The Backlog o4 : Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

The Backlog is where I review books that have been released for a little while, to bring attention to some older titles. 

ABOUT

Title: Lost Stars

Author: Claudia Gray

Series: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

Release Date: September 4th 2015 

Goodreads Page

Synopsis:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Eight years after the fall of the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire now reigns over the known galaxy. Resistance to the Empire has been all but silenced. Only a few courageous leaders such as Bail Organa of Alderaan still dare to openly oppose Emperor Palpatine.

After years of defiance, the many worlds at the edge of the Outer Rim have surrendered. With each planet’s conquest, the Empire’s might grows stronger.

The latest to fall under the Emperor’s control is the isolated mountain planet Jelucan, whose citizens hope for a more prosperous future even as the Imperial Starfleet gathers overhead…

While it may have taken me a long time to get into this book because of my own reading slump, this book was spectacular.

Lost Stars tells the story of Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell, two kids from opposite backgrounds on the same planet who share a love of flying. They become friends through their love of flying starships, despite their different backgrounds and it is what leads them to attend the Imperial flight academy to serve the Empire and learn to fly. However, as tensions between the Empire and the Rebellion grow, doubts about the Empire enter their minds and Thane ends up joining the Rebellion and Ciena's belief in honour causes her to stay with the Empire despite her growing doubts.

This book was really great. It's definitely heavy in tone with the subject matter Lost Stars pertains to. Thane and Ciena grew up together and learned to get along despite the animosity between their respective cultures. However, as they grow up throughout the book their ideologies depart from each other while still being in love with each other.

The novel spans years in the life of Ciena and Thane and liberally switches points of view mid-chapter between Thane and Ciena. We watch the pair grow from bright-eyed students and face the realities of the war they have become involved in. The book, while spanning the events of the original trilogy of movies, felt almost like a character study of the two who are opposite sides of the war while fate intertwines them. It's fascinating and rich in emotion as we learn about how their ideologies develop to put them on opposite sides and their interactions as they are continually thrown into situations where they must face each other.

There are brief mentions of characters from the original trilogy like Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, but there is no explicit interaction between Ciena and Thane and the characters from the movies. I liked it better that way, since it allowed for more focus on these new characters and their problems.

I think the ending was perfect and I won't say any more than that. While it did end up wrapping things up nicely, it is partially what made me feel like the book was a character study of Thane and Ciena.

Overall, this is a great addition to the Star Wars Universe lore. It's a fantastic novel even if it had not been a universe tie in, but the fact that it is adds a little extra to it. I look forward to reading another one of Claudia Gray's Star Wars novels!

Happy Reading!