Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan – Claudia Gray
Finally catching back up on my Star Wars book reviews, I want to share my thoughts on Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray. This is a novel that really took me by surprise. I went into this book with low expectations. But ended up with a page turner that captured my attention from start to finish. From my experience, novels that feature Leia as the lead character have always felt slightly subpar. One recent exception to this was Bloodline, a book that was also penned by Claudia Gray. Claudia Gray really seems to understand what makes the character of Leia Organa interesting and has no problem whatsoever getting that to translate to paper. In fact, she does such a wonderful job that I find myself hoping she remains the de facto “Leia” author for some time.
This book focuses on Leia as a young girl, several years before events of Episode IV. It provides a lot of background information on her days growing on Alderaan, her introduction into galactic politics, and even how she came to be a member of the rebellion. This novel also does a masterful job of entwining characters and lore from both the original trilogy and prequel era in a relevant and cohesive way. Often times, when authors try to blend these two eras of Star Wars together, the result ends up feeling forced or gimmicky. Not this time. If that wasn’t enough, this book also introduces the character of Amilyn Holdo and the planet of Crait – both featured in The Last Jedi. This helps to further cement them into the ongoing narrative. Again, this is handled expertly in a way that only Claudia Gray could manage.
The Last Jedi was a film that was very divisive for many Star Wars fans, myself included. For many, the character of Admiral Holdo seemed injected into the movie with no backstory or real purpose. It is books like this one that just might be able to change the minds of those fans who have a hard time understanding just who that character is and why she so important to Leia. (Still, this should have been covered to some extent in the film itself, but I digress.) Fans who find themselves on the fence about the direction Disney is taking Star Wars would do themselves a favor by cracking open this book. It’s novels like this that keep that classic EU feel that so many fans love, but still manage to stay within the confines of the official canon.
Story: Very well written. Claudia Gray is a wonderful author and a boon to the Star Wars literary world. Great info on Leia Organa and the early days of the rebellion. Fans curious about Alderaan will find many of their questions answered here.
Recommended: For all fans. Especially those that might take issue with some of the story decisions in The Last Jedi.
