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kecampbell17's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
theroguerebels's review against another edition
5.0
Star Wars: Visions brought us nine beautiful reimaginings of what Star Wars could be. Kamikaze Douga’s short The Duel introduced us to the Ronin in a powerhouse anime episode that felt like a love letter to classic samurai films. Ronin: A Visions Novel picks up the story and builds an entire galaxy from it!
Ronin is deeply imaginative. Bold on every level. It takes a really rad anime short and builds a deep intricate galaxy full of complicated characters with dimension and depth. The book walks the line of being “Star Wars” even though it is definitely a re-imagining of what we know “Star Wars” to be! In all the best ways Ronin defies expectations and breaks the mold while still retaining the feel, tone, and core themes of what “Star Wars” truly is. The Japanese cultural influence is strong. It’s so strong in fact, that many of the settings were something that set my imagination alight. places, items, actions, and people all felt familiar and right in this galaxy that overflowed with a sense of history and culture.
This is a must-read for anyone who wants to delve into complicated characters or looking to explore a Star Wars galaxy unlike any other. If you enjoyed The Duel, you will LOVE this book.
Sal P.
Ronin is deeply imaginative. Bold on every level. It takes a really rad anime short and builds a deep intricate galaxy full of complicated characters with dimension and depth. The book walks the line of being “Star Wars” even though it is definitely a re-imagining of what we know “Star Wars” to be! In all the best ways Ronin defies expectations and breaks the mold while still retaining the feel, tone, and core themes of what “Star Wars” truly is. The Japanese cultural influence is strong. It’s so strong in fact, that many of the settings were something that set my imagination alight. places, items, actions, and people all felt familiar and right in this galaxy that overflowed with a sense of history and culture.
This is a must-read for anyone who wants to delve into complicated characters or looking to explore a Star Wars galaxy unlike any other. If you enjoyed The Duel, you will LOVE this book.
Sal P.
acogna's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
3.5
Literally continuing to prove my point that Star Wars is best when it's not trying to be Star Wars.
timgrubbs's review against another edition
4.0
A ronin follows the Living Force as his guide…not a clan or creed…neither Jedi or Sith…
Star Wars Visions: Ronin by Emma Mieko Candon is a tie-in novel with the Star Wars visions concept….anime inspired Star Wars stories set in a separate infinites continuity.
The Ronin has no name…at least not one he will admit to. Having abandoned his past, he travels the planets doling our justice as he sees it.
Throughout this novel he will encounter a Sith bandit, a traveler and his quirky crew, a Jedi lord, and myriad others. While the planets are new, the book wisely sticks to well established races throughout the story…so no heavy knowledge is required.
This is a decent novel…at least what I read of it. Unfortunately, the copy I read was missing about thirty pages near the end (accidentally reprinting 30 prior pages rather than what was supposed to be there), so I can’t give a full account.
Star Wars Visions: Ronin by Emma Mieko Candon is a tie-in novel with the Star Wars visions concept….anime inspired Star Wars stories set in a separate infinites continuity.
The Ronin has no name…at least not one he will admit to. Having abandoned his past, he travels the planets doling our justice as he sees it.
Throughout this novel he will encounter a Sith bandit, a traveler and his quirky crew, a Jedi lord, and myriad others. While the planets are new, the book wisely sticks to well established races throughout the story…so no heavy knowledge is required.
This is a decent novel…at least what I read of it. Unfortunately, the copy I read was missing about thirty pages near the end (accidentally reprinting 30 prior pages rather than what was supposed to be there), so I can’t give a full account.
dsty292's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
takeybakey's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fantastic read, really liked the characters and the story was fantastic and kept me wanting to read more, would love more Star Wars books with this theme.
mars_like_the_sea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tagoreketabkhane31's review against another edition
5.0
"Star Wars: Visions - Ronin" is is truly unlike any Star Wars novel that has been written, in part because of the #OwnVoices nature of the Visions story, but also because the author Emma Meiko Candon and her candor in making this a Star Wars story that is both familiar and foreign to the reader.
Based in part on the first short film in the Disney "Star Wars: Visions" Omnibus series, "Ronin" follows the travels of the lone Sith Lord known simply as "The Ronin" as he travels the galaxy with his hat wearing droid B5-56, a droid that is simply a more pragmatic version of R2-D2. With the first chapter being the first episode, we are introduced to a world that uses terms that we are familiar with, but with a more nuanced look that is closer to Japanese myths and legends then we are used from the original Star Wars mythos that drew from the stories of the "47 Ronin", that George Lucas had originally used to base some of the archtypes in Star Wars.
While a great epic, the story is confusing at times, in part because of the unreliability of the narrators. Like any great Star Wars story, the Ronin joins up with other characters on a ship to find the Sith Witch on the battle scarred world of Rei'izu, and this is where the story almost resembles that of "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic". The Ronin, The Traveler, the ship "The Poor Crow", and a few other elements reminded me so much of the story-line that was found with Darth Revan, Darth Traya, and other elements of the KOTOR stories that were freshly made woven into the breathtaking tapestry that is this Star Wars book.
I also appreciated that Visions is not part of the Canon, while also not a Legends story - Visions offers a third class of Star Wars stories in the Expanded Universe, one that allows for more diverse perspectives to influence how the Galaxy far, far, away continues to expand. Can't wait to see what comes next in the Visions world!
Based in part on the first short film in the Disney "Star Wars: Visions" Omnibus series, "Ronin" follows the travels of the lone Sith Lord known simply as "The Ronin" as he travels the galaxy with his hat wearing droid B5-56, a droid that is simply a more pragmatic version of R2-D2. With the first chapter being the first episode, we are introduced to a world that uses terms that we are familiar with, but with a more nuanced look that is closer to Japanese myths and legends then we are used from the original Star Wars mythos that drew from the stories of the "47 Ronin", that George Lucas had originally used to base some of the archtypes in Star Wars.
While a great epic, the story is confusing at times, in part because of the unreliability of the narrators. Like any great Star Wars story, the Ronin joins up with other characters on a ship to find the Sith Witch on the battle scarred world of Rei'izu, and this is where the story almost resembles that of "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic". The Ronin, The Traveler, the ship "The Poor Crow", and a few other elements reminded me so much of the story-line that was found with Darth Revan, Darth Traya, and other elements of the KOTOR stories that were freshly made woven into the breathtaking tapestry that is this Star Wars book.
I also appreciated that Visions is not part of the Canon, while also not a Legends story - Visions offers a third class of Star Wars stories in the Expanded Universe, one that allows for more diverse perspectives to influence how the Galaxy far, far, away continues to expand. Can't wait to see what comes next in the Visions world!