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big_lew's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
supplantedbearer's review
5.0
I had mixed feelings about the film of The Last Jedi, and I still haven't completely decided whether I liked it or not. But this novelization really can't be faulted; Jason Fry brings out the best of the story, and enlivens the characters. The extra scenes added under the supervision of the film's director Rian Johnson all add wonderfully to the story and the Star Wars universe.
This novelization can be very favourably compared with the previous one, Alan Dean Foster's adaptation of The Force Awakens, which was serviceable, but only skated over the surfaces of many of the characters, leaving them resembling cardboard cutouts of themselves. Here, by contrast, Fry dives deep into the characters and actually allows them to have real feelings. I really appreciated in particular how he portrayed Leia's feelings about her failure to save Alderaan and the Hosnian system, an aspect of her character that I feel is often left criminally underexplored. After all, the destruction of a whole star system with a Death Star-like superweapon does, in a sense, represent a colossal failure on the part of the original trilogy heroes, that all but wipes out their achievement in those films. It makes total sense that Leia would feel the weight of that failure.
I also really enjoyed the way Fry wrote about the Force. His eloquent descriptions of its workings breathed new life into the concept, felt spiritually plausible, and added valuable tidbits to Star Wars' canon, whilst still feeling wholly consistent with things we learned from the prequels. This I suspect has much to do with Fry's background as an author of reference books for the franchise, like the Essential Atlas. His deep understanding of and love for the franchise is clear.
Some of the reservations I had about the film are still present in the story, such as the seemingly-easily-avoidable Poe/Holdo conflict. I think that, given that story, this novelization is perhaps the best possible adaptation; the ability to delve into the characters' motivations gives more justification for their actions and helps the reader suspend disbelief, in a way that's more difficult to accomplish on film.
This novelization can be very favourably compared with the previous one, Alan Dean Foster's adaptation of The Force Awakens, which was serviceable, but only skated over the surfaces of many of the characters, leaving them resembling cardboard cutouts of themselves. Here, by contrast, Fry dives deep into the characters and actually allows them to have real feelings. I really appreciated in particular how he portrayed Leia's feelings about her failure to save Alderaan and the Hosnian system, an aspect of her character that I feel is often left criminally underexplored. After all, the destruction of a whole star system with a Death Star-like superweapon does, in a sense, represent a colossal failure on the part of the original trilogy heroes, that all but wipes out their achievement in those films. It makes total sense that Leia would feel the weight of that failure.
I also really enjoyed the way Fry wrote about the Force. His eloquent descriptions of its workings breathed new life into the concept, felt spiritually plausible, and added valuable tidbits to Star Wars' canon, whilst still feeling wholly consistent with things we learned from the prequels. This I suspect has much to do with Fry's background as an author of reference books for the franchise, like the Essential Atlas. His deep understanding of and love for the franchise is clear.
Some of the reservations I had about the film are still present in the story, such as the seemingly-easily-avoidable Poe/Holdo conflict. I think that, given that story, this novelization is perhaps the best possible adaptation; the ability to delve into the characters' motivations gives more justification for their actions and helps the reader suspend disbelief, in a way that's more difficult to accomplish on film.
lalaoblivion's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, so much so that I read it in one day. It was a good substitute for the movie since I'm trying not to watch television, and I think it adequately captured the emotions of the story without the unnecessarily (and quite frankly, poorly placed) humor that was present in the movie. I really liked it.
folkwren's review against another edition
3.0
Ha sido duro,pero se ha podido acabar
Siento que las partes de Kylo Ren y Rey están escritas super breves y son las más interesantes...
Siento que las partes de Kylo Ren y Rey están escritas super breves y son las más interesantes...
chicokc's review against another edition
2.0
El libro está bien, porque es la historia tal como se vio en el cine. Pero no tienen fondo los personajes, los imaginas perfectamente porque ya los conoces.
mythicaltunes's review against another edition
5.0
This actually added a lot to the movie! It made a lot of the characters’ motives more clear and provided some background insight. Poe’s characterization came across better here than it did in the movie. Script to book worked for him, but script to screen made him appear rash and sexist. So this made me enjoy Poe’s character more. I really adored the writing style. It was very well done.
solveigmr's review against another edition
One of the rare moments where the adaptation (in this case the book) is better than the source material.
psyco12_2000's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
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
4.0