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A review by topperfalkon
Jedi: Battle Scars by Sam Maggs
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I think Battle Scars suffers from being a relatively unimportant bridging novel between both Jedi games, whilst apparently simultaneously having the brief of assuming the reader hasn't played the games. As a result, the start and parts throughout the rest of the books are throwbacks to the first game often with some additional clarification/lore thrown in, which makes the going hard at times.
I was also expecting the book to tie more closely into the state the second game begins with, but actually it seems like Lucasfilm played that story close to their chest, so whilst there's some character development that may or may not have influenced the characters in the second game, the book ends up playing out like the Mantis crew just on one particular mission, rather than a connective narrative between the two games.
Most of the crew do develop from the first game, but mostly the focus is on Merrin, who gets a canonical queer romance storyline that probably would have killed EA if it ever made it into a game. It's overly fawning with a bond based on survivorship, which is a good thematic hook but gets a bit too full-on and repetitive at times without really bringing the story forwards.
I don't feel any of this is the author's fault, and the story picks up once we get into the second act, but having played Jedi: Survivor before reading this, I was hoping for a bit more of a bridge in that character transition.
I was also expecting the book to tie more closely into the state the second game begins with, but actually it seems like Lucasfilm played that story close to their chest, so whilst there's some character development that may or may not have influenced the characters in the second game, the book ends up playing out like the Mantis crew just on one particular mission, rather than a connective narrative between the two games.
Most of the crew do develop from the first game, but mostly the focus is on Merrin, who gets a canonical queer romance storyline that probably would have killed EA if it ever made it into a game. It's overly fawning with a bond based on survivorship, which is a good thematic hook but gets a bit too full-on and repetitive at times without really bringing the story forwards.
I don't feel any of this is the author's fault, and the story picks up once we get into the second act, but having played Jedi: Survivor before reading this, I was hoping for a bit more of a bridge in that character transition.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content