A review by glendonrfrank
Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James Luceno
2.0
When I was in high school and reading Star Wars regularly, I remember James Luceno being propped up as one of the best authors in the franchise. In retrospect, that's probably mostly an indictment of the other authors.
Krennic and Erso were the best elements of Rogue One, so I picked this up for cheap mostly to hear more about them. But then one realizes that what made those characters work was the profound talent of Ben Mendelsohn and Mads Mikkelson, where this book just has their approximations. Occasionally it touches on some compelling ideas - especially in regard to the Empire's devastating ecological carelessness. But making this a generation-spanning story was a mistake, everything simply moves too fast and feels weightless instead of monumental. We jump months between chapters if not scenes, and so the central character drama never has enough time to actually play out. Slim it down to a specific time period - probably immediately post-RotS, because that's where this book actually starts to pick up - and focus it more on Krennic and Erso's evolving relationship, and you have a real winner. I get what Luceno was going for with Has' character, but he feels like a huge distraction from what actually matters here.
Krennic and Erso were the best elements of Rogue One, so I picked this up for cheap mostly to hear more about them. But then one realizes that what made those characters work was the profound talent of Ben Mendelsohn and Mads Mikkelson, where this book just has their approximations. Occasionally it touches on some compelling ideas - especially in regard to the Empire's devastating ecological carelessness. But making this a generation-spanning story was a mistake, everything simply moves too fast and feels weightless instead of monumental. We jump months between chapters if not scenes, and so the central character drama never has enough time to actually play out. Slim it down to a specific time period - probably immediately post-RotS, because that's where this book actually starts to pick up - and focus it more on Krennic and Erso's evolving relationship, and you have a real winner. I get what Luceno was going for with Has' character, but he feels like a huge distraction from what actually matters here.