Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel went down very smooth, with two well-drawn characters destined to be best friends, lovers, and eventually bitter enemies. What could make it better? Being in the Star Wars universe with cameo appearances of both iconic characters and situations.

But, you ask, "But wouldn't that take away from the impact of a well-drawn adventure following these two children well into adulthood?" And I reply, "No, not really, unless you're a die-hard snob who believes that an entirely new worldbuilding scenario is necessary to be considered good SF."

And then there's the other side of the equation: Those people who are die-hard fans of the franchise suddenly being treated to a nice and classic tale done very well.

It's a Star Wars Gaiden. A side-story. No less important than the primary tales we know, it fleshes out the universe delightfully while never bogging us down. It's a simple tale, but rather powerfully executed and very easy to eat.

Popcorn adventure? Sure. Well-written popcorn adventure.

It also serves to enflame my joy after having seen that wonderful new movie that I have practically no complaints about. Not even reused space-battle tropes. Can you believe it? I mean, let's face it, the old galaxy was never known for its intelligence, so I can't fault them for performing the same crap tactics that led to defeat over and over again. I'm not even blaming the writers.

Oh. Wait. I'm an apologist. Um. I think that also means I'm one of those insane SW fanboys I read so much about.

Oh who am I kidding. Yeah. I am. I always have been. I thought I had grown out of it after reading through the Kevin J. Anderson SW books. I thought I was only testing the waters when I played (read: GM'd) the SW RPGs of 3.5 and later, the 4.0 systems. I was just doing my cultural duty when I played all six episodes 3 times for my 3 year old and play the SW soundtracks for Xmas.

I'm not a fanboy. No. Not really. I know there are worse examples out there. I don't actually own a SW costume. (Anymore.)

Okay. I got that out of my system.

Yeah. If you're a fan of Star Wars, you'll enjoy this novel. Even if you don't really care for SW, I can pretty much promise you that you'll still like this. The intersections with 4-6 are mildly geekworthy, but they're strictly Otaku.

Thank you, everyone, who promised me that this would be a decent book to read. I should not doubt so much. :)

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