In this book, the Senate has been evenly split between the Populists, who believe power in the Republic should be spread across the member planets, and the Centrists, who instead want a single governing body to seize control. In the absence of Mon Mothma and her charismatic leadership, this divide has the left the Senate both inefficient and prone to infighting. This book follows Leia as the major protagonist, and her efforts towards rebuilding a broken New Republic, which she hopes to steer away from the path of corruption that the Old Republic had so precariously walked.
I’ve always enjoyed the emotional connection that Gray has managed to create between her characters and her readers, and this novel was no different. Leia’s purity of motive, strength when versed against adversity, and refreshingly human nature were few of the many characteristics that rehashed my love for her character. Her biggest flaw, her temper, which we saw on full display more than a couple times in this story, was strangely endearing, as it made her that much more human. Life is a series of choices, and this statement rang true for the majority of this book. Leia, more than once, is forced to make a decision. The genius of Gray’s storytelling was that she was unafraid of letting Leia make the wrong decision, yet make it seem, at least at the time, completely right. In doing so, she paints Leia as a complete character, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
In this book, Gray introduces a number of characters, three of which I felt stood out. Ransolm Casterfo, an unexperienced yet morally straightforward Centrist Senator, Rinnrivin Di, the Nikto crime lord, and my personal favorite, Lady Carise.
Ransolm was the ultimate dynamic character. Although his Centrist views set him apart from Leia, who herself was a Populist, was introduced quite suddenly: as a polar opposite of Leia’s moral code. Having been born too early to experience the war, Casterfo had, much to the disdain of Leia, found interest in collecting the late Empire’s artifacts.
During the movies, I’d always felt that Leia’s reaction to the destruction of her homeworld was somewhat subdued, and in this book, she delivered. She was emphatic, devastatingly assertive, and overall badass in her displays of emotion towards her lost homeworld. And although Casterfo and Leia, throughout the book, had their obvious differences, I felt, under the façade of politics, they were not that different. Both honest in their wish to restore the Republic to its former glory, and both, as Casterfo proves to be repeatedly throughout the novel, brave and good of heart. Despite his ambition and fierce loyalty to his philosophy, Casterfo is a genuinely good person, and in a Senate that is falling back into the cesspit of corruption that existed in the old Republic, he shows himself to be an incredibly complex character, both in his interactions with Leia (which I loved), and his own line of thinking, which Gray often follows.
In addition to the characters, Gray’s patchwork of the canon universe, especially found in her subtle nods to the First Order, gave us more information than I believe, the movies ever will be able to. Through Gray’s descriptions, we get more insight into Han and Leia’s relationship, Luke and Ben Solo, both of whom remain a mystery, and the overall politics of the Star wars Universe.
In closing, I don’t think any Star Wars fan will disagree when I say that LucasFilms has found a gem in Claudia Gray. From its tantalizing beginning to its bittersweet end, I believe this novel epitomizes what I love about the Star Wars universe. Yes, the flashy lightsabers and grandiose Space battles are quite the spectacle, but personally, I believe that character development makes a story, as evident in legends such as "Knights of the Old Republic" and the Darth Bane trilogy. In perhaps the highest praise I can give this book, I can say with conviction that I will be eager to see what the future of the canon Star Wars Universe holds: a statement that I probably would not have made prior to reading this book.