Resistance Reborn Book Review

Resistance Reborn is a Journey to The Rise of Skywalker novel written by Rebecca Roanhorse. It takes place between episodes 8 and 9 and shows us some of how the Resistance is able to start rebuilding after the defeat on Crait and when dealing with the loss of Luke Skywalker. 

I primarily read this book via audiobook mostly due to time but it, like many of the other Star Wars audiobook versions, was a great way to read it! 

Now, for the content. A definitely highlight for me, after having just read the Aftermath Trilogy previously, was seeing Wedge Antilles and Norra Wexley again and getting some more content to Snap Wexley as an adult. I think, despite the fact that we get a great look at Leia that we definitely missed since she passed before TROS could be filmed, I definitely think seeing some lesser screen time characters that I grew to like made this book more enjoyable. 

We see our characters all over the place in this novel. From Corellia, Akiva, Ryloth, and Bracca, we get all kinds of fan favorite plants thrown into the mix as our characters are fighting to bring back the Resistance to what it was before The Last Jedi. But throughout all of the traveling around, trying to make something out of what they were left with, we see Poe Dameron, struggling with his previous decisions, Leia, still recovering from what happened in TLJ while trying to keep everything together, and so on with the rest of our main characters. This book was a great attempt to hash out some of those issues that we saw with TLJ and give some more back story and reasoning behind decisions made but it’s definitely that, trying to help along something that was flawed to begin with. 

I loved Roanhorse’s writing style and hope to see many more Star Wars books from her in the future but it did take me awhile to get into it. The stakes of the list of former Rebel leaders and ex-Imperials adds stakes to Leia’s cause, her need for allies, and gives Finn and Poe a great mission. Wedge, Snap, Norra, Kare, among other recruits go on their own mission to rescue a high-profile prisoner. Zay, Shriv, and other pilots go to Bracca (which we have seen now in Jedi: Fallen Order and in The Bad Batch) to go recover some ships before they are destroyed, while Rey, Leia, and rose are on Ryloth, trying to keep everything together. While all of this is going on, it is very heavy in the beginning on setting up what is to come in the last half of the book and, while that’s great, sometimes you just need some more in Star Wars. All of the missions set up do come to a positive conclusion at the end and work out for the Resistance and serve as a great set up for TROS. However, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to reread this book soon!

Overall I give Resistance Reborn  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Comic Overview: Star Wars Allegiance, Issue 1

Okay, comics, I know. This isn’t my usual review as I haven’t covered comics before. I, just recently, got into some of the Marvel Star Wars comics and I’m surprised at just how good the storytelling really is. I wanted to cover just a few over the course of the next two months. I’ll still be doing a lot of books and book reviews but how about something a little different just for today?

Allegiance Issue 1

Photo by BookishandBliss

From the beginning, we see a new race and a new planet, the Ice Planet of Tah’Nuhna in the Mid Rim, with people who go by the same name. These are a species who let the Resistance stay there after the Battle of Crait, a species who has remained completely neutral in all galactic confrontations, and we see the First Order come in and destroy them, and their planet, all because they gave assistance to those in need, even while still remaining neutral. We get to see Lieutenant Connix (who I’m a big fan of, not just because she’s portrayed by Billie Lourd, but because she’s kind of become one of Leia’s trusted people) have to break the news to General Organa at their new base on the Garbage Planet of Anoat.

This brutal beginning to this four issue series shows us more of the First Order’s sheer destructive forces and the lengths they will go to to try to get at the Resistance. This also starts Leia down a path to try to find more allies in the coming conflict so she takes Rose Tico, Rey, who has been training while facing off with an Anoatian Pit Beast, and Chewbacca to a planet we’re familiar with, especially if you’ve seen the Clone Wars animated show, Mon Cala.

Meanwhile, we see Finn, BB-8, and Poe on a mission of their own to try to acquire weapons that are needed by the Resistance and we also check in with the Finalizer, where General Hux and Supreme Leader Kylo Ren are getting info about where our other heroes are.

The one thing about comics are that they’re short. However, this series written by Ethan Sacks, art done by Luke Ross, Lee Loughridge is the Colorist, and lettering done by VC’s Clayton Cowles, is gorgeous. The art work and the story go along so well that it made me so excited to continue the series. It captures you and is definitely a different form of storytelling but, we get to see more of what was happening to our favorite characters in the year before we see them back on screen in just a little over a month, and this medium actually serves the story well. In comics it makes sense to jump back and forth quickly in story telling in a much better way than it would serve in a novel since we do get the visual side of everything.

This first issue makes me excited to see characters, or well planets, we’ve already seen but not yet in the movies, and helps to give us more context as to where we might be heading and who we might be seeing in the future. I’m going to continue this series every few days, looking at the rest of these comics. If you like the comic series, let me know in the comments and I’ll try to do some more as well!