Book Review: 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' by Jason Fry

The 'Star Wars' movie novelizations, in my opinion, are usually worth checking out. They often add to the experience of the movie, with expanded, and sometimes, bonus scenes and by getting into the heads of the characters with the internal dialogue delving more into the motivations of pro and antagonists, as well having a more tighter continuity of the series. 'The Last Jedi' by Jason Fry is a classic example of this.

We get all of the above in Jason Fry's adaptation, which is pretty faithful to the movie. There are also a lot of new scenes that we don't see in the movie. In fact, right from the opening pages, the novelization is already expanding on the movie with a new scene, a dream sequence that Luke has foretelling of what could have been if certain events hadn't happened in his past. Its wonderfully written and a great way to start the book before we join the movie timeline again.

We get to peek into minds of main characters. We delve more into Luke's melancholy and struggle, Leia's grief and strength, Rey's stubbornness and determination, Kylo Ren's rage and more. We also get bit more on the character development too, with a better look at the back story of Rose Tico, as well as Finn's attitude maturing over the course of the book (although his almost obsessive infatuation with Rey is kind of annoying at times, and Rose does call him out on that several times too). Poe's journey from hotshot pilot to potential leader of the Resistance is also handled better within the pages than on the screen.

The perspectives from Hux and Snoke certainly added an extra dimension to their personalities. I also liked the pov from Canady and Peavey, the former Imperial officers now with the First Order. Both of them essentially eyerolling Hux's arrogant command and lamenting the old days of the Empire.

The book also loops in with previous books in the new 'Star Wars' Canon continuity, so you may get a better experience if you've read some of the other books and comics, like the 'Aftermath' trilogy and 'Leia: Princess Of Alderaan' or any of the other Star Wars books that Jason Fry has written as well. I liked the way that the new expanded universe is all tied in like this with references to other material. It adds to a greater universe of enriching story content. It's just a shame the movies aren't as open to this too.

'The Last Jedi' is a good addition to the 'Star Wars' series. The additional scenes add more to the story without, for the most part, slowing down and clogging up the pacing of the story, although there's not much you can do with the Canto Bight sequence though. And the internal dialogue of the characters enriches the story as well. But if you were on the fence or wasn't a fan of the film, I don't think this novelization will change your mind.

The audiobook, narrated by the awesome Marc Thompson, is definitely worth a listen though. There's the music and sound effects, and Marc's narration style and takes on Kylo, Finn, Leia are really great, although his voicing of Snoke does sound more like General Grevious. I'd totally recommend the audiobook!