SPOILER Jelena’s Review: “Ahsoka” by E.K.Johnston

Thank you. Quite interesting, especially the parallel with Luke's belief in, and redemption of, his father, as well as what Leia tells Han Solo before he goes to Starkiller with the objective of bringing back their son. "Luke is a Jedi, you are his father." (Or words to that effect...)

 

I like this idea as well. It would be great so see Ahsoka live a long life and play a role throughout this new timeline of canon material. However, someone would have some explaining to do. Like why she wasn't anywhere to be found for the Battles of Yavin, Hoth and Endor? Where were you Ahsoka? The Alliance could have used an extra lightsaber or two! I know she said in this book that she didn't want to be a battle commander anymore, but c'mon... those were all desperate times for the galaxy!

 

Good point! (VERY!)

It's entirely plausible that, at such time(s), Ahsoka had another job to do, –just as vital (or more vital). That's the beauty (and sometimes the frustration) of fiction– especially science fiction/fantasy: practically anything can be written to explain something. ...(but) in order to be successful (long term), it MUST be written well.

Ahsoka is clearly a fan favourite.

Bad writing can ruin the magic for fans. —And if the magic is ruined for fans, profits will inevitably shrivel.

Whatever is in store for our Ahsoka, it had better be GOOD. I have faith that the folks in the big chairs are well-aware of that.

 

I would die if Ahsoka made an appearance in Rogue One. In a background scene anything.... it would be awesome! I hope the rumors are true that disney is prepping Filoni for a standalone with Ashoka. Seeing her in a live action western type ala a New Hope would be amazing.

 

I think I found an error in the novel, not to sound like a complete dork. On page 104 of the novel, a character named Vartan calls her Ahsoka, but at that time they all knew her as Ashla. She had not told them her true name yet.

 

I noticed that right away. I am sure it's an error.

 

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Finished Ahsoka yesterday; I'd had it since October, but life got in the way of me getting around to reading it. I finally did and finished it in about a day and half - it was a bracing read.

The biggest strength of the book is obviously the character work done for the titluar hero. The introspective we get into Ahsoka's mental state and how she starts to become the confident not-a-Jedi we meet years later in Star Wars: Rebels was enlightening, as was some of the deeper machinations of the Force and the Jedi way, especially as it pertained to lightsaber lore. I had always assumed to this stage in the game that Jedi found crystals of a certain colour, and this is what dictated the colours of their sabers. But discovering that a dark side user can "bleed" a crystal, causing its colour to turn red, was a very interesting revelation, although one that did still leave me with questions.

For example; why didn't Anakin's saber simply turn red then the moment he became Darth Vader? Is it because that somewhere within him there existed the potential for redemption at the time that he was slaughtering the temple and fighting Obi-Wan? (i.e.--during both of those events, he still thought that Padme was alive/would live, and his child/children were alive/would live?). That would mean that after learning of Padme's death, he had no hope for redemption at all until learning of Luke's existence almost twenty years later.

I also felt the novel did a good job rounding out the supporting cast of characters. Kaeden, and to a lesser extent Miara, was a well fleshed out character who I empathized with and was rooting for. I also enjoy that the novels are branching out with characters' sexuality, and I chuckled somewhat at Ahsoka's confusion at the end. I think that confusion would have been there regardless of whether it was a male or a female saying they were attracted to her, as attractions and attachments and romance had never formed a part of her life. It was amusing for me to see that while she progressed and matured in so many ways over the course of the novel, she is still a relative infant in other ways (i.e.--romance). I also liked the Fardi family, and the thematic link to Rebels where the Inquisitors are concerned. We know from Rebels that their main mandate was hunting down force sensitive children to bring to Darth Vader, and we now see that this is something that the clearly worked at for approximately 14 years.

Minor complaint: at the end of the novel, I think that should have been the mission Ahsoka expressed interest in. With fourteen years to go between the novel's end and the events of Rebels, there was plenty of time for her to become the intelligence operative Fulcrum. I think her talents would have been far better utilized locating Force sensitive children and bringing them to the Rebellion for protection.

Circling back to character development - the Imperials in this novel were woefully underdeveloped, to an almost confusing extent. Jenneth Pillar (I hope I have the name right, I don't care enough to open the novel to double check) ended up being completely pointless to the plot. The other new canon novels have at least devoted time and some sense of development to its antagonists, but that same care and attention was non-existent here - which was fine, as the book was really about Ahsoka's journey - but it made the bits written from Jenneth's point of view feel like filler.

Also; was that an Agent Kallus cameo? The "interrogator" was never named, and I felt that the Inquisitor's "are your methods always so callous?" was a bit of an on-the-nose reference.

The novel also elaborated a tiny bit on the circumstances surrounding Order 66, and how Ahsoka and Rex parted ways. It sounds like Ahsoka was saved from the order by not actually being a Jedi (if I'm wrong on that count, someone please feel free to correct me). If that's the case, I wonder how it was that she and Rex came to understand not only what was going on, but that the Clones were being mind-controlled. Did she help Rex remove his chip then and there? Or was that a task he undertook himself after he and Ahsoka parted ways? More importantly, could the reason they parted in the first place be that he was unsure of the cause of Order 66 taking hold in himself and his comrades? i.e.--for your own safety, Ahsoka, you need to get away from me.

I feel like Order 66 and its fallout would make a very intriguing Ahsoka novel...please make it so! We now also have 14 years of Ahsoka working as a Rebel operative to work with, not including what comes after Malachor (#AhsokaLives). Her interplay with Bail Organa, who is well portrayed as a man of many secrets who prefers not to put them all in one basket, was also enjoyable.

My other minor quibble with the novel was that it had a very bizarre concept regarding the passage of time, specifically surrounding when Ahsoka left Raada. It seemed that a fair amount of time passed to Ahsoka, whereas very little time seemed to pass for the resistance fighters on Raada (as evidenced by the lack of healing in Kaeden's injuries). It left me a bit confused as to how much time had elapsed at the end.

Finally, I loved - once again - how Ahsoka simply owned the Inquisitor. I was wondering if we were headed for a lightsaber showdown, but having Ahsoka simply dismantle the hapless fool without even having a weapon in her hand was a treat. It made me go re-watch the moment from Rebels where she takes apart the two Inquisitors that were giving Kanan and Ezra so much trouble. She truly was/is on another level.

All in all, I found Ahsoka an enjoyable read that left me wanting more in a good way. I definitely want more Ahsoka books, and I want them soon!

7/10

 

Anakin was a little busy killing off the Jedi and Separatists to find the time for a Sith lesson in crystal bleeding.

 

Really enjoyed the book. I liked getting some long awaited new Canon info on Obi-Won, it wasn't a lot, but nice nonetheless.
Loved how Ashoka aquired her white sabers, and the reasoning on why they are white.
Also liked how she easily dispatched the sixth brother on Raada.
the only criticism I have is the picture of her face on the cover. It's all deformed. I have the hard cover version so it's a little bigger and her nose looks like a pig snout.

 

I definitely like this book (audio ) and still waiting for hardcover in local stores . Thank you guys for all those reviews and opinions!

Have you heard that Vader thinks Ahsoka is gone? I`ve listened to some kind of interview with Pablo Hidalgo (in Salt Lake City???) and he is not sure if he can say it, but yes, "in Vader`s mind she is gone".