book review; Star Wars: Guardians of The Whills by Greg Rucka

3.2/5 stars

This is a story about our two beloved characters from the movie, Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It took place before the event in movie.

I listened to this playlist while reading https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7dwR7saISb12gZFpf6FIoK

From Google Books,

On the desert world of Jedha, in the Holy City, friends Baze and Chirrut used to be Guardians of the Whills, who looked after the Kyber Temple and the devoted pilgrims who worshipped there. Then the Empire came and took over the planet. The temple was destroyed and the people scattered. Now Baze and Chirrut do what they can to resist the Empire and protect the people of Jedha, but it never seems to be enough. Then a man named Saw Gerrera arrives, with a militia of his own and grand plans to take down the Empire. It seems like the perfect way for Baze and Chirrut to make a real difference and help the people of Jedha live better lives. But will it come at too great a cost?

Strengths

• I adore these two characters, Chirrut and Baze in the movie and reading this short novel gave me more insight from their perspective before joining the Rebels.
• I love the core of this story, it’s truly aligned with Star Wars’ vibe. It told you how to survive, when to fight back, and never let anger consumed you.
• The dynamic interaction between Chirrut and Baze is amazing! I love how they complement one another, their banter, their chemistry is WOW factor.
• I always love Rogue One, it’s my underrated favourite movie in Star Wars’ franchise. Because the Skywalker Saga showed the power play of Force sensitive user between Jedi and Sith and here, from a perspective of the ordinary citizen, their struggle portrayed what is really at stakes.
• It’s such a fresh insight to read from and I guess that’s what makes Star Wars special because the concept revealed the realness of politic’s conflict, it seems like long lasting and never ending but one important message Star Wars always tried to highlight is to have hope.

Weaknesses

• I really wish this is more likely to be character driven story. But it was a mash up of plot line driven too. Because it has a bit of both and practically short (after all, the book targeted younger readers), it wasn’t enough to fleshed out more.
• Some scenes were poorly executed, the sequence went amiss to give impact as I got confuse along the read.
• This book is very direct, I wish it has more foreshadow hinted and adding up more layer and depth to the plot line.
• And obviously, I want more insight of Chirrut and Baze. It felt like there should be more to tell about especially regarding their past.