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Greg Rucka

Before the Awakening (Star Wars) Hardcover – December 18, 2015

by Greg Rucka (Author), Phil Noto (Illustrator)

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A companion piece to the "Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens" character novels, Star Wars: Before the Awakening is an anthology book that focuses on the lives of Rey, Finn, and Poe before the events of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Reading age

8 - 12 years
Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Grade level

3 - 7
Lexile measure

1020L
Dimensions

5.88 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches
Publisher

Disney Lucasfilm Press
Publication date

December 18, 2015
ISBN-10

148472822X
ISBN-13

978-1484728222
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Disney Lucasfilm Press; First Edition (December 18, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 148472822X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1484728222
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1020L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.88 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #374,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,862 in Children's Science Fiction Books (Books)
- #6,802 in Children's Fantasy & Magic Books
- #9,076 in Children's Action & Adventure Books (Books)

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4.4 1,649 ratings

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Greg Rucka

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Greg Rucka is an award-winning author of comics, novels, and screenplays, including 2020’s The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron. He is the author of some two-dozen novels, including the Atticus Kodiak series (Keeper, Finder, Smoker, Shooting at Midnight, Patriot Acts, and Walking Dead) as well as the Queen & Country series (A Gentelman’s Game, Private Wars, and The Last Run) which expands upon his Eisner-winning series of the same name, published by Oni Press.

He is the co-creator of the series Lazarus (with Michael Lark,) and Black Magick (with Nicola Scott) as well as The Old Guard stories with co-creator Leandro Fernandez. He is a multiple GLAAD, Eisner, and Harvey Award winner. His writing has included stories for both Marvel and DC, as well as penning three "middle-reader" Star Wars novellas.

Rucka was born in San Francisco and raised on the Monterey Peninsula. He earned his A.B. in English from Vassar College, and his MFA from USC. His first novel was published when he was 24, his first comic book series — Whiteout, from Oni Press — some five years later. He is married to writer Jennifer Van Meter. They have two children and one dog.

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C.T.

Entertaining insight into the new movie's continuity

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2015

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I've decided to, cautiously, begin reading novels from the New Star Wars Expanded universe. One of the obvious places to begin is the light-novel lead-ups to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This is a short novel (240 pages) containing three short-stories about the protagonists of the film. It chronicles the adventures of Finn, Poe Dameron, and Rey before Kylo Ren changes their lives forever. Is it any good?

It's okay.

Before the Awakening is hampered by the fact two out of the three characters have never had any adventures before in their lives. You could do several novels about Han Solo from his appearance in the original Star Wars because the character is a man who has seen and done everything before meeting Obi-Wan in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Finn and Rey are characters who are deliberately out of their comfort zone by doing something amazing. It's like the adventures of Anakin Skywalker before The Phantom Menace.

Not much to do there.

Instead, the best reason to read this novel is the background for the First Order and the Resistance. We get insight into how the First Order trains stormtroopers, what their values are, and how they perceive their conflict with the New Republic. We also get an insight into how the Resistance operates, what its goals are, and what kind of shape the Republic is in. Rey's story, by contrast, mostly just tells us how she learned how to become a pilot.

Finn's Story chronicles his training as a stormtrooper and his relationship with his fellow Imperial. Finn is an ace in terms of shooting, leadership, and achieving all of his objectives but is crippled by a factor the First Order has overlooked: his empathy. Finn all but stops missions to make sure no one is left behind and covers for the weakest members of his squadron. This alienates him from his other squadmates and is meant to be a sign that he's a better person than the others.

Ironically, I took an alternate character interpretation of events as his drill sergeant (Captain Phasma for those who want to see more of her) points out he's weakening himself as well as his unit by his actions. I actually agree with her as the weakest of his squadron, Slips, is not going to become a better soldier if he's not allowed to stand on his own two feet. I think Greg Rucka wasn't going for that, though, but it made perfect sense to me. Finn comes off as woefully naive about the consequences of his actions rather than inherently good. They're going into combat situations and need to all be tough to make sure they survive.

Just my .02.

Rey's story is the weakest of the group but still enjoyable. Rey and her closest friends on Jakku find a mostly-intact freighter (one from the now-defunct West End Games RPG) which they proceed to repair. Rey is only thinking of the potential food supply she can get from turning it over but her friends are very clearly thinking about leaving Jakku on their own. The idea she wants to stay and doesn't want to go out into the stars like Luke Skywalker never occurs to her. For Rey, Jakku is the place her parents left her and where she wants to wait for them. It's a heartbreaking story even if its ending is one I saw coming from a mile away.

Poe's story is the tale of a New Republic pilot growing increasingly disillusioned with the constant and flagrant treaty violations of the First Order. They aren't engaged in open warfare against the Republic but they are involved in piracy, kidnapping, and other activities designed to increase their power. Disobeying orders, he proceeds to go on a self-granted mission to take pictures of an Imperial staging point that shows they have a new kind of Star Destroyer. Impressed, General Organa (a.k.a Princess Leia) recruits him for a secret mission to kidnap a traitorous New Republic Senator.

I like the political situation set up by this short story. The First Order is clearly up to something but is viewed as an impoverished and backward nation on the verge of collapse like North Korea (when they're actually like modernized China). The Resistance justifies its existence by the fact it is against such a treacherous foe but they're actually engaged in every bit as duplicitous and illegal activity as the First Order. The fact they kidnap a Senator and label him a traitor because of his First Order sympathies illustrates its zeal which ultimately culminates in the First Order deciding to go to war.

Not that it wouldn't have anyway.

Is this an absolute must-have? No, not really. The information about the factions in The Force Awakens is good but nothing which couldn't be inferred. Also, the characters are kind of prevented from having any further adventures. Finn and Poe's story lead directly to the movie and that's a shame. Still, it's good for a read, I think, if a bit overpriced.

7.5/10

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Inside the new Big Three

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2016

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This book covers the new big three, but before TFA.

FN-2187, or just Eighty-Seven, is in the top 1% of the stormtroopers. It leads to jealousy and vindictive behavior from others later on. He the only one of his teammates - Zeroes, Nines, and Slip - without a nickname. He's a leader. But 87 doesn't feel like he's an ideal stormtrooper. He thoroughly enjoys learning new things but is bored of the propaganda. He is sympathetic, and is determined to never leave a man behind (despite his orders and mission), something that Phasma orders him to cease. It shows just why there was a personal connection between the two in TFA.

FN-2187 also wants to see the world beyond. There are great descriptions of the troopers not being clones, but being a diverse group of people. Eighty-Sev always been en wants more of that. Phasma knows his weakness but chooses to give him a second chance (on Jakku) because of his skills.

Rey is a sole scavenger on Jakku. She lives in a salvaged walker, always works along, is very observant, but is constantly hungry because she's being ripped off from her findings. She knows of technology from what she finds at the wreckages, including datachips. This is how she knows ship names - especially from a simulation - and was able to build her speeder. She dresses in wraps to protect her skin from the heat and hot metal. Desert storms change landscapes and uncover unfound wrecks, one of which holds many prospects for Rey. She only allows two others to help her when they discover her secret.

One piece that was very interesting was the religion of the Teedos. They believe in R'iia, a malevolent god who brings storms and danger to the planet. In fact, the desert storm is to be the same storm over and over again. Rey doesn't believe the religion, but I found it to be unique.

Th ending should have been predictable for me, but threw me off-guard. That was sad.

Poe Dameron is the son of an A-Wing pilot (mother) and Pathfinder commando on Endor (father). The couple moved to Yavin 4, where Poe was raised to be a flier and thinker. His father fears that the old battles were fought for nothing.

This is something that Poe begins to believe as well, but he will still fight for what he feels is right. He is the commander of the X-Wing Rapier Squadron, which witnesses the growth of the First Order (and the Resistance) within the New Republic. There is mention of a "victory" generation born within a year after Palpatine died. I enjoyed the brief musings on how many couples may have not had children because of Palpatine's reign. It makes me think of the difference in the U.S. between the "Y2K" kids and the "9/11" kids (and the decrease in school enrollment because of the fewer number of children).

It was weird to see BB's name spelled out as "Ate" instead of "Eight." Lieutenant Karé KUN threw me off-guard!! A KUN SURNAME!! Sure, Exar Kun wasn't a good person, but still - the surname! Also, the character Iola Arana is described as a 'Keshian.' I wonder if the planet Kesh will make its way in the NEU. Poe meeting Leia and then working for her was done perfectly. He also met Ematt, tying this to the other YA novels in the "Before the Awakening" series, and "the old guy" from TFA is named at the end.

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Tutti

Drei nette Geschichten, die trotz kleiner Mängel gut unterhalten. (Enthält Spoiler)

Reviewed in Germany on June 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

FINN
Dass auf jeder Seite gefühlte hundertmal FN-2187 stand, war vermutlich unvermeidlich, aber deshalb nicht weniger nervig. Um das nicht
fortzusetzen, nenne ich ihn Finn. Bei der Trainingsmission am Anfang fühlte ich mich sehr an die Folge „Klonkadetten“ von „The Clone Wars“ erinnert. Der Kontrast zwischen den Klonen, die vorgeworfen bekommen, einen Kameraden zurückgelassen zu haben und Finn dem angekreidet wird, dass er ein gefährliches Maß an Empathie gezeigt hat, als er mit seinem Team Slip gerettet hat, fand ich sehr schön.

Ansonsten verlief der Finn-Teil des Buchs wie erwartet ab: Natürlich musste erklärt werden, warum Finn relativ gut mit einem Lichtschwert umgehen kann und der von Fans zuerst genannte „Tr-8r“ Sturmtruppler, also FN-2199, musste vorgestellt werden.

„... some of the equipment was strong enough to block even a lightsaber. FN-2187 wondered about that – not whether it was true but whether or not they would ever be expected to fight someone who used a lightsaber“

Dabei musste ich etwas schmunzeln, weil er später derjenige mit dem Lichtschwert ist gegen den sich ein Sturmtruppler behaupten muss.

Was mich dann wirklich gestört hat, war die fast identische Szene zu „The Force Awakens“: Finn bekommt den Befehl Zivilisten zu töten und führt den Befehl
nicht aus, während Captain Phasma direkt neben ihm steht. Das hätte man wirklich besser lösen können. Ich fand es in Episode VII selbst schon gerade so akzeptabel, dass Finn nicht einfach direkt wegen Befehlsverweigerung irgendwie bestraft oder sogar hingerichtet wird.

Kylo Ren merkt es offensichtlich, da er später direkt weiß, welcher Sturmtruppler die Erste Ordnung verraten hat und unternimmt nichts. Captain Phasma hätte man im Film noch entschuldigen können, weil sie ihn auffordert seinen Blaster zur Inspektion zu bringen, was vermutlich beweisen sollte, dass er nicht gefeuert hat, obwohl der Blaster voll funktionsfähig war.

Durch die Szene im Buch ist aber ganz klar: Sie weiß, dass Finn nicht dazu fähig ist, Unschuldige umzubringen und sie bräuchte eigentlich keinen Beweis mehr dafür, dass er nicht gefeuert hat. Hätte man es irgendwie so konstruiert, dass Finn den Befehl über Funk erhalten hätte und nur die Leser wirklich gewusst hätten, dass er den Befehl nicht ausgeführt hat, hätte mir wesentlich besser gefallen. Die Szene hat besser für Slip als für Finn funktioniert.

Die darauf folgende Szene mit der Simulation ganz am Ende fand ich für Finn selbst toll. Wie er in der Simulation steht und realisiert, dass er diese nicht mehr als Spiel betrachten kann, ist großartig. Das war meiner Meinung nach, die beste Stelle des Finn-Teils, wenn man ignoriert, dass Captain Phasma ihn SCHON WIEDER dabei beobachtet. Das löst in mir das Gefühl aus, das Buch gegen meinen Kopf schlagen zu wollen.

„She would give him one more chance, Phasma decided.“

REY
Beim Rey-Teil des Buchs wusste ich nicht so richtig, was mich erwartet und vielleicht lag es daran, dass mir der Teil am besten gefallen hat. Wenn man nichts erwartet, kann man fast gar nicht enttäuscht werden. Im Bezug auf „The Force Awakens“ fand ich die Erklärung ihrer Flugkünste gut, da dass ein oft genannter
Kritikpunkt des Films war und ich jetzt sagen kann: „Aber in Before the Awakening wird das doch erklärt.“

Die Entdeckung und Reparatur des Schiffs war eine nette Idee. Als dann Devi und Strunk auftauchen, war mir sofort klar, wie es endet. So eine Erkenntnis kann manchmal dazu führen, dass man einfach will, dass es endlich passiert, aber hier habe ich irgendwie trotzdem die ganze Zeit mitgefiebert und gehofft, dass Rey ihr Ziel erreichen kann. Die beste Stelle im Rey-Teil ist auch bebildert: Rey will ihr Schiff gegen vier Teedos trotz einer aussichtslosen Situation verteidigen und wird durch ihre beiden eher unfreiwilligen Geschäftspartner gerettet. Das bringt ihnen ihr Vertrauen ein, dass sie später dazu nutzen können das Schiff zu stehlen. Die gelassene Reaktion von Rey darauf war super.

POE
Der Poe-Teil hat den Unterschied zwischen den Einsätzen der Republik und des Widerstands gut aufgezeigt. Hier wurde ich auch etwas überrascht, da ich nicht damit gerechnet hatte, dass Poe nicht schon immer beim Widerstand war. Von dem Teil des Buchs ist mir nicht mehr ganz so viel in Erinnerung. Die Mission am Ende war, meine ich, ein ganz passable Raumschlacht und die Gespräche mit Leia haben mir gefallen.

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K. G. A. Alavi

Good beginning, and ending but the middle was a bit slow

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2015

Verified Purchase

Despite my usual hatred of prequels, I quite enjoyed most of this book. The the first story and last story were very good, but the middle I found very slow I personally do not think it added any depth to Rey, I did not know from watching the movie, but it did for the other two.

The first story is about Fin. Fin has to potential to become one if the greatest storm troopers, (which is not saying much as I know more clone trooper names than storm troopers), but he has one major flaw, empathy towards his team mates over his mission objectives, and compassion. Can his training see him through to survive in the merciless universe of the First Order.

Rey's story follows her on her day to day scavenging to survive. Could something be drawing her to find some truly exceptional? Personally this was my least faverite story of the 3. Also it is the longest. Personally I think the could have thrown Fin an extra 30 pages.

Poe's story a very good. For me this is what a prequel is supposed to do fill in a couple of gaps left in the main story. For this story did that. Watching the movie I personally had a question of why there was a resistance when there was a New Republic, but this story answer that fully. The story also boasts the most star power thanks to a certain guest appearance. This story finishes possible a day or two before the movie starts.

This is probobly one of the best prequel books I have read. If they gave as much insitght into Rey as the did the other two I would have given this 5 stars easily. I am assuming the reason got this is giving that kind of information might be saved got the next movie. Still if that was the case I would have made her story shorter and Fin's longer.

5 people found this helpful

Panagiotis Georgiadis

Nothing special, a bit of a cheap-read

Reviewed in Germany on February 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

My thoughts...
============
... are that characters in the book (Rey and Finn) are somewhat quite different compared to the movie. Finn isn't that super great soldier or leader or fearless guy ... and Rey doesn't seem to have such big trust issues in the movie. The only normal story, was that of Poe Dameron.

Generally, I didn't like the style of writing nor the illustrations. To sum up, I felt that I was reading a cheap draft written in a rush. Definitely below my average and personal expectations.

Spoilers ahead
-------------

The book is separated into three stories:

Finn's story
----------
His friends called him 'Eighty-Seven' and they all were part of the fire-team (but in the movie he's in sanitation). He was everything Captain Phasma and General Hux wanted - loyal, dutiful, brave, smart, and strong. Whatever the test or evaluation, he consistently scored in the top 1%. He had strong leadership skills and the potential to be one of the finest stormtroopers. However, during his first actual mission, Finn couldn't pull the trigger against innocent people nor turn his back to his friends when they cried for help. Apparently, these are not the materials that stormtroopers are made from. In contrast, a real stormtrooper has no room for sympathy, doubts or remorse. Thus, he turned from such a remarkable promise into an outsider; a bad joke among the others, dealing with the fact that he was never going to become one of them.

Rey's story
---------
Rey was an orphan girl, living inside the relics of a walker, waiting for her parents to come back. She was left at Jakku, a deserted and dangerous planet known for its biblical storms (X'us'R'iia), the famine and other plagues -- not to mention the gnaw-jaws at night. Like most of the inhabitants (Teedos and their Luggabeasts), Rey also was a scavenger. She was spending most of the day climbing and looking for salvage hidden beneath the sand, then repairing them up to a point, then washing them to remove the dirt and finally trading them to Unkar. Everybody were exchanging their findings for a number of portions in return, eating mutt to satisfy their gnawing hunger. Character-wise, Rey was an introvert, hardy and skilled in combat, clever but stubborn; a young girl trying to survive trapped into this galactic graveyard. Usually she was working on repairs, jury-rigging a bunch of stuff (like her makeshift gloves from the movie) and last but not least, she was reverse-engineering a-hell-of-a things. Her life story is pretty much depressive, talking about a poor orphan girl with trust issues, abandoned in a cruel place, sometimes struggling to survive and some others hacking for fun or playing flight simulator. Up until one day ... she finds an old a ship and the story gets interesting.

Poe's story
---------
Poe used to be the leader of an X-Wing Republic patrol, when one day they engaged with some of the First Order foes, resulting to the death of one of his comrades. With cloud judgment, Poe disobeys direct orders and goes on a pursuit in order to claim evidence that will alarm his superiors against the real pressing threat of the First Order. However, the Republic seems to be once again corrupted and unwilling to actively do something but protest in a formal diplomatic way in order to keep things at peace. Without any hope left and facing a penalty against breaking the military law, Poe joins the Resistance. After a chit-chat with Leia, he's on the move again, going after a corrupted politician. In the end, a lot of information were obtained but the most important thing was that they found that 'Lor San Tekka' (he is the elderly man in the start of the movie) might knows something about the location of Luke Skywalker. This is when Leia sends her best pilot, Poe, to find Lor San Tekka before First Order does.

--

A Good, Quick and Entertaining Read

Reviewed in Germany on February 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

I bought this novel after having read the customer reviews over on Amazon.com and did not regret it.

The book is split into three parts- Finn, Rey, and Poe's respective stories. Whilst I agree with other reviews that I have read so far that Poe's story is the most complex one told in the book, I ended up enjoying all three stories a lot.

Obviously, Greg Rucka couldn't tell us too much about Rey's past since that has yet to be established by the upcoming movies, and also couldn't write too much about Finn's past before the First Order abducted him, which is clearly a reason for why Poe's story ends up being the one that gives us the most background details on his life prior to The Force Awakens.

The novel is a quick read if one finds a spare afternoon to spend reading, and it certainly has many quotable moments, such as "Rey didn't believe in a word of it, but she didn't believe in much outside herself." and Leia stating that Poe reminded her of her brother, adding "Fly like him, too, apparently". Furthermore, Rucka introduces the reader to a few other X-Wing pilots from his squadron in Poe's story, all of which are a fitting addition in my opinion.

I will not go into detail about the different stories now as there are already multiple other reviews and summaries out there that do so already, but I can only recommend the novel to anyone who liked the movie, books written in an easy yet enjoyable style, and wants to find out a bit more about the three characters' backgrounds.

On a side note: The gorgeous six illustrations by Phil Noto definitely fit the stories and are a joy to look at (in my personal opinion). I'm curious about the upcoming Poe Dameron spin-off comics he is going to draw the art for! :)

4 people found this helpful

IGOR

Lack of Star Wars vocabulary

Reviewed in Canada on December 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

The stories are great, it gives a lot of information about these 3 characters, but the writing is very poor, the writer use words like "alien" and "humanoid" that are not part of the Star Wars vocabulary, usually when you read a good Star Wars book, comic or watch a movie, "alien" creatures mentioned by their race or planet of origin and you get a description of how they look if it's a race that has never been introduced before.
Also, the writer mentions "walkers", after watching the movie I know that the type of walker being referenced is an AT-AT (don know which model) and not an AT-AP or an AT-PT or any other AT vehicle.

7 people found this helpful

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