Spearheading the multimedia Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker publishing campaign, Resistance Reborn looks to fill in the blanks between the Battle of Crait and the clearly resurgent Resistance seen at the start of Episode IX. However, this is not a story that spans years or even months – much to her credit, Roanhorse maintains the two preceding films’ tight continuity, picking up the story almost immediately after the survivors’ harrowing escape from Crait and ending only a short time later. Rather than limit itself to being a Labyrinth of Evil-style lead-in, Resistance Reborn instead serves as a springboard for further “Journey to...” tales.
This is not to say that Resistance Reborn isn’t suitably epic in its scope. With numerous narrative threads instead of a Star Wars movie’s usual two or three, Roanhorse’s sprawling story covers more ground than even the busiest entries in the film series. Familiar worlds such as Ryloth and Corellia are explored from fascinating new angles, while the sweeping plot takes us to hitherto unseen worlds the like of Ikkrukk and Ephemera. The author even takes us back to Akiva, where she plucks Wedge Antilles and Norra Wexley from their retirement, before whisking us off to a junkyard planet that might well have been torn out of The Transformers where the First Order schedule captured New Republic ships to be – quite literally - eaten.
However, the real attraction of its novel is Roanhorse’s skilful handling of her large cast of characters. As you might expect, Poe and Leia each feature prominently, which particularly in the former’s case is vital given the gaping chasm between the foolhardy mutineer of The Last Jedi and reliable general of The Rise of Skywalker. No psychological stone is left unturned as Roanhorse tortures her central protagonist with doubts from within and without, not quite turning him into an overnight leader, but certainly giving him an almighty push in the right direction. Leia fares almost as well, particularly in her more introspective moments. She’s the face and heart of the Resistance, but here Roanhorse lets us under the hood, offering us rare insight into how this phenomenal woman gives her every breath in service of her cause despite having suffered what for most people would be insurmountable losses.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Resistance Reborn, though, is that its most compelling character is also its most abhorrent: Winshur Bratt, the First Order’s executive records officer on Corellia. On screen, the sequels only show us fleeting glimpses of the First Order’s personnel – beyond General Hux and his petty rivalry with Kylo Ren, we know precious little about what they believe in or even what the First Order actually is. Bratt serves as an illicit window into all that – we learn how the First Order controls whole worlds without even having to form a government; how it grooms the most ambitious and morally bankrupt of each planet’s populous for roles that would otherwise have been far above their station. Bratt might at times approach caricature, but Roanhorse offers us enough insight into his thoughts and feelings to really draw the reader into his narrow little world.
The novel also makes good on its promise of rebirth, with its plot ultimately furnishing the Resistance survivors with the tools that they need to rebuild. In the case of hardware, the mission to steal back captured Resistance ships is perhaps a little too convenient for most people’s tastes, but it’s still exhilaratingly executed. The cleverer limb of the story concerns the hunt for allies, and in particular a mission to recover a First Order “most wanted” list that could effectively serve as a guide to every ally the Resistance would ever need. This ties in beautifully with earlier novels, paying off some really quite emotional storylines set in motion a long time ago. I don’t know how far Star Wars literature is mapped out in advance (it can’t be any less planned than the movies), but Resistance Reborn seems to complete its mission with the sort of composure sorely lacking in The Rise of Skywalker. This book’s payoffs and revelations are hard-earned, and all the sweeter for it.
As well as reigniting my own interest in the larger Star Wars universe, Resistance Reborn is also significant for me as it’s my first Star Wars audiobook. As my reading time is presently consumed by Timothy Zahn’s enthralling new Grand Admiral Thrawn trilogy, rather than wait until I’ve finished that, I decided to enjoy Resistance Reborn on the move. Initially, it was a decision I regretted – the Lucasfilm-produced reading is marred by overpowering musical cues and background foley effects; the first chapter was actually painful to endure. Whilst John Williams’ authentic score is sampled, it’s deployed inappropriately throughout – “The Imperial March” is now apparently synonymous with the First Order, for instance, while “Darth Vader’s Death” is used to engender sympathy for a First Order officer’s death and overuse of the moving “Binary Sunset” refrain robs it of any resonance. Worse still, the music has been crudely cut and pasted in, lending the production an amateurish feel. Lucasfilm need to take some tips from Big Finish on how to produce audiobooks. Fortunately the reading is saved by narrator Marc Thompson, whose voice is put through an impressive range of contortions to produce a surprisingly credible portrayal of Poe and a most memorable Winshur Bratt. He even gets a good handle on tricky characters like Rey, Maz and Threepio. The end result is still hardly a stirring success, but it is at least an entertaining enough alternative to reading the book the old-fashioned way.
Though it doesn’t quite have the feel of being a Star Wars movie written down, as other notable lead-in novels have, Resistance Reborn is actually something a little better. All the superficial bells and whistles are there, but where it succeeds is in its substance. If The Rise of Skywalker’s forced twists and painful retcons weren’t for you, then its organic and meticulous prequel might just be.
The Star Wars: Resistance Reborn audiobook is available to download from iTunes for £7.99. Amazon obviously want you to subscribe to their Audible streaming service, in which case you can listen to the audiobook for “free”, as they charge a staggering £22.74 for the download. The CD edition retails for only a little more than that.
