Title Lost Stars Series Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Series Author Claudia Grey Cover Art Pilot Studio Publisher Disney LucasFilm Press - 2015 First Printing Disney LucasFilm Press - 2015 Category Science Fiction Warnings None Main Characters Ciena Ree, Thane Kyrell Main Elements Aliens Website claudiagray.com

The reign of the Galactic Empire has reached the Outer Rim planet of Jelucan, where aristocratic Thane Kyrell and rural villager Ciena Ree bond over their love of flying. Enrolling at the Imperial Academy is nothing less than a dream come true for both of them. But Thane sours on the dream when he sees firsthand the horrific tactics the Empire uses to maintain its ironclad rule.

Bitter and disillusioned, he joins the fledgeling Rebellion - putting Ciena in an unbearable position between her loyalty to the Empire and her love for the man she's known since childhood.

Now on the opposite sides of the war, will these friends turned foes ever find a way to be together, or will duty tear them - and the galaxy - apart?

I've never been a huge Star Wars fan, I mean I've seen all the movies, some of them more than once, but never felt the urge to go beyond that media, however someone suggested reading this one so decided to give it a try, especially since it's considered canon to the series and thus ties into the movies.

Well, it's a young adult tale of a girl and a boy from the same homeworld who decide that they want to become Imperial soldiers. However, once inside the system they could see all the flaws. One remains out of a sense of honour and duty, having made an oath to the Empire and still hoping it will be what everyone hoped it would be, the other is disillusioned and ultimately can no longer turn a blind eye to the atrocities and joins the Rebellion. We catch glimpses of our favorite characters - Skywalker, Leaia, Vader, Solo - but they are not the focus of this story.

In the end, I didn't really care about the characters, nor really get into the story (until certain key events occurred I wasn't even quite sure where in the timeline we were). But there was one aspect I really enjoyed - you know how in the movies the Imperial Officers are all in black & white, all stiff and formal, very few even get to speak? They didn't feel like people, they were charicature villains. But here we see they are real people, they play games, hang out together in their off time, and of course have their own ethical dilemas to deal with. Where *does* one's loyalty lie? We see them training, we see their pride in getting promoted, and we see their fear of their superiors. Vader hero worship soon turns to terror.

And nobody here can use the Force, in fact many think the Force is just some silly religious fanatic thing, it was interesting to have a story that wasn't Jedi based.

Other than that, I wasn't much inclined to continue except that it ends with one of the secondary characters going...well to the Dark Side I guess you could say. Also, I had to wonder if Ciena and Thane could possibly be Ray's mysterious parents? But if they are we don't find out in this book.

Either way, I'll probably stick to my Star Trek books.