Review: Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars Ends Perfectly and You're Not Prepared
A spoiler-free review of Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars by Sam Maggs.
One week from today … is new Star Wars book day! This month, Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars finally hits shelves, and let me tell you … author Sam Maggs has added a truly special story to the Star Wars universe.
This is my spoiler, free review of the book. Normally I release these reviews the day the book comes out … but I have something a little different planned for next week. More on that later. Anyway … the review.
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY …
Cal Kestis has built a new life for himself with the crew of the Stinger Mantis. Together, Cal's crew has brought down bounty hunters, defeated Inquisitors, and even evaded Darth Vader himself. More importantly, Merrin, Cere, Greez, and faithful droid BD-1 are the closest thing Cal has had to a family since the fall of the Jedi Order. Even as the galaxy's future grows more uncertain by the day, with each blow struck against the Empire, the Mantis crew grows more daring.
On what should be a routine mission, they meet a stormtrooper determined to chart her own course with the help of Cal and the crew. In exchange for help starting a new life, the Imperial deserter brings word of a powerful, potentially invaluable tool for their fight against the Empire. And even better, she can help them get to it. The only catch – pursuing it will bring them into the path of one of the Empire's most dangerous servants, the Inquisitor known as the Fifth Brother.
Can the Imperial deserter truly be trusted? And while Cal and his friends have survived run-ins with the Inquisitors before, how many times can they evade the Empire before their luck runs out?
Jedi: Battle Scars tells the story of Cal and his crew as they embark on a dangerous mission to (hopefully) stop the Empire from doing even more damage to the larger galaxy. It’s a story about love, trust, sacrifice, and remembering why we fight against opposing forces that feel bigger and stronger than us … even when it’s hard.
The book takes place between the Jedi: Fallen Order game and its upcoming sequel Jedi: Survivor. Even if you’re not familair with Fallen Order though, you can still very much enjoy and appreciate this story. It seamlessly catches the reader up on everything they need to know, but quickly and right in the midst of the action so you don’t feel like you’re reading an opening crawl that goes on for just … a bit … too … long.
While familiar characters from the games like Cal and Merrin feature prominently in the story, there are plenty of new faces to expand the world a bit. But the author manages to round out and develop both familiar characters and new ones brilliantly. You get inside Greez’s head during one of the most tragic times of his life. You come to understand the new characters through the way they interact with Merrin and Cal and Cere.
Battle Scars is also … fun. It’s a true action-adventure story that makes you feel like you’re inside a video game (without having to press buttons and die a hundred times before you reach the end … don’t judge me, I’m a casual gamer OK?). But the book is able to expand the story and its characters so much further than a game could, which is why it’s the perfect lead-up to Survivor in April.
There’s also a little bit of romance in these pages, and don’t worry, Cal remains as much of an innocent dork as he’s always been and I say that with all the love in my heart for that boy. He has a best friend who’s an adorable droid. That’s all he needs.
Merrin, on the other hand … girl has a great time. I love her.
And you’re going to love this book if you’re looking for a brand-new Star Wars story that packs in classic elements from the franchise, making it feel like the adventures you know and love, except it’s wrapped in chaos and I cannot wait to read it again!!!!
From Start to finish, this book grabbed me, held me, and mesmerized me without losing my attention for even a second. Every exchange between characters, every monologue, every description of an environment or dip into a character’s thoughts was so beautifully worded and framed. And the classic Star Wars themes that run through the narrative – everything from hope to discovering who you are through the journeys you take – are as relatable to us in the real world as they are to the fictional universe they’re embedded in.
Sam Maggs … gets Star Wars. Not only that, but it clearly means a lot to her. You can tell when an author is writing a story in a universe that has at least in some way shaped who they are as a person. It makes their stories that much more beautiful.
This book is going to knock an entry out of my top five … I just haven’t decided which one yet. I can’t wait for you to read it soon.
Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars by Sam Maggs is available … next Tuesday, March 7, wherever you get your Star Wars books.
Stay tuned for a special episode hitting your feeds on release day. You’re not going to want to miss it.
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