ericadawn16 | Ahsoka

I finished the book and it was AWESOME!It was just about everything I wanted and more.

SPOILERS

It covers the very infancy of the Rebellion. Ahsoka tries to blend in, to not end up like everyone she ever knew after Order 66 but at the same time, she knows she cannot stay silent and not help. There are lots of people smuggling food and other items on their own. At the same time, Bail Organa is also organizing an opposition to the Empire with Mon Mothma and others...connecting all these unconnected groups that are fighting the Empire already. I assume this includes Saw's group at first...Jyn Erso is only 3 or 4 and probably still living on Coruscant at this point. I also wonder about 7 or 8 year old Cassian and whether he was also adopted by such a group. At the perfect moment, Ahsoka and Bail reunite.

The vast majority of main characters are either aliens or those with darker skin and/or disabilities. It was so nice having that in a book. I enjoyed all of them especially Kaeden Larte. Several Tumblrs suggested Kaeden/Ahsoka for Fem Slash February and I could totally see that. However, Ahsoka never thinks about sex or being attracted to someone. I'm aware that her Jedi training discouraged such thoughts but I also know that never stopped Anakin, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, etc. in current and former canon. It made me wonder whether she does have a different sexual orientation, maybe even an Asexual.

Kaeden is definitely attracted to females.
"I could kiss you."
Ahsoka stopped in her tracks. The look she shot Kaeden was mildly confused.
"Not now, I mean," Kaeden said. She wanted to laugh for the first time in weeks but thought that might just be the hysteria kicking in. "My timing is terrible and you have all those Jedi hang-ups. I just wanted you to know in case me die."
"Oh," said Ahsoka. "Well, thanks." She paused. "And we are not going to die."

I want to re-watch that episode where Rex and Ahsoka reunite. It turns out that Ahsoka and Rex planted fake evidence and graves to look like they had killed each other during Order 66.

Ahsoka had nearly wept when she read the updated bulletins of what continued to happen on Kashyyyk while she'd been out of contact on Raada. She wondered what had become of Chewbacca, the Wookie with whom she had escaped from captivity on the hunter moon. She hoped he had survived and that he hadn't regained his freedom only to lose it again, but she was starting to lose that hope.

Seriously, if Luke would just listen to Chewie, he'd have a treasure trove of Jedi information just from him. Did Luke mention Yoda before meeting him and Chewie was just...that's going to be hilarious, I'm not going to spoil the surprise of who Yoda really is?

She learned the main weapon of the Empire, after fear, was hunger. She had seen this strategy at work on Raada and also the Clone Wars, but to see it applied on such a large scale made her very uncomfortable. The Empire was still new, still establishing itself in the outer reaches of the galaxy, and yet it was already incredibly powerful. And she realized she had helped build it. The mechanisms put in place during the Clone Wars had been twisted for the Empire's use, and every day the Emperor's hold grew tighter.

I loved that we got a little more about her background, about before Ahsoka was taken away by the Jedi.

Obi-Wan has a brief appearance where he reveals He'd gone to Shmi Skywalker's grave to apologize for losing her son.

So, Black Sun is still canon.../

Remember Ilum from Star Wars: The Clone Wars? It was the planet they took the Younglings to so they could get their lightsaber crystals a.k.a. kyber crystals.

Remember in Rogue One how they destroyed much of Jedha over kyber crystals?

Yeah, they ruined Ilum. Great chunks of the planet had been carved away, exposing rock and lava that boiled up from the planet's core. Considering how cold it was portrayed in the television series, there is only one logical conclusion...
They turned Ilum into Starkiller Base.

Eww, eww, eww. I really hate when bullies destroy the religious heritage of others because they can and because they want to prove their superiority.

Ahsoka's fight with the Inquisitor would have been awesome to watch...but who had the crystals originally?

Ahsoka invents the term, Fulcrum!!! SQUEEE!!!
She's also the first person other than Bail to run the intelligence networks for the Rebellion which begs the question...she met Cassian, right? Maybe even trained him?

Of course, reading about those with little resources banding together against a tyrant is very appealing...if I don't think too hard about it taking over 20 years to beat them or that the bad guys later gather enough resources to fight back...again.

Unfortunately, Ahsoka doesn't meet Leia. I still want this to happen even if she doesn't piece together who her real parents are...but given enough time, she totally would. There's this great exchange:

"How did you get in here?" Bail said the first thing that came into his head. "Artoo opened the hatch for me as soon as he board," Ahsoka said.
"I should have him deactivated," Bail said with no real threat in his voice. "He is far too independent for a droid."
"He had a lot of bad role models," Ahsoka said dryly.
"That's true," Bail said. "Though Skywalker was your teacher, too."
"I was talking about Senator Amidala, actually," Ahsoka said. "Artoo belonged to her first."
"Where's your ship?" Bail asked, changing the subject to avoid the sudden tightness in his throat.

He doesn't even like saying "Jedi" because of how he scared he is about Leia. I'm glad Ahsoka got to work together with Artoo again. She mentions missing him multiple times before that and Artoo's reaction is described as "beeped happily at her." She's not the only he misses though. He reminds her how Padme had trusted Bail and...
He made a series of sad sounds.
"I know, little guy."Her heart clenched around the empty spot where Anakin Skywalker used to be."I miss him, too."

Also, she assumes Anakin is dead with everyone else.

Hmm, I wonder when Artoo found out Anakin was Darth Vader.

Confession Time:
I pictured all cantina scenes as resembling the cantina from the Christmas special, not the one from A New Hope.

Whenever the narrator mentions Raada, my mind has Shnitzel from Chowder reading it for me.

Unanswered Questions:

Is there anyone who has NOT battled Darth Maul? Damn, that guy gets around. Also, will Ahsoka be mentioned when Darth Maul tracks down Obi-Wan on Tatooine?
I'm really hoping that Obi-Wan kills him for good this time.

What happens to Hedala Fardi???

When does Leia learn to read? When does she start being involved? is it before age 6 so she doesn't remember ever not being involved with the Rebellion? She knows no other life?

Did Luke later put gravestones for Beru and Owen alongside Shmi and Clegg?

What happens to Kaeden and Miara???

P.S. For others who get bothered about that sort of things, there were a few mistakes that made it to the printed version but not as bad as some other books I've read. Still, I always think it looks sloppy.