{"id":50382,"date":"2016-11-07T10:06:06","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T18:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/?p=50382"},"modified":"2019-03-05T17:45:01","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T01:45:01","slug":"book-review-e-k-johnston-ahsoka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/book-review-e-k-johnston-ahsoka\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Finding and Fighting for Your Song: E.K. Johnston\u2019s Ahsoka"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

In 2008, I dutifully took my son, then seven years old and a budding Star Wars<\/em> fan, to see Star Wars: The Clone Wars<\/em> at our local movie theater. I wasn\u2019t happy about it. No cartoon could count as a real<\/em> Star Wars<\/em> movie, I grumbled to myself. (Well, and to my wife, who told me to relax.)<\/p>\n

I became even unhappier when, right out of the gate, this cartoon introduced an apprentice for Anakin Skywalker. A padawan<\/em>? Anakin didn\u2019t have a padawan! And their cutesy names for each other\u2014\u201cSnips\u201d? \u201cSky Guy\u201d? Give me a break!<\/p>\n

I know I wasn\u2019t the only Star Wars<\/em> fan skeptical of Ahsoka Tano<\/a> when she made her debut. Fortunately, she proved all of us wrong.<\/p>\n

During The Clone Wars<\/em>\u2019 five televised seasons, Ahsoka grew into one of the entire Star Wars<\/em> saga\u2019s most dynamic and engaging characters. Her journey from energetic and idealistic adventurer to a disillusioned but wiser and stronger survivor was a coming-of-age tale every bit as rich as Luke Skywalker\u2019s. And her return, in Star Wars Rebels<\/em><\/a>\u2019 first two seasons, as a pivotal figure in the fledgling Rebel Alliance sealed her importance.<\/p>\n

It also didn\u2019t hurt that, in Ahsoka, we were given a female hero for a fictional universe that, until recently, hasn\u2019t featured all that many. Rey<\/a> and Jyn Erso<\/a> can both count this strong, quick-witted, tenacious Togruta as a forerunner.<\/p>\n

Rise of a Rebel<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had hoped novelist E.K. Johnston\u2019s Ahsoka<\/em> would be a full-length \u201cbiography\u201d of the character. It\u2019s not. It\u2019s something better. It\u2019s the story of how Ahsoka finds her true calling, and that focus gives it a resonance with real life that makes it richer than many Star Wars<\/em> novels.<\/p>\n

The action begins during the siege of Mandalore, a conflict referenced during Rebels<\/em>\u2019 second season but never seen (it would have been key to The Clone Wars<\/em>\u2019 unproduced series finale). Ahsoka, who has returned to fight alongside the Republic\u2019s clones, faces down Darth Maul<\/a>. The scene is a dramatic and welcome glimpse into a crucial moment in Clone Wars history, and Johnston immediately claims readers\u2019 full attention with it.<\/p>\n

The story then leapfrogs one year ahead. Having escaped death when Emperor Palpatine triggered Order 66<\/a>, Ahsoka is alone, traveling from planet to planet under an assumed name as she tries to keep ahead of the Empire.<\/p>\n

Her journeys take her to Raada, a small agricultural moon, where she falls in with a struggling farming crew. Her emotional ties to these people\u2014especially to Kaeden, a young woman who first helps Ahsoka when she arrives\u2014and the unexpected appearance of Imperial troops force the former padawan to decide whether she will continue to live as a loner whose only agenda is survival, or as someone connected to others and to a larger cause\u2014despite that path\u2019s risks to her life, and to her heart.<\/p>\n

An Exciting Story of Vocation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Given her role as \u201cFulcrum\u201d in Rebels<\/em> (and in these pages we learn that code name\u2019s origin), Ahsoka\u2019s ultimate choice won\u2019t surprise any Star Wars<\/em> fans. But the story Johnston tells of how Ahsoka reaches that point is interesting and exciting. Ahsoka\u2019s time on Raada occupies only about half the book; the other half reunites Ahsoka with some familiar faces from the prequels and The Clone Wars<\/em>, and also introduces another Inquisitor, hot on Ahsoka\u2019s trail.<\/p>\n

Johnston crafts engaging action sequences and keeps her story moving forward at a brisk pace. She also fills the book with an impressive number of genuinely emotional moments; Ahsoka\u2019s visit to her own, fake grave is one good example. And the farmers on Raada feel like fully realized individuals, thanks to Johnston\u2019s good ear for dialogue and deft use of detail.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the author\u2019s obvious affection for and thorough knowledge of Ahsoka that really set this book apart. Ahsoka\u2019s journey will be familiar to anyone, not just the young adults to whom the book is marketed, who has struggled to discover a sense of direction and purpose. As so many of us do, Ahsoka discerns and determines her destiny in fits and starts. Her journey will inspire anyone who has felt stymied by life, convinced, as she is, \u201cThere must be another way,\u201d but not always able to decide how to move forward.<\/p>\n

When Ahsoka hears the call of the crystals that will power her new, white-bladed lightsabers (and there is an especially cool bit of lightsaber lore finally explained in this book), she realizes, \u201cThe song was hers, if she was willing to fight for it.\u201d This novel offers well-written and encouraging entertainment for all Star Wars<\/em> fans who\u2019ve rooted for Ahsoka, especially to the ones who are still listening and willing to fight for their<\/em> songs, too.<\/p>\n

Have you read Ahsoka? What did you think? Let\u2019s talk in the comments below!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Entertainment Earth, Inc. its owners, officers, employees, affiliates, subsidiaries, partners, vendors, customers or licensors.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In 2008, I dutifully took my son, then seven years old and a budding Star Wars fan, to see Star Wars: The Clone Wars at our local movie theater. I wasn\u2019t happy about it. No cartoon could count as a real Star Wars movie, I grumbled to myself. (Well, and to my wife, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,108,3792,3794,109],"tags":[4725,2674,3316,4726,3145,112,3648,419,165,4622],"yst_prominent_words":[6272,6277,6275,6270,6282,6283,6279,6281,6278,6284,6280,5780,5779,6271,6125,6276,5781,6274,6129,6273],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50382"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64100,"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50382\/revisions\/64100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50382"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entertainmentearth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=50382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}