Book review
WOW! This was well worth my wait. AND with Charles Soule telling the tale, I knew it would be good.
Highlights:
– First, we are introduced to Ren, a masked man who leads the Knights of Ren, and who carries his red lightsaber, also named Ren. He is meeting two possible recruits to join the Knights and when they can’t live up to it, he kills them both.
– We pick up Ben’s story after the burning of Luke’s Jedi School. Three other Jedi apprentices Voe, Hennix, and Tai land on the planet and confront Ben Solo as he is getting ready to leave. A space battle stops them from pursuing him.
– Ben goes to visit Snoke on a very lush world. They decide that Ben must go visit the Knights of Ren and try to join their ranks to learn more about the Dark Side.
– We get a flashback where Luke, Ben and Lor San Tekka find a Jedi repository, and already there, trying to steal treasures, are the Knights of Ren. (This next scene should be in a movie!) We see Luke absolutely defeat and school the entire group of Knights on his own. Ren picks up his team and leaves, taking no artifacts.
– Ben goes to the same Jedi repository and finds a communicator from Ren, which he finds out where to go to meet them.
– Voe, Hennix, and Tai land and try to stop Ben. We see the battle unfold in a flashback story told to Ren by Ben where Hennix gets killed by Ben. Ren deems that death not worthy enough to join the Knights completely, but allows him to come along with them because of Snoke’s endorsement.
– After some time, while on a mission with the Knights, Voe and Tai find Ben and begin the battle again. Ben kills Voe and Ren kills Tai. Upon saying that he is still unfit to join the Knights, Ben attacks and kills Ren, taking his position as leader. (We see this event felt by Leia and Rey)
– Ben, using his built up rage, turns his kyber crystal red and cracked, and thus must alter his lightsaber to accommodate the instability. Now, he takes the title of Kylo Ren.
So glad to have some of this history finally come to light. Would still love a series about Luke teaching the young ones, before the fall of Ben.
Strong recommend, especially if you are a huge Star Wars fan like me.
- Goodreads rating – 3.93
- REVIEW – Adam Fisher