Star Wars: Lost Stars
by Claudia Gray

Publication Date:
September 4, 2015

Timeframe:
11 BBY – 5 ABY

Synopsis:
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 together to become fighter pilots for the glorious Empire is nothing less than a dream come true for the both of them. But Thane sours on the dream when he sees firsthand the horrific tactics the Empire uses to maintain its ironclad rule.

GUEST REVIEW!

Special guest reviewer Marty Drumpus!

Lost Stars, at surface level, appears to be a coming-of-age tale about two children, with vastly different backgrounds, growing up together and falling in love. On a deeper level, which isn’t much deeper than the surface level, this garbage book from the swamp is a mundane tale of two teenagers who just want to fuck each other for years and can’t. As someone who wants to fuck someone and can’t, this rubbish extremely insults those of us who can’t get girls to look in our direction even after donning the most dapper of fedoras. This is a completely unrealistic tale of two children who have a friendship so strong that they don’t even think about fucking each other for years! YEARS! A boy can’t have a friendship with a girl without wanting sex with her. It’s just biology!

You should have heard how loudly I groaned and moaned every time these two were worlds apart, yet still longed for each other. It’s like, hello? Star Destroyers are full of guys who would want to fuck Ciena! All Ciena had to do was look a nice guy in the eyes and smile and he would have shown her a great time. He would have used all his credits to purchase chocolates and roses and a nice candlelit dinner. But no, she never gave the nice guys a chance.

Don’t get me started on Thane Kyrell, that bastard. He doesn’t know how good he has it. I understand that the Empire is evil, and that the powers-that-be just want to rule the galaxy with fear and intimidation. They want to blow up any planets with populations of traitors and rebels and defectors. I understand that Thane became so disillusioned by the Empire and its corruption of morality and decency that he had no choice but to fake his death and escape the military… but, come on. Ciena was right there for the fucking! Are you kidding me? This guy who grew up with the girl of his dreams decides to leave her, possibly forever, over a finely-tuned moral compass?? I would have stuck with the Empire’s military, grinning and bearing it while riding out my service, so I could hit that shit! Any time I wanted?! WHY WOULD THANE KYRELL JUST LEAVE THAT? What an idiot!

And these characters just happened to be at the right place at the right time for each major event of the original trilogy? Unlikely! Millions upon millions of Imperial soldiers and members of the Rebel Alliance, and Thane and Ciena are there for everything? The explosion of the first Death Star, the battle on Hoth, and the explosion of the second Death Star? Um, how is that possible?? I’m having a heart attack over here!

I hate this book! I hate it with the flaming passion of seven hundred fiery suns! I’m going to take my copy and drop it in the toilet and then take a big dump on it! Fuck you, Claudia Gray! I should have never picked up Lost Stars, especially since it was written by a woman!

TOM’S REVIEW!

Tom, the Cool Guy

This book was pretty great. I like a good coming-of-age tale, and this is one of the best ones I’ve read in a long time. Possibly ever. Thane and Ciena start as youngins from different classes in the same part of town, and they meet at a Imperial ceremony celebrating the Empire’s new acquisition of their planet. They become fast friends and spend the majority of their formative years flight training with each other. They form a special bond, one which is put under the test several times through the course of the novel as Thane’s disillusionment of the Empire grows until he defects to the Rebel Alliance and Ciena’s disillusionment of the Empire grows until she grins and bears it for reasons of honor and loyalty.

The characterizations and growth of Thane and Ciena are so believable that they seem like real people. The story progresses at a pace that matches the slow development of their respective internal conflicts. This is my first Star Wars novel and I can’t compare it to any of the other 700 Star Wars novels, but I find it unlikely that anyone else treats the Empire as a morally ambiguous entity. Lost Stars shows the human side of the “bad guy”. We see young kids go through academy training and become fresh-faced, proud Imperial officers with nothing but good intentions. True friendships. Depictions of decency and integrity with shades of gray from both sides of the war.

Major events from the original trilogy take place from Thane’s and/or Ciena’s perspective. Thane is proud of the Death Star until it destroys Alderaan, and the billions of innocent people along with it. Ciena loses friends when the Rebels destroy the Death Star. Many battles ensue where the two likely face off, such as the battle on Hoth, where both of them are terrified of killing one another. Thane loses friends during each battle against the Empire. Ciena meets Darth Vader and is intimidated by his hateful presence. Ciena sees Emperor Palpatine and is repelled. Ciena is ordered to chase down the Millennium Falcon through the asteroid field in a fruitless mission that causes needless casualties. Thane keeps hearing names like “Luke Skywalker” and “General Calrissian” and rolling his eyes at these Rebel Alliance showboats. It made it all the more enjoyable to see how minor universe characters were impacted by the actions of the main movie characters. The obliteration of Alderaan which, let’s be honest, wasn’t treated at all with the emotional weight it deserved in A New Hope. Princess Leia barely blinked. In Lost Stars, multiple people are deeply affected in profound, long-lasting ways. That’s some better storytelling. That’s some good shit.

As for the actual romance part of the plot, I didn’t have a problem with it. I have a pretty high tolerance for romance anyway as long as it’s TASTEFUL and WELL-WRITTEN. Lost Stars exceeds expectations in both respects. It’s implied that Thane and Ciena fuck twice and I was actually invested in their eventual consummation. I’m glad they did it! And I didn’t even roll my eyes or sneer or anything like that… not really. Maybe a little. I mean, come on, how in-love could you possibly get?

The ending wasn’t very happy, but at least it was realistic. Ciena is detained by the Rebel Alliance as a war criminal indefinitely. Thane is optimistic that they can get through this, but the reader knows that shit’s not gonna get better! That’s what you get for serving the Empire, lady. Maybe next time you won’t serve the Empire with such gusto.

WORTH A READ?

Yes. Take it from me, I have only working knowledge of the Star Wars universe and I don’t even know what a Bantha is and I loved this book. It’s basically a fantasy/adventure romance story that just happens to have words like “Tatooine” and “Sith” in it. A perfect first dip into Star Wars literature. I heard there might even be a Lost Stars 2! That would rule.