Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars
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 important, 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?
Author: Sam Maggs
Release date: Mar 07, 2023
ISBN: 9780593598603
Years after the events of Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order the crew of the Mantis are still on the run from both the Empire and the Brood. Now more family than crew, Cal, Merrin, Cere, BD-1 and Greez have become a chaotic force, striking at the heart of their enemies and living from skirmish to skirmish. Things get a little more complicated when they pick up a deserting Stormtrooper and they are made aware of a revolutionary piece of technology that could tip the scales of the war in favour of the side that obtains it.
Fans of Jedi Fallen Order your time has come. Not only are you mere weeks away from a new videogame in the series but you now have an adult novel by a celebrated videogame writer to bridge the two games. The book jumps straight into the action and I was immediately hit by how much this feels like playing Jedi Fallen Order. The way that Maggs describes the action and balances narrative and recognisable moments from the game is seamless and natural. It’s expertly done and in less experienced hands could come across as cheesy and clunky. Maggs also writes with an infectious and cheeky humour that might be a little jarring at first for avid Star Wars book fans but quickly becomes endearing in the way that similar Star Wars authors like Daniel José Older have never quite managed (with the exception of the brilliant Midnight Horizon).
There’s an energetic zeal to Maggs’ writing and she seems to revel in the sandbox she’s been allowed to play in and you can tell she is making the most of the opportunity and pushing the boundaries of the sometimes restrictive canon. Whether it’s obscure and sneaky Legends references or bold character strokes, Maggs writes like this is her one shot in this universe and she’s not going to miss a thing.
Whilst certainly action packed, Battle Scars is most definitely focused primarily on character. I enjoyed Jedi Fallen Order like most but never felt connected to any of the characters beyond the usual videogames avatars you’d expect. This book has changed that. Cal is still mostly an asexual Luke-esque hero type but the rest of the crew have layers abound. This is a clear star here though and thats the displaced Nightsister Merrin. This is her story. Maggs has turned a late game side character into a wonderful, surprising and relatable flawed anti-hero. The relationship Merrin forms in this book is like nothing I’ve ever read in Star Wars before. It’s beyond sexy, deeply affecting and will stick with me for a long time. I never thought I’d ever say this a review but this is the steamiest Star Wars book ever and that’s absolutely worth celebrating.
The overarching plot is standard fare and is really only there to facilitate the character moments so don’t expect anything canon-shaking. If you’re looking forward to Jedi Survivor though or want a different, more adult novel set in a galaxy far, far away then this is definitely worth your time.
- Hardcover Book
- Maggs, Sam (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 304 Pages - 03/07/2023 (Publication Date) - Random House Worlds (Publisher)
