Book Review: Skywalker: A Family at War

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Skywalker: A Family at War

The Skywalker story has everything: passion, intrigue, heroism, and dark deeds.

This revelatory biography explores every twist and turn of the Skywalker dynasty: the slow seduction to the dark side of Anakin; his doomed marriage to Padmé Amidala; the heroics of Luke and Leia; the fall and redemption of Han Solo and Princess Leia’s son, Ben; and the struggles of his dyad in the Force, Rey.

Leaving no stone unturned in tracing the dynasty’s trials and tribulations, this definitive biography of Star Wars’ first family explores and explains the deeper, more personal story of the Skywalkers, their characters, motivations, and, against seemingly impossible odds, their ultimate triumph.

Author: Kristin Baver
Cover artist: Matthew Ferguson
Release date: April 6, 2021
Pages: 320
ISBN: 9780744027310

Broken into three logical sections of The Father, The Twins and The Dyad, Kristin Baver takes what could easily been an overly familiar, pedestrian pathway through the nine film Skywalker Saga and instead adds a dash of glitterstim that delivers this fascinating in-universe biographical history of the Skywalker clan. Imagine a writer crafting a biography of the Royal Family, written after the final member of the bloodline is gone chronicling their trials and trevails, triumphs and tortures without fear of incrimination for being so detailed and in-depth. Here on 21st century earth we know who Kristin is, but in the realms of the Star Wars galaxy, Baver is that nameless biographer.

From the earliest memories of Shmi Skywalker, sold to Gardulla the Hutt and sent to Tatooine with her infant son Anakin right through the entire spread of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War and the First Order/Resistance War and all spaces inbetween, this delves into the characters, their motivations, actions and the consequences thereof. Reading through the book, you can only admire the research that must have gone into the book, to stitch the events across literature, TV shows and films into a flow of history that is not only readable but page-turnable.

It’s very much the authors views and opinions, as any biography is – we’re viewing the history of the galaxy through the specific lens of an author, not the eyes of the actual players within it, and of course, how could we? The fictional characters would need an author to ‘give’ them those views and opinions. Luke’s world view was acutely narrow before the death of Beru and Owen; as Baver shows, once Ben Kenobi re-entered his life (and we’re sure to be learning a lot more about that when the Obi-Wan Kenobi series arrives in 2022) the curtains opened and Luke’s life exploded from fullscreen to widescreen as he hit the galactic stage.

The book delves into every canonical crevice the last near-decade has brought us, folding in elements of the recent Marvel run, novels and more. On a negative note, a move that is becoming frustratingly more common in publishing means that there is a Target exclusive version that doesn’t merely boast an adjusted dustjacket but also includes three additional biographies, something readers of this book would surely enjoy chewing through. That Target is a US based company makes finding those extra pages a hassle for non-American readers, but as the story of the characters expand then you have to hope that a future, updated edition of Skywalker: A Family At War will include those chapters and more.

Marvel will continue to tell monthly tales of Vader, Luke and Leia, there may well be more post-The Rise of Skywalker adventures of Rey Skywalker, and as we head back to Tatooine in Obi-Wan Kenobi we’re likely to see a younger Luke as he grows into his youth with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru guiding him. Let’s hope DK are smart enough to weave in additional content for a future updated edition (and those missing biographies) and allow Kristin the chance to continue her engaging exploration of the Skywalker family.

Sale
Star Wars Skywalker – A Family At War
  • Hardcover Book
  • Baver, Kristin (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 320 Pages - 04/06/2021 (Publication Date) - DK (Publisher)
Mark Newbold
Mark Newbold
A fan of the saga since 1978, Mark began in fan fiction in 1982 and since then has written for Star Wars Insider, StarWars.com, Star Wars Encyclopedia, Build The Millennium Falcon, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, Star Trek magazine, StarTrek.com and Starburst as well as being a four-time Star Wars Celebration Stage host. He is the Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and the co-host of Making Tracks and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Skywalker: A Family at War

The Skywalker story has everything: passion, intrigue, heroism, and dark deeds.

This revelatory biography explores every twist and turn of the Skywalker dynasty: the slow seduction to the dark side of Anakin; his doomed marriage to Padmé Amidala; the heroics of Luke and Leia; the fall and redemption of Han Solo and Princess Leia’s son, Ben; and the struggles of his dyad in the Force, Rey.

Leaving no stone unturned in tracing the dynasty’s trials and tribulations, this definitive biography of Star Wars’ first family explores and explains the deeper, more personal story of the Skywalkers, their characters, motivations, and, against seemingly impossible odds, their ultimate triumph.

Author: Kristin Baver
Cover artist: Matthew Ferguson
Release date: April 6, 2021
Pages: 320
ISBN: 9780744027310

Broken into three logical sections of The Father, The Twins and The Dyad, Kristin Baver takes what could easily been an overly familiar, pedestrian pathway through the nine film Skywalker Saga and instead adds a dash of glitterstim that delivers this fascinating in-universe biographical history of the Skywalker clan. Imagine a writer crafting a biography of the Royal Family, written after the final member of the bloodline is gone chronicling their trials and trevails, triumphs and tortures without fear of incrimination for being so detailed and in-depth. Here on 21st century earth we know who Kristin is, but in the realms of the Star Wars galaxy, Baver is that nameless biographer.

From the earliest memories of Shmi Skywalker, sold to Gardulla the Hutt and sent to Tatooine with her infant son Anakin right through the entire spread of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War and the First Order/Resistance War and all spaces inbetween, this delves into the characters, their motivations, actions and the consequences thereof. Reading through the book, you can only admire the research that must have gone into the book, to stitch the events across literature, TV shows and films into a flow of history that is not only readable but page-turnable.

It’s very much the authors views and opinions, as any biography is – we’re viewing the history of the galaxy through the specific lens of an author, not the eyes of the actual players within it, and of course, how could we? The fictional characters would need an author to ‘give’ them those views and opinions. Luke’s world view was acutely narrow before the death of Beru and Owen; as Baver shows, once Ben Kenobi re-entered his life (and we’re sure to be learning a lot more about that when the Obi-Wan Kenobi series arrives in 2022) the curtains opened and Luke’s life exploded from fullscreen to widescreen as he hit the galactic stage.

The book delves into every canonical crevice the last near-decade has brought us, folding in elements of the recent Marvel run, novels and more. On a negative note, a move that is becoming frustratingly more common in publishing means that there is a Target exclusive version that doesn’t merely boast an adjusted dustjacket but also includes three additional biographies, something readers of this book would surely enjoy chewing through. That Target is a US based company makes finding those extra pages a hassle for non-American readers, but as the story of the characters expand then you have to hope that a future, updated edition of Skywalker: A Family At War will include those chapters and more.

Marvel will continue to tell monthly tales of Vader, Luke and Leia, there may well be more post-The Rise of Skywalker adventures of Rey Skywalker, and as we head back to Tatooine in Obi-Wan Kenobi we’re likely to see a younger Luke as he grows into his youth with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru guiding him. Let’s hope DK are smart enough to weave in additional content for a future updated edition (and those missing biographies) and allow Kristin the chance to continue her engaging exploration of the Skywalker family.

Sale
Star Wars Skywalker – A Family At War
  • Hardcover Book
  • Baver, Kristin (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 320 Pages - 04/06/2021 (Publication Date) - DK (Publisher)
Mark Newbold
Mark Newbold
A fan of the saga since 1978, Mark began in fan fiction in 1982 and since then has written for Star Wars Insider, StarWars.com, Star Wars Encyclopedia, Build The Millennium Falcon, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, Star Trek magazine, StarTrek.com and Starburst as well as being a four-time Star Wars Celebration Stage host. He is the Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and the co-host of Making Tracks and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
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