"Just to be clear, it's a good read, though my final judgement will have to wait until I see how it ends. So far, it's very much in keeping with the feel of Star Wars books as I've come to expect. If there's another book continuing this, I'm going to check it out. Disney taking over the franchise didn't suddenly turn the Star Wars universe into Mickey Mouse with a lightsaber. :)"

Obviously you have never been to a Star Wars Weekend. They are everywhere! Its not a bad thing min you. I gave one of my Mickey Jedi pins to a kid at WDW when I heard him scream "MICKEY MOUSE AND HES A JEDI TOO! ON MY GODDDDDD!" ,I had on a May the Fourth Disney t-shirt by the way,made that kids day. Anyways I have just started reading it. So far, so good.

Back to the actual book:

Without getting into any of the spoileriffic stuff (I haven't actually gotten all the way to the end, despite it seeming like I was almost there yesterday), there were a couple of things that struck me as interesting about the Empire:

* There are female stormtroopers. ... No, really! Right there in the narrative, and it's not presented as if it's anything special or unusual. I hadn't run into that sort of thing before outside of fan films or the New Republic era.

* Also, apparently there are female star destroyer captains other than just Natasi Daala. Or, at least, there is one that we're introduced to right at the start, and nothing is said to suggest that she's a rarity, and there are other female officers as well. Nothing is said to suggest that this is a novelty or rarity among the Imperials. If anything, the only character who seems to have anything to say about it would be our flirty hero.

* Apparently a dead stormtrooper here or there doesn't count as "casualties" to some people. "Well, at least there weren't any casualties!" That'd be understandable if coming from a Rebel source, and I could understand (but not agree) with it, if stormtroopers were still clones (i.e., "Oh, it's just a CLONE" rationale), but the earlier narrative indication of female stormtroopers would indicate that these are no longer all clones of Jango Fett.

Not to fear, though: This is no kinder, gentler Empire.

If anything, the Empire is portrayed as being insanely evil. It's not like there isn't precedent for that before with the Empire oppressing alien populations, enslaving "primitives," mercilessly stealing resources, using collective punishment upon entire populations for harboring "Rebel sympathizers," blowing up Alderaan, etc. -- but here there seems to be a crazy disregard for life of even the Empire's ALLIES.

In particular, I'm thinking of the part where they blow up a mine WITH THE MINERS STILL IN IT (and all of their presumably expensive equipment and ships and such) without bothering to evacuate. What's even more weird is that according to the testimony of one of the (temporary) survivors, some stormtroopers came down to clear them out of some area, but apparently not ENTIRELY out of the blast area. Nothing is presented in the way of, "Oh, oops, we blew up a bigger chunk than we intended."

Also, every indication is given that these aren't some subjugated "mere slaves" in the mines. People can quit and go find another job on another planet, apparently, for the most part. Even when the Empire commandeers vessels and says "Everyone, fly your ships HERE," the narrative seems to suggest that people still get PAID. It's not even a case of "Oh, they're only {clones, droids, Wookiees, insert-random-oppressed-people-somehow-considered-less-than-human here}."

But how is that going to hold together if random people are just going to get fried on a whim?

Now, maybe this is just because the villain is nuts, and all Imperials are mindlessly obedient stooges, and not EVERY operation has a homicidal maniac at the reins, but this seems like the sort of behavior that would make the Empire fall apart, double-time.

Crushing your enemies? Okay.

Mercilessly exploiting resources from rim worlds? Nasty, and entirely keeping with the usual Empire wickedness.

But ... BLOWING UP YOUR ALLIES OUT OF PETTY IMPATIENCE? Seriously?

Anyway, we know the Empire is supposed to be evil, so it's not like this is wildly out of my expectations. I just didn't know the Empire was supposed to be NUTS, too.

Also, at least one of the "hero sidekicks" I would be strongly tempted to shove out of an airlock.

Skelly. Having him in so much pain for the latter part of the book does not give me any sympathy for him. He's like an embodiment of the worst traits of loose-cannon PCs who blow things up with total abandon, heedless of any bystanders who might be killed (oopsie!) in the pursuit of a dubious goal. At least our two main protagonists seem to have some doubts about him, but I still think he gets away with far too much just because he's nominally on the side of the "good guys."

But as for our main protagonists, they're reasonably likable, and I think the book did a far better job of giving me a favorable impression of them than the 7-minute animated Rebels preview.

Just to be clear, it's a good read, though my final judgement will have to wait until I see how it ends. So far, it's very much in keeping with the feel of Star Wars books as I've come to expect. If there's another book continuing this, I'm going to check it out. Disney taking over the franchise didn't suddenly turn the Star Wars universe into Mickey Mouse with a lightsaber.

Yeah don't expect Disney to be the ones to bring moral ambiguity and 3D villians to the forefront in a Star Wars story - Rebels will NOT be the franchise's answer to Avatar: TLAB some of us are longing to see.

As for the gender thing, the Empire Military has overwhelmingly been portrayed as a human male dominated entity, but with changing times and values I'm not surprised they are expanding the female cast. It may even reach a point where they just retcon away the whole issue. Whatevs. Either can work well in the right hands.

(looks at Gargoyles)

If you say so...

A cannon is what you shoot.

Not always...

You never heard of a photographer "taking the shot"?

I finished the audio book, it was okay overall. Although I would question some of the plot logic of "lets not do plan A that would be bad" and go with plan B which is equally as bad.

Finished reading the book last night, I liked it, reminded me a lot of crazy bluffing your way through as much as possible adventures in the old WEG RPG

I finished the audio book last week. Good swashbuckling fun.

Didn't read it yet, but from the generally positive reactions it seems a good late-evening read.

On a different topic:

What are these fears Disney-critics seem to have?

They will put in a princess in need of rescue?

A rogueish hero flying to the rescue?

Or a black-clad villain in a genuine swashbuckling duell with the noble main protagonist?

;-)

Halfway through. Curious as to how these people aren't in the movies... That'll have to be handled at some point, which is sad.

Why? A galactic conflict is a big thing. There is no reason for them to necessarily end up on Tatooine for ANH.

A force-sensitive character not involved in rotj though?

Why would they have to be involved at Endor? Other sources have poked holes in Yoda's statements before, why couldn't they do it again?

Anyone else catch the premiere? I miss the Clone Wars blockier design - the Rebels design seems a lot more cutesy, and that makes the "normal" level of Star Wars violence a bit harder to take for me. I did really like the bits of worldbuilding - the structure of the Empire, the way the citizenry interact, and, of course, more interior action in an Impstar.

The focus on the Jedi annoys the heck out of me, though. But I'm a weirdo who thinks that the Jedi's fall was evil, but not entirely tragic, given how corrupt and apathetic the Republic was during the prequel trilogy.

The focus on the Jedi annoys the heck out of me, though. But I'm a weirdo who thinks that the Jedi's fall was evil, but not entirely tragic, given how corrupt and apathetic the Republic was during the prequel trilogy.

+1 for not loving Jedi.

The Jedi: supervillains who think they are superheros.

I am curious to know if the Ties being so short in Rebels is because they are an earlier design, or if it's just the art style.

I'm a little late to the party, but that's what you get from waiting for the library to get the book.

If this is what most of the New Star Wars books will be like, I like them, probably not as much as some of the Legends books but still not bad. It feels like JJM tried to get some of the humor of Rebels but it was more adult humor and less childish. One thing I will say though is I think Kanan can behave a little more like a Jedi and less like a Frat boy hitting on every girl in a 2 mile radius (he can keep his sarcasm or even dial that up a bit)

What I hope they do is continue the "series" and add in one new character every book until we get to the starting cast for Rebels. Chopper, Sabine and Zeb probably would have decent stories with how they join up with the group. (Personally I think Chopper should get his own novel and the other 2 can be combined to make this an even trilogy )

They kind of left a few things out between A New Dawn and the of the Rebels show. Like where did the rest of the crew come in?

One thing I will say though is I think Kanan can behave a little more like a Jedi and less like a Frat boy hitting on every girl in a 2 mile radius (he can keep his sarcasm or even dial that up a bit)

Yeah, I found it kind of amusing that right at the beginning, we're introduced to a female Star Destroyer captain, and nobody seems to even call special attention to her being female except arguably flirty flyboy Kanan (our hero, that is). Just last night, I finished reading up "Fate of the Jedi: Omen" and observing how far the franchise has come with "The New Dawn" in its depiction of the Empire from even "Omen" -- where there are some Moffs sipping space-wine and making derogatory remarks at her expense, even while she's head of the Galactic Alliance.

I'm really struck by how different the feel is between "New Dawn" and the Rebels series. It doesn't feel quite like the same tone, and I dare say they don't even really feel like the same characters. To a certain extent, I guess that's inevitable. The dispositions of the major Star Wars movie characters tend to change a bit depending upon who's doing the writing in various of the Star Wars Legends books ... but I guess that since this is being billed as a tie-in, and coming out at about the same time, without years of separation, I was expecting a little more consistency.

(This isn't to say that a little more consistency would have necessarily made it a BETTER BOOK. I was just a bit surprised by what I perceived as a difference.)

I read a little bit while I was waiting for my car to be fixed. Haven't picked it up since. It might be packed in boxes now :/

You should finish it. It is really good.

They kind of left a few things out between A New Dawn and the of the Rebels show. Like where did the rest of the crew come in?

I think the book takes place about 5 years or so before the first episode of Rebels and is about how Kanan and Hera met. Hopefully they'll continue the series and gradually add the other members of the Ghost's crew in more books. I would love to read about how Zeb's world fell and how he became a part of the crew.