I’m sure that there can be few people that do not know the storyline of the most recently released Star Wars film, in which case why would you read the novel? Well, firstly because it’s been written by the legendary Alan Dean Foster. Creator of countless novels, ghostwriter of the original Star Wars novelisation, author of numerous Star Trek novels, scribe of too many other movie novelisations to count (Alien Nation, Transformers, Alien, Krull, The Last Starfighter, and so on). Secondly because it gives much more backstory and detail than could ever be included in a film without making it longer than the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy of films.
Reading this, you are immediately transported into the world shared by Rey, Finn, BB-8 and Kylo Ren. Foster’s writing is truly immersive at times, his words bringing the story to life in your own mind’s eye.
If you’ve watched the film and enjoyed it, then this book is the ideal companion to it – it expands the viewing experience, giving you more insight into the characters’ actions, thoughts and motivations, as well as glimpses of other parts of the Star Wars universe that are not seen on screen.