Read, You Must: Moving Target - A Princess Leia Adventure

Are you ready for the Journey to The Force Awakens?

Disney Book Group and Lucasfilm Press have released three all-new middle-grade hardcover novels featuring some of the biggest names in the Star Wars saga! Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo and Chewbacca get their own tales in this set, part of a number of new books published as Journey to The Force Awakens. Smuggler’s Run, Weapon of a Jedi and Moving Target are adventures that take place between the events of the original trilogy movies. 

The three books also contain scenes set just before the events of The Force Awakens, so they each provide little hints and suggestions of what could be in the upcoming movie!

Cecil Castellucci

Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure by Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry is an enjoyable adventure for Star Wars fans of almost any age and an important part of Leia’s history. Moving Target is the story of Leia leading a strategic mission to distract the Empire while the Rebel Alliance secretly prepares to attack the 2^nd Death Star at Endor. In other words it takes place between the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

   

While on her mission Leia must grapple with some incredibly serious issues: is acceptable to sacrifice lives in order to potentially save millions from the Emperor’s wrath? What if those sacrificing don’t even know that they’re the ones being sacrificed? Horrible questions indeed but this is wartime and there are no easy answers. Meanwhile also on her mind is Han Solo – recently frozen and last seen taken away by the bounty hunter Boba Fett.

Jason Fry

Leia certainly doesn’t have time to dwell on thoughts of Han - she has important and sometimes awful tasks ahead on her mission. There is romance in Moving Target, but not where you might expect.

Moving Target focuses equally on Leia the diplomatic leader as well as Leia the Rebel action hero. When Leia and her small crew of varying aliens aren’t fleeing Imperials they’re being eaten alive by creepy crawlies in dark caverns. Pretty gross stuff here! Leia needs to switch gears quickly though as she is the face of the Rebellion to many and must be the negotiator for her crew in many ways.

Nien Nunb Returns!

The story takes its time to get to the action but certainly picks up steam mid-way! Leia’s team members each provide interesting and funny exchanges during the mission. For longtime Star Wars fans the inclusion of Nien Nunb (famously Lando’s Millennium Falcon co-pilot in Return of the Jedi) is especially a treat.

Speaking of humour, there is one scene that just seemed a bit too silly - or just not very Star Wars-y - where Leia and crew have to disguise themselves as tourists wearing T-shirts and shorts. It felt too “earthy” and not space-fantasy.

That one scene aside, Moving Target is a fun adventure that isn’t afraid to take time for the bigger issues in the Galaxy. Both authors are skilled at writing smart, engaging stories for young readers.

For those of you hungry for hints of the upcoming movie there’s the prologue and epilogue which take place right before The Force Awakens, some 30 years after the Ewoks joined the fight. These opening and closing scenes provide a few hints and peeks at what might be coming in the new movie. Leia’s role in the Resistance is clearly identified and several characters who may be in the movie are introduced. Don’t expect major spoilers but there are moments that make you wonder what's coming!

240 pages. Recommended for ages 10 - 14. 

Also by the authors Cecil Castellucci & Jason Fry:

Read, You Must: Little Golden Books go Star Wars!

For over a half-century Little Golden Books have been a staple of North American children’s bookshelves with their distinct style and classic tales.

Star Wars fans have been treated to the odd Golden Book in the past but never before in such an ambitious way! Random House has recently published adaptations of all 6 current Star Wars films as Little Golden Books, each full of brand new, but retro-styled, artwork! 

The whimsical, colourful style of the illustrations makes these feel like they could be from the 1960’s or 70's instead of 2015. Even with different illustrators involved the fact that these books are brought to life through cartoonish paintings really puts things into one cohesive story. By not using photos from the films, the more modern-looking prequel tales blend smoothly with the stories of the original trilogy. Everything has an equally vintage look to it. 

Even the writing at times feels a bit “retro” like when Darth Vader is momentarily referred to just as “Darth” in Geof Smith’s take on A New Hope. Back before Episode 1 came out in 1999 many of us had no idea that Darth was a title given to Sith so it was widely assumed Darth was Lord Vader’s first name, like Bob or Fred. Pre-1999, referring to Vader as Darth seemed as natural as saying just Luke, Han or Chewie. We know better now!

The writing is fun and fast but occasionally suffers as there’s a LOT of story to try to compact into heavily-illustrated 24 pages. Key dramatic moments are somewhat lost (the destruction of the planet Alderaan is barely mentioned) or omitted entirely (Leia killing Jabba the Hutt). Some of these cuts are for sensitivity to the very young readers and some are simply for space. Overall though the key plot points and scenes are there. 

Since most books for this age are meant to be read TO kids as much as by kids, it’s up to the reader to add the drama, the intensity, character voices and sound effects. 

If you are already familiar with the movies, these re-tellings are a fun and entertaining way to revisit the stories in a brand new way. For very young younglings these may be a wonderful way to introduce the saga we love so much.

Want more? The Force Awakens and other Star Wars titles are scheduled for release soon from Little Golden Books! More info coming soon!

Recommended for readers aged 2-5

Here are some of the earlier Star Wars Golden Books:

 

Read, You Must: LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia (Updated)

New from DK comes the “Updated and Expanded” LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia! 

Building (brick by brick?) on the 2011 edition, this updated volume includes many new characters, particularly those from The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.

Each character gets one page for a large photo, trivia and history of that character’s LEGO past. For characters that change significantly from film-to-film, there are multiple profiles. For example LEGO has made many versions of Luke Skywalker in his Tatooine “farmboy” outfit, so they’re all on the same page. When Luke has a different look, like his X-Wing pilot gear, he gets a new page.

Looking at how LEGO’s take on certain characters has changed over the years is just one of the ways to enjoy this book. Like many other DK LEGO Star Wars books, this comes with an exclusive minifig! With this book you get a version of Boba Fett, based on early pre-production concept art by Star Wars artist Ralph McQuarrie.

Unlike the wonderful recent LEGO Star Wars In 100 Scenes, this focuses squarely on the individual characters but does keep them in chronological order with their movie or TV appearances. At the end of the book is a whole section of characters that fall into the Legends category (not exactly part of the official Star Wars continuity) and some behind-the-scenes info too.

If you already have the previous LEGO Star Wars Character Encylcopedia, this isn’t a “must have” book, but it does offer a fair amount of new info, character profiles and of course, the exclusive minifig. If you missed that earlier book though and you love LEGO Star Wars, you’ll want to get this one right away!

From the Publisher: The updated and expanded ultimate guide to the minifigures of the LEGO Star Wars galaxy DK's LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded now includes many more new LEGO Star Wars minifigures! Discover incredible LEGO Star Wars facts, such as which minifigure is the rarest and which can be found in the most LEGO sets. This updated and expanded edition contains 72 additional pages of new minifigures and includes an exclusive minifigure to add to your collection.