Ricky Church reviews Star Wars: Rebel Rising…
Since the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso has quickly become one of the franchise’s most liked heroes. The troubled young rebel’s history is fully explored in Beth Revis’ Star Wars: Rebel Rising, an intriguing character study that explores exactly how she became disillusioned with ‘the cause’ before helping the Rebellion achieve its first victory.
Rebel Rising begins shortly after rebel extremist Saw Gerrera takes in Jyn from the beginning of the film. Right from the start, Revis has a good handle on Jyn, capturing her voice and spirit with ease. The arc she puts Jyn on is a roller coaster of emotions, from an idealistic rebel to a happy teen to someone who wants absolutely nothing to do with the larger galaxy. Seeing her journey plays out, knowing exactly where it will end, really brings something new to the character.
Revis goes a long way to explaining how and why she is the way she is in Rogue One. Though it is a YA book, there is some fairly serious subject matter that Revis pushes the envelope with, taking Jyn and the readers to some dark places. Jyn somewhat participates in a rather brutal attack Saw commits and the book is peppered with flashforwards to her time in Imperial prison, showing a very bleak portrayal of the physical and psychological torment placed on her. It really puts Jyn’s struggle in Rogue One into stark perspective.
There is a rotating cast of supporting characters in Rebel Rising as Jyn bounces from place to place. Saw is perhaps the most prominent among them, both in person and within Jyn’s mind as she views him as a father figure. Revis also sheds a bit more light on Saw’s own mind and motivations, showing his growing paranoia, how foolish he thinks the idea of a grand Rebellion is or how they could view things so black and white. Though he is protective of Jyn, he does earn less sympathy here through his views on collateral damage and acting almost more as mercenaries for hire rather than wanting actual freedom. Between his actions in Rebel Rising and Guardians of the Whills, Saw has arguably become one of Star Wars’ most despicable characters.
The story has a good pace, never delivering much of a dull moment. The middle portion is perhaps the slowest part, but instead of being boring it instead examines Jyn and the diverging paths her future could take. It also serves to further build into her belief that the Empire’s rule isn’t a problem “as long as you don’t look up”, as she says in the film. The story does move along (no pun intended), but its real strength lies in its character development for Jyn.
Revis taps beautifully into Jyn Erso’s voice, adding new depth to her character. Rebel Rising delivers a very good examination of the wayward Erso that paints a really sombre look at her life, giving us even more sympathy for her. Any fan of Rogue One, let alone Star Wars, should definitely give Rebel Rising a read.
Rating: 9/10
Ricky Church
Originally published May 29, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
