It’s an exciting time to be a Star
Wars fan. Disney+ has an abundance of Star Wars-related series, mini-series and
projects lined-up (even if they vary in quality from time to time), and us
readers have plenty of releases to keep us busy such as comic books, novels,
and audiobooks set in the various timelines of the beloved saga.
For the record, I love Star Wars.
A New Hope (or just plain Star Wars as it was known back in the
day) was the first live-action film I ever saw in theatres as a kid back in
1980 when they released The Empire
Strikes Back and it played as a double bill along with the first movie. I
became a life-long fan of the franchise. I spent countless hours playing with
my Star Wars Kenner toys, I had bed sheets, curtains, plushies, trading cards, comic
books, coloring books, 45 RPM storybooks, you name it. Whenever there was a
special occasion, I’d receive Star Wars stuff and I’d spend my precious
allowance money on Luke, Leia, Han and the gang. A little later I got into the
books and I read Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy back in the early ‘90s and loved
it.
Since then, dozens upon dozens of
novels have been published and when Disney acquired the franchise in 2012, all
those books written before that date became non-canonical and now sport the mention
“Star Wars Legends.” Every book that’s been written in the Disney era is canon and
I must say, for the most part, I haven’t been too thrilled with the offerings
thus far. It’s pretty much in line with what’s been going on with the movies. I
have a big dislike, to put it mildly, of the entire prequel trilogy. When it
comes to the sequel trilogy, I was kind of split. I thought The Force Awakens was decent. I loved the
polarizing film that was The Last Jedi,
but I hated The Rise of Skywalker and
I find it to be the worst of all the Star Wars films. As far as Disney+ goes, I
truly loved The Mandalorian, didn’t
care for The Clone Wars final season
and The Bad Batch (or the short Anime
series for that matter) and was highly disappointed by The Book of Boba Fett. The jury’s still out on the Obi-Wan Kenobi mini-series (at the time
of writing this, I’ve seen 4 of the 6 episodes and while it does get better in
the latter episodes, it took a while to get me interested). Still, I’m always
curious and willing to give Star Wars a chance whether it be in the written (or
spoken) word format, the big screen or on my TV in the comfort of my living
room.
To make a long story short, this is where I stand with Star Wars. When it was first announced that there would be a book taking place between the events of Episodes II and III titled Brotherhood, honestly, I didn’t give a damn. I’ve seldom read stories set in that era of Star Wars, nor is it a period or characters that I care that much about. The author, Mike Chen, wasn’t familiar to me and it simply was not an audiobook I planned on picking up. As pub date grew closer, I started hearing really good things about it and there was a genuine buzz online for it. When the book finally came out, I had a shiny new credit in my Audible account waiting to be spent so I figured, what the hell, why not give it a shot.
Here’s the book’s official
synopsis: “Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin
Skywalker must stem the tide of the raging Clone Wars and forge a new bond as
Jedi Knights in a high-stakes adventure set just after the events of Star Wars:
Attack of the Clones.
The
Clone Wars have begun. Battle lines are being drawn throughout the galaxy. With
every world that joins the Separatists, the peace guarded by the Jedi Order is
slipping through their fingers.
After
an explosion devastates Cato Neimoidia, the jewel of the Trade Federation, the
Republic is blamed and the fragile neutrality of the planet is threatened. The
Jedi dispatch Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the Order’s most gifted diplomatic minds,
to investigate the crime and maintain the balance that has begun to dangerously
shift. As Obi-Wan investigates with the help of a heroic Neimoidian guard, he
finds himself working against the Separatists who hope to draw the planet into
their conspiracy—and senses the sinister hand of Asajj Ventress in the mists
that cloak the planet.
Amid
the brewing chaos, Anakin Skywalker rises to the rank of Jedi Knight. Despite
the mandate that Obi-Wan travel alone—and his former master’s insistence that
he listen this time—Anakin’s headstrong determination means nothing can stop
him from crashing the party, and bringing along a promising but conflicted
youngling.
Once
a Padawan to Obi-Wan, Anakin now finds himself on equal—but uncertain—footing
with the man who raised him. The lingering friction between them increases the
danger for everyone around them. The two knights must learn a new way to work
together—and they must learn quickly, to save Cato Neimoidia and its people
from the fires of war. To overcome the threat they face they must grow beyond
master and apprentice. They must stand together as brothers.” Written
by Mike Chen, this audiobook is narrated by Jonathan Davis and was released on May
10th, 2022.
I was more than pleasantly surprised
by this book. It finally made me care about Anakin Skywalker! The intersecting plotlines
raise the stakes of the following story/movie, Revenge of the Sith. Mike Chen succeeds where George Lucas failed
in my opinion with the prequel films in making us care about the new characters
he introduced and in telling a compelling story to which we all knew the
ending. Brotherhood finds a way to elevate
Episode II, and even reinvigorates Episode III. The kinship between Kenobi and
Skywalker is so fleshed-out in this book that you really get to see the push
and pull of the two characters and how they almost need each other to be whole.
Some of the events depicted here also add a lot more impact to the outcome of Revenge of the Sith. Bravo, very well
done, Mike Chen! It actually makes me want to watch that movie again, something
I haven’t been able to bring myself to do in about a decade. In terms of
narration, Jonathan Davis is fantastic as usual and remains my personal
favorite reader/voice actor for Star Wars books. I know fans seem to prefer
Marc Thompson as a narrator, and while he’s quite good, I find his voicing of
female characters lacking and a little cheesy at times.
It’d be interesting to read/listen to another book by Mike Chen bridging the gap this time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. I’m gonna keep an eye out
for Chen’s future Star Wars books. For fans of the prequel trilogy (and I know
there’s a whole generation of you out there), this is a no-brainer: get your
copy today, you’ll have a blast! If you’re like me and are more on the fence
about prequel era books/stories, then I urge you to give Brotherhood a go as I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It’s a fun,
fast-paced, and rewarding read/listen. This new tale in the Star Wars saga gives
me hope that there are plenty more great stories to be told in this and the
many timelines of the sci-fi/fantasy franchise we hold dear to our hearts.
Rating:
Four stars out of five
Get your copy on Audible
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