Written by E.K. Johnston, this prequel book is set between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope. If you’ve watched the animated series, this story takes place between the shows Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. It follows the story of Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Sywalker’s padawan that left the Jedi Order during the events of the animated television show Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

If you’re a fan of the animated series then this is a novel that will definitely pique your interest. The character of Ahsoka Tano has never graced the big screen in any of the nine films and has only been seen in the animated series. With the exception of Bail Organa, the Grand Inquisitor, and a few flashback cameos there are only new faces to the Star Wars Universe.

Having escaped the Jedi mass murder known as Order 66, the reader gets a sense of how Ahsoka has managed to escape capture and remain hidden from the Empire’s grasp. She settles on a moon called Raada and does her best to blend in to the farmers on the outer rim as an engineer. Of course, the Force has something else planned for her and eventually, the Empire makes its way to the moon with the intent of hijacking the farming operation and using the farmers as a workforce to farm food for Imperial Stormtroopers. Ahsoka must make the choice of aiding the disgruntled farmers face off against the Empire or fleeing the moon in order to evade being discovered.

For fans of Star Wars: Rebels, we all know that Ahsoka becomes the Resistance’s Spymaster known as Fulcrum. This book ends leading straight into the Rebel’s television show. For fans of the character of Ahsoka Tano, this is an amazing book that captures the voice and personality of the palawan. Johnston really pulls this off by having moments where Ahsoka struggles with trying to conceal her Force powers and trying to decide what the best course of action is. In order to decide, she reminisces about what Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, or even R2-D2 would do in that situation. Even though the readers know that all of Ahsoka’s mentors are still alive, Ahsoka doesn’t and simply by remembering them she grieves for their loss.

The story builds to the scene where Ahsoka decides to fully embrace the Force and become part of the fight against the Empire and it’s such a brilliant scene. I’m not sure that even Dave Filoni could create as vivid a scene than Johnston did in her book. This is a fitting bridge that explains the lost Ahsoka era that fans so desperately craved when Star Wars: The Clone Wars ended so abruptly.

This is a book that you’ll want to read if you’ve seen the animated series and ever wondered what happened to Ahsoka. Even if you’ve never seen the animated series, this is absolutely a novel to at least read through once or twice.

I would encourage you to purchase and read this great entry into the Star Wars Universe. You can purchase it here in eBook or physical.