Book reviews: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel (Star Wars) by James Luceno and Doctor Who: The Twelve Doctors of Christmas by Various authors

Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel (Star Wars) by James Luceno.

My first Star wars novel read since the early 1980s. I had recently rewatched Rogue one and had just finished watching the animated series Rebels when I saw this on Kindle and decided to give it a try.

From reading other reviews, I think this book is a bit of a Marmite book: people seemed to have loved it or hated it. I think if you are looking for an action packed book with lots of battles in it then I would avoid reading this book. For me, the strengths of the book were seeing the evolution of the development of the Death Star and how Kenneric manipulates Galen Erso into providing the necessary research to make the ultimate weapon possible. Additionally, the writer explores the antagonistic nature between Kenneric and Tarkin which had been alluded to in Rogue One and briefly in Rebels. I also enjoyed the way the writer demonstrated the effect of the Clone wars and the subsequent transformation of the Republic into the Galactic Empire onto the people living through the events.

The part I found least convincing, and is an issue I generally have with the franchise in general, is the quick transformation of Jedi from Guardians of the Galaxy to faded folklore memory within the space of three years. I just don't buy it: our own History is littered with forgotten cultures, technology and heroes that disappeared from the collective memory over a generation or two in the past where due to a lack of communication technology and recording it was easy to wipe out the memory/ know how of events and technology: as the people who had witnessed/ lived through these events and technology died out. It was inevitable that memories of such events and technology would fade but to suggest in an interstellar travelling era civilisation, with advanced communication technology, that the collective memory of a powerful force such as the Jedi would fade from memory to the status of barely remembered myth in three years just doesn't strike true to me.

Casting this quibble aside, I'd say that, personally, I enjoyed the fleshing out of the relationships that were behind the development of the Death star and the way the writer set the fantastical sights of the Universe of Star Wars into a political, social, cultural and technological context. For this, I found it an enjoyable, interesting and worthwhile read.

Doctor Who:  The Twelve Doctors of Christmas by Various authors.

An enjoyable anthology. Each story has a connection with Christmas and features an incarnation of the Doctor. My favourite story was the Christmas inversion: I thought the portrayal of Jackie was hilarious and I loved the third Doctors respectful response to her. There's something to enjoy in each story. From Vicky's misinterpretation of Ian and Barbara's retellings of their experiences of Christmas as children to the twelfth Doctors meeting with a fourteen year old CJ, there's something to add to the overall mythos of the show while simultaneously serving as standalone stories. I listened to the audio book version and was impressed with the readers: Sophie Aldred, Ajoah Andoh, Rachel Stirling and Chris Addison. A recommended listen/ read probably best consumed during the Christmas period although this isn't absolutely necessary.