Young readers storybooks (or Junior Novels) for the STAR WARS cinematic odyssey have been a given ever since the original film's release back in 1977, when SPHERE made the very wise decision of converting Alan Dean Foster's ghostwritten, bestselling adaptation of George Lucas' script into a zippy new edition for readers eight years old and upwards- that important, key demographic discovering the adventure with parents at their cinemas and having their lives changed forever. Now, the phenomenon has awakened all over again with the release of THE FORCE AWAKENS. Alan Dean Foster would be the key player handling the adult version for what was the ultimate 2015 Christmas present, whilst the very capable Michael Kogge took on the younger readership mantle via his own very satisfying and different translation to print, available in the UK from EGMONT.
The new stars of this equally new trilogy in Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron, as well as the villainous Kylo Ren, are very much at the forefront of Kogge's adaptation- an effective and fast paced read, of which you can see that the author has spent a lot of time getting into these specific characters mindsets and building further on their decision-making and actions from what had previously been so effectively established with Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams' script. As well as filling in the blanks on some unresolved questions and on screen conveniences (like how Artoo has the other half of the information to Luke's whereabouts), there's also some interesting new sequences that Kogge has added or adapted from a project that we assume was still evolving as he was working on it, including another version of Rey's mysterious "Forceback" and her lightsaber duel with Ren, and more on how Poe defied the odds and managed to escape being stranded on the desert world of Jakku, which was never revealed onscreen.
Contrast and comparison aside, Kogge's depiction of THE FORCE AWAKENS is a nice addition to any fan's collection, and a testament to the strong storytelling that made EPISODE VII such a worldwide success. I'm sure this book will be a firm fixture of children's holidays and school bags for a long time to come.
Get it here (please note, this UK book does not have the colour photo section present in the US edition): Star Wars: The Force Awakens Novel: Amazon.co.uk: LucasFilm: 9781405283939: Books
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