3.5 ★
"You were hurt by a regime. You might get vegeance against the hand that hurt you, but you wouldn't get justice. Not until everyone gets it."

Probably one of the heaviest/most laborious Star Wars novels I've gotten through so far. Not because the plot was necessarily complex, but mostly because the delivery happened in chunks of switching points of view that ended up making everything more complicated than necessary. You would get a couple paragraphs narrated by a side character, then change to the protagonist, then jump to one of the antagonists, and then another side character. It was exhausting!

But I really enjoy how the empire as a regime was handled by the narrative. Being target towards a younger audience, Star Wars oftentimes shies away a bit from the brutality of dictatorship, and this aspect really is a central point of this novel. It's not only the corruption and lack of care for the people, or even the somewhat graphic violence and death, that paints the context of a galaxy under the empire, but the straightforwardness and rawness in which the exploitation and decay of a population is portrayed.

Even with the ridiculous and funny moments worth of any Star Wars media (and the Kanan and Hera backstory!), what really shines in A New Dawn is the despair from consecutive chaos, devastation and tiranny that really makes you question if there's any victory at all. ( )

Desde os terríveis acontecimentos em STAR WARS – Episódio III: A vingança dos Sith, quando todos os Jedi foram perseguidos e condenados à morte, Kanan Jarrus tem vivido na clandestinidade, evitando criar problemas com o Império. Porém, um embate mortal entre as impiedosas forças imperiais e os revolucionários desesperados se mostra próximo demais e impossível de se ignorar. A honra e o senso de justiça do cavaleiro Jedi despertam, e ele volta à ação em uma batalha de grandes proporções contra o mal. Mas Kanan não vai lutar sozinho. Ele contará com a ajuda de aliados improváveis, incluindo a misteriosa Hera Syndulla – que parece ter suas próprias motivações. Enquanto uma crise de proporções apocalípticas surge no planeta Gorse, o grupo enfrenta as forças mais poderosas da galáxia, em defesa de um mundo e de seu povo. Nesta primeira aventura juntos, os protagonistas da série Rebels conquistam seu espaço entre os maiores heróis da série STAR WARS, rumo à luta contra o Império.

I seriously enjoyed this novel that tied-in all of the cool things about Rebels that I liked from the series. I thought Kanan was an excellent character, and it was fun to learn a bit more about their characters. It played out with non-stop action, just like a Rebels episode. Totally fun to read. ( )

An excellent Star Wars book! The writing is punchy and quick! ( )

3 stars: Enjoyed parts of it

From the back cover: Ever since the Jedi were marked for death and forced to flee Coruscant, Kanan Jarrus has wandered the galaxy from one anonymous job to another, devoting himself to staying alive rather than serving the Force. So when he discovers a conflict brewing between ruthless Imperial forces and desperate revolutionaries, he's not about to get caught in the crossfire. Then the brutal death of a friend at the Empire's hands forces the ex-Jedi to choose between bowing down to fear of standing up to fight. But Jarrus won't be fighting alone, Hera Syndulla, a mysterious agent provocateur with motives of her own, and a band of unlikely allies soon join Jarrus in challenging the Empire. As an apocalyptic crisis unfolds on the planet Gorse, they must stand together against one of the Emperor's most fearsome enforcers - for the sake of a world and its people.

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This is a prequel to Star Wars: Rebels, the story how Kanan met Hera, to then ultimately form their band of Rebels in the very early days after the Jedi purge. There's various bad players in here, a partially cybernetic bad capitalist guy, and other story elements. Ultimately I wasn't that engaged and didn't find the story that interesting. No quotes to share. I love Kanan and like Hera, but this story didn't do either character justice. Note: it doesn't specifically discuss how Kanan survived the purge. ( )