Between Books - The Art of Star Wars The Force Awakens

Yep, Disney fan makes me a Star Wars fan...actually I was that years before Disney bought LucasFilm.  After enjoying some of the other Disney and Marvel Art of books, I had to add The Art of Star Wars The Force Awakens to my Between Books collection.

The Art of Star Wars The Force Awakens by Phil Szostak guides readers through the development of Star Wars The Force Awakens.  The book is a visual guide to the creation of the film from pre-production, into filming and finally post-production.  Readers will discover a very different story as early versions of the film focused on Kira and Sam, not Rey and Finn, with Jedi Killer in the place of Kylo Ren.  While Szostak provides text that describes the formation of the film it is really the pictures that highlight the story of film production.  Readers can spend hours exploring the pictures, contemplating the ideas that did and did not become part of the finalized film.

The Art of Star Wars The Force Awakens is truly an enjoyable and fun read.  I read it twice.  One read was with the Between Kid, as we mostly focused on the pictures and discussed images and ideas that moved forward.  For my second read, I slowed down reading the text which really discussed how ideas evolved.  Readers come to understand how loose the production of a film can be.  LucasFilm unleashed a team of visual artists to create concepts, many of them strikingly beautiful but unused.  And these images helped to progress the story, not just Disney's and J.J. Abrams revisions to the original George Lucas script.  Many of the visuals are literally what if ideas, ones that would be fantastic to see in the future.  It also becomes clear how Ralph McQuarrie, the original Star Wars visual designer inspired a new generation of artists in both how they dreamed and how they copied much of his own work.

Star Wars fans need to read The Art of Star Wars The Force Awakens.  It is a fantastic look into film making and the creation of 2015's biggest film.  It is personally a must have for Disney/Star Wars fans who want to know more about how the new Star Wars films are created.

Between Books - Star Wars: Before the Awakening

Star Wars: Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka provides backstory for the new heroes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  FN-2187 is a skilled stormtrooper cadet who has one attribute holding him back, compassion.  His instructors and Captain Phasma observe and test FN-2187 as he prepares for his first deployment.  Both the trooper and Phasma wonder if the young man will ever be more than an outsider.  Rey is a young scavenger on the planet of Jakku.  Her fortunes appear to change as a storm uncovers an item that could change her life forever.  But what will she do to protect it?  Dameron Poe is a skilled New Republic pilot who has an encounter with the First Order.  With corruption rampant in the New Republic, his frustration leads him to join the Rebellion.  But can the skilled warrior survive his latest mission from General Organa!

The volume is a collection of three short stories.  They are easy to read and Rucka does a good job digging deeper into our new heroes.  For Finn or FN-2187, the reader comes to understand exactly how skilled he is.  And watching how well he performed as a cadet only reinforces what we will in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  It makes his actions very believable.  For Rey, readers come to understand the harsh life she lived.  And of course come to feel even more for her.  With Poe, Rucka uses his Star Wars: Shattered Empire to tie the young pilot to the ideology of the Rebel Alliance.  Poe becomes a true believer and even more of an action star.

Star Wars: Before the Awakening is a fine contribution to the Star Wars literature.  I am glad I read it, and feel like I know these characters even better than those who have not read this canonical volume.  Though one does not need to read it to really understand what we saw on the screen.  But it does allow us to dig deeper into the story.  I personally would recommend borrowing and not buying this volume.  But it should delight its intended young adult audience and a few adults who want more.