Book Review: Star Wars: Catalyst - A Rogue One Novel

 

Catalyst is a prequel of sorts to Rogue One. It does not directly lead into Rogue One, meaning the book does not stop directly at the point where the movie picks up. Instead, it tells the story of the beginnings of the project that would become the Death Star and introduces the characters of Galen Erso and Orson Krennic. The book establishes that the project started during the Clone Wars, based on the design of the Separatist weapon that was shown in Episode II. Most of the people working on the project had no idea of its true purpose, and when Galen figured it out, he ended up defecting.

This is definitely not an action-packed novel. It is much more of a political suspense story, basically revealing how Galen found out his research was going to be weaponized and how he escaped from the Empire. Of course, Palpatine is mentioned, but he is not really in the book, nor is Vader. The main Imperial figure is Tarkin, who has a large role in the plot. Of course, Jyn is in the book, but as a little kid, so she is not the character that we get in Rouge One at all.

Some people get all of the canon novels and some people seem to pick and choose which ones to get and/or read. I would say that if you are one who really prefers the more action-oriented books, this may not interest you very much. If, however, you do not mind the less action-oriented novels that have a political back-biting bent, then you will probably like the book. Ultimately, I think this is a very good ancillary story, but not necessarily a must-read story.