LOST STARS by Claudia Gray is probably one of my top five Star Wars books with the others being THE THRAWN TRILOGY by Timothy Zahn and SHATTERPOINT by Matthew Stover. It is a book which doesn't talk about Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han, or the other characters but follows two original characters through the events of the Galactic Civil War (A New Hope to the Battle of Jakku following Return of the Jedi). A month following the Battle of Jakku, the Empire has launched no further major offensives and retreated to the Core Worlds and Inner Rim. Within the New Republic government, there is talk of the remnants of the Empire capitulating. Meanwhile, in the Queluhan Nebula, the Imperial fleet rearms and restaffs with conscripts. Nash is a TIE squadron commander and vows revenge on the rebels for Ciena's presumed death. Bitter and disillusioned, Thane joins the fledgling Rebellion—putting Ciena in an unbearable position to choose between her loyalty to the Empire and her love for the man she's known since childhood. Despite dealing with serious subject matter, the book is often quite humorous. One of the best parts of the book is how both characters completely misunderstand their respective factions. While Ciena Ree believes the Empire to be good and the Rebellion evil, Thane refuses to believe the Rebels could be as idealistic or noble as they claim. It takes Mon Mothma helping him through a drunken pity party to help him realize they are as down to Earth (Tatooine?) as heroes should be. After their graduation, Ciena is assigned to the Devastator, Darth Vader's Star Destroyer, while Thane is assigned to the Death Star as a TIE pilot. Both Thane and Ciena witness Alderaan being destroyed by the Death Star. Thane ultimately survives the Death Star's destruction, having been sent away on a search mission on Dantooine.

It turns out Ciena survived, but was impaled by debris. She is forced onto medical leave. Over this time, the New Republic establishes a provisional council and the galaxy begins to change. Ciena is soon cleared for duty, is promoted to captain and given command of her own Star Destroyer, the Inflictor, at the young age of 25. Climaxing with The Battle of Jakku, Ciena is the commanding officer that chooses to crash the destroyer into the planet, an “ethical” decision she learnt in the early days of her training at the beginning of the novel. But was the decision based on her having lost her love, Thane, and the unbearable life in the Empire being all she had left, or had the darkness of losing that love scarred and changed her….it was quite an emotional end, and left open enough for the reader to form their own opinion. In the end, Ciena is held as a prisoner of war. When Thane visits her, he assures her that she will be released soon, though Ciena still affirms her loyalty to the Empire. Eight years after the fall of the Old Republic, The Galactic Empire now reigns over the known galaxy. Resistance to the Empire has been all but silenced. Only a few courageous leaders such as Bail Organa of Alderaan still dare to openly oppose Emperor Palpatine. Whether it is a young Princess Leia appearing at their passing out parade at the Academy, or Ciena chasing her Tantive IV ship – each appearance has impact, and it is fun to see the opinions and attitudes of our characters, and their friends including one Nash Windrider from Alderaan whom in my opinion steals the book.The reign of the Galactic Empire has reached the Outer Rim planet of Jelucan, where aristocratic Thane Kyrell and rural villager Ciena Ree bond over their love of flying. Enrolling at the Imperial Academy together to become fighter pilots for the glorious Empire is nothing less than a dream come true for the both of them. But Thane sours on the dream when he sees firsthand the horrific tactics the Empire uses to maintain its ironclad rule. Star Wars to release 20 books in journey to The Force Awakens -- exclusive by Breznican, Anthony on Entertainment Weekly ( March 10, 2015) (archived from the original on May 25, 2020) Was AFTERMATH zu vermitteln versuchte kleidet LOST STARS in klarere Worte, das Imperium hat seine besten Soldaten, Piloten und Offiziere verloren als der zweite Todesstern zerstört wurde. Das war im Expanded Universe nicht so, denn die Elite des Imperiums führte nach Endor noch einige Jahre erfolgreich Krieg. Doch die Bedeutung der Todessterne machte LOST STARS bereits im Fall des ersten Todessterns klar. Auf diesem war weit mehr als eine Million Imperiale stationiert und der Todesstern war wie eine imperiale Welt. Einen Posten hier zu ergattern war prestigeträchtig und Großmoff Tarkin konnte eine Menge der besten Akademieabsolventen für seinen Todesstern abzweigen. Eine Stationierung auf dem Todesstern war jedoch auch deutlich bequemer als auf einem Außenposten irgendwo in der Pampa, in einer tödlichen Rebellenhochburg oder einem beengenden Sternenzerstörer. Bessere Unterbringung und Verpflegung waren nicht zu unterschätzende Argumente für eine Bitte um Versetzung auf den Todesstern, denn dort durften sogar schon Jungoffiziere mit einer eigenen Kabine rechnen. Durch die Zerstörung des ersten Todessterns wurde Ciena Ree schließlich zum Lieutenant Commander und die Chancen standen gut, dass sie es auch in Rekordzeit zum Commander bringen würde. Aristocratic Thane Kyrell and villager Ciena Ree reside on the Outer Rim planet of Jelucan, where the two bond over their shared love of flying and interest in enrolling at the Imperial Academy to become TIE fighter pilots. While enrolled at the Imperial Academy on Coruscant, they top their classes, often competing with each other for first in their class. They remain good friends until Thane's laser cannon project is sabotaged by the Academy itself, who frame Ciena for doing so. As punishment, both fail the assignment and lose the top spots of the class. When Thane proposes the theory that the Academy itself had framed Ciena for sabotaging Thane's project, Ciena accuses him of being disloyal to the Empire.

Ratcliffe, Amy (October 10, 2015). "NYCC 2015: Disney and Lucasfilm Announce New Titles in Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens". IGN . Retrieved December 8, 2015. Crouse, Megan (November 11, 2015). "Star Wars: Claudia Gray Talks Lost Stars". Den of Geek . Retrieved December 6, 2020. The novel was released in conjunction with Star Wars: Aftermath on September 4, 2015, as a part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens publishing initiative, in preparation for the December 18, 2015 release of the seventh installment in the film saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. [3] They both approach Jude to continue her investigation into who sabotaged Thane's cannon. She concludes it was the Academy itself. Politics and corruption in the ranks are to blame. Thane and Ciena get into a huge fight about whether or not they should do anything about it. Thane insists they do, but Ciena's sense of honor and loyalty gets in the way. Thane storms off.

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Cienas Hintergrund ist deutlich bescheidener als Thanes. Ohne Thanes Freundschaft und materielle Unterstützung hätte es Ciena weit schwieriger gehabt und wohl nicht geschafft zusammen mit ihm die begehrten Plätze an der Imperialen Akademie auf Coruscant zu ergattern. Ob von der Autorin gewollt oder nicht, Cienas Karrierestart als vorgebildete Eliteschülerin war nur durch Thane möglich. Wer von beiden nun der wirklich bessere Pilot ist lässt LOST STARS offen, doch nach Jahren im aktiven Einsatz als Pilot hat Thane am Ende zumindest die höhere Routine. Ciena ist jedoch die erfahrene Offizierin. Indeed, the one character who fell flat for me was Nash Windrider who is an Alderaanian Imperial who goes insane trying to justify his loyalty to the Empire after his planet's destruction. Ciena is repulsed by him and hates him for going after Thane Kyrios. However, Nash is doing the exact same thing she is doing and Thane tried to kill him so Ciena just comes off as a huge hypocrite.

On May 4, 2017, LINE Corporation released an online manga adaptation of the novel exclusively in Japan. Yen Press announced during their Anime NYC panel that they licensed the manga for a North American release. [5] Reception [ edit ]

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Put simply, if you like Star Wars, then you can't go wrong with Lost Stars... Is it the best novel in the Star Wars universe? Maybe so."-- SF Signal The latest to fall under the Emperor’s control is the isolated mountain planet Jelucan, whose citizens hope for a more prosperous future even as the Imperial Starfleet gathers overhead….

It’s an event enjoyed by both die hard fans and families alike and has raised thousands of pounds for charity. Internal Affairs (First mentioned, simultaneous with Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know)They continue to lead their cohort in performance until a few years into their academy careers. The group is partaking in an exercise where they build laser cannons from spare parts. Ciena's works well but Thane's fails to power on. The instructor soon discovers it has been sabotaged. Inexplicably, the evidence points to Ciena as the culprit. Ciena's roommate Jude does her own independent investigation and concludes that Thane sabotaged his own cannon. With insufficient evidence either way, no one is expelled but both of them fail the assignment. This drops them from their top spots in the class. Sanbra sector (First appearance, simultaneous with Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure and The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure)