Books Journey to The Last Jedi - The Rebel Files by Daniel Wallace (Canon too!)

Stop the presses! From what I see in this trailer, we have a new canon calendar system!

 

Timestamp? I'd love to get a standard galactic calendar.

 

I don't know if it's standard, but you can see it at 9 seconds in.

 

https://i.gyazo.com/7bcdf298ab6ad4340eb099ec23c22bda.png

Huh, looks like this calendar revolves around Empire Day. Makes sense.

 

That is beautiful

 

Wow. I just spent over an hour and a half doing my first re-through. Simply put, it is one of the best written canon histories of the Rebel Alliance ever. It doesn't simply re-hash what we know, it expands, enriches, and adds to it. There is special attention paid to the years pre-Yavin, which are some of the best written in the whole book. As you'd expect from a SW master like Dan Wallace, the book contains some wonderful things that were plucked from the old EU. The story is told in scrapbook fashion, but via a cohesive narrative that progresses up to the start of the Battle of Endor. I can't say enough good things about this book, it is a true tome of Alliance knowledge!

I'd love to post some tidbits, but I honestly don't know where to begin! We learn about the last days of the Imperial Senate, the early Rebel cells and their leaders, the formation of the Alliance, the various weapons it employed, the men & women who commanded it and so much more. My head is dizzy with awesome details!

--Adm. Nick

 

That's one hell of an endorsement.

 

It really touches on everything. There is a list of main Alliance worlds and bases, named warships, a fleshing out of the High Command, details on other campaigns, and a lot of first person in-sight from Leia, Ackbar, Poe, Ematt, Holdo, and other commanders. I gotta say, their comments in the margin are wonderful! Ackbar is sassy as hell, but very open to admit his own errors from his youth. Dan captures the perfect tone/character for the 90+ year old Mon Cala admiral exceptionally well.

I really think the stuff in the first section (organizing the Alliance) is one of the best parts of the whole book. We learn, for example, the name of several Rebel cell leaders, including a name for the Mon Cala cell's leader! Ditto a lot of cool info on Saw's partisans early actions, as well as some insights into the differing views within Alliance high command pre-ANH. Such wonderful stuff in this book!

--Adm. Nick

 

Question: How well does it tie together various sources? Twilight Company, Leia: PoA, Star Wars Marvel, etc.

 

Exceptionally well. The Mid Rim campaign, Operation: Ringbreaker, and a lot from Twilight Company is mentioned and expanded on. A lot from SW Marvel too, especially the Cymoon attack. This book ties all current canon together, but also makes fun little references to older EU canon, like the Rebel cells on Mantooine/Fest, worlds like Ord Pardron, and characters like Commander Sefsan. Any hardcore old Legends fan will catch numerous things brought back into canon!

--Adm. Nick

 

Does Jun Sato get a backstory?

 

No, but there is a document from him to Dodonna about A-wings. Phoenix Squadron is mentioned several times!

—Adm. Nick

 

I was planning on getting the book-only edition in July, but all this praise is making me seriously consider going with the Deluxe edition . . .

 

Drat. Oh well.

Hmmm..how about rebel ground forces? Were any of the old tanks recanonized?

 

Oh yeah! I forgot about that since it was one of the last things I added to the book. Despite the use of a dating system, you'll find that the dating precision is still pretty vague. There was a comment earlier in this thread about when the Alliance moved to Yavin...that's exactly the type of thing that's hard to nail down, given that events in the era are still unfolding (e.g. Rogue One, Star Wars Rebels).

So there's a certain degree of vagueness in this book, aided by the found-object scrapbook style. And honestly I think that SW sources that go semi-vague on their timing end up being a blessing to timeliners, not a detriment.

 

Yes, some Rebel vehicles and ground forces are recanonized!

—Adm. Nick

 

relived_exhale.GIF

 

I'm happy to see this, since my POV for writing main-narrative Ackbar was "fishy Winston Churchill," but my POV on 30-years-later-margin-commenter Ackbar was "irritable grandpa."

 

Any particular cells and leaders of note? The network of cells is one of my favourite features of the early Rebellion.

 

"Fishy Winston Churchill"

<3

 

I thought that was Raddus.

 

Any mentions of or hints towards Garm Bel Iblis? Also if anyone without would be kind enough to compile a list of cool tidbits/facts included I'd appreciate it.

 

Faa-Char is the head of the Mon Cala Resistance. We learn of a cell near Lorrd and Tynna too!

—Adm. Nick

 

I dug into this more thoroughly earlier in the thread, but as someone familiar with the old EU my perspective is that absolutely everything is still fair game--as long as it doesn't raise story implications.

In my mind it's like a new crew of theater producers rolled into town to stage an all-new production. But they've decided to use the same stage, set, and props.

So... planets, ships, aliens, and weapons? Those are the old props, so they'll be used. Minor characters like Arhul Hextrophon and Dr'uun Unnh are basically props too--whether they're "in" or "out" makes no difference to the saga's narrative.

It changes when it comes to the bigger characters. Jaina Solo is right out (duh). But so is Callista or Talon Karrde or Waru. Any mention of these characters raises a whole host of so wait, did that story actually happen? implications. It's tough to bring those characters in without bringing their baggage.

Which is a long way to say that I omitted Garm Bel Iblis on purpose. It's possible he might get recanonized in the future (like Thrawn), but a story like that will be bigger than a reference book.

 

Cool thanks, I appreciate the reply. I had a feeling he was too big for the book but was curious if there was anything further from the Corellia Resistance, thanks again for the reply I appreciate it.