Bloodline (Star Wars) by Claudia Gray (Epub)

Description

When the Rebellion defeated the Empire in the skies above Endor, Leia Organa believed it was the beginning to a lasting peace. But after decades of vicious infighting and partisan gridlock in the New Republic Senate, that hope seems like a distant memory.

Now a respected senator, Leia must grapple with the dangers that threaten to cripple the fledgling democracy—from both within and without. Underworld kingpins, treacherous politicians, and Imperial loyalists are sowing chaos in the galaxy. Desperate to take action, senators are calling for the election of a First Senator. It is their hope that this influential post will bring strong leadership to a divided galaxy.

As the daughter of Darth Vader, Leia faces with distrust the prospect of any one person holding such a powerful position—even when supporters suggest Leia herself for the job. But a new enemy may make this path Leia’s only option. For at the edges of the galaxy, a mysterious threat is growing. . . .

Praise for Bloodline

“[Claudia] Gray paints a much more complete galaxy than we often get to see on the big screen. . . . Knowing that Rian Johnson (writer, director of Star Wars: Episode VIII) had some creative input on the novel provides hope that we haven’t seen the last of all of these wonderful characters. . . . Star Wars: Bloodline isn’t just a great Star Wars book, or a great Leia book, or a great book; it’s a great introduction into the larger world of Star Wars in general.”—ComicBookdotcom

“Bloodline is a nonstop page-turner that grabs at heartstrings that you weren’t aware of and yanks down on every one of them. The story is loaded with context for The Force Awakens that plants the seeds for The First Order in perfectly haunting ways, and leaves the reader grasping for more details on newly discovered favorite characters.”—Inverse

User’s Reviews

Review “Unmissable . . . Bloodline’s tense politics, vivid new characters, and perfectly characterized Leia make it feel as central to the Star Wars universe as one of the films.”—Tordotcom “[Claudia] Gray paints a much more complete galaxy than we often get to see on the big screen. . . . Knowing that Rian Johnson (writer, director of Star Wars: Episode VIII) had some creative input on the novel provides hope that we haven’t seen the last of all of these wonderful characters. . . . Star Wars: Bloodline isn’t just a great Star Wars book, or a great Leia book, or a great book; it’s a great introduction into the larger world of Star Wars in general.”—ComicBookdotcom “Bloodline is a nonstop page-turner that grabs at heartstrings that you weren’t aware of and yanks down on every one of them. The story is loaded with context for The Force Awakens that plants the seeds for The First Order in perfectly haunting ways, and leaves the reader grasping for more details on newly discovered favorite characters.”—Inverse

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Not what I thought it would be, but welcome to what it ended up to be.Leia is thirty some years into a political career and is tired of the lack of anything getting done. She wants to retire and hang out with Han Solo, racing ships, getting laid and taking a detox from bureaucracy. Then comes the whispers, then the big signs that the First Order has come and intends to undo all the work she’s done getting rid of the Empire i.e. the First First Order.Takeaways:1. No one really knew Leia. Yes, she had loyal “friends” and such but she never really dropped that façade of the Princess of Alderaan without knowing it and that really bit her in the ass. She never spoke of her birth parents to anyone, she never really spoke of her son Ben–if you didn’t know the “Kylo Ren” back story, it came off as a mom who couldn’t handle her teenage son’s acting out and shipped him off to one of those back country “camps” to straighten him out–she never really spoke of Han. Her whole life was politics, even with the close friends who stayed with her after the “grand reveal” of who Darth Vadar was.2. Her relationship with Han was like the Barefoot Contessa and her husband, and I’m kind of okay with that. Again, this whole book is from Leia’s perspective and not just a Mom and Wife but as a whole human lady. She loves Han but their dynamic was very fiery and that wasn’t sustainable in a relationship full time.3. She accomplished virtually nothing during her time on the Senate, and Leia herself knew it. It was thirty years of a hot mess of politics, divide and opened up for the First Order to restore “Order.”4. I want a series with Tom Hiddleston as Ransolm, Leia being his platonic but hot cougar BFF and they go on adventures together. I want it now.5. Leia and Han were iffy parents. It’s implied in the backstory of Kylo Ren, etc. but people will always jump to L&H’s defense because they’re beloved figures. But their relationship is pretty defined in this book. They love each other, have their own passions that they explore separately and at times they rarely see each other. Not all bad parents are bad people, and Han and Leia are good people. But they barely had time for each other, were COMPLETELY OK WITH THIS and supposedly raised a kid the same way. The fact that he started acting out and they sent him away to live with Luke…I can see how someone like Snoke lured this kid away. It was like a modified version of Grant Ward’s storyline from AOS.

⭐ “Star Wars: Bloodline,” a canon novel written by Claudia Gray and published in 2016, is a political/action story about the end of Princess Leia Organa’s time as a senator for the New Republic. It also outlines a troubled and ineffectual Galactic Senate, which paves the way for the rise of the First Order.THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.I originally purchased “Bloodline” because of fan reactions touting it as a “must read.” I wasn’t disappointed, either, because I was interested in reading the Lucasfilm Story Group’s (LSG’s) “official” background of the New Republic (NR) government before the events of “Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens” (TFA), and in learning what part Leia played in the Galactic Senate before turning to lead the Resistance.If you’ve seen TFA, then you know “Bloodline” will be kind of a sad story. According to Wookieepedia, it takes place six years before the film, by which time we know the First Order is already a major threat and the NR is under full-scale assault.So, in reading “Bloodline,” you want to know what has happened to the galaxy in the 20+ years since “Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi” (ROTJ) to have caused conditions to virtually revert to how they were at the beginning of “Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.” In other words, a new rebellion is fighting a new empire all over again. Didn’t ROTJ end with a major defeat for the Galactic Empire and the promise of an NR?Yes, it did (check out Chuck Wendig’s extraordinary “Aftermath Trilogy” for the rest of that story). But now it’s 20+ years later and the NR Senate hasn’t been doing its job. While two factions fight for control, Leia investigates a new criminal syndicate that poses a huge threat to the NR. But two unscrupulous senators discover that her birth father was the hated Darth Vader, and when this is revealed to the Senate, Leia’s career is all but ended. Still, her investigations have given the Senate critical knowledge about a cartel that is funding the buildup of the First Order. She won’t lead the political effort to fight this, but she can fight in other ways. Thus, the Resistance is born.What’s particularly vexing in “Bloodline” is that we learn there are senators who still venerate the old Empire. To Leia’s utter dismay, these “Centrists” want to apply some of the practices of the Empire to the NR, but without making Palpatine’s mistakes. Leia’s blood boils even more when she’s forced to work with Centrist senator Ransolm Casterfo, a pretentious dandy who boldly collects Imperial artifacts and displays them on the walls of his office. There’s even a scene where Casterfo travels to a remote world to purchase the helmet of an Emperor’s Royal Guard.For canon novel readers and fans interested in the fall of the NR and the rise of the First Order, “Bloodline” is, unfortunately, the only substantive insight we have from the LSG at this time. The field is still rich for mining. Hopefully, with the success of the streaming TV show “The Mandalorian,” fan interest in this period of “Star Wars” history may be stoked again in the future, leading to new shows and, perhaps, new novels.

⭐ Of all of the new Star Wars novels, this one has surprised me the most. I love Star Wars and I love the characters and the beauty of the novels is how they expand on those characters. However, at the same time, in each novel I am looking for threads that help bind the movies together and fill in time gaps in the story line. To be honest, nearly every new canon novel so far has fallen short of this, until now. To call this essential reading for SW fans and for those looking for some explanation about events leading up to The Force Awakens, this is your book.Essentially, this novel helps fans understand two of the big questions we asked after The Force Awakens was released: where did the New Order come from and why did the New Republic allow the New Order to flourish if Princess Leia is pushing the Resistance? I don’t want to give away too much of the book, but it is great and throws a wonderful political spin into the SW galaxy without making it all about Politics.This is a great novel that treats the character of Leia right (unlike the terrible comic book run) and adds to the Star Wars tapestry, filling in important gaps. Stop reading this review and start reading the novel!

⭐ First let me say that although I am a big Star Wars fan, I don’t read Star Wars novels. In fact (and I’m really dating myself here) this is the only Star Wars novel I’ve read since Splinter of the Minds Eye in 1978! I just figured that if the movies don’t cover it, I’ll either figure it out on my own, or I don’t need to know it.However, while I thought Force Awakens was an excellent movie, there were a few things that were bothering me too much to leave alone, namely;-What the hell happened to the new Republic? Last time we saw these characters, they were celebrating freeing the galaxy with the Ewoks. Now Leia is in hiding, Han is a smuggler again and Luke is MIA.-Who the hell is the First Order and why do they look exactly like the Empire? Stormtroopers, Star Destroyers, TIE fighters…It was like they never lost the war.So when I found out that there was a book covering some of the time span between Jedi and Force Awakens, I decided to give it a shot.The good news it that this book goes a long way towards answering my two questions. Makes it very clear how the galaxy went to crap between the movies.Leia is by far the central character in this story and although she was never my favorite, she carries this book fairly well and her character is fleshed out much more here than in the movies. It was also enjoyable as well as nostalgic to hear her recount some of the events from the original movies specifically from her point of view.However be warned; this book deals with politics; LOTS of politics. And while there are some action sequences, if you’re looking for X-Wings, blasters and lightsabers, look elsewhere. This book is about political intrigue, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The characters (both old and new) are well written and the story carries you along at a good pace. Overall, very worth reading and it gave me a better understanding of what’s happening going forward with the new movies.

⭐ Senator Leia Organa at her finest! It’s been over 20 years since the Rebel Alliance defeated the Empire and formed the New Republic, but the Senate is divide into two factions that just can’t seem to agree on or accomplish anything and Leia is ready to retire and leave governing to those who are younger and more energetic, but when an independent world reaches out to the Senate for help identifying and dealing with a new threat, Leia leaps at the opportunity to get out of her office and maybe, just maybe, have a little fun.This is a great read. At its heart, it’s a political thriller, but there’s just enough adventure and intrigue to keep that Star Wars feel and to keep you flipping page after page to the riveting, heartbreaking, yet satisfying, conclusion.

⭐ Set a year before Episode VII, “Bloodline” tells the details around what led Leia to leave her Senate seat, become a General and lead the beginning of The Resistance. While not very action packed, it didn’t need to be. This book was heavy into the politics of the New Republic’s failures and the leftover sympathy for Palpatine’s old Empire. It provides some needed character depth around Leia and Han’s relationship leading up to Episode VII and what the exposure of what is eventually the driver behind Ben’s turn into Kylo Ren. For fans of Episode VII, no matter what your feelings are about its similarities to Episode IV, the canon novels being released by Disney provide significant depth to the greater gap of storyline between Episodes VI and VII. For fans of the Skywalker storyline, the flashbacks and thoughts to what happened in Episodes I-VI are littered throughout and seamlessly tying those stories into the new trilogy. Qualitatively, it’s the best new canon novel I’ve read so far.

⭐ Claudia Grey continues to prove she’s one of the best (if not THE best) author writing for the new Star Wars canon. Bloodlines is an excellent Star Wars novel–well written, exciting, interesting, funny at parts, but with a story that can be taken seriously. It does a better job than Aftermath at showing us the state of the galaxy just before the events of The Force Awakens–how the New Republic came to be, how the Resistance came to be, how the First Order came to be, what was Han doing while Leia was working in the Senate, etc.Additionally, the new characters (both heroes and villains) are well developed, and the action sequences are exciting and never ridiculous. Given the amount of political debate and intrigue needed for the story to work, the book could’ve been a new Phantom Menace, but fortunately, that’s not the case. Bloodline is one of the best Star Wars novels I’ve read, and the best thing about it is that it gives more context to the Episode VII movie, meaning it actually improves it. And that. Is. Awesome.

⭐ This book, beefed up with other characters storylines, would practically be Episode 6.5 or 6.75 of the Star Wars Saga. As it is, it is roughly one to one-and-a-half thread(s) of a full film, which is interesting for time spent with Leia and what we learn about development of the Resistance and the First Order. There’s also a point about royalty and how much blood matters to power that reverberates in Episodes 7 and 8.But, that’s about it. Really, the developments of the Resistance and First Order needed about five or ten minutes more than they got in Episode 7. And the Senate intrigue with Leia in the book (roughly 20 years after Return of the Jedi) is clearly not interesting enough for film (see political intrigue pieces of the prequels).The book is a nice visit to the Star Wars universe, but just feels like it is done way too quickly. It references almost every major dramatic character in the saga, but doesn’t stay with almost any of them.So, I’d say the book does what a movie tie-in story is supposed to do – i.e. not outshine a billion dollar grossing movie. As an added bonus, the author does a good job with the thoughts and voice of Leia (and to a lesser extent, Han). That’s what makes it 3.5* rather than barely 3*.

⭐ I love this book. I LOVEloveLOVE Leia, and to have a whole novel devoted to what she’s doing, how she’s thinking, and how badass she’s still being, all along through the formation of the New Republic AND into the development of the Resistance? It’s serious catnip for me.I love the original characters. I liked hating Lady Carise. I liked our young hotshot pilot, Joph. I love Greer and Casterfo. I love love LOVE Greer’s homeworld of Scottish Klingons…I mean…Pamarthe.And I know a number of the characters are from the wider universe, and I’m not sure entirely which ones. I don’t know if Tai-Lin is Gray’s character or a wider-universe character, but I LOVED him. Varish was a joy. I know that Korr Sella was *created* as part of the wider universe (and had scenes in TFA that ended up cut), but THIS was where **I** met her and got to know her personality,and I loved her competence, closeness to Leia, honesty, and demand for respect.Gray knows how to tell a story with patience, setting up Lady Carise’s inheritnce, laying the groundwork through which Leia’s secret would be betrayed–despite how closely guarded it was, setting up and explaining and revealing the machinations of the Centrist vs. Populist positions. She made interesting both the political discussions and the exposition needed to fill in my own gaps in the story.I liked Leia feeling old, felling slower, feeling that she was beginninng to become obsolete…and then finding that she is, more than ever in the past 20-odd years, at the center of the maelstrom and leading the way once again…in the worst of circumstances.I love that Leia got to blow stuff up I love Han in this. I love how clearly it’s shown that Leia and Han’s relationship is close, loving, and filled with communication and warmth. It’s not in Han’s nature to sit around in one place, and this Leia knows and does not at all resent that, and, in fact, knows that her own workaholic tendencies mean that, even if Han were planetside all the time, there would still be limits on their time together. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they are here, in this book, and we see them both. I love that Leia is entirely independent, and yet loves and needs Han, and that he supports her without judgement.I like the various responses to Leia’s secret getting out, love her speech in the Senate, her knowing it’s her last speech, her knowing that it’s over now, but going out with clear and smart discourse. I love LOVE love the interplay and give and take between Leia and Casterfo, and his backstory, his surprising skills at times, and his comments near the end about his regrets. I was entirely fooled into wondering if he was just going to be a freaky caricature, but his depth and layered responses truly delighted me.Best of all…Leia in action, Leia the politician, Leia the diplomat, Leia the woman, Leia the wife and mother, Leia not-entirely-alone, Leia the unflappable still staring down those who would disrupt her public facade, Leia HAPPY doing what she’s good at, Leia grieving and hurting and asking for help when it’s needed and confronting those who deserve it and picking herself back up again. Best of all, Leia making a plan and running into it even when it seems impossible.I loved this book, and will be reading it over and over. I hope C. Gray writes more. Maybe Leia With a Lightsaber next time… 🙂

⭐ The rise of both the First Order and the Resistance has its beginnings in this fine Star Wars novel by Claudia Gray. The second Death Star has been destroyed, but there is little harmony in the Galactic Senate. Two factions, the Centrists and Populists, are pitted against each other. At stake is the survival of the galaxy.Princess Leia, a Populist, and Ransolm Casterfo, a Centrist, have uncovered a dangerous plot that may destroy the Senate and plunge the galaxy into war. It seems that a paramilitary organization, led by former members of the Galactic Empire, is gaining strength. This group is funded by another individual who has been sending the group money through illegal spice running, along with other illegal activities. if allowed to continue, this group could wage an all-out war against the Senate.The two unlikely allies begin their quest to find the head of the cartel while at the same time convincing the Senate of the impending danger. But danger lurks within the Senate, as it becomes known that there may be a mole providing the militarists with important information. Also, one of Leia’s darkest secrets is revealed, perhaps jeopardizing everything. Will Leia and Ransolm be able to provide the Senate with the proof they require?”Bloodline” does a fine job of telling the events after the destruction of the second Death Star while setting up the events of The Force Awakens. The character development is very good, and it’s nice to see Princess Leia as a strong fighter again. Readers of the Star Wars novels will definitely enjoy this one. Highly recommended.

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