Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel

Hmm... a rather uninspired and lethargic read for me. Perhaps I should have read it back in 2017 when I bought it after the Rogue One hype, as I feel I would've been a lot more invested then than now. The novel definitely adds detail to the Star Wars universe, with its coolest moments in Part 1 being the links to the Clone Wars episodes I have been recently watching and then later showing us how the Empire enforces worlds and kept the Death Star a secret during Parts 2 and 3. However, the characters of Krennic, Galen, Lyra and Saw are already fully-developed from the film and new additions like Has Obitt don't really add much to the story. Further, the dialogue was wieldy and there were long stretches of exposition spent inside a character's head spoon-feeding the reader - and don't even get me started on the scientific and mathematical jargon which was omnipresent throughout the book. Ultimately, it didn't feel like an entertaining or rewarding enough novel on its own, and whilst it added to the worldbuilding and presented new perspectives on the Empire's dictatorial power and Krennic's crafty ambitious moves, I don't see myself recommending this unless to the die-hard fans.