Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight's Reviews > Star Wars, Vol. 9: Hope Dies

I swear, these books are getting better and better.

This was such an explosive volume - so much happened! But not in the way of "stuff is happening just for the sake of stuff happening" - I found myself getting genuinely invested in the Rebellion's plight in here and the lives of different characters. It was seriously just... so good.

The art's amazing, but that cover. Look at it!

Now... the plot...

spoilers for volumes 1-8

At the end of the last volume, it was revealed that Queen Trios (I can never call her just Trios) is working with Vader... in here we see the result of that as the Rebellion falls prey to an Imperial attack. There are so, so many amazing scenes in here.

That scene with Queen Trios where Vader talks with her at the beginning... wow. It really shows how far she'll go for Shu-Torun. She is... wow.

That whole firefight between Han and Vader was really good too. I love these dynamics that are worked with in these books.

Also... my fangirl heart jumped at the end of volume 52. I love Rogue One. (view spoiler)[Luke honoring Jyn Erso!! Rogue Squadron!!! (hide spoiler)]

Speaking of moments that made me get ridiculously excited - there's a cameo in here from my favorite alien pilot of all time. Not counting Chewbacca. (view spoiler)[GENERAL HERA SYNDULLA (hide spoiler)]

There are also lots of small moments throughout here that are a play on famous Star Wars lines and oh, I love it.

I really like that this volume handled General Draven. He's a slightly smaller character from Rogue One - one of the people who recruited Jyn Erso for her mission. And he was dealt with so well in here. (view spoiler)[What a great death scene. And what a fitting end for the character. (hide spoiler)] And, speaking of generals - General Dodonna. (view spoiler)[I mean - wow. Given that he's a character right from A New Hope, and has history just like Draven - seeing him die was just, wow. I really didn't expect that. His death really showed how serious things are becoming for the Rebellion. (hide spoiler)]

Also, oh, that final panel gives me chills. (view spoiler)[Meorti lived! See, Meorti lived, and Meorti means hope, and the title of this book is "Hope Dies" but hope lived in the end. Ah, so clever! I love it!! (hide spoiler)]

I had so much fun with this volume, as intense as it was at times. I literally found myself practically rereading it to make this review. This whole series is doing amazingly. 5/5 stars to this one.