“Jyn Erso hid in the dark.”

From Beth Revis’ Star Wars: Rebel Rising.

At only 8-years-old, Jyn Erso has been left alone in the galaxy.  After the Erso family left everything behind to escape the Empire, her mother was murdered by storm troopers when they came to take her scientist father away; Jyn is left hiding in a cave until rebel fighter Saw Gerrera arrives and takes her back to his base.  Saw is a fighter and completely unprepared to raise a child, but since he had been friends with Jyn’s parents since their previous escape from the Empire, he does his best to care for her as his own.  While her mother had been teaching her science and mathematics, Saw trains Jyn in various forms of combat and counterfeiting.  The mystery of why her father was taken away becomes a major issue for both Jyn and Saw because her father’s research seems to be somehow connected to the ever-increasing galactic takeover by the Empire.  As Jyn grows older and her talents increase, Saw begins to give her more responsibilities and opportunities to join his rebel missions; however, at the same time, Saw’s paranoia about keeping Jyn’s family history a secret begins to spiral out of control.

This book takes place between the opening scene of Rogue One and the other events of the film.  It is a enjoyable fill-in-the-gaps story, both for the stand-alone movie and the series as a whole.  It does not have to be read by Star Wars fans to be enjoyed; anyone with even the slightest interest in science fiction will find the story entertaining.  At points, the story does seem longer than it needs to be, but every aspect of the story comes together very nicely at the end of the book.  Rebel Rising uses a strong main character/narrator through many twists and turns to create a complex and fun read.