Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel

My favourite Star Wars novels are always those that play with the conventions of what the reader expects from a “Star Wars story”, and this one was no exception. It's an employment drama that mostly focuses on interpersonal conflict and workplace politics - it just so happens that those politics and interpersonal relationships are focused around the building of the Death Star. And as a workplace drama it's a pretty entertaining one; the audience of course knows the outcome of Galen Erso's increasing unease over his work for the Empire, and the tension in the story becomes mostly about how much of himself he's going to lose to the manipulations of Orson Krennic and Grand Moff Tarkin. Reading this made me excited to watch Rogue One again, as well, because knowing more about the relationship between those characters will probably deepen my appreciation of their scenes in the film.