STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

Wait a minute… Luke Skywalker’s got a [SPOILER REDACTED]?!? With its very first line, Jason Fry’s novelisation makes good on its promise to add new layers to Rian Johnson’s movie. Even if the line in question is a total tease.

Having grabbed our attention, however, Fry hangs on to it with a brisk read that fills gaps rather than pads. OK, so there’s probably more info on BB-8’s ‘subroutines’ than you really need to know; on the other hand, you get a nice sense of the ball-droid’s cheekier side (he loves a dirty joke, apparently). Here and elsewhere, Fry shows a flair for getting inside his characters’ heads – Finn’s arc in particular feels more satisfying than the movie version. (That said, the Canto Bight sequence remains the story’s weakest link.)

Released to tie in with TLJ’s home-ent bow (see page 96), the book incorporates deleted scenes found on disc, some entirely new stuff, plus nods to other Star Wars spin-offs (of which Fry is a veteran).

True, Expanded Edition is just a fancy label for something novelisations have always done, as far back (at least) as the very first Star Wars adap, which offered such bonus gems as Luke asking Ben what a duck is. Thankfully/ sadly, there are no such clangers here – from slower opening (which works on page where it wouldn’t have on screen) to Episode IX hints (possibly…), this is a quality companion piece, worth the three-month wait. Or, as Yoda put it might, a page-turner. Matthew Leyland