This is the most interesting era of Star Wars to me: What does it take to resist and rebel amid an unjust system in a complicated world? What are the compromises and principles needed to make real change? And how do you make choices when you can't know you're making the right ones, when the end isn't yet written?

The ambiguity and naivete of Bail, Mon, and Saw (in varying combinations) is handled well and with subtlety. These characters (plus new ones created for the novel) don't know if it'll all be ok, they don't have that complete certainty, and they all wrestle with it in their own ways.

I'm in, already counting down to book #2.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Whether people like it or not, Star Wars has always been political, and even though some audiences fail to realize it, it’s also never been shy about the politics it represents. The Empire is not a metaphor for something else, but quite literally a conquering power that became government illegally by funding foreign wars and pretending to bring and maintain peace through choking-tight control. The Rebellion is the people who stood up to fight for democracy and freedom for all. The fact that people mix these two up seems inconceivable.

Alexander Freed comes to muddy the waters even more for those kinds of people who failed to grasp such simple concepts - and by this I mean that he did a fantastic job at exploring the complexities inherent to a scenario such as Star Wars lays out, mirroring (as Star Wars has always done) the way it’s often played out in real life and, unfortunately, not in a way that feels anachronistic.

“The Mask of Fear” is the first book of a trilogy that covers the time period between the end of Revenge of the Sith and the beginning of Andor. This book covers those first few weeks and is told mostly through the POVs of Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, a former Separatist warrior who is found by Saw Gerrera’s team, and an old Republic/Empire spy and her protégé, with a few other POVs interspersed.

It’s a heavily political book, though not entirely devoid of action. The most similar book to this one that comes to mind is Claudia Gray’s “Bloodline”, so I think that can be a good parameter to know whether you might enjoy Freed’s story or not - personally, I loved both (“Bloodline” in a more bittersweet way, as it is linked to a sequel I don’t like or agree with).

While the dust of the war settles, a disgraced Mon Mothma seeks to push a bill that will ensure the Senate retains its power and keep Palpatine in check, which means forming alliances and toeing the line within the new regime. We find Mothma in her most vulnerable place yet, only to see her be reborn from her ashes into the future leader of the Rebellion that we know.

On the other hand, Bail seeks to uncover the truth and exonerate the Jedi Order, haunted by the ghosts of the Jedi and Padmé, and moved by his duty as a new father. We also see a different Bail to the one we’re used to - idealistic to the point of naive, almost uncompromising, yet still a more charismatic leader than Mothma can be.

I really appreciated that Freed managed to do something interesting, new and nuanced with these characters without losing sight of their essence - their clashing goals and personalities, the parts of them we might not recognize immediately, are fitting for this period of time, and become the building blocks for the transformations they both will experience in the coming years.

One thing I’ll say is that, while Soujen (the ex Separatist) was an interesting character and we see Saw’s operation through his perspective, I was missing the perspective of Saw himself - we only got a short chapter towards the end from his POV. This kept him still as the rogue element, the mysterious warrior, while we got to see the motivations and struggles of the other characters intimately. I can only hope the next books will fill this gap, but I still felt a little deceived since the blurb specifically said the story would be told “through the eyes” of Organa, Mothma and Gerrera.

After being disappointed with the way most Disney-era media have dealt with the political aspects in Star Wars, particularly post Return of the Jedi, this book was a fresh breath of air: perfectly in line with the thoughtfulness of Andor, politically relevant, well-written, offering a new yet not egregiously outlandish take on familiar characters. For once I feel like my high hopes have been fully met!

I loved the idea of a book through the eyes of characters in the Star Wars world. I added to the lore of New Hope and had that element that I had enjoyed from Star Wars as a whole. The writing was fantastic and was engaged with the story being told. Alexander Freed has a strong writing style and am excited to read the next book in Star Wars: Reign of the Empire series. This was a fantastic start and was glad I was able to read this.