For years, Star Wars fans have imagined what happened off-screen that led to the formation of the Rebel Alliance. What was the reaction (outside the Death Star conference room) to the Emperor’s dissolution of the Galactic Senate? How did the average citizen of the galaxy react to the atrocities committed by the Empire? What kind of internal debates and conflicts occurred as the Rebel Alliance struggled to find its footing and survive the Imperial attempts to snuff out the flickering flame of freedom? While it’s always been fun (and part of fandom) to speculate and create our own head canon of these events, the acquirement of LucasFilm by Disney has led to stories like the Rogue One feature film and the animated series, Star Wars Rebels, which were clearly crafted with a desire in mind to fill in these gaps and illustrate the rough and precarious path for this band of freedom fighters.

Now, with the release of Star Wars: The Rebel Files by Daniel Wallace, the history and formation of the Rebel Alliance is available to any individual who feels stuck somewhere far, far away from the bright center of the galaxy and dreams of running away and joining Princess Leia or Luke Skywalker on some sort of damn fool idealistic crusade.

MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

Star Wars: The Rebel Files is described by the publisher as a top-secret cache of highly sensitive intelligence that traces the Rebel Alliance from its formation through its tireless fight against the Empire. Designed in similar fashion to some of the Star Wars titles like The Jedi Path and Book of the Sith, The Rebel Files depicts a cache of in-universe documents, notes, and accounts that were, apparently, kept in a secure case, traveling with key senior Rebel personnel in order to keep the Rebel Alliance’s most sensitive information away from the risk of digital interception by their Imperial foes. These documents were, at one point, lost during the chaos surrounding the legendary Battle of Endor, but, lucky for us, they were rediscovered years later by the newly formed Resistance. The book itself features not only strategic documents, news reports, and internal correspondence between Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and other key members of the Rebel Alliance, but, like the other in-universe Star Wars volumes released, there are hand-written annotations from beloved characters in the franchise. With the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi mere months behind us, readers will be excited to read the thoughts and perspectives of characters like General Leia, Admiral Ackbar, Poe Dameron, Vice Admiral Holdo, and more.

Frankly, from one Star Wars fan to another, Star Wars: The Rebel Files is an undeniable triumph that illustrates the power and importance of the Star Wars story group and their efforts, post-Disney acquirement, to weave a connected story and universe between the various films, animated series, comics, books, and more released under the Star Wars banner. Wallace clearly is on board with this mission and demonstrates his own skill, knowledge, and attention to detail with the way he takes the events and characters of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars Rebels, and more and ties them together as a cohesive and believable historic text of the events in a galaxy far, far away.

Here are just a few interesting examples of the kinds of amazing content inside The Rebel Files:

– Fans of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated series will not be disappointed, as there are mentions of Cham Syndulla, Saw Gerrera, Ashoka Tano, the “Bad Batch,” and more!

– While not a direct correlation to our current political climate, the political spin and mentions of internal leaks and collusion with the enemy certainly carry more weight these days and make the troubling last days of the Old Republic that much more relatable for the average Earthling.

– There’s an interesting depiction of the friction between Rebel Alliance leadership when Luke, Leia, and other heroes of the Rebellion attempt the rescue of Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt. While obviously depicted as heroes in the events of Return of the Jedi, it’s interesting to see those lead characters discussed as problematic individuals using the Alliance’s resources for their own personal matters.

– I’d be remiss not to mention the stunning artwork, especially the beautiful chapter breaks provided by artist Aaron Riley.

FINAL VERDICT: Star Wars: The Rebel Files is a book that EVERY Star Wars fan will want in their collection. They really don’t make them better than this, so definitely do not miss the chance to get your hands on a copy!

Creative Team: Daniel Wallace (Author), Joe Corroney (Illustrator), Aaron Riley (Illustrator), Adrian Rodriguez (Illustrator), Chris Reiff (Illustrator), Chris Trevas (Illustrator), Diogo Costa (Illustrator), Giorgio Baroni (Illustrator), Issac Hannaford (Illustrator), Maciej Rebisz (Illustrator), and Randall Mackey (Illustrator)
Publisher: Becker&mayer!
Click here to purchase.