Qi’ra has been left behind on Corellia and she’s seeing red! Or, well, she’s seeing Crimson. Read Chris’s review of Qi’ra’s rise to power in Crimson Climb!
Back when Yoda #10 came out, an issue I really liked, I had a bit of trouble putting a finger on what I really liked about it. While I enjoyed the series enough, I don’t think I really…thought about it much? But when the final issue came out, that changed my opinion on the whole series. It was a great character study on Yoda, and turned three disparate stories into deep meditations on who he is. This issue prompted a response from Coop, former admin of Eleven-Thirty Eight. He said: “The best SW stories are additive–they fold new ideas, new language, into the tapestry that can’t be undone by retcons or reboots. As long as they matter to us, to the people telling the stories, they’re still there.” And I think that helped me think about Yoda #10 a bit more deeply: when we explore Yoda like this, when we really see who he is and what it is that makes him tick, this take (even if we forget about this issue) will be with us forever.
I don’t know if that’s the case for Crimson Climb. Set between two scenes in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Crimson Climb tells us about what happened to Qi’ra between the scene where she and Han are separated on Corellia and the scene where they reunite on Vandor. This young adult novel chronicles the rise of Qi’ra through Crimson Dawn’s ranks, starting with her time as a slave and then her time under Dryden Vos’s regime. Now why did I start with the reflection on Yoda #10? Because I think the elements of Yoda #10 that really stuck with me are the elements that I feel are missing from Crimson Climb, unfortunately.
Take the character of Qi’ra, for example. When we first meet her in Solo, she’s determined, a leader, but she’s also clearly in love with Han. When we meet her again, she’s nuanced – is she a villain? Is she onboard with Crimson Dawn’s plans? There’s a lot of character work in the middle…and I’m not sure this novel was terribly interested in delving into that nuance. Instead we get a look at Qi’ra who is determined, a leader, and clearly in love with Han. Aside from a few moments at the end, where the book really begins to shine, this version of Qi’ra, to me, feels trapped between the movies. The movie’s take on Qi’ra (despite some major writing issues) still mostly stands the same with this novel. I wouldn’t have minded that as much had this novel instead fleshed out the Qi’ra we’d see later in the War of the Bounty Hunters, the one who is absolutely anti-Sith and cunning and brutal…and we do get there a little, but without this novel, I think we still have the same picture of Qi’ra. So, in my opinion, back to Coop’s point in the post on X (so hard not to just say ‘tweet’!), if this book was removed…I feel like we’d still have the same picture of Qi’ra.
I’ll explain a bit more. While we see Qi’ra’s reaction to being separated from Han, such as in the ways that she responds to people who try to get close to her and the way that she reacts to the ideas of friendship, I don’t feel like it was something new that we didn’t see in the film. While Dryden is an absolute blast as a villain – written well by Johnston, keeping some of the charm of Bettany’s performance – he doesn’t actually stand as an antagonist to Qi’ra. Instead, she had a bunch of smaller antagonists, each who are supposed to challenge her and push her, but few, to me, really end up making a huge change in her character. She does have an arc, of sorts, but it feels constrained by the film, getting her from Scene A to Scene B, rarely able to set aside its own mark on the universe.
I also have to take this same criteria to the plot itself. Does the plot necessitate an entirely new novel? I’ve personally said before that if a story is going to take time covering an event that we seemed to be doing well enough without – scenes missing from Solo, Boba Fett’s revival, I believe the story should tell a more interesting story than the one I could’ve imagined on my own. Boba punching his way out of the sarlacc seems fairly pedestrian, and feels like it could’ve been told in retrospect. Without giving away the plot to this novel, I would argue that for the most part, this also moves in a way that you’d generally expect. I will fully own that this is a personal thing: I felt like it was fairly generic, up until the 80% or so mark, but it could still work for other people!
There are a few quick notes I would also make on this, but none that I feel warrant their own paragraph. I wish we got a little more agency from Qi’ra early, and definitely more of her inner monologue. What we do hear is almost repetitive, and I would’ve loved to take a deeper look into her mind at this time. I also felt like we didn’t get a lot of development for Qi’ra’s side characters, either, and aside from some of the characters we already knew, no one really stood out to me.
That being said, I do think that there is a lot of merit to this book, and it’s the last 20% percent. (This number is a bit approximate, but I feel like it’s fair.) When the book clicks up into a major climax, it’s actually fairly interesting on a lot of levels. Of course, the part that I can talk about the least is the part that I would have been most interested in discussing! This part does set up a lot of where we go in the Hidden Empire series, but it’s also…the end of the book, unfortunately.
I will also say that we do get some insights into the working of Crimson Dawn, but even that felt like less than was warranted from a novel like this.
Overall, I wouldn’t rate this book very high, but it did have some bright spots. I really wish it had more of a hook or angle to justify its existence a little earlier, taking a bit more meat on the bones and creating something a bit more substantial. As it stands, I feel like it’s one you can miss out on and not miss a ton, but if you do read it, you’ll be at least mildly rewarded.
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor!
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this book from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.
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