Rise of the Rebels

Star Wars Disney Canon Junior Novel

by Michael Kogge

Meet Ezra and the Rebels crew! Your favorite Star Wars Rebels heroes are ready to fight the evil Empire! Kanan, Hera, and trusty old Chopper battle TIE fighters while Sabine uses her artistic talents to outsmart Stormtroopers. Zeb never misses an opportunity to take down troopers, and Ezra scores a special souvenir at the crash site of an Imperial fighter.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Adventure

90 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 5, 2014

About the author

Michael Kogge is an American screenwriter and author who has written for several Star Wars projects, including the Star Wars Adventure Journal, Star Wars Gamer magazine, Hyperspace, Star Wars Insider magazine, and the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire roleplaying game. He has also authored a series of Star Wars Rebels chapter books, adapting episodes from the show's first season.

Reviews

[Sarah Ryder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this novelization of the Rebels shorts as it added depth to the characters and scenes without sacrificing anything or becoming to over bloated in any way. The Machine in the Ghost and Art Attack remain my faves, both here and on screen—they’re just funny and great.

Overall I had so much fun rereading this and may need to go rewatch the shorts soon.


‼️Content‼️

Violence: fighting with weapons (not detailed)

Other: explosions; the Force (“magic”)

[Melenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

[morgan ☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need more stories from Choppers perspective please!

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a tie in to the show with the same name, Rise of the Rebels at least does its job by giving a bit of backstory to the main characters of Herra, Sabine, Zeb, and Ezra. But that’s about all it does.

This book (and basically all the Rebels books) are clearly aimed for younger readers. Usually that’s a good thing (I wish when I was 8 or 9 I had more than just the crappy Glove of Darth Vader series to read), however I don’t think that’s an excuse to be so simplistic and black and white. There’s little to no gray area or really even any detailed exposition. The characters don’t do anything remotely original. Each vignette of their actions doesn’t do much to make them unique or stand out. Each of the 4 Rebels experiences some kind of confrontation with Imperial forces that only serves to highlight how terrible the Empire is and how awesome the Rebellion is for sticking up for the downtrodden. Typical moral stuff for 3rd graders.

And the sad thing is that it didn’t have to be so...safe. Jason Fry’s Servants of the Empire prequel series proved that you can write something for less mature audiences and still make it extremely enjoyable and even better than the adult line of Star Wars canon. Unfortunately that’s not the case with Michael Kogge.

[Jtimko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compilation of four stories from the Star Wars Rebels series. They include- The Machine in the Ghost, Art Attack, Entanglement, and Property of Ezra Bridger.
Fans of the Star War Rebels series will enjoy re-hashing the antics of their favorite characters. Short chapters make for a quick read while keeping the readers’ attention. The artwork complements the story well. If you have patrons who love this series, then you need to purchase this volume for the elementary reader. Recommended for grades 2 and up.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun novelization of the four Star Wars Rebels shorts. This is great for kids who are familiar with the show Rebels (which I, as an adult, LOVE). There’s not much added to the stories that isn’t shown in the shorts, maybe a little internal dialogue. But my kids (6 and 8) loved this fun book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically a novelization of the four character shorts released with Rebels—one focused on Hera, Kanan, and Chopper; one focused on Sabine; one focused on Zeb; and one focused on Ezra. There isn’t really any new content, but it’s a cute book for a kid who can read beginning chapter books and is also a Rebels fan.

The Disney designation of “junior novels” seems really broad because I’ve read some that were more like junior high age, but this one I’d say would be appropriate for 2nd-4th grade.

[Leensey · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was such a fun read! A great way to introduce the characters of the Ghost prior to Ezra joining them. Love the Kanera bickering, Chopper's whining, Sabine's explosive art, Zeb's embarrassing of Imperials, and Ezra's scavenging to survive. Stoked to sink my teeth onto the next book!

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is aimed at young readers. This is not surprising, as is a sort of intro to the characters in the Star Wars Rebels show, which has great moments and other, not so good ones. The issues I have with both the show and this book are the moments where being a "good guy" means that a situation resolve to flippantly or easily. Fighting with armored, trained opponents comes off as toying with buffoons at times, and that gets so tired so fast for me.

A victory is weak when it comes too easily, and if the bread and butter for the empire on the group and in the air can be toyed with and defeated so predictably and blatantly, what's to overcome?

The stories and interesting characters are there, the execution is simplistic and that makes me want for more form the Rebels line. Then again, I always wanted more from my "good vs bad" cartoons like Transformers, GI Joe, or He-Man as a kid... I had to grow up to realize that they were marketing tools first, story telling second.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was the cutest! I loved the beautiful art and the story in general. I am super excited to read the other 3 books in this series. This book had 4 sections to it, explaining each of the short stories of the main characters from the Ghost. On YouTube, I was able to find each of the stories, so what I did was read a section and then watch the short 3 minute clip of it. I really enjoyed doing this. It took about an hour to read and watch each of the 3 minute clips from YouTube. I have already seen the Rebels tv show, so I already had a love for the characters going into this book. I recommend reading this short story if you are really into Star Wars or Rebels in general. Ezra will always remain my favorite! :D

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rise of the Rebels is a pretty straightforward adaptation of the four shorts that were released leading up to the debut of the Star Wars Rebels TV show. It introduces the crew of the Ghost, even though Ezra hasn't joined just yet. It's a very quick read and I really don't have too much to say about it as a result. If you've watched the shorts, you know what's going on. If you haven't, it's a solid introduction to the time period, setting, and characters of the show.

If you're a Star Wars fan and haven't watched Rebels in a while, this is a good way to dive back into the universe. It could also be a nice introduction to a young, potential Star Wars fan in the making.

[Megan Beckelhimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking at other people's reviews, it seems that many people did not enjoy this. I thought it was a fun read. It's very short and easy to read and definitely geared toward children, but it's really cute and the author does a great job at hinting at the back story to each of the characters. There are evidently mini episodes depicting each of the stories told in this book available on YouTube, as well.

Anyway, I just thought the characters were fun to read about, particularly Ezra.

Five out of five stars.

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[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book in the Rebels chapter books, this middle grade book was a well-written nonsensical look at the cast of the show. It was ok really. Like, it's the gang on Lothal doing various odd jobs, I think this is a written form of the first episode of the show? Or at least parts of it? There was no overarching plot but Michael Kogge, again, just captures these characters so well. I only read this to complete the Star Wars Canon Challenge and will continue the series because they're easy enough to read. I think younger SW fans will find this a fun one to pick up, but it's otherwise not essential to Canon.

[Lucy Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

30 Books in 30 days - Book 6

This is a fun little novelisation based on the series of Rebels shorts. It is obviously aimed at much younger readers and is a perfect entry book if you're around the right age and love the Rebels tv series. For me it mainly made me want to rewatch rebels but also, I love the crew of the Ghost so much that even this young readers chapter book made me smile, especially when we got a little chapter from Choppers perspective. I think I'll go and watch these shorts now as I actually haven't seen them before!

[Ahdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was basically an adaptation of the prequel shorts for Rebels. I still really get a lot out of these as they really give us a bit more on character insight on the events that happen. I will eventually read ever Rebels book in my journey to read all of the Star Wars canon. These books go by quickly and are really entertaining.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Star Wars Rebels, but when I first watched the miniepisodes that introduced each character, I thought they were pretty childish. Reading this retelling of those 4 stories was so much better. The author made them less childish, and hinted at the tragic backstory behind each character.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering that this is a novelization of the shorts, this was well done! Kogge fleshed out the characters in a way the shorts couldn't!
Loved the interior illustrations as well, definitely helps readers imagination with character traits.

[Lois Merritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was shorter than even I figured it was going to be, but still, since it was suggested that it was something of a novelization of a couple of episodes, and since that's what I was looking for today, it fulfilled its purpose.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, I think, was an anthology from different character POV's from Star Wars: Rebels. I enjoyed them but honestly, they were underwhelming. None of them felt original; it would have been better to get a different perspective.

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always fun to visit with characters you enjoy - supplements the animated shorts with inner thoughts - particularly fun with Chopper's story.

[Killian Majere · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is clearly intended for a young audience. It provides a small amount of backstory for the characters. That's it.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very accurate covering the very first show of the series. Quick but fun read. =)

[Jay Gabler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historical curiosity as the first new canon prose of the Disney Star Wars era.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now, this is what I look for from a Star Wars novelization intended for young readers. Rise of the Rebels is an adaptation of the shorts that preceded the premiere of Star Wars: Rebels, and while it's all very straightforward, writer Michael Kogge finds great ways to embellish the 3-minute shorts and expand them to several more pages. The book is a fun introduction to the characters from the show, which I intend to settle down with soon.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick, junior-high level book that gives fairly quick introductions for the Ghost's crew. The stories do a good job of capturing the voice and style of the characters. Zeb gets the best moments, although Sabine's story is good too. Chopper actually gets more attention than Hera and Kanan do, and Ezra's story is okay but nothing special. It's a nice introduction to most of the characters without spoiling any of the episodes, but at the same time it's not at all required reading.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I realized before starting these, that they are mirrors of the story's that actually happened in Rebels episodes. They didn't really add much to the story, besides giving another characters internal monologue and letting me know that Sabine was only 2 years older than Ezra (which I had no idea!!). I zipped right through these, though, so it didn't cost me much time at all to read them.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun prequel to the TV series with some insights into the character's thoughts and feelings plus info on what they were up to before Ezra joined the crew.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, I probably never would have picked this up if I knew ahead of time that it was just going to be a novelization of the four mini-episodes that they produced ahead of the upcoming TV series. On the whole, there was little here that wasn't in the actual shorts, with a couple notable exceptions. In the Sabine-centric story Art Attack, there was an incredibly unsubtle segment from the POV of one of the Stormtroopers. He actually muses on how he was recruited based on his record as a bully, and how he hates artists almost as much as rebels because they can do things that he can't, like create. It was so caricatured as to be almost hilarious, if it wasn't pathetic. On the other hand, in the last story the author actually amends events so that Ezra doesn't drop into the TIE's cockpit as he does in the video, but instead just leans in from on top. This is good, because there's no way he would actually fit inside that cockpit with the pilot...every source, including the reference work for the series itself emphasizes how cramped those cockpits are.

Oh, yeah. I'm a huge geek, in case you hadn't figured that out yet. I'm cool with it.

Bottom line: There's not enough new here to warrant the cost of admission. The videos are all available on YouTube for free, so go do that instead.

[Nancy Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went in this not knowing a level recommendation for this. I knew it was classified "children's chapter book" and that was it.

The writing itself was elementary level but not boring or too easy. It was comprised of short stories centered around our new heros. These are all cleary placed prior to the series from which it is based, but after the events of A New Dawn.

I found the stories endearing and if I had kids of an appropriate age level would probably be reading this to them. It was a great introduction to the characters without overloading the reader with details of the universe it is included within. If you already know great if you don't well hey it's okay you get the details for the story itself covered no backstory needed.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adaptation of the four shorts that were released prior to the first season of the show: "The Ghost in the Machine", "Art Attack", "Entanglement", "Property of Ezra Bridger". They introduce the main characters. Nothing new here that isn't in the shorts themselves.

This is aimed at younger readers. The text is interspersed with images, stock art, and logos from the show's promotional materials. I imagine this is ok for what it is, but it's not my thing when it comes to Star Wars middle grade fiction.