Moving Target

[Aaron, Jedi Master]

This thread is to discuss the entire book Moving Target. SPOILERS are allowed.

[Drew]

This book was just kinda meh, to me. Not terrible, but not too memorable.

[Bruce]

I came into this book with high expectations based on what others were telling me. So it didn't live up to the hype I heard, but I enjoyed seeing Leia working with a new group of people. It was great to see her as a tougher character than we see in some other books and as a leader of a team making hard decisions.

[Frank]

Here’s an earlier post (edited) I made comparing Princess Leia novel Moving Target with Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells. Kind of relevant to this post.

I’ve decided to break this down into six categories. This isn’t a review of both books, just kind of what I liked and disliked about both

Hardback edition: I’m a sucker for the physical feel of a book, especially hardbacks, down with the e-reader I say. Razor’s Edge hardback edition is typical to any other hardback. The sleeve cover is a bit uninspiring, doesn’t look like it got the special artwork treatment here, and to be honest, anyone who knows there way around a decent photoshop app could do just as good a job. Now Moving Target is a different story altogether. The artwork on the sleeve, and inside, is done in subtle shades of red grey and black, and looks and feels very impressive. There is a grey smudge waterline going through all the inner pages which gives it a notebook type effect, which I presume is the whole idea. Definitely Moving Target wins here.

Protagonist: Princess Leia. What I was looking for in both books was Leia to be portrayed as a strong young leader of the Rebel Alliance. A person who doesn’t shirk from the heavy burden of leadership and responsibility, and is prepared to make the difficult decisions on matters of life and death. In both books I wasn’t disappointed. Leia is shown to be a true leader, not only is she prepared to make the hard decisions that can, and does, put other peoples’ lives in danger, but she is also not afraid to put herself in the firing line as well, and often leads by example. Both books capture the type of character we expect Leia to be from the original trilogy. Equal share of the points here.

Storyline: Both are kind of similar. Princess Leia, on a mission with a small support crew to aid the Rebels in their fight against the Empire. Razor’s Edge is set between A New Hope and Empire, and Leia’s mission has a connection to Hoth. Moving Target is set between Empire and Jedi, so similarly, Leia’s mission has a connection to the Battle of Endor. I have to go with Moving Target on this one. There are several links to Return of the Jedi in this novel which I love, plots that are touched upon in the book that are fleshed out more in the film, very cleverly done. This direct connection to the films was missing from Razor’s Edge. Maybe Martha Wells was restricted on what areas of the Galaxy far, far away she could explore, and with the new Canon approach these restraints were lifted from Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry.

Han Solo and Luke Skywalker: I feel these are worth a mention. Both books are billed as a Princess Leia adventure, heck it has it on the cover of Moving Target, and the Star Wars wiki has a quote from Martha Wells on Razor’s Edge “is about 75%-80% from Leia’s POV.” Saying that, and as especially as Han and Luke (originally) have their own novel in the Empire and Rebellion series, I was puzzled why Han featured so prominently in Razor’s Edge, and Luke featured a good bit at the end. Have them at the start if need be, and let Leia go off on her own mission without them, like what she does in Moving Target. (okay, Han frozen in carbonite may have been a major factor here.) It just felt it didn’t add to the story, and if they were omitted it wouldn’t have taken anything away.

Wow Factor: Razor’s Edge is a good book, don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it. But as soon as I put it down, I kind of forgot about it. This doesn’t happen with Moving Target. Not wanting to give too much away, let’s just say there are a few pages from the POV of General Leia Organa and not Princess Leia.

Depth: It’s unfair to leave Razor’s Edge with just .5 points. It is a good book. Moving Target is a young adult's novel and is considerably shorter, Razor’s Edge is roughly twice as long. With the extra word count Martha Wells is able to delve into the characters more -- especially the supporting characters -- something Moving Target did not do. The characters are interesting in the young adult novel, but it would have been great if they were explored more, but for a short(ish) novel that’s probably impossible to do. Martha Wells did not have this restraint.
Canon 4.5 Legends 1.5

Overall Moving Target: 4.5 to Razor’s Edge: 1.5 Don’t let the billing of a young adult novel put you off Moving Target, it is a great read. And with the chapters coming thick and fast it’s a quick one. It’s nearly worth the money just for the prologue and epilogue.

[Jeff]

I think "Moving Target" is my favorite of the new cannon books. I sometimes forget that Leia was just as much of a bad ass female character as Rey is. The characters and action are excellent. I enjoyed learning more about Nien Nunb. The book perfectly sets up Return of the Jedi. It was a pleasant surprise. Other than Tarkin I don't think I have even been so pleasantly surprised by a Star Wars book.