Bloodline definitely felt a piece of the Star Wars universe, both in good and bad ways. At its best it explored themes of power and dealing with a society's dark past. Interesting comparisons can be drawn between how the characters in Bloodline view the Empire and the various reactions to Nazism and Confederate apologists in our own world. At its worst, the book get mired in discussing galactic politics that are both boring and don't make much sense. I've always thought it was weird when Star Wars takes a turn away from fantasy to focus on political debates, because at its heart, such a simplistic universe in which entire planets are populated by single cultures and ideologies can't support the types of political insight the writers strive for. In the end, the central story line felt contrived, the twist felt unearned, and much of the book was just rather boring. However, it is about Princess Leia, and she is awesome enough to almost carry the rest of the book. ( )

Claudia Gray's "Bloodline" provides vital links between the Original Trilogy and "The Force Awakens," with an excellent mix of political intrigue and action, giving readers enough details to infer just how the First Order comes to power (turns out they got a lot of their empire era ships from the outer rim were a certain emperor planned for them to be stored if he was to die but I digress) . We join Princess Leia in her role as a New Republic senator six years before the events of the new movie and find she has been negotiating a challenging political landscape since the fall of the Empire. The New Republic is now the political status quo with a Galactic Senate (or universal senate if you will) as its governing heart and the Senate is divided by Populists and Centrists, both of which share opposing ideals. The Galactic Senate, based on the doomed Hosnian Prime, has been divided into two distinct factions. Leia's side, the Populists, wish to see individual planets maintain autonomy, while the worryingly Imperial-sounding Centrists are pushing for a centralized galactic government backed by military might. The New Republic needs a leader, and as she wrestles with the truths of where she comes from, Leia is thrust into a position that she fears may tear the galaxy apart once again, especially if individuals discover exactly who her father was.
Gray is perhaps the best writer in the new canon Star Wars universe and she demonstrates a clear understanding of Leia's personality. This was a riveting read, with some insightful tidbits regarding Leia's emotions about her father, her relationship with Han, and her love and concern for Ben (who is training with Luke in this novel). Gray immerses readers into the world of Star Wars. Bloodline is a fun novel that fills in some of the blanks about what happened between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens and is highly recommended.

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In Bloodline, Claudia Gray shows us Leia a few years before the beginning of the sequel movies, grappling with frustrating and deadlocked galactic politics. She dreams of retiring and going adventuring with Han, but the need to hold the New Republic together make that unlikely to happen—even before she faces down an underworld threat and distrust from among her own.

There are lots of nicely-observed bits here, but equally much of the political manoeuvering felt as if it had to be kept fairly surface level because people tend not to read A Star War for the politicking—fair enough—and it was all way too thinly veiled an allegory for American Democrats vs Republicans. Was it not possible to conceive of a Galactic Senate with literally thousands of members that wasn't a two-party body? Hashtag Not All Centrists, I suppose, but Ransolm Casterfo—the Centrist senator with whom Leia at first reluctantly works and then grudgingly comes to respect and even like—just didn't work for me as a character. Is someone who spent his childhood in an Imperial forced labour camp and watched his parents die because of that really going to collect stormtrooper helmets and think, well, of course Palpatine was a bad guy but didn't the Empire make sure the trains ran on time? Weren't their helmets shiny? In the 2020s, I can't find myself at all warming to a character whom I'm being told is just fash for the aesthetics—Casterfo was not complex in the way I think Gray was trying to make him.

A solid movie tie-in, a quick read with a decent grasp on who Leia is as a character which nonetheless shows the limits of writing a novel to spec in an in-progress universe where you can't change much/get too innovative. ( )

This is maybe my fifth Star Wars book and maybe the best so far. I thoroughly enjoy listening to Star Wars audiobooks. This one seemed to have a little more meat to it. ( )

An absolutely amazing novel. Star Wars doesn’t get much better than this. ( )