Book Review: ‘Star Wars: The Last Order’ by Kwame Mbalia
Since The Rise of Skywalker concluded the Star Wars sequel trilogy in 2019, the franchise has avoided exploring the galaxy’s state after the film. Aside from a brief comic story, there’s been little indication of what’s happening with Finn, Poe, Rey, or the galaxy at large as they deal with the end of the First Order and a galaxy without a New Republic. Now, six years on, things are starting to change. In 2027, Starfighter (set 5 years after The Rise of Skywalker and starring Ryan Gosling) will arrive, and at some point, the still-in-development Rey movie that is intended to introduce the New Jedi Order about 15 years after Episode IX. While these projects are still a few years away, the world of books is beginning to explore the post-First Order galaxy. Kwame Mbalia’s ‘Star Wars: The Last Order,’ set shortly after the Battle of Exegol, provides our first real look at the future a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
The Last Order follows Finn and Jannah as the two lead resistance fighters who also used to be in the First Order. The story takes them both on a journey across the galaxy and into their past as they have to deal with a former superior known as Major Gohl, who has managed to survive and is somewhere out in the galaxy. We find out what Major Gohl means to both Finn and Jannah in a series of flashbacks that make up most of the book and just how he was the catalyst for the start of both their defections from the First Order.
[Note: While I am reviewing this book independently and honestly, a copy has been provided to me by Penguin Random House for the purpose of this review.]
A lot of time is spent with flashbacks in The Last Order
Being a young adult book, we spend most of the time with the younger versions of Finn and Jannah as they navigate their time in the First Order alongside meeting Major Gohl, the ever elusive and dangerous First Order security bureau leader. Mbalia does wonders for the lore of the First Order, giving us a more in-depth look than ever before into how they operate in the unknown regions and the edge of the outer rim, and also how they manage to inspire such loyalty in their ranks.
There are plenty of cameos from First Order operatives across the franchise, as well as new trooper variants that really help expand the Order and how they managed to take over the galaxy in such a short time. Mbalia also makes sure to show their shortcomings and failures as an occupying force, really honing in on why they are so bad and why they ended up failing as an empire-like force. Finn and Jannah are the perfect points of view to use for this, as we get to see them slowly break away from their conditioning and realize what the First Order means for the wider galaxy.
In the “current” post-Episode IX timeline part of the book, it mainly follows Coy Tria, who joined the citizens’ fleet at the Battle of Exegol to help the resistance, and is now sticking around to help them out as they deal with First Order remnants. I enjoy the chapters with Coy Tria as Mbalia writes him in a very endearing way. Similar to Finn, Coy just wants to return home and get back to a normal life, but his duty to the Resistance keeps him around.
Really, The Last Order only gets to dip a toe into the future of the galaxy, offering tidbits about what is happening with the politics and mainly focusing on Finn and Jannah as they aim to help any lost Stormtroopers as well as lead the resistance. There is plenty to enjoy with these chapters with Coy and the Resistance, and again, plenty of cameos.
The villains show the real darkness of the First Order
The villain of The Last Order is Major Gohl, both in the present and in flashbacks. Being part of the First Order security bureau makes him very interesting, as it is something we have seen in the show Star Wars: Resistance with Agent Tierny, and also, we see a lot of the Imperial Security Bureau in Andor and other projects, on which this will be modeled.
What makes Major Gohl fascinating is how much of an elusive figure he is within the First Order as a whole and just what the FOSB ends up doing for the First Order. There are, of course, other villains within the flashbacks, with it being the First Order, that both Finn and Jannah must overcome. I very much enjoy what Mbalia does for the villains and how the First Order has shaped them. Making them a bit more distinct from your average imperial villain. Even in the present-day chapters, Major Gohl is still this elusive presence, being the one final piece of the First Order that Finn and Jannah need to deal with personally to help stop anymore falling into the First Order pipeline.
The First Order flashbacks deal with numerous villainous characters within Finn and Jannah’s sphere. Mbalia writes the flashbacks with a few nicer characters, similar to Finn and Jannah. After all, readers get reminded they are just conditioned soldiers, trained from a young age to believe the galaxy needs fixing. Jannah especially gets a great bunch of side characters in her chapters; as a leader of a small squad, we meet nicknamed troopers that allow us to root for them against the upper leaders and other horrid characters, and as we know where Jannah’s tale leads with her introduction in The Rise of Skywalker, the journey there is very exciting to get to, especially with these other characters who all provide their own humor and emotion.
The Last Order fleshes out the sequel era in Star Wars for the better
This book begins to set things right for Finn as a character, one that fans strongly wish had more of an important role in the movies, whether it be as a Jedi or a leader of a Stormtrooper resistance. Mbalia in The Last Order gives him plenty of time to shine and prove himself as a formidable character within the franchise. While some of this novel towards the end may tread similar character ground as that in The Force Awakens, The Last Order is a significant piece of Finn’s character arc as it does begin to show us where and how these cracks in his conditioning formed and why he became a runaway. Having all this within the book helps set him up nicely for his role in The Force Awakens, and believing in the right thing to do outweighs your orders.
My rating for this book: 8.5/10
Overall, The Last Order by Kwame Mbalia is a real surprise and a treat for sequel fans. This helps flesh out some time before The Force Awakens and also gives us some of our very first meaningful content after The Rise of Skywalker. It provides great arcs for Finn, Jannah, and Coy and provides all-important backstory to some important sequel characters. I hope this becomes a trend in Star Wars books now to really help flesh out the sequel era more.
Finn and Jannah have become some of my favorite characters after reading The Last Order, and I strongly recommend giving it a read. It may only dip a toe into a post-Episode IX galaxy, which can seem disappointing after such a long wait since the sequels ended. But the fleshing out of the inner workings of the First Order alongside a tale of breaking conditioning and seeing the evil you have become a part of makes for a compelling young adult novel. The young adult books of Star Wars are some of the greatest out there. I implore you to pick this up and give it a read.
Star Wars: The Last Novel by Kwame Mbalia is now available wherever books are sold.
Also check out Book Review: Star Wars Sanctuary: A Bad Batch Novel by Lamar Giles
