Crimson Climb

De: E. K. Johnston

Narrado por: Olivia Hack

New York Times bestselling author E. K. Johnston, author of the Queens series starring Padmé Amidala, brings fans an untold story about Qi'ra, portrayed by Emilia Clarke in Star Wars: A Solo Story.

Not everyone gets to be the hero.

Qi’ra listened to the dreams and promises of a boy with a reckless smile, only to be torn away from him and returned to the White Worms gang while Han made his way to freedom. Now freedom seems like a luxury she can’t afford while she concentrates on survival and despairs of ever leaving Corellia. But her fortunes seem to turn when a representative of the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn plucks Qi’ra from captivity and brings her to the syndicate’s leader, the mysterious and mercurial Dryden Vos.

Vos offers Qi’ra an opportunity she’s never had before: the chance to build something resembling a comfortable life if she can prove her worth to his organization. With failure meaning certain death, Qi’ra knows she must immerse herself in the merciless, murderous world of Crimson Dawn. What she doesn’t know is just who she will be if she survives. . . .

©2023 E. K. Johnston (P)2023 Disney Lucasfilm Press

Great intro book into Qira's rise thru the ranks!

I've been a SW fan since 1977. I listened to all the audiobooks about the series. Some are great, and some aren't. Thought this one was pretty good! Hope there's more!

Meh

I really wanted to like it, and I think he author understood the characters, but it just never got as good as I had hoped.

Fun adventure!

Pretty fun story! Good writing fun characters! And overall great performance. Definitely looking forward to seeing where this story may lead.

An Interesting Spin on a Lackluster Film

I really enjoyed the deep dive into the story of Qira, since she was arguably the most interesting character from the Solo movie. However, the amount that the novel lingered on her inability to get over Han irked me. Additionally, the epilogue was frustratingly open ended, leading to what felt like quite a disappointing final moment.

Qi'ra's Climb to Power

Prominent Characters:
>Qi’ra
>Lady Proxima
>Dryden Vos
>Cerveteri Slane

Hook Quality: Good, the story picks up quickly with Qi’ra’s perspective on her and Han’s parting on Corellia.

Character Depth: Good, the book only focuses on Qi’ra’s perspective, but it does so quite well.

Strong Points: Qi’ra is a very strong willed character, her story of defying the odds and seizing her future is exciting to hear.

Weak Points: The book doesn’t have a strong beginning to middle to end arc. I can’t think of a specific scene that could be described as the climax of the book.

Writing Style: Good, the book flowed smoothly.

Narrator Quality: Olivia did a decent job.

Emotionless Climb

I enjoyed learning more about Qi’ra’s climb out of the gutters, but wanted more of an emotional journey.

Crimson Climb

Great fill in with the Solo movie. Adding more depth to the character. Willing to wait and see if more is to come.

Great story

I loved that we get to see the development of Q’ira. I enjoyed it very much.

thoroughly enjoyable

miss hack has a great time found the voice of Dryden, and E.K. had the time of her love creating dialogue for Dryden and Kira.

Good performance, just okay story

I really enjoy E. K. Johnston’s writing on the whole (both within the Star Wars universe and outside of it), but this particular story just didn’t quite grab me. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, and I occasionally had to Google the character list to try to remember who was who and why they were important. It was interesting to get the backstory on Qi’ra’s ascent into the syndicate, but she’s also not a character I feel very attached to, so maybe that’s why I wasn’t in love with the story. It was not bad, just not great, either.