Lost Stars

Lost Stars

Lost Stars is a young-adultcanon novel written byClaudia Gray. It was first published in hardcover byDisney–Lucasfilm Press onSeptember 4,2015, as part of theJourney toStar Wars: The Force Awakens book series. A paperback edition was released in the United Kingdom byEgmont onOctober 8,2015. The American paperback was released onAugust 1,2017. This edition includes the first chapter of the novelLeia, Princess of Alderaan, also written by Gray. A Japanesewebcomic adaption of the novel written and illustrated byYusaku Komiyama was released betweenMay 4,2017 andApril 18,2019 in Japan and later in the US.

Publisher's summary[]

The reign of the Galactic Empire has reached the Outer Rim planet of Jelucan, where aristocratic Thane Kyrell and rural villager Ciena Ree bond over their love of flying. Enrolling at the Imperial Academy together to become fighter pilots for the glorious Empire is nothing less than a dream come true for the both of them. But Thane sours on the dream when he sees firsthand the horrific tactics the Empire uses to maintain its ironclad rule.

Bitter and disillusioned, Thane joins the fledgling Rebellion—putting Ciena in an unbearable position to choose between her loyalty to the Empire and her love for the man she's known since childhood.

Now on opposite sides of the war, will these friends turned foes find a way to be together, or will duty tear them—and the galaxy—apart?^[6]

Opening crawl[]

Eight years after the fall of the OldRepublic, The Galactic Empire now reignsover the known galaxy. Resistance tothe Empire has been all but silenced.Only a few courageous leaders suchas Bail Organa of Alderaan still dare toopenly oppose Emperor Palpatine.After years of defiance, the manyworlds at the edge of the Outer Rimhave surrendered. With each planet'sconquest, the Empire's might growseven stronger.The latest to fall under the Emperor'scontrol is the isolated mountain planetJelucan, whose citizens hope for a moreprosperous future even as the ImperialStarfleet gathers overhead....

Plot summary[]

The story begins in11 BBY on theOuter Rimplanet ofJelucan. It has recently been annexed by theGalactic Empire and many of the planet's inhabitants are making their way to the capitol for an Imperial ceremony celebrating this event. Two children,Thane Kyrell andCiena Ree, are traveling to the ceremony with their families. Ciena's family lives out in the valleys with a group known as theFirst Wavers who are a simple, hardworking people who are descended from the original colonists of the planet. They have a very strong code of honor and use very little in the way of technology. Thane's family is part of thesecond wave of colonists who tend to be more affluent and live in the cities. Second Wavers and Valley Kindred tend to be at odds with each other and don't get along well.

Despite their different backgrounds, both children are fascinated with ships and flying. They both notice the sameLambda-class shuttle flying toward the ceremony grounds. It turns out this shuttle is carryingGrand MoffWilhuff Tarkin, who officiates the ceremony. While the people of Jelucan look on, both Thane and Ciena sneak away to check out ships. They separately come upon the shuttle behind a security cordon. They are not alone; a group of older second wave boys see Ciena and begin berating her for being from the valley. Thane, despite being a second waver himself, defends Ciena, engaging the older boys in a fight. Ciena joins him. Before things get out of hand, the fight is interrupted by Tarkin and his entourage.

The boys take off but Thane and Ciena remain behind. Instead of punishing them, Tarkin questions them. Finding out they were merely interested in the ship, he quizzes them and comes to realize the children are bright. He invites them into the shuttle where they continue to impress by identifying the controls. Tarkin gives them a speech about the glory of serving the Empire and the possibility that one day they themselves could pilot a shuttle or even command aStar Destroyer for the Empire. This sets the two children on a new life's mission: to attend anImperial Academy and become officers in theImperial Navy.

Fiveyears later, Thane and Ciena have become good friends and flight partners despite their families disliking each other. They train on Thane's brother's ship, which sits unused since he went off to the academy himself. Over the next few years, the two train together whenever they can, helping one another and continuing to become an inseparable team. When Thane hits his physical limits, Ciena is there to encourage him. When Ciena struggles in her studies, Thane works with her. All this work pays off and the two of them are assigned to the most prestigious school: the Imperial Academy onCoruscant.

They arrive together but are soon separated during indoc. They are assigned rooms and quickly make friends with their new roommates. They soon reunite at a reception for new cadets. Along with their new friends, Thane and Ciena excel at the Academy, often competing for first in their classes. As time passes, they continue to be close friends. However, they also begin to notice their feelings for each other are developing into more. Thane notices the grubby valley girl he grew up with has become a very attractive young woman. Ciena has her own feelings for Thane but is confused and conflicted by them.

They continue to lead their cohort in performance until a few years into their academy careers. The group is partaking in an exercise where they buildlaser cannons from spare parts. Ciena's works well but Thane's fails to power on. The instructor soon discovers it has been sabotaged. Inexplicably, the evidence points to Ciena as the culprit. Ciena's roommate Jude does her own independent investigation and concludes that Thane sabotaged his own cannon. With insufficient evidence either way, no one is expelled but both of them fail the assignment. This drops them from their top spots in the class.

They both approach Jude to continue her investigation into who sabotaged Thane's cannon. She concludes it was the Academy itself. Politics and corruption in the ranks are to blame. Thane and Ciena get into a huge fight about whether or not they should do anything about it. Thane insists they do, but Ciena's sense of honor and loyalty gets in the way. Thane storms off.

Two and a half years pass and the two continue competing, climbing the ranks again to the top of the cohort. However their competition is no longer friendly. They no longer interact socially and drift apart in many ways. Thane begins to become somewhat disenchanted with the Empire while Ciena becomes even more loyal. They are assigned to different specializations as they approach the end of their time at the Academy, Thane to Elite Flight and Ciena to Command. This causes them to see each other even less. Despite the distance though, they can't shake the lifelong connection they have.

As graduation approaches, the top students are invited to attend a ball at theImperial Palace. Naturally, Thane and Ciena are selected. They reconnect at the ball and begin to reconcile. With their friendship re-established, Thane sees an opportunity to take things further. He holds back, though, not wanting to risk their fragile relationship. They are simply glad to be friends again.

After graduation, Ciena is assigned to the Star DestroyerDevastator while Thane is assigned to aclassified battle station as aTIE fighter pilot. They go their separate ways but promise to see each other as soon as possible. They part with a kiss on the cheek. A few weeks later, Ciena take part in thecapture of theTantive IV. She observes an empty escape pod launch from the ship toward thedesert planet below. TheDevastator's next stop is the Death Star. When Ciena learns this she contacts Thane who is now stationed there. They are excited to see each other.

Before they can meet,Alderaan isdestroyed. They both watch it happen. Thane's TIE squadron is sent toDantooine to investigate theRebel Alliance base that is reportedly there. Upon seeing the abandoned base, he finally realizes the Rebel Alliance is not a disorganized rabble as he's been told. They are organized and well equipped. His faith in the Empire continues to falter. On theDevastator, Ciena sees the data feeds from the Death Star go dark. While her superiors deny it, she knows the station and all her academy friends aboard it are likely dead. This was confirmed when she was ordered to escort Lord Vader from his TIE fighter back to theDevastator, as well as to scout out the wreckage of the Death Star to confirm whether or not it was truly gone, the ensuing wreckage and mangled metal was the only view she could see for miles around. She had confirmation that her friend Jude was dead, this fear was intensified by the aura of Darth Vader and the wheezing noise of his respirator apparatus, her fear was so great that she had been frozen stiff in her place.Berisse Sai had tried to ease her fear by joking that, "He'sa bit tense in person the first time meeting him." Her pain and woe of the loss of her friend Jude was eased by her new found friend, Berisse, the faltering loyalty to the Empire was added onto when the Imperial news had reported that the Death Star had "been damaged by Rebel forces."

Thane's squadron returns to the fleet from Dantooine where he meets Ciena. She thought he had died on the Death Star. They share their first kiss only to have Thane ship out to a garrison on thespice world ofKerev Doi. It is here that Thane has enough. After witnessing the maltreatment ofBodach'islaves, Thane's disillusionment reaches its crescendo and he realizes that he needs to get out. He calls Ciena and they have a serious talk. They cannot say what they really think due to monitoring by theImperial Security Bureau, but they both leave the conversation knowing what they need to do. Thane believes they both agree to desert at the first opportunity whereas Ciena believe that they agree to stick to their oaths and serve, trying to fix the Empire from the inside.

Thane deserts and returns to Jelucan. Ciena volunteers to go find him. In the wake of the Death Star, the Empire will welcome him back without punishment. She finds him and their misunderstanding comes to light. Ciena pleads with him to return and he refuses. She realizes this is likely the last time she will see him and they finally make love. After the act, they finally profess their love for each other and realize they need to part ways. Ciena tells Thane to get off the planet as she will report him as AWOL after a week. Despite this threat, she ends up returning to theDevastator and reporting Thane dead.

Eighteenmonths after the destruction of the Death Star, Thane meets withRebel pilotWedge Antilles on a supply run. After a long night of drinking and talking, Thane is convinced the Rebellion is his best way to fight the tyranny of the Empire. While he does not believe in their high-minded ideals, it seems like the best course of action. At the same time, Ciena is transferred to theSuper Star DestroyerExecutor whenDarth Vader transfers his flag to the new ship. She is aboard when the probe droid locates theRebel base onHoth. Thane, now a Rebel, is stationed there. Shortly before theBattle of Hoth Thane converses withDak Ralter. After having retreated back to the base at the end of the battle and exiting hisSnowspeeder he switches vessel and escapes to the rendezvous point in hisX-wing. As he leaves Hoth, he sees the Imperial fleet and realizes that one day he might encounter Ciena in battle and unknowingly kill her.

After being ordered to coordinate the TIEs chasing theMillennium Falcon through the asteroid field, Ciena goes off duty and studies the battle tapes from Hoth. Here she recognizes Thane's flying and realizes that he has joined the Rebellion. As the Empire chases theFalcon toCloud City onBespin, Ciena is charged with leading a team to sabotage the ship'shyperdrive. She does so, but it is later repaired and theFalcon escapes. Ciena is convinced she will be killed for her failure, but Vader simply walks off.

Back on Jelucan, Ciena's mother is accused of embezzling money from the mine at which she is a supervisor. Ciena knows this is impossible and requests leave to stand with her mother in the tradition of her people. She arrives to find no one standing in support of her mother except Thane. From his perspective, he returns to support her, but also in an effort to get over her. He feels meeting her again will prove to him the Empire has destroyed the good person she was. This turns out not to be the case, though their reunion is strained. Thane convinces Ciena to go flying with her like they used to. They do and realize nothing has changed between them, except they are on opposite sides of awar. They return to the fortress, their secret childhood hangout near Thane's parents hangar. There they have a heated exchange and then make love a second time.

Thane tries to recruit her into the Rebellion and fails. Ciena believes that if all the good people leave the Empire then they will be worse off. Thane leaves Jelucan while he can. Ciena's mother is found guilty and sentenced to hard labour. Ciena returns to the fleet after realizing that she could not defend her mother without giving up her career in the Imperial Navy.

Some time later, theExecutor arrives at thesecond Death Star. Ciena has very mixed feelings about the fact they created another one. Meanwhile, Thane prepares for the impendingBattle of Endor. Two days later, Ciena participates in what she thinks is a practice TIE scramble. It turns out it is the Battle of Endor. Ciena is caught in the blast wave from the station and her TIE is destroyed. Thane celebrates the Rebellion's victory over the Empire onEndor.

It turns out Ciena survived, but was impaled by debris. She is forced onto medical leave. Over this time, theNew Republic establishes a provisional council andthe galaxy begins to change. Ciena is soon cleared for duty, is promoted tocaptain and given command of her own Star Destroyer, theInflictor, at the young age of 25.

As she takes command, she is ordered to partake in what will be a major battle between the Empire and the New Republic above the desert world ofJakku. Meanwhile, Thane andCorona Squadron are given orders to board and attempt to capture Imperial ships as the Republic needs to bolster its fleet. Thane and his team end up on theInflictor. The Empire is losing theBattle of Jakku and theInflictor is taking heavy damage. Ciena realizes her ship is being boarded and sets the self destruct. It turns out it has been disabled by the Rebel boarders. She locks herself on the bridge and sets the ship on a collision course with Jakku.

After her announcement, Thane realizes her plan, breaks onto the bridge and tries to convince her to save her own life by coming with him. She refuses and an epic fight ensues. Thane is finally able to stun her as the ship falls deeper into the atmosphere. They make it to an escape pod and launch much too low. After a rough landing, they are met by a New Republic team. Ciena is arrested as an Imperial war criminal. She awaits trial, but Thane is convinced she will be released as he now believes in the goodness and fairness of the Republic, vowing to wait for her as long as it takes so they can be together.

A month following the Battle of Jakku, the Empire has launched no further major offensives and retreated to theCore Worlds andInner Rim. Within the New Republic government, there is talk of the remnants of the Empirecapitulating. Meanwhile, in theQueluhan Nebula, the Imperial fleet rearms and restaffs with conscripts. Nash is a TIE squadron commander and vows revenge on the rebels for Ciena's presumed death.

Media[]

Editions[]

• ISBN 9781484724989;September 4,2015;Disney–Lucasfilm Press; US hardcover^[2]
• ISBN 9781405277884;October 8,2015;Egmont UK Ltd; UK paperback^[7]
• ISBN 9781368013789;August 1,2017; Disney–Lucasfilm Press; US paperback^[3]

Cover gallery[]

Temporary cover

English hardcover

Back cover

Disney–Lucasfilm Press paperback

Egmont UK Ltd paperback

Brazilian cover forEstrelas Perdidas

Russian cover forПотерянные звезды

Czech cover forZtracené hvězdy

Latin American cover forEstrellas Perdidas

German cover forVerlorene Welten

Appearances[]

Sources[]

• "Blaster" —Star Wars Insider 157
• Coming Soon to Your Personal Jedi Archives: Journey toStar Wars: The Force Awakens - Sneak Peek! onStarWars.com(backup link)
• "Blaster" —Star Wars Insider 159
• "Blaster" —Star Wars Insider 160
• Writers on Writing: Claudia Gray and Cecil Castellucci onStarWars.com(backup link)
• "Journey toLost Stars" —Star Wars Insider 163(reprinted in Special Edition 2020)
• "50 Things to Notice inStar Wars: The Force Awakens" —Star Wars Insider 165(reprinted in Special Edition 2020)
• Continue Your Training: KidsStar Wars Summer Reading List onStarWars.com(backup link)
• Much to Learn You Still Have: 8 Things You Might Not Know About Wookiees onStarWars.com(backup link)
• The Star Wars Show:Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Announced, Exploring the World of Corellia, and Author Claudia Gray! on the officialStar WarsYouTube channel(backup link)(Posted on StarWars.com)
• 4Star Wars Books to Read After FinishingSquadrons onStarWars.com(backup link)
• Spoiler Talk: Alexander Freed on theAlphabet Squadron Trilogy onStarWars.com(backup link)
• "A Certain Point of View" —Star Wars Insider 215
• "Fragile Peace": Exploring Phase II ofStar Wars: The High Republic with the Newest Authors onStarWars.com(backup link)
• OurStar Wars Reads Picks For Every Type of Reader in Your Life onStarWars.com(backup link)

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• Star Wars The Force Awakens: Lost Stars onEgmont'sofficial United Kingdom website(original link is obsolete)
• Lost Stars onDisney Publishing Worldwide'sofficial website(backup link)
• Star Wars: Lost Stars onWikipedia