It’s not only the good guys who get some more fleshing out, though, as many of the villains receive a bit of additional backstory in the novelization, too.
For instance, we learn that when Ben Solo was a child, he overheard a conversation between Han and Leia, with the couple arguing over their son’s growing powers. Speaking about him as if he was some kind of monster, the young boy was traumatized by their words and it wasn’t long before his parents shipped him away with Luke which, as we know, began him down a very dark path.
There’s also a bit more context given to that moment where Kylo and Leia connect through the Force. As we know after having seen the film, the former is unable to bring himself to kill his mother while targeting her Resistance ship. In the novel, it’s explained that Kylo can see that she’s worried for him, desperately hoping that he’ll come back to her – which is why he can’t pull the trigger. Not only that, but the book even goes so far as to suggest that he would have tried to save Leia, saying the following after a First Order pilot fires at the Raddus: “If he [Kylo] had known, he could have stopped the torpedo.”
Screen Rant’s article outlines a few more interesting reveals from the novelization, but these are by far the most juicy and again, while they won’t change anyone’s view of the film, they do add some more meat onto its bones and give us a chance to gain a little more insight into the characters and their motivations. After all, we’ve got a long ways to go before Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters and if it’s more of Rey, Kylo, Leia, etc., that you’re after, this novelization is all you’ve really got for the next little while.
Closer to home, though, Lucasfilm’s crown jewel will be back in theaters this May, when Solo: A Star Wars Story touches down on May 25th. Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s novelization, meanwhile, is available now and if you’re interested in picking it up, you can do so via Amazon.