July 2014: Star Wars Insider #151: One Thousand Levels Down
One Thousand Levels Down was a story of grit and suffering, of the struggles of young people trying to survive in an inhospitable situation, during a time of persecution and fear.
Essentially this story is the Holocaust, but only in a world that is futuristic and more technological. Yet, what is interesting is that you wouldn’t know you were reading a sci-fantasy story as everything is all too familiar, only in slightly different forms. The stormtroopers are Nazis, and the main characters, Anandra and Santigo are Jewish children separated from their parents, and trying to keep one step ahead of the Gestapo.
The story goes back and forth from Anandra’s past, back to the present, and while well crafted, can be irksome to the reader, as the flow feels abruptly disrupted from time to time. Anandra is a likeable character, as even though she is a young girl, she is tough and knows how to get her hands dirty, if she is in danger. With the spunky heroine of Blade Squadron fresh in our minds, it seems Disney is going in a positive direction portraying girls as heroes, and people female readers can look up to.
All in all, the story is a decent addition to the new canon, and albeit a not so exciting or climactic ending, it has its interesting points, and more importantly , makes the world of Star Wars feel real and relatable to any person who reads it.
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