Jedi: Battle Scars
Jedi: Battle Scars
Five years have passed between the events of the Jedi: Fallen Order and the Jedi: Survivor. This gap is partially filled by the book Jedi: Battle Scars, which was released on March 7, 2023. Its author is Sam Maggs, who has worked for Marvel (Captain Marvel, Wasp, Spider-man) and Star Wars (Luke on the Bright Side and others). She is an LGBTQ+ activist and puts queer elements into her works, and even the Battle Scars is no exception, so if anyone has a problem with that, be warned :-) In truth - romantic elements are probably common in Star Wars, see e.g. the canonical Han and Leia, but I don't remember that much sex in Star Wars :-)
The book will probably explain some things in Jedi: Survivor, but it is probably not required reading. There are definitely better books in the now discarded expanded universe. The characters overall seem strange, arrogant (in the sense of "we are the salvation of the galaxy" and "the only ones capable of fighting the Empire"), towards the end rather the opposite ("there are only five of us"). Cal and Merrin seem pretty bloodthirsty at first. The new character Fret is quite confident in the alien environment of Mantis and her crew, although everyone may rightly distrust her. It also seems a bit strange how the author incorporates the game mechanics (stimpaks, wall run) in the story. The narrative also turns to the thoughts of the characters all the time during the action scenes, which is distracting.
Despite all the criticism, the book also has some bright moments, especially in the second half. And it's a part of the Disney Star Wars canon. So consider, consider (rather a waste of money I'd say).