My Star Wars Entertainment Update November 2025

Hello friends! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, if you celebrate that where you are. 🙂 A few things to get to, so here we go!

Warning: SPOILERS!!!

Visions Season 3. I’d really been looking forward to this edition of Visions, as I’d loved the first two, especially Season 2. And while this one offered some good, entertaining episodes, none of them really stood out to me and I didn’t absolutely love it like Season 2. I think, like Season 1, these were all Japanese anime studios, while Season 2 encompassed other anime studios from around the world, and I think I loved that kind of diversity. So there seemed to be a certain stylistic sameness here that didn’t resonate with me.

That being said, there were some good ones. The sequel to Season 1’s The Duel, with the Ronin (The Duel: Payback), was a favorite, as I love the style, and the character of the Ronin. (Someday, I’m going to read that Ronin novel!) The Bounty Hunters was great, with the droid with two personalities, lol. I think my favorite, though, was The Smuggler, with the exiled Prince and the secret Jedi with the lightsaber hidden in a prosthetic arm.

The other two sequels, The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope and The Lost Ones, were fine, but I feel like the Ninth Jedi one was holding back for the future series (although I did love that crazy ship, and the little droid who sacrified himself for Kara); F in The Lost Ones has to face her old master who has turned to the dark side, though it’s unclear how that came to be.

Yuko’s Treasure was kind of adorable with the big bear droid with a microwave belly, and the theme of found family is fitting for Star Wars. The last two episodes were my least favorite, though they were the most visually stunning. The Bird of Paradise was gorgeous, but the Padawan in question is unbearable, lol. I was left wondering how she got to be a Padawan in the first place with so many un-Jedi-like qualities–impatience, self-centeredness, self-pity, anger. I understand she had to work through these things to become more Jedi-like (and I’m not even sure if she survived or not by the end), but I had zero empathy for her. And Black is a psychedelic trip that is up for interpretation. Maybe it’s because I don’t do drugs, lol, but damn, it was just weird and alienating. My interpretation is that it’s a stormtrooper’s dying flashbacks to his life and the battles he’s fought. It’s an interesting premise, but I was glad when it was over, lol. Just not my thing.

I’m hoping that if we get a Season 4 we can get more of the anime studios from around the world, as I seemed to enjoy those most.

Master of Evil, by Adam Christopher. This book was much more satisfying than the last canon book (The Last Order). At first I thought, hmm, another Vader story? Do we need one? But I heard good things, and I’m happy to say that it was well worth the read.

The book takes place mere days or weeks after events of The Revenge of the Sith. The Empire is new, and Vader himself is new, so to speak. Sidious has not been forthcoming in his promise to teach Vader the secrets of the Sith and how to conquer death (although, technically, Palpatine promised the power to “prevent” others from dying, not bring them back from death, right?) Anyway, Vader is still obsessed with bringing Padme back into his life, and if Sidious won’t help him, he’ll figure it out himself. Sidious sends him on a mission to Diso, a distant planet, to investigate a Force shaman and the rumor of a Temple which holds a Force vergence.

Instead of being completely from Vader’s point of view (there’s a handful of short chapters from him, though), the main point of view is from Colonel Halland Goth, a member of the Imperial Royal Guard. He’s proud to serve, but the problem is, he’s dying. He’s got Kangly’s disease, which makes him feel like he’s burning up from the inside out, and will eventually kill him. He’s got his own personal droid, TC-99, who not only helps him with his medical needs, but is a good friend. Goth is tasked by the ISB to keep an eye on Vader, who no one really knows anything about yet, and he accompanies Vader to Diso. While on the mission, Goth figures out that Vader is probably Anakin Skywalker. As a good Imperial soldier, Goth swallows the propaganda that the Jedi were traitors and is glad to be rid of them, but he’s fascinated with Vader: he realizes the suit he wears is keeping him alive. He gets the crazy idea that Vader, and that kind of technology, might help him survive. He wants to live, and he wants to serve.

The Temple in question turns out to be on a Separatist ship stuck in hyperspace somewhere (it’s a long story involving Count Dooku, lol), and that’s where the climax of the story happens. The vergence in the Force emanating from the Temple causes Vader to have some interesting visions; the shaman’s wife and daughter have gotten involved, and want revenge on Vader; there’s a couple of droid scientists from a former Techno Union Corporation on board who want to utilize the brain of a super-tactical droid running ship; and Goth is near death, just trying to keep everybody alive, while realizing he himself won’t be getting any miracle cure from Vader. He understands that it’s not just the suit that’s keeping Vader alive, but the Force itself. And he realizes that the Empire he’s so loyal to is not exactly what he thought it was.

Goth is a likable Imperial protagonist, and his friendship with TC-99 is touching. The theme of “masks” runs throughout the story: TC-99 has data matrices from many other droids he can insert into his chest plate to learn whatever specialty he needs to, but sometimes the personality of the droid is very strong and takes him over, as if he’s a completely different droid. The natives of Diso wear masks in their Force rituals; Jarvic, one of the droid scientists, has a wrap-around cyborg implant in his head (like Lobot) and the tactical droid ends up plugging into it and taking him over; the evil entity from the Temple (the dark side itself) temporarily takes over the shaman’s wife; Goth himself wears the red mask of the Royal Imperial Guard, but is he loyal to the Emperor, Vader, the ISB, or himself and TC-99? It shifts throughout the narrative. And of course, there’s Vader himself and his iconic mask, representing the split between himself and Anakin Skywalker, who he battles in one of his visions.

I loved this book, and though maybe we didn’t “need” another Vader story, I’m glad we got this one.

Comics:

Han Solo: Hunt for the Falcon #3. Han and Chewie continue to search for the Falcon, as the Irving Boys point them in the direction of Unkar Plutt. There’s another flashback to Han’s past, with young Ben wanting to spend time with his dad, tinkering with a landspeeder, and Leia scolding him for not finishing his studies. Han and Leia then argue about the whole thing. (I feel like Leia is being a bit unreasonable here; geez, let the kid spend some time with his dad, lol). Han and Chewie end up arguing, as Han discovers that Chewie has been speaking with Leia without telling him. Anyway, Ducain gets back into the picture and decides to warn Plutt about Han and Chewie coming to look for the ship. There’s only one issue left, and I’m eager to see how this concludes, as we already know they don’t get the ship back until The Force Awakens.

Legacy of Vader #10. Kylo, back on Mustafar with Vanee, goes into Vader’s meditation chamber to see if he can find Luke Skywalker. The man is dead, and Kylo is still obsessed, lol. At first he sees weird snake-like creatures with the heads of his family, and he spends time cutting them down. Then, he finds himself somewhere that looks like Force Heaven or something, and a Force ghost tells him he shouldn’t be there. But Luke’s Force ghost comes over and chats with Kylo. Kylo wants to know how he died, who killed him and how much he suffered. But Luke tells him no one killed him. He sacrificed himself for those he loved. That’s what his life was for. “What’s your life for?” he asks Kylo. And of course, this enrages him. “Stop trying to teach me!” he yells at him. Luke points out that he shouldn’t have been able to access this place, and Kylo should think about how he did. (There’s still Light in him, if you haven’t figured it out, lol). Then Kylo is punished by some darkside creature for (unconsciously) accessing the Light to go there, and he comes out of the meditation chamber terribly wounded. I really liked this issue and his conversation with Luke, but as we know Kylo doesn’t really learn anything from it.

Non-Star Wars pick of the month:

Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo del Toro. Frankenstein has always been a favorite of mine, meaning the book and any movie adaptations that come along. I loved the Kenneth Branagh adaptation from 1994, and I think it’s still my favorite, but this one is a close second, although it’s very different in style and tone. Director Guillermo del Toro has a very distinct style and that comes through in this film very clearly. The subject matter is naturally gruesome, but it’s brought to a level of grotesqueness that’s more creepy than bloody (though there’s plenty of that, too, lol). There’s always a ton of stuff you can break down in this story, but I’ll just briefly touch on my thoughts here, since I think we’re all familiar with the basic storyline.

As you may know, I’m a fan of Oscar Isaac, and he did a fine job as the obsessed Victor Frankenstein. To be honest, I thought Mia Goth’s character as Elizabeth was just weird. In this version, Elizabeth is Victor’s brother William’s fiance, instead of Victor’s eventual bride, but there’s a sexual tension between her and Victor. I like that she has compassion for the Creature, but there’s something weird about it. She’s just weird, lol. Maybe it’s the actress, I don’t know, I haven’t seen her in anything else (I hope I like her better in the upcoming Star Wars film Starfighter). We’ll see.

Speaking of the Creature, I think Jacob Elordi does a fantastic job with him. I always love the Creature in any version, and this one was especially child-like and sweet (until he’s not, of course, lol). My sentimental mother’s heart always breaks for this child that is rejected by its parent; in other versions, it was fear that caused Victor to reject him, but here it’s more disappointment. He doesn’t learn to speak properly right away, and Victor, aghast that his creation is so dumb, is pretty damn mean to him and it’s clear that once again, Victor is the true monster here. Of course, it mirrors Victor’s father’s disappointment in him, a cycle that he doesn’t even realize he’s repeating.

I do like that the two forgive each other at the end, which does not happen in the book (not really), but instead of them both dying, the Creature in this version cannot die and must live alone forever in the Arctic wastes, which is the saddest thing I can think of.

So, an interesting and unique interpretation of an eternally fascinating story; not perfect, kind of weird, but definitely entertaining.

That’s it this month. What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Entertainment Update for October 2025

Hello friends! Lots of things to cover this past month, so let’s get started.

If you missed the past two reviews of my Legends Reading Challenge, here are the links: Deceived, and Red Harvest.

The Final Order, by Kwame Mbalia. I’ve been really looking forward to this book, as I’ve been extremely eager for some post-sequel trilogy stories. In fact, we sequel fans have been starved for stories, and we kept waiting and waiting and waiting…

Well, this book ain’t that.

Not exactly, anyway. It begins mere days after the Battle of Exegol with a young man named Coy, who’d been part of the Citizen’s Fleet. His family grows tea on his home planet, and he was pretty damn well terrified at the battle. But he made it and is proud he took part. He was ready to go home…until a ship arrived full of refugee kids from the First Order, and Finn and Jannah need a ride to find a vicious FO officer named Major Grohl. So Coy finds himself on another adventure.

But the bulk of the book is alternating chapters between Finn and Jannah, flashbacks to their time as stormtroopers. Like, 95% of the book. Which was disappointing. Sure, we get to see Jannah and her troops refuse to fire on civilians on Ansette Island–at the very end of the book. And the whole story of how they got to that point. As well as Finn’s entanglements with Major Grohl. But did I really need these stories? No, not really. Nope.

That’s not to say it’s a bad book. The author did a fine job with what he was given and allowed to write about. But it wasn’t what I expected or wanted, and I’m being grumpy about it, lol. I feel like Lucasfilm/Disney is holding back on sequel-era stories, while The Rise of Skywalker came out six freaking years ago! We’ve gotten plenty of “leading up to” stories, and “between this movie and that movie” stories, but nothing after. It’s frustrating. And yes, the Rey movie, blah blah blah, but who knows if that will even come out? (I hope so). And yes, Starfighter takes place after the sequels, and I’m eager to see what might be going on. But damn, give us some books or comics with Rey, Finn, Poe, etc. after TROS. Please???

Anyway, rant over. The book was fine, and if you want to know more about Finn and Jannah’s experiences as stormtroopers, this is your book; if you’re looking for new, uncharted material, you’ll have to wait.

Comics:

Han Solo: Hunt for the Falcon #2. Han and Chewie continue their search for the Falcon, this time running into the Irving Boys. The only thing I find particularly interesting about these comics are the personal moments, the character-driven moments, Han’s memories of his family, etc. At the beginning of this one, Leia is speaking to Chewie via hologram and warns him not to let Han drag him into one of his schemes. To go back to his family. Also, Han has a memory of himself and Leia with little Ben on the Falcon, and Ben is so excited to be at the controls with his old man. Damn. I imagine the next two issues will involve Unkar Plutt, the Guavian Death Gang and/or Kanjiklub. Stay tuned.

Legacy of Vader #9. Tava Ren fights Kylo Ren, then they have dinner, a little conversation, she kisses him, he recoils and attacks her, she escapes his ship, and though he could shoot her ship down, he lets her go. In a nutshell, lol. Tava fights Kylo, teases him, provokes him, infuriates him. I’m still not sure why she even went there, to be honest. To serve him was a lie, and she admits that. She tells him he misses the freedom of the Knights of Ren, that with the First Order he’s in a cage. She definitely strikes a nerve, but I’m not sure if we’ll see her again or what her end game is. Stay tuned.

Visions 1 & 2 rewatch. With Season 3 of Visions dropping on October 29th, I thought I’d rewatch Seasons 1 & 2. There’s only a few episodes that don’t really resonate with me, but for the most part I love this series. My favorites are “The Duel,” “The Ninth Jedi,” and “The Elder,” from Season 1; almost all the episodes from Season 2 are fantastic but I particularly love “Sith,” “The Bandits of Golak,” and “The Pit.” I can’t wait to see what we get in Season 3–there are sequel episodes to “The Ninth Jedi” (and a series in the works, I hear), and “The Bride.” I love it all so much!

(I’ve since watched S3 and will discuss it a bit more in my next Update).

Book news:

Ooh, new book news! I love that we’re getting some more sequel novels; along with The Last Order (see above), we’re getting this one with Leia and Rey between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Can’t wait! Here’s the blurb:

STAR WARS: LEGACY

By Madeleine Roux

On Sale Date: July 28, 2026

Set between Episodes VIII and IX, Rey and Leia embark on a quest to repair Rey’s lightsaber and rekindle the legacy of the Jedi.

After barely escaping the First Order on Crait, Rey and the Resistance are struggling to rebuild. Her friends need the last Jedi more than ever, but Rey feels alone and overwhelmed. Jedi tradition is built on masters and apprentices, and Rey’s teacher is gone. Leia Organa tries her best to train Rey in the ways of the Force as Luke did for her so many years ago, but Leia’s knowledge is limited, Rey’s lightsaber is broken, and the specter of Kylo Ren and regrets from the past haunt them both. How can Leia pass the torch when she herself is unsure of the way?
But then, the ancient Jedi texts offer a glimmer of hope: a long-forgotten Jedi temple on Tython that might hold the key to repairing Rey’s saber. Rey leaps at the chance to journey there — and to her surprise, so does Leia.
Rey and Leia’s nascent mentorship is put to the test when they discover the temple on Tython is filled with obscure clues to decipher and arcane trials to complete. As they work to unravel the temple’s mysteries, they encounter a group of refugees living in its shadow, hiding from a First Order officer hot on the trail of two freedom fighters in their midst. With the threat of the First Order looming and the secrets of the temple yet to be unlocked, the newly forged master and apprentice must confront their pasts, reach each other in the present, and decide what it means to carry the legacy of the Jedi into the future.

Again, an “in-between” story, but I’ll take it, because I still would like some more insight into Rey and Leia’s relationship.

Eyes Like Stars, by Ashley Poston. There’s always been romance in Star Wars, with some books focusing on it more than others, but this one is being touted as the first “romance novel” in Star Wars. It’s a young adult novel, which makes sense, and I’ll probably read it out of curiosity. It’s also during the sequel era, which is a plus. I’m kind of hoping it leads to more romance novels featuring more familiar characters (Obi-Wan and Satine, anyone? We’re waiting, Disney/Lucasfilm!), but we’ll see. Here’s a little blurb:

What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Entertainment Update for September 2025

Hello friends! Lots of Star Wars stuff to go over this month, so let’s get started.

I’ve recently decided to do a Legends reading challenge, and I’ve finished the first two books in the timeline and posted my reviews. Check out my thoughts on Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void, by Tim Lebbon here, as well as my thoughts on The Old Republic: Revan, by Drew Karpyshyn here.

Comics:

Han Solo: Hunt for the Falcon #1, by Rodney Barnes (Marvel). In “Celebrating 10 Years of The Force Awakens,” (wow) Marvel has our favorite smuggler on the search for the missing Millenium Falcon. In TFA, we see Rey, Finn, and BB-8 run into Han and Chewie in the Falcon after they escaped Jakku (stolen from Unkar Plutt), and we find out the ship had been missing for years. In this new series, Han, along with Lando Calrissian, is in the racing business while Chewbacca is home on Kashyyk with his family. It’s hard to pin down the timeline here, but clearly the Falcon is missing, and his relationship with Leia and Ben is on the rocks. He feels he’s failed as a husband and father and misses the good ol’ days when he was just Han Solo, Captain of the Millenium Falcon.

He decides to leave racing and find his ship. But he needs help, so he travels to Kashyyk and enlists the help of his old friend, Chewie. Chewie is living happily with his family-his wife, Malla, and his son Lumpawaroo (“Lumpy” in the Holiday Special, but he insists on being called “Waroo” here, lol). Han watches them wistfully, seeing how happy they are (compared to his own broken family), but still has no problem asking his friend to leave them to go on an adventure to find their old ship. And of course, Chewie agrees. As Han knew he would. Han comes off as a little selfish here, and I’m trying to decide if it’s out of character for him at this point. Sure, young Han was a selfish rogue with a heart, lol, but by this age, I feel like he knows better. Anyway, off they go to find the first of the Falcon’s thieves, Ducain.

Legacy of Vader #8, by Charles Soule (Marvel). This one starts off with the Knights of Ren with a new leader, Tava Ren. They tell her the story of how Kylo Ren came to be their leader and then abandoned them when Snoke came around for his new apprentice. Tava decides to go to Kylo and pledge her service, but I’m sure she has something else in mind. That’s about all that happens here, flashbacks to when Kylo led them, but I’m hoping the next issue will be more interesting as she inevitably faces off with him.

The Jedi Path, by Daniel Wallace. I’ve had my eye on this one since it came out and finally decided to get it. It’s presented as a Jedi manual for Padawans, with chapters written by Jedi Masters of the past. There are sections on what’s expected of a Padawan, proper dress, lightsaber forms, Force abilities, the Jedi Trials; and because it was written during the Legends era, the various branches of the Jedi, including Consulars, Sentinels, and where Jedi go if they don’t pass their trials (services like the Agricultural Corps, the Medical and Educational Corps, and the Exploration Corps).

What’s fun about this book is that there are handwritten notes in the margins of the pages by various Padawans through the years, including Dooku, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka, as well as Yoda and even Darth Sidious, who apparently had the book in his possession at some point. Luke is the last to make notes in here and comments on his students in his new Jedi Academy. These notes (in different handwriting) are little snippets into these various characters and their personalities shine through, as well as show some foreshadowing. For example, on the page describing a lightsaber form against a foe with many limbs, Obi-Wan writes: “I shudder at the thought of facing that many sabers at once.” Of course, he later does in ROTS when he fights General Grievous and his many-limbed lightsaber attack. Anakin makes quite a few snarky comments, where little hints of his darkness come through. In response to a page talking about finding nonviolent solutions, Anakin states: “If you never use your saber, then why have one?” Ahsoka is preoccupied with the Clone Wars and what will best serve in that situation. Ahsoka has been a soldier since becoming a Padawan, so her experience has been very different from all the other Padawans. Really fun book.

Star Wars: The High Republic: The Edge of Balance #1, Manga by Justina Ireland and Shim Shinyo. Now that the High Republic is officially “over,” I thought I’d go back and check out some stories that I didn’t get around to outside of the books. There are a ton of comics, but what stood out to me was this manga series that looked cool. It centers on Jedi Knight Lily Tora-Asi, who is on the planet Banchii with her former Master, the Wookiee Arkoff. They are resettling people who have been displaced by the Nihil, but soon discover another threat: the Drengir. Along with her Padawan Keerin and two younglings, they fight off the Drengir. I love the art in this book, and also the fact that my daughter’s name is Lilly, lol. There are several books in this series, but I only have this one and Precedent right now. I’m working on getting the others.

Star Wars: The High Republic: The Edge of Balance: Precedent, Manga by Daniel Jose Older. This one centers on Arkoff in the past, during Phase 2 of the High Republic. Specifically, during the “Night of Sorrows” on the planet Dalna, where the Path of the Open Hand (which later morphs into the Nihil) fight the Jedi with their Nameless. Arkoff loses his Master to the Nameless, but with the help of their droid and a young Azlin Rell (who is driven mad by the Nameless), he survives. There’s also a Harch bounty Hunter named Vol Garat (who looks like Admiral Trench from the Clone Wars, so I hear his voice whenever Vol speaks, lol) who is working with the Nihil for…some reason. I like the insight we get into Azlin Rell in this one, as he’s a very interesting character in the Phase 3 books.

Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy: Pieces of the Past. The Star Wars Lego specials are a fun treat, and this one was no exception. In this one, Sig Greebling must work with his dark side brother Dev to stop the villain Solitus from reducing the galaxy to a whole bunch of nothing. The thing about Rebuild the Galaxy is that all of the characters we know are flipped or changed in some way: there are the darksiders–Darth Rey, Darth Rose, and Darth Jar Jar, lol. There’s even a scene with dark side Obi-Wan and Darth Revan (who doesn’t speak, preserving the gamer’s option of gender, which is pretty cool). And the lightsiders: Palpatine, Maul, white Vader, etc. Leia is in love with Greedo, not Han Solo, and Luke is a surfer dude. In this one, we meet “new” characters: The Landolorian with Grogu, Giant Chewbacca, blocky Ahsoka, Pirate Queen Padme, the BB8-Wing (a ship based on BB-8 and which I adored, lol), and a deep-cut appearance by Jaxon the green rabbit from one of the first Star Wars comics (voiced by Ben Schwartz, whose voice I recognized instantly as the racer droid Tay-O from The Bad Batch episode Faster in Season 2). The point is, everything is all mixed up in this galaxy; Sig is a “builder” in the Force, and Dev is a “destroyer” in the Force, building and destroying all manner of things from Legos. Sig and Dev work with Jedi Bob, Yessi, and Sig’s droid Servo, along with all of these characters, to defeat Solitus. It’s a super-fun ride, and I’m definitely here for the jokes and laughs.

Oh, and we got a couple of teaser trailers: one for The Mandalorian and Grogu movie (May 22, 2026), and the other for Visions Vol. 3 (October 29, 2025). I’m not going to go into my thoughts on them yet, only that they look great and I can’t wait for both! Here are the trailers:

That’s it for this month. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Entertainment Update for August 2025

Hello friends! I hope everyone is doing well and had a great summer. I’ve been busy getting my daughter ready to go back to school (I can’t believe she’s 16!) but as always, I find time for my entertainments.

The Crystal Crown, by Tessa Gratton. This is a Young Adult novel that centers around two Jedi from The Acolyte–Padawans Jecki Lon and Yord Fandar (Yord had become a Jedi Knight by the time of the show) and takes place not long before the events of the show.

At the beginning of the book, the two Jedi don’t get along very well. They don’t actually dislike each other, they just grate on each other’s nerves because they’re so different. Jecki is a bit younger, likes to challenge herself, is friendly with an open mind, and is quite happy to be Master Sol’s Padawan for the time being. Yord, on the other hand, is a bit rigid, a stickler for rules, uncomfortable around other people, and is chomping at the bit to take his trials and become a Jedi Knight (his Master is a Pantoran woman named Elishe, who is very kind and free-spirited, someone who knows how to teach Yord what he needs to know). Jecki and Yord often butt heads and get exasperated with each other.

The Padawans and their Masters are sent to the planet Silene, in part to make amends with its people over a previous Jedi who unwittingly slighted them. The Silinese wish to become a member of the Republic, and the mission is delicate and important to both sides. Everything about Siline is crystalized–the planet itself has many crystal formations, and its people have crystal-like horns and jewels on their faces and bodies; even their bones are made of crystal. They come in many hues, and I surmised that they’re very beautiful and striking. They are warriors, however, and have a warrior-like culture. Every year they hold a coming-of-age event called the Convocation, which is a series of challenges and tests, the winner of which receives the Crystal Crown. Outsiders may participate in the challenge, and the Padawans are invited to take part in it.

Jecki is very excited to participate, while Yord is reluctant and thinks it’s a waste of time. He agrees, however, as their Masters approve of the idea, and the mission seems to require it. They agree not to use their lightsabers or the Force during the Convocation. The challenge is in three parts: the first is a straightforward duel between participants with a Silinese traditional crystal sword; the second is a survival challenge, as the participants are dropped into the wild and must forage for food and water, and survive the attacks of its native creatures, which can be quite dangerous; and the third is the Hunt, in which participants must hunt and tag (but not kill) a particular, dangerous creature. The whole thing used to be to the death, but modern Silinese have downgraded it so no one (and no creature) dies, lol.

Jecki and Yord come to know a trio of young people who are taking part in the challenge: siblings Sitia, the eldest, and Rhos, who is gender-fluid; and Lionine Graf (yes, another young gender-neutral Graf, which seems to be a theme in Gratton’s books. Which is fine, I just find it hard to distinguish between them all and a little predictable). The Grafs have a notorious reputation in the High Republic, and Lio is no exception. They’re a human among the Silinese, has grown up here, and desperately wants to prove that they are one of them. How far they’re willing to go becomes the conflict of the book, and they cause problems, naturally.

Jecki and Yord do well in the challenge; Jecki is having a blast, while Yord is getting through it, lol. They also learn a lot about each other and come to have a respect, and dare I say, a fondness, for each other by the end. They’re not the best of friends, as evidenced by their relationship in the show, but they tolerate each other much better by then.

It’s a fun book, though not what I expected, really. It’s sort of like a Star Wars hunger games, or Survivor. I like these characters, but I kind of wished they were doing something else, lol. And it’s bittersweet, knowing their ultimate fate in the show, and that made me sad. 😦

Comics:

Shattered Empire. I found this omnibus in my local comic store. It takes place at the very end of Return of the Jedi, and the few months thereafter. Mostly, it centers around Poe Dameron’s parents, Shara Bey and Kes Dameron and the part each played at the Battle of Endor. In other issues, Shara helps Leia, along with the Queen of Naboo, when the Emperor’s Operation Cinder kicks in on that planet. She also helps Luke Skywalker retrieve a set of Uneti trees that are being hoarded by the Imperials (why they have them, I’m not sure). After all the dust is settled, Shara and Kes decide to settle on Yavin to raise their son, Poe. I enjoyed this one. I found another omnibus called Out Among the Stars but didn’t realize until later that it was issues 33-37 or some crazy thing. It’ll just stay on my shelf for now.

Hyperspace Stories: Codebreaker #3. Speaking of Poe Dameron, I’m continuing this current comic featuring him helping a Muun girl, Cheka, escape the First Order. They were using her as a codebreaker, and Poe wasn’t aware it was a girl rather than some machine, but now that he’s come to know her sad story, he rethinks bringing her back to the Resistance to work for them. He just wants her to be able to be a kid. I’m enjoying this comic, as I always find Poe entertaining and likeable.

Other books:

Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy. My book club decided to start up again, and we picked this book to read. It was one of my suggestions, as I like this author–I read Once There Were Wolves a few months ago and loved it. Her style seems to be rooted in writing about the natural world, with a traumatized woman with a secret or a dark past as the protagonist, lol. It works for me, though: the environment is a character in itself, and mirrors the violence and churning emotions of the characters in the story.

This one takes place on a remote island in the Antarctic, where a seed vault is protected by a group of researchers. The main protagonist, Rowan, washes up on shore, badly injured but alive, and a family finds her and nurses her back to health. The family consists of father Dominic Salt, daughter Fen, and sons Raff and Orly. Both Rowan and the Salts have their secrets, and it’s the slow unraveling of these secrets that lures you into the story and keeps you there.

That’s about it this month. I’ve been continuing my rewatch of Enterprise, as well as Lost, both of which are shows I loved more than twenty years ago, so I must be feeling nostalgic, lol. It’s funny, because the story I’ve dredged up to work on was begun by me about eighteen years ago (!!!) and was left unfinished in the archives to collect dust. But something brought me back and I’ve revived it, changed it around a bit, and have been slowly working on it these past few months. It’s been fun.

Anyway, what’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Entertainment Update for July (& a bit of August) 2025

Hello friends! Hope your summer (or winter, depending on where you are) is going well. I’ve been busy working on a new writing project, so I decided I’m only going to blog in some detail about Star Wars entertainments for the time being and simply list the rest with a few lines (well, I’ll try, no promises!). Here we go!

(SPOILERS ahead!)

Star Wars Books:

Sanctuary, by Lamar Giles. You all know I’m a huge Bad Batch fan, so it’s no surprise that I was super-excited when I heard about this book. It’s finally here, and I read it in a day and half, lol (it’s fairly short at 328 pages and I dropped everything to read it).

It takes place in a very particular time-slot: just after Episode 13: Pabu from the second season. So no Crosshair or Echo, but with the added attraction of Tech still being there. I’m in.

If you remember, Pabu is the island planet Phee brings the Batch to in order to lay low after leaving Cid’s service; but while there, a devastating tsunami occurs. The community needs funds to rebuild, and in the book, Phee has come up with a few jobs that will help in that regard. One is procuring (ie, stealing) an expensive artifact from an auction put on by icky, rich criminals that they will then sell to a buyer, but it goes bad after Phee’s droid, Mel, screws up.

They get out with the artifact anyway and move on to the next job before going to the artifact’s buyer: picking up passengers on Mygeeto that want to get to Felucia. The woman they pick up is very pregnant and her companion’s face is covered by a mask. As fate would have it, the woman, Sohi, is wanted by an ISB agent named Crane who pursues them to the planet where the artifact buyer is. Turns out, the buyer, Cellia Moten, is a narcissistic murderer and they barely get away with their lives.

In the meantime, Crane has followed them there, and he’s after Sohi because she used to be a pupil of his in the spy game and they’d worked for the Separatists. She got away from him and wanted a different life, but he’s a bit obsessed and wants her back, calling her his “daughter.” He also wants her baby, his “granddaughter.” Turns out, Sohi’s masked companion is a clone named Ponder and the father of her baby (mystery solved! Clones CAN reproduce). After some trouble, they all get away and flee to Dallow, where Sohi gives birth and after some MORE trouble, escape both Crane and Moten.

So, the plot line here is fine, but I didn’t really care what it was, to be honest. All I wanted was to see the Batch in action again (which it delivered) and some character interaction and insight (which it also delivered). Every member of the Batch had their time to shine in this book, especially Hunter and Tech. Hunter was particularly intense, maybe a bit more than in the show, but his arc was to learn to let go of control, as well as to get more in touch with his feelings. I liked that we did get more of his special enhancement, which I felt was underused in the show. I also loved that Crosshair was mentioned, and that Hunter was personally struggling with his betrayal and absence. A dream sequence in which he talks with Crosshair is wonderful.

Tech was showcased mostly in his interactions with Phee, which I loved. I’m one of the people who loved their flirtation in the show, which was mostly on Phee’s side. But here, we got to go inside Tech’s head and see what he was thinking and how he actually felt about all that. And yes, it was slightly confusing for him, but he also had a growing affection for her. They had a really fun, sweet dynamic, and it just twisted the knife a little bit to know they’d never get to play it out fully. There was nothing too dramatic about it, just conversations, little touches, and them being totally unaware that time was short and that Tech would be gone in a matter of days or weeks. (I’m still not over it).

Wrecker had some wonderful moments, too, showing that he’s not just a big dumb muscle-guy. He’s got some good ideas, and he’s keenly in-tune with his team and has opinions on whether or not they should stay on Pabu. Omega is shown as the brilliant and capable kid she is, particularly with her medical skills that she garnered on Kamino with Nala Se. She remains the bright heart of the group, and her character didn’t really have an arc. She’s the optimistic Omega we’ve always known, and that’s okay.

The villains were fine, both of them crazy in their own way, but clearly dangerous. I felt like the book spent way too much time with them, frankly, but I understand wanting to flesh them out. Crane and Cellia wound up playing their own dangerous game with each other, which was kind of interesting, but also tedious, lol.

There was a lot going on in this book, but the author handled it all deftly; he knew the characters so well it was like watching an episode, but more, if you know what I mean. I loved it, and I really hope we get more Bad Batch novels in the future.

Star Wars Comics:

I don’t normally read comics, but every once in a while, I’ll check one out for a specific character that I’m interested in (like Obi-Wan Kenobi, for instance). Lately, there’s been a few that have piqued my interest:

Legacy of Vader, by Charles Soule (Marvel). This one’s about Kylo Ren and how he learns about his grandfather Darth Vader as told to him by Vader’s servant, Vane (pronounced “vanay”), as well as how Kylo goes about trying to “kill the past.” It’s seven issues in, and I’ve gotta say, it’s a little weird. I’ve always liked a bit more insight into Kylo, but this one is only making him seem more nuts than usual, lol. I’m invested at his point, though, so I’ll keep going. It takes place between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

The Bad Batch: Ghost Agents, by Michael Moreci (Dark Horse). Of course, I had to read the latest Bad Batch comics. This takes place during the Clone Wars, so no Echo or Omega, but Crosshair is still part of the team. The Batch are sent on a mission to retrieve intelligence on Republic spies that has been stolen by a Separatist agent. Spoiler: the agent is Asajj Ventress (and later, Aurra Sing). Ventress wears a mask, though, so they don’t know who she is, and won’t immediately recognize her later in the show’s third season, when she shows up on Pabu. The story of the comic was fine, but I didn’t particularly care about it; I just loved seeing the Batch together before being broken up by Crosshair’s betrayal in the show. The comic was four issues. I think there’s another Bad Batch comic down the pipeline, this fall, I think, and I’m sure I’ll check that one out, too.

The Rise of Skywalker Adaptation, by Jody Houser (Marvel). I don’t usually read comic adaptations of movies or shows, but I heard this one was pretty good (courtesy of Star Wars Explained) because it had a little bit of extra stuff that gave insight into some characters. There’s extra dialogue and scenes with Leia, as well as Kylo Ren and Rose Tico, that was great. This one was five issues.

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories: Codebreaker, by Ethan Sacks (Dark Horse). This one is a Poe Dameron story, and since he’s one of my favorite characters, I had to check it out (I need to check out some earlier Poe comics, as well). Poe must infiltrate a First Order base and retrieve some code-breaking technology; however, the codebreaker turns out to be a young Cerean girl that he then has to protect and save. Again, the story is fine, but I just love listening to Poe’s snark, lol. There are four total issues, and three are out right now. The fourth will be published in October.

Other Entertainments: I’ve read and watched quite a few other things lately, such as:

Books:

Gathering Blue, Messenger and Son, by Lois Lowry. I read The Giver in June and found out it was the first in a quartet, so naturally I had to read the others! These fantasy books, though written for middle-grade, are fantastic.

The Ferryman, by Justin Cronin. I loved Cronin’s series beginning with The Passage, and thought I’d check out this stand-alone novel. It’s a great “what in the world is really going on here?” book, and the answer is satisfying indeed.

All The Water in the World, by Eiren Caffall. This book takes place sometime in our near future when climate change has caused horrific storms and polar melt that has flooded coastal regions. It focuses on Nonie, a young girl who has been living on the roof of the American Natural History Museum in a flooded New York City. She and her sister, Bix, her father, and their friend Keller, survive a “hypercane” that destroys their home, so they embark on a dangerous journey to the Berkshires (not far from where I live in Massachusetts, by the way) to a family farm and hopefully a new, better life.

On the screen:

North and South (BBC). Just randomly saw this on Youtube and decided I was ready for another period drama. It’s based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s book North and South, published as a serial in 1854-55, at the time of the Industrial Revolution. Love amid the soot of Northern England, lol. It’s more than that, obviously; it’s about worker’s rights, the clash between the factory owners and the workers, the horrific conditions of the poor. A highlight for me was that it starred Richard Armitage, who I only know as the “hot dwarf” Thoren Oakenshield from the Hobbit movies, lol. North and South is made up of 4 one-hour episodes, and I loved it.

High Rise. Tom Hiddleston, people living in a high-rise apartment building in some sort of dystopian scenario where the rich live on the top and the poor live on the bottom, what’s not to love? Answer: this entire movie. I don’t say this about many movies, but this one was BAD. Not just, “Oh, it’s not really my thing,” but a really awful, terrible, horrible mess of a movie. Nothing, and I mean nothing, made sense in this whack job. Two hours of my life I can’t get back. Maybe I just don’t “get it,” in which case, it’s painfully pretentious.

Fantastic Four. Now, this is a good movie. A Fantastic movie, in fact! I really liked the 2005 movie and its sequel, The Silver Surfer, despite not being perfect; the 2015 reboot was totally forgettable; but this one! Ah, perfection. At least to me. I loved everything about it, from the great cast, the omitting of the origin story (who needs to see it again?) and the futuristic retro look of an alternate timeline Earth. The sixties vibe was so cool. It’s enough to make me excited about Marvel again, when my interest has been waning lately. Super fun and good storytelling.

Star Trek: Enterprise rewatch. I’d been casting around for a new show to watch, but couldn’t decide on anything, so I went for an old favorite. Enterprise ranks probably second after The Next Generation for me, and it’s been years since I watched. Super fun.

So, I tried to keep this as brief as possible, but if you’re still with me, thank you and I’m impressed! Have you read/watched any of the above-mentioned? What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Entertainment Update for February 2025

Thrawn: Alliances, by Timothey Zahn. I love Thrawn as a character, particularly in Rebels and the Ahsoka show, but I’ve never been a big fan of the books. I just don’t have the patience for his Sherlock Homes-style exposition that makes my eyes glaze over. I thought I’d try this one, though, because the premise seemed interesting: Thrawn and Darth Vader have a mission together, and it flashes back to when Thrawn met Anakin Skywalker and they did a mission together as well. Put Padme in there, too, and I’m intrigued enough to check it out. There was still plenty of tedious Thrawning, but was just interesting enough to get me through it.

The Emperor sends Thrawn and Vader on a mission to investigate a big disturbance in the Force he’s feeling. The flashbacks deal with Padme going to Batuu to meet up with one of her handmaidens who’s discovered something important. She turns up dead, though, and Padme investigates a Separatist factory on a planet called Mokijve. Anakin hasn’t heard from Padme and goes to investigate her whereabouts and encounters Thrawn, whose mission on behalf of the Chiss is a bit vague. They decide to work together, however, to find Padme.

Meanwhile, Thrawn and Vader inevitably clash, as their leadership styles are decidedly different. Vader is constantly questioning Thrawn’s loyalty to the Emperor and the Empire. It becomes quite clear that Thrawn–naturally–has figured out that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, and he walks that tightrope for most of the book. They deal with a group of Grysk (enemies to the Chiss in the Unknown Regions) who are, it is revealed, kidnapping female Chiss children who are Force-sensitive. These children are what allow the Chiss to travel across space, as they have no hyperdrive navigational systems. Ironically, they are called “Skywalkers.”

Anakin, Padme, and Thrawn find that the Separatists are manufacturing droids and clone armor with cortosis, which are impervious to blasterfire, as well as lightsabers. They work together to destroy the factory, and Thrawn gets the intel on something or other he’s after for the Chiss (he takes some piece of equipment, idk, lol). Vader and Thrawn retrieve the Chiss girls and come to some sort of stalemate and truce, as well as mutual respect.

The book was fairly entertaining, but I doubt I’ll read any other Thrawn book. I’ll take my Thrawn in animation and live-action.

Comics: Legacy of Vader, and Ghost Agents. If you know me you know I’m not a huge comic book fan, but you also know I’m a huge Bad Batch fan. So when it was announced that there would be a comic run with the Batch, I knew I’d check them out. So I walked down to my local comic book shop and found the first issue. Kylo Ren is another special interest, so I thought I’d pick up the new one with him, too.

Ghost Agents takes place during the Clone Wars, so no Omega or Echo, just the original Batch. They’re sent on a mission by Mace Windu to find someone who stole a list of Republic secret agents. They descend into the lower levels of Coruscant and almost find the culprit but run into the bounty hunter Embo, who is also after the list. As a result, the suspect gets away. Stay tuned.

Legacy of Vader takes place between The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker. Snoke is dead, and Kylo force-throws his corpse off the ship into space and tells Hux to make him a throne, lol. But even after killing his father and Snoke, he still feels trapped by the past, which includes Vader. He decides to go to Mustafar to…I’m not really sure, but he runs into Vader’s old assistant, Vanee, who is a head in a fish bowl with a robotic spider-like body. Kylo was going to kill him, too, but Vanee tells him that Vader was strong because of his past. Kylo is intrigued, and we’re left waiting until the next issue to see what sorts of stories Vanee tells him.

I’d never been to my local comic store, and it was a great little place with lots of comics and other things, too. I picked up a book–Clone Wars: Siege, by Karen Miller–while I was there, too. I would have stayed longer, but it was stifling in there and had to get out, lol. But I plan on returning to get the subsequent issues of these stories.

Non-Star Wars entertainments:

Pride and Prejudice (1995). I was rooting around in my new Hulu subscription and came upon this gem. It had been years since I last watched it and decided to indulge in it once again. This is the golden standard of Jane Austen adaptations and it truly is a delight.

Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James. Since I was in an Austen kind of mood, I decided to read this one I had on my TBR pile, which I’d found in a free little library a few months ago. It takes place six years after the events of Pride and Prejudice. Preparations for Lady Anne’s ball at Pemberley is interrupted by tragedy: a murder has taken place on the Pemberley grounds. The victim is Captain Denny, a friend of Wickham’s. The prime suspect is Wickham himself, who, along with his wife Lydia, had been in the carriage with Denny on their way to dropping Lydia off–uninvited, of course–at Pemberley. When Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and a young lawyer named Alveston investigate, they find Wickham–quite drunk–bent over his friend proclaiming that he’d killed his best friend. What exactly happened that night is the central mystery as the book covers the inquest and trial of Wickham. If you like mysteries, as well as Austen and Regency England, this one’s for you.

As promised last month, here are my drawings for the rest of the Bad Batch:

I posted my drawings of Tech, Hunter, and Crosshair last month, so if you’d like to check those out, they’re here.

Here’s a bonus drawing of Ahsoka from the live-action show:

What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Life Day Update

Hello friends, long time no blog!

I hope everyone had a happy Solstice/Christmas/Hannukah/Life Day. I’ve been taking a break from the blog for a few months, as I was busy taking care of my elderly Dad. He ended up getting pneumonia and sepsis and passed away at the end of November. Then I got sick for a few weeks. I’m just now feeling as if I’m getting back to “normal” and have missed the blog, so I thought I’d give a quick update.

I’ve been reading a lot of great non-Star Wars books* (see brief list at end of post), but I did read the latest High Republic novel, Tears of the Nameless, and I think it’s probably my favorite HR book so far. It focuses on Reath Silas, one of my favorite HR Jedi, and his quest to solve the Nameless problem. He gets help from a Padawan named Amadeo, and oh yeah, his old Master, Comahc Vitus returns with some vital information. I was thrilled to see Comahc return, as he had left the Order at the end of Midnight Horizon. Fantastic book.

Another SW book I read was the Mace Windu book The Glass Abyss. This one was…interesting. Mace has never been one of my favorite Jedi, but I do respect the guy. But I’ve always wanted to like him, as well. The Clone Wars went a long way in helping me with that; he was great whenever he made an appearance there. I tried reading Shatterpoint, the Legends book about Mace, but I just couldn’t get interested. I didn’t have much hope for this one, to be honest, since I saw that a lot of people didn’t really like it. But you know what? It wasn’t bad. It was definitely different for a Star Wars book, and especially different for a Mace story. But maybe that’s the point. Here, Mace goes to an Outer Rim planet at the behest of his now-dead friend, Qui Gon Jinn, who had a mission there several years ago. The people are under the thumb of two different crime lords who hold a tenuous balance there. He befriends a community who have a symbiotic sort of relationship with giant silkworms (!) and comes to deeply respect them. He also falls for the leader of these people, and it’s weird seeing Mace all romantic and stuff (once he realizes he’s in love, that is), lol. One of the villains is strange, as well, as he’s two different beings bonded as one, a Rodian and another humanoid species, named Chulok. The other crime boss is a giant insect. Yeah, very weird stuff, but I found it kind of entertaining. I also read it in the hospital while my dad was dying, so it holds some weird emotional heft with me. So yeah, I do like Mace now, lol.

In live-action news, I’m quite enjoying Skeleton Crew. It took a few episodes to really hook me, but I’m fully on board now. It’s a fun, weird, mysterious adventure and I can’t wait to see how this is going to turn out. I’m curious about Jod’s past (is he just a random Force-user, or a former Padawan who escaped Order 66?) and if he’ll come to use his Force powers for good instead of piracy; I’m also wondering about the whole At Attin thing and what’s going on there. And if any harm comes to our sweet Neel there will be hell to pay.

Star Wars things I’m looking forward to: there will be some Bad Batch comics in January, a Clone Wars adventure I think, and this will be a comic series I’ll need to have on my shelf. I’m also hearing rumors about a Bad Batch novel coming out in April or May? If so, I’ll be in Bad Batch heaven! I’m looking forward to the conclusion of The High Republic series with the last wave of books, and of course, Andor Season 2. I recently rewatched Season 1 and I’m totally ready for that great series to continue and conclude.

So instead of blogging and/or writing these past few months, I’ve gotten back into drawing, specifically, portrait drawing. I just needed to do something different, and I have this crazy dream of creating Star Wars fan art. If you know me, you know I LOVE Star Wars fan art, and I’ve often thought, You know, I want to do that too! So I’m going to. I’m still practicing my portrait skills, but once I feel ready, I’m going to start drawing Star Wars characters, and I will certainly share them here if I feel they’re any good, lol.

Anyway, hope everyone is well. Let me know what you’ve been up to, and what Star Wars things are making you happy right now in the comments!

* Here’s some great non-Star Wars books I’ve read lately:

The Madwoman Upstairs, by Catherine Lowell
The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Perry
A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
The Blue Hour, by Paula Hawkins
Once there Were Wolves, by Charlotte McConahy
Currently reading: Wool, by Hugh Howey

Liked Ahsoka? (Or need more context?) Try these.

Star Wars is an intricately connected universe, for the most part. There’s just no getting around it. There’s so much canon content out there (not to mention a gargantuan Legends collection), it can be downright intimidating or confusing. If you’re just getting into Star Wars, or just watch the movies and live-action shows, there may be some gaps that leave you scratching your head a little bit. The Ahsoka series was supposed to be “non-Rebels fan-friendly,” but let’s be honest: it’s a much richer experience if you know a little bit about these characters. Or a lot. Here’s some content you may want to explore for further enrichment:

Ahsoka, by E.K. Johnston. This book came out a few years ago and details what Ahsoka did in the year after Order 66. Basically, she tried to keep a low profile (duh), worked on a farm planet and met two sisters and their friends who get mixed up in some Imperial trouble, and of course tries to help them. She also confronts an Inquisitor, and meets up with Bail Organa, who convinces her to help in the early formation of the Rebellion. It also shows how she got her two white lightsabers. An abbreviated version of these events happen in the animated series Tales of the Jedi (see below).

Tales of the Jedi. This animated series came out this past year and focuses on two characters: Ahsoka and Count Dooku. Each character gets three short stories (about ten minutes each) dedicated to them at crucial points in their lives. The Count Dooku episodes are great, and since we don’t see much of him (besides the audio drama Dooku: Lost, and as a baddie in Clone Wars), it’s worth watching just for those. But the Ahsoka shorts are pretty good, too. The first one is about baby Ahsoka and how her family found out she was Force-sensitive; the second is the abbreviated version of the Ahsoka book I mentioned above; and the third is how Anakin (inadvertently) trained her, along with Captain Rex’s help, to survive Order 66. Pretty good stuff.

Rebels. Okay, so the Ahsoka series has been described as “Rebels Season 5” and I can’t argue with that. If you want to know more about not just Ahsoka (who really only appears in a handful of episodes here) but Sabine, Hera, Ezra, and Thrawn (as well as Kanan Jarrus, Jacen Syndulla’s Jedi father), this is the series to watch. It takes place in the years before A New Hope and chronicles a Rebel cell consisting of the Ghost crew. As I’ve mentioned before in talking about Rebels, the first season is the hardest to get through–as most of these animated shows are, they’re targeted, at least initially, to younger viewers, and the first season attests to that. But they’re also designed to grow with its audience, getting more mature, complex, and a bit darker as it goes on. It truly has some of the best Star Wars out there. The finale shows how Ezra and Thrawn got stranded on Peridea in the first place.

Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka meet the Daughter

Clone Wars, specifically the Mortis and Dathomir arcs (but almost all of it is worth watching). This one’s kind of a monster, because it’s seven seasons with 15-22 episodes each. It took me longer to get into this one, as again, it starts out kind of kiddie, but does grow with its audience. By the last four episodes of season seven, it’s outstanding. But for Ahsoka-series purposes, if you want more on the Nightsisters, or need more context for the Mortis gods, check out these episodes:

For Dathomir and the Nightsisters:

Season 3 Episodes 12-14: Nightsisters, Monster, and Witches of the Mist

Season 4 Episode 19: Massacre

(The witches also make an appearance in Rebels–Season 3 Episode 11: Visions and Voices)

For Mortis and the Father, Son and Daughter: Season 3 Episodes 15-17: Overlords, Alter of Mortis, and Ghosts of Mortis.

Ahoska herself is in a lot of the episodes, obviously, as she is Anakin’s padawan, so if you want to get to know her better and her relationship with her master, this is the one to watch.

A New Dawn, by John Jackson Miller. This is a little further afield, but if you’re interested in early rebel Hera and how she met Kanan, this book tells that story. It’s a good book about Kanan and Hera working together and with others against an Imperial villain named Vidian, but they hadn’t met the rest of the ghost crew yet, so I was a little disappointed in that. But overall, a good read.

Any number of Thrawn books by Timothy Zahn. I think there’s well over a dozen Thrawn books, counting canon and Legends. Of course, there’s the original Legends books Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command, as well as Outbound Flight and Spectre of the Past. I read the Legends trilogy ages ago when they first came out, but they didn’t particularly wow me and I never much got into Legends. I tried reading the first canon novel (pictured above) but could only get halfway through it, lol. I don’t know, I just can’t get into “book Thrawn.” It’s very Sherlock Holmesy, with Thrawn lecturing his underlings about how he understand his enemies and why he’s doing what he’s doing. I just don’t care for it. But plenty of people adore the books and how Thrawn is portrayed in them. There are currently two trilogies: Thrawn, Alliances, and Treason; and then a prequel trilogy comprised of Chaos Rising, Greater Good, and Ascendency. I haven’t read any of the books, but from what I understand, Thrawn joined the Empire to help his people, the Chiss, fend off an invasive alien species called the Grysk. Some people see Thrawn as a hero for this; and while I understand that as a protagonist, he needs to have some redeeming qualities, he still does evil things in the name of his goal. He’s still a bad guy, and that’s okay, because at least he’s an interesting one. I prefer the Rebels version of Thrawn, but you might enjoy getting to know him better in these books.

Marvel Kanan comic. Kanan is not even in Ahsoka, so this is another reach, but if you’ve watched Rebels and you’re interested in Kanan, there’s a comic that shows him as a Padawan (with his original name, Caleb Dume) with his Master, Depa Billaba, during Order 66. The first episode of The Bad Batch begins with them on the planet Kaller when the order comes through, like in the comic, but it does change it a little bit, from what I understand. I’m not a comics person, and I haven’t read it, but it’s another connection you might be interested in.

Speaking of The Bad Batch, we also meet a young Hera in Season 1 Episodes 11 and12; her father is Cham Syndulla, the freedom fighter on Ryloth, who we meet in the Clone Wars. If you’re a completionist, here you go, lol.

There’s one other small thing I’d like to mention, and that’s concerning Senator Hamatsu Xiono. You know, that slimeball Senator that Hera trades barbs with, and who seems to be a secret Imperial sympathizer (and may well be). He’s the father of Kazuda Xiono, the young Resistance pilot in the animated series Resistance. The Senator himself only makes a brief appearance, and the show truly is targeted to younger viewers (I watched and liked it, anyway), so it may not be for you. Just one other connection I wanted to mention.

That’s about all I can think of, and that’s plenty to chew on if you decide to investigate. Some people don’t like having to watch other things or read books to understand a show or movie in Star Wars, and I get that, but it’s kind of what I love about it: the interconnectedness. Anyway, hope this list is helpful to you if you want more out of Ahsoka.

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Hello friends, and happy weekend!

So, no Andor episodes to comment on anymore. 😦 But, now that the series is over, I decided to revisit Rogue One again, and yeah, it’s just as good as I remember. And perhaps, if possible, a bit sadder, since I know so much more about Cassian now. And I think it’s official: the Battle of Scarif is my favorite Star Wars battle, hands down. I enjoy the battles in Star Wars for the most part, but almost always my eyes start to glaze over after awhile. Not this one. The battle on the beach, as well as the battle above the planetary shield, is tense and exhilarating. Hmm, maybe I’ll do a list post with favorite Star Wars battles.

I finished Season Three of Poldark a few days ago, and decided to take a break from it for a week or so and watch other things. I love it, but I need a break from the constant drama, lol. There’s a few things on my Amazon Prime watchlist, but I’m not sure what I’ll watch yet. I’ll report back next week.

The covers for Phase Two have been gorgeous so far.

In books, I got my copy of Convergence and have been reading it. I’m about halfway done and I’m really enjoying it. It mostly concerns the “Forever War” between the two planets Eiram and E’ronoh, and a Jedi delagation trying to help with the peace process. Jedi Knight Gella Nattai is trying to find her place in the Order; Axel Greylark, the troubled son of one of the Chancellors, has been sent there by his mother to watch and report back to her. Both Gella and Axel must protect the princess of E’ronoh and the prince of Eiram, who have vowed to end their planets destructive war through a marriage between them. But there are those who don’t want peace, on both sides, and it doesn’t help that the Path of the Hand has gotten involved as well. I’m eager to see how it turns out, since there’s still trouble between these two planets a hundred years later as evidences in one of the Phase One books, which I believe was Into the Dark.

Obi-Wan looks back on some key moments in his life.

I’m not much of a comic book reader, but when I saw an omnibus edition of the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi comic, I had to pre-order it. It comes out on December 13th. I don’t think the comic brought anything super important or earth-shattering to the canon, but look, it’s Obi-Wan. So it will be read and take its place on my shelf.

We got a cover reveal for the Cal Kestis novel coming out next March:

Looks like trouble ahead with Fifth Brother.

I’m eager to get to know these characters, as I’m not a gamer, either. But I’ve always been intrigued by Cal’s story, and had always hoped for a book. Wishes sometimes do come true!

In Marvel, I watched the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer that just dropped, and I’m ready for this. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here:

By the way, I haven’t seen Wakanda Forever yet, but I will watch it when it inevitably drops on Disney Plus soon.

That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Happy weekend, my friends!

So I’m about halfway done with Heir to the Empire, and I’m really enjoying it. Some things are kind of funny, like Joruus C’baoth, the crazy clone Jedi, lol. It’s only funny now because this obviously was written before anyone really knew what the “Clone Wars” actually were, and what “clone” referred to. The new canon has also shown that it’s not that easy to clone a Force-user. Looking forward to finishing it and going onto the second in the series, Dark Force Rising.

Luke revisits the Dark Cave on Dagobah in Heir to the Empire.

I’ve also been reading the High Republic comics: the Marvel series and the High Republic Adventures. I’ve finished Volume 1 of both series, and will be working on Volume 2 for both. I’ve mentioned before that reading comics is new to me, and slightly disorienting. It’s a very different experience than reading a book, which is a very orderly process. With comics, I kind of have a headache afterward, lol. I do love the stories though, and the visuals are great. I’m just not used to them being thrown together.

Now, onto the super-awesome-I-can-hardly-stand-it exciting news: the Obi-Wan Kenobi teaser trailer that was dropped this past week. Oh muh gawd, this series looks amazing! The trailer gave us some tantalizing scenes without giving too much away. We see a young Luke Skywalker, a scene with Uncle Owen and an Inquisitor (called Reva), we see the Grand Inquisitor (who looks weird, not gonna lie) and Fifth Brother from Rebels, we see their Fortress (from Fallen Order). And Obi-Wan, of course. So so so cool. My heart is bursting. And this is just a teaser!

There were also images from an upcoming Entertainment Weekly issue, which I will be scanning the racks for in the next month. I have a feeling it will be hard to find, though. But since I’m a Star Wars fan, I have hope.

Last week I featured a favorite artist named Jake Bartok who’s done some wonderful Star Wars art. Another favorite artist is Uzuri Art, who’s also done some amazing Star Wars images. I came across this Obi-Wan piece the other day and it seemed fitting to share:

That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!