Star Wars Novels Coming Out in 2027

Hi friends! As promised, here are the Star Wars novels coming out in 2027, with the publisher’s summaries and my brief thoughts on them.

Twin Crossroads, by Beth Revis, April 6th.

After the events of Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa train together in the ways of the Jedi. The siblings must confront the legacies of their birth parents Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, and their own diverging futures in the Force.

The second Death Star is in ruins. As the burgeoning New Republic pursues scattered Imperial forces across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa train on the remote planet of Ajan Kloss and walk the path of the Jedi side-by-side.

During this reprieve from battle, the twins grow their connection to the Force and their own bond as they shoulder the responsibility of carrying on the Jedi Order’s legacy. But each also carries a burden they struggle to share with the other. Luke loves seeing his sister excel but doubts his teaching ability when there is still so much to discover and learn. Leia, meanwhile, is determined to master these new skills, but she struggles with both what it would mean to commit her life entirely to serving the Force and the knowledge of being Darth Vader’s daughter.

Despite their doubts, Luke and Leia volunteer for an urgent covert New Republic mission to infiltrate the center of Imperial power: Coruscant.

Their quest begins at the Imperial palace, once the Jedi Temple, where they gain a new understanding of the former Jedi Order and Galactic Republic. The mission will be more transformative than either could imagine, as they discover the legacy left behind by their birth parents on a planet where some are still willing to hope. And though certainty is scarce, Luke and Leia’s faith in one another will help them each seek out the path they must ultimately walk.

So this one sounds great–I’ve wanted a bit more about Luke training Leia in the ways of the Force. We get a little bit in The Rise of Skywalker, and Leia remembering her time with Luke on Ajan Kloss in the TROS novelization (I think, lol). This sounds like it’s going to get into the nitty-gritty of it. I hope it makes clear the when of it; it sounds like it’s right after Endor, but Leia and Han got married on Endor and she got pregnant with Ben not long after. I’m currently reading the Aftermath Trilogy right now, and she seems pretty busy that year with the New Republic and growing baby Ben. The problem with all these new books is fitting all these stories into an already crowded timeline. I’m hoping the book will make it clear and make sense. But as far as the actual story goes, it sounds pretty awesome.

Leia: Princess of the Rebellion, by Claudia Gray, May 4th.

Princess Leia risks everything to protect the Rebellion as she forges new bonds with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Lost Stars.

The Rebellion has just destroyed the Death Star, shaking the Empire to its core, but this victory has come at a terrible price. The planet Alderaan has been destroyed, and the Rebellion now must flee its base on Yavin IV.

Still reeling from the loss of her planet, Princess Leia and the other rebel leaders know that a new base must be found, but it cannot be kept safe without a secret cache of weapons hidden by Bail Organa years ago. Bail kept its location well concealed, and no one still living knows where it is. Leia insists that she is the best person to unravel the clues and discover the cache’s location so they can establish a new rebel base.

And so Leia sets out on a desperate quest with her new friends Luke Skywalker and Han Solo by her side. Her path will take her back to people and places she has known throughout her life, not all of whom remain Leia’s allies. Completing this mission will call upon all Leia’s courage as she wrestles with the sorrows of her recent past in order to secure the Rebellion’s future.

Okay, I love Claudia Gray’s Star Wars novels, and no one writes Leia better than she does–Bloodline and Leia: Princess of Alderaan were fantastic–but more Leia? After Twin Crossroads, and the recent Legacy? Is there any particular reason we’re doing more Leia? I love the character, but I feel like we’ve maybe done enough, particularly at this point in the timeline. But whatever, I’ll take it, because it is Claudia Gray, and she’s never disappointed before. And that cover is amazing! Gorgeous.

Starfighter, novelization by Delilah S. Dawson, June 22nd. I’m so excited for this movie, and you can be sure I’ll be reading the novelization of it. I like the novelizations of the movies for the most part, as there are usually extra scenes, inner character dialogue, and just more of the story. And Delilah Dawson is another favorite Star Wars writer of mine–I loved Phasma, Black Spire, and Rise of the Red Blade (she loves to write “violent women,” lol). I’m sure she’ll do justice to the movie in this book. We probably won’t get a cover until after the movie is out, I’m guessing.

Reign of the Empire: From the Ashes, by Fran Wilde, August 10th.

In the gripping finale to the Reign of the Empire trilogy, set during the events of Andor, Rogue One, and A New Hope, a united Rebel Alliance finally rises to stand against the Empire.

Nearly two decades into its reign, the Empire’s power continues to grow, fueled by Emperor Palpatine’s insatiable desire for total control. United against the unrelenting crush of Imperial might, factions of insurgents have finally banded together as the Rebel Alliance.

After an early Alliance base is discovered and routed by Imperial forces, the scattered leadership of Bail Organa and Mon Mothma races to establish a new secret headquarters on a remote jungle moon: Yavin 4.

But building a base requires more than a safe location; security demands discipline, discipline requires hierarchy, and hierarchy enforces secrecy. And the strain proves that forming an Alliance is one thing, sustaining it quite another. Some leaders, like Luthen Rael and Saw Gerrera, refuse to join the Yavin coalition, warning of the danger in consolidating resources. And for Gerrera, suspicions grow about the loyalty of his allies, who more and more label him an extremist as the Empire has for so long.

Despite the division within, and the endless hunt by Imperial agents, the Rebellion endures. Mon, Bail, and their allies can sense the long night of the Empire is ending, even if not all those who have fought for it will live to see the sunrise. As the Rebels make their stand above Yavin 4, hope emerges anew as the fate of the galaxy reaches a turning point.

This is the third book in the Reign of the Empire trilogy, and since the other two books were excellent, I have high hopes for it. I feel like Andor, Rogue One, and A New Hope are a kind of trilogy now, and this book will bridge them all together. I’m not really familiar with Fran Wilde, but she contributed a short story called “No Contingency” for the From A Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi book. I only read a few stories from that one so far, but that was one of them. It’s a story about Mon Mothma, so I can see her writing more about that character here. I’m excited for this book but I have to wait almost ten months for it, lol.

So these are just the novels that have been announced for next year, but there are plenty of other non-fiction books and comics coming out, as well as the afore-mentioned Starfighter movie in May, Ahsoka Season 2 in January, and Maul Season 2 at some point, I’m not sure when. Another great year for Star Wars!

All this is fabulous, but most of these stories are set in the crowded, familiar timeline of the Empire and New Republic. Starfighter is a great first step in a new direction, a post-sequel story that I hope leads to more. I’d also love to go backwards again and get more High Republic stuff, either books or live-action. And though I loved the Legends Old Republic books (mostly), let’s see some Canon stuff going that far back. The Dawn of the Jedi-type movie seems to have been scrapped, and the Old Republic video game doesn’t seem to be forthcoming. Let’s go backwards or forwards in the timeline and see what’s going on. It’s a big, old galaxy with lots of stories to tell.

Anyway, that’s my little two-cents-worth, but still looking forward to all these books in 2027. What are you looking forward to the most? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

What I’ve been reading lately

Hello friends! I always post about the new Star Wars books I read (or new to me), but I haven’t talked about non-Star Wars books (or Star Wars rereads) lately, so I thought I’d just run through what’s been entertaining me lately.

Books I’ve read on my Nook:

Blackail, by Scott Hawkins. This book was AMAZING. Bloody, brutal, and so disturbing in so many ways, but amazing. It’s from the point of view of a wolf named Blacktail (as well as some other animals, and a few humans), and it chronicles his epic journey to find the Forest God. He’s sent on this journey by Old Kitty Mother, who has a connection to the supernatural (as cats do). On the way, we see the many ways that human beings abuse animals both domestic and wild. The book has a biblical feel to it, as Blacktail searches for the wild Forest God so he can overtake the humans’ God of Reason. The book is heartbreaking and incredibly moving, but if you don’t like to see or imagine animals ripping each other apart, or humans being horrible to animals, this isn’t for you. If you can get through it, though, you’re treated to a tale of animal redemption that is so incredibly satisfying, it left me stunned.

Sanctuary, by Lamar Giles. I was missing the boys (and Omega) and needed something to read on my Nook, so I re-read this one about The Bad Batch going on a mission to get funds to help Pabu after the tsunami. Naturally, things go sideways in so many ways, but I loved being with my favorite clones again for a time. Here is my original review of the book.

Books I’m currently reading:

The Aftermath Trilogy, by Chuck Wendig. This is a very under-rated Star Wars trilogy that I loved the first time I read it. This is my second read-through, and I still love it. Yes, the first book is slightly annoying from the author’s writing style, but he rectifies it in the second and third books. The novels chronicle the year between the Battles of Endor (which won the war) and of Jakku (which ended it), with a wonderful cast of characters (particularly Sinjir Rath Velus, which I absolutely need to see more of, somehow, yes, please). I’m in the middle of Life Debt as of this writing, and I’m loving every minute of it. If you haven’t checked out the Aftermath trilogy, I highly recommend it. I can’t find any post I made with a review, I think I read it before I even started this blog, which was more than ten years ago! Good time to revisit it.

The Icy Touch, by John Shirley. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this on the blog, but I absolutely adore the TV series Grimm. It aired on NBC from 2011 to 2017, and my husband and I were obsessed with it. It’s about a Portland detective, Nick Burkhardt, who finds out he’s a “Grimm”, someone who can see the hidden monster-like creatures in some people (called Wesen, pronounced “vessen.”) A whole mythology spins out from this premise over 6 seasons, 22 episodes each. I recently finished a rewatch of the series–it had been long enough since I watched that I remembered most of the big plot twists, but not the details, and it was so fun and almost like watching the first time. Anyway, once I finished the rewatch, I was kind of glad because I needed my life back, lol, but I was sad to say goodbye, too. But I found out there were three novels written during the series: The Icy Touch, The Chopping Block, and the Killing Time, each with a new story for Nick and crew. So of course, I had to get them!

I’m about halfway through the first one, The Icy Touch, and it’s…not great, honestly. The story itself is fine, but it’s the handling of the characters that irritates me. I feel like this author doesn’t know these characters very well, or just wasn’t paying attention. I’m reading along, and I’ll be thinking: this character would never say that! Juliette, Nick’s girlfriend who has just recently been through some traumatic stuff, is nevertheless a strong, very opinionated woman. She would never opine to Nick–“Nick, what are we gonna do?” She is no damsel in distress who looks to her man to fix her problems. It really pissed me off, lol. Anyway, all the characters do or say something completely out of character, and it’s jarring and kind of ruining it for me.

One thing the author does do well is when he’s writing a chapter that takes place in the past, with some of Nick’s Grimm ancestors. These are actually quite good and I want more of them, but there are only two so far, which is disappointing. I think I enjoy them because these are the author’s own characters and he doesn’t have to write characters that someone else created and recreate their voices. Oh well. The other two books are by two completely different authors, and I hope they’re better. Fingers crossed.

Cloak of Deception, by James Luceno. This is my latest Legends Reading Challenge book. I’m about halfway through and it’s been stalled for a while now. I would describe the plot as a political thriller, and….it’s definitely political, but not much thriller. To put it bluntly, it’s incredibly boring, lol. I was excited to read a story with Qui Gon and Obi-Wan in it, but they’re not in it enough. And when they are, there’s nothing new to learn about their relationship–their dialogue with each other is strangely dull (maybe I’m spoiled by Master and Apprentice, by Claudia Gray, a fantastic novel about Qui Gon and Obi-Wan. Probably not fair, as Cloak of Deception was written years earlier when not much was known yet about either of them). So that’s disappointing. The plot involves the Trade Federation and the taxation of trade routes (sound familiar? Ugh, lol) and Sidious’s manipulation of them; Chancellor Valorum’s thin hold on power; a terrorist group called the Nebula Front; and how they all tie together….zzzzzz. I don’t know, it’s just not holding my attention. I’m torn, because I made it halfway through and feel like I should at least finish it, but then again, I’m halfway through and I’m still bored, lol. I’ve enjoyed other James Luceno books (Labyrinth of Evil and Catalyst are great), but Luceno can be, I don’t know, a bit mechanical with his writing? He’s gotta describe every single piece of machinery down to the smallest detail, and how every piece of technology works, and honestly, I just don’t care. It’s a space fantasy, I’m on board already–you don’t have to explain to me how all the tech works, lol. But I haven’t quite given up on it yet. Stay tuned….

Book I tried to read but couldn’t get into:

The Dog Stars, by Peter Heller. I was excited for this one because the movie had just come out and it looked really good. I didn’t get around to seeing the movie, so I got the book on my Nook and eagerly began to read. It’s a post-apocalyptic novel, where there had been a deadly superflu and only a handful of humans are left. It takes place, I think, somewhere near or in the Rocky Mountains, with a 40 year-old man who had lost his pregnant wife, and an older man who had probably been prepping for this day his whole life, as he’s a gun nut with no mercy. I didn’t get too far into the book, however; I just couldn’t get past the writing style. It’s hard to explain, except that the narrative just seemed to spiral around and took forever to get to a point. Maybe I’m getting old, but I prefer books with a straightforward narrative. The movie looked much more interesting, and I regret not seeing it first. I’m not giving up on it forever, though, I might give it another chance. We’ll see.

So that’s what I’ve been reading the past few months (or trying to read). There’s no new Star Wars novel until April of next year–a book about Luke and Leia training together just after the Galactic Civil War, so that should be interesting. Maybe I’ll do a post about the new SW books that have been announced for next year and what I hope to see. Until then, I’ll get back to my reading, and MTFBWY!

Canon Contemplation: Edge of the Abyss

Hello friends! Still reading about the Star War, so here’s the latest:

Empire-sized SPOILERS!!!

I recently finished “Edge of the Abyss,” by Rebecca Roanhorse, the second book in the proposed Reign of the Empire trilogy. If you’re a fan of Andor, these books are for you. They’re definitely for me, because I loved this book, as well as its predecessor, “The Mask of Fear,” by Alexander Freed. Check out my thoughts on that book here.

This one takes place roughly thirteen years after the first (as Leia Organa and Leida Mothma are both 13 years old). Mon Mothma is still trying to make a difference in the Senate (she’s had to get real tricky), and Bail Organa is doing the same, although he’s beginning to acquire contacts that oppose the Empire. Saw is still doing what Saw does best, which is inflict violence upon Imperial targets.

This time his target is a new Imperial Governor on the planet Inusagi. There is a ceremony that he and his team disrupt and blow up, but one of his team members gets caught. Saw and his people have a code: “Better cold than captured.” Meaning, if one of them gets caught, the others will do them a favor and kill them before they can be tortured for information. Well, one of the team–a woman named Nankry–gets caught, and Saw can’t get to her quickly enough to kill her. He and the others escape, but he feels he failed Nankry–and her capture needs to be dealt with before she gives up too much information.

Saw goes to Bail for help. He doesn’t believe Bail has the nerve to do what needs to be done in most cases, but he thinks Bail has the kind of pull to get to Nankry in prison. Bail agrees to help, but of course he wants to try to keep Nankry alive and just get her better prison conditions with no torture. That means a trial on Inusagi rather than in an Imperial court. He contacts Vot Integrity, a legal bigwig in the Empire who has the same sympathies as Bail, and he pulls some strings to get Nankry a lawyer. The whole thing is supposed to slow down the process, lessen Nankry’s abuse, and possibly get that trial on Inusagi. Saw doesn’t have much hope at any rate, and has a plan of his own.

Another thread deals with Mon Mothma and, of all things, a pop singer named Quanaliko. Her daughter, Leida, is particularly taken with Quanaliko, and wants to go to a concert for her birthday. Mon is concerned that the singer has been compromised by COMPNOR and its “sub-adult” Imperial propaganda department, which is correct. Quanaliko herself is more than a pop singer; she’s dealt with black market weapons and other dirty dealings. Mon knows this and uses it to get the singer to put on a charity show, with the money going to some education fund.

This subplot wouldn’t be that interesting if it didn’t also include Anton Kreegyr, the guy from Andor that Luthen Rael decided to sacrifice for his own purposes. Anton once worked for Quanaliko and knows about her dealings; he decides he wants to stick it to the Empire and asks her for money for weapons. She declines, but Luthen, who of course knows Anton through one of his personas, persuades Anton to go to Ghorman and get in with some student protesters who might be ready to take the next step.

This leads us to the third thread, which focuses on Chemish, a character from the first novel, who is an ISB agent. They’re sent to Ghorman to investigate the student element at the University of Palmo to see if there’s anything to be concerned about. At first there’s only student protests and lectures about freedom, and Chemish develops feelings for his mark, Fenro. The students have been infiltrated by Kleya, and between her and Luthen’s efforts, Anton shows up and gets them to agree to steal some weapons from Quanaliko on Canto Bight–on the night of the charity concert when Mon and Leida, as well as Bail and Leia, will be there.

There’s a smaller fourth thread, with one of Saw’s former partisans, Karama from the first novel. She’s left Saw’s group, and created a new identity and a new life. Now she’s pregnant, and married–to the lawyer Bail sends to help Nankry, who knows nothing of her former life. Saw pushes her to help him end Nankry’s life, through her husband. She has to make a decision about what she owes to Saw, and also to her former friend, Nankry.

All these threads weave together to make a great story, though it’s a surprisingly quick read. It seems complex, but it’s not as long as the first book, and gallops right along. I liked seeing the growing tense relationship between Mon and Leida, as well as the wonderful relationship between Bail and Leia. The two young girls couldn’t be more different, and it’s heartbreaking to see Mon realize her daughter is “vapid and shallow,” as opposed to Leia, who is on track to be a great leader.

Now I have to wait for the next book (“From the Ashes”) which comes out next summer, written by Fran Wilde. I think it takes place right before the events of the first season of Andor. As I’ve said, if you’re a fan of Andor and love political thrillers, these books are for you, and I highly recommend them.

A Brilliant Star Wars Book

Star Wars Book Review: Revenge of the Sith

My Star Wars Legends Reading Challenge–Ranking the Old Republic Books

Hello friends! I’m still continuing my Legends Reading Challenge, and I’ve finished The Old Republic Phase. I’ve done several posts of my thoughts on a few of them, but instead of doing more on the last few I’ve read, I’m just going to rank all the books in this phase with a few words about them. Let’s get started!

The Darth Bane Trilogy, by Drew Karpyshyn. (5 out of 5 lightsabers). I did a review of Path of Destruction, but didn’t get to reviews of the other two books: Rule of Two and Dynasty of Evil. I did read them, however, and loved them, though the first book is my favorite of the three. The story of how Darth Bane radically reshaped the Sith is compelling reading, and though I’m Team Jedi all the way, these books are fantastic and helped me appreciate the history and beliefs of the Sith. Definitely number one on my list.

2. Deceived, by Paul S. Kemp. (4.5 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. I really liked this story of Darth Malgus, who loves a Twilek woman who was a former slave. The plot was fairly simple (which I appreciated, lol) but the main characters had to make tough decisions.

3. Annihilation, by Drew Karpyshyn. (3.5 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. I liked this one because it dealt with Theron Shan, a character who is descended from Revan and Bastila Shan, but who doesn’t have the Force. He relies on his own skills to stop a dangerous Sith and her ship/weapon. A good adventure. I gave this one 3.5 at the time of the original post, and now it’s above two 4-lightsabers books, lol, so I’m thinking it’s actually a 4.

4. Lost Tribe of the Sith, by John Jackson Miller. (4 out of 5 lightsabers). This is the last book of the Old Republic I read, and I didn’t think I’d like it, for some reason. But…I loved it! It’s a series of stories about several generations of Sith that crash-landed on a remote planet called Kesh 5,000 years BBY. The Sith on the ship Omen were working for Sith Lord Naga Sadow, but during a battle they were knocked into hyperspace off course, and crashed on a mountain on Kesh. The ship was destroyed, there were no communications, no one knew where they ended up so no one was coming, and there were very little metals on the planet, so no reparing anything. They were stuck. And they and their descendents stayed there for 5,000 years, conquering the native Keshiri. It was so interesting to see these Sith adapt and change over millenia, with no contact from the outside galaxy–no Republic, no Jedi, no aliens, just humans and Keshiri. Legends were born and reborn. But Sith will always be Sith, fighting each other for power. I was enthralled with the whole thing. Apparently, these stories are prequels to the Lost Tribe told about in the Legends books Fate of the Jedi (which I probably won’t get to for a long time, considering they’re towards the end of the Legends list, lol). I looked it up in Wookieepedia, and the Tribe does eventually get off Kesh to threaten the galaxy and deals with Luke Skywalker. Something to look forward to!

5. Revan, by Drew Karpyshyn. (4 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. I know some people absolutely love Revan, but I’m not one of them, lol. I don’t hate him, but I don’t see the fascination. Maybe it’s because I’m not a gamer. At any rate, the story was fine (I gave it 4 out of 5 lightsabers), but I do think it’s more appreciated if you’ve played the game.

6. Red Harvest, by Joe Schrieber. (3 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. Star Wars zombies! This was a fun and freaky Star Wars read. A Sith Sorceror seeks immortality but things go terribly wrong, naturally. A quick, bloody read with some interesting Star Wars elements.

7. Dawn of the Jedi, by Tim Lebbon. (3 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. This is the first Legends book I read in my Legends Reading Challenge, and the first on the timeline (25,000 BBY). It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, as it wasn’t the very beginning of the “Jed’aii,” but I guess that’s far enough back, lol.

8. Fatal Alliance, by Sean Williams. (3 out of 5 lightsabers). Check out my full thoughts here. This one took me awhile to get through, and had a lot going on. The weirdness factor was up there, too, lol. Not bad, but not great, either.

9. Knight Errant, by John Jackson Miller. (2 out of 5 lightsabers). Confession: I didn’t finish this book. Doesn’t seem fair to give it a rating because of this, but based on what I read, I’d give it a 2 (and that’s only because I normally respect the author, lol). It pains me to do this, as I’ve enjoyed plenty of other John Jackson Miller books (Kenobi, Rebel Dawn, and Lost Tribe of the Sith). And it’s a really cool cover. But it was just so incredibly boring. There’s no other way to say it. I didn’t particularly like the Jedi protagonist, it took forever for things to get going (and by the middle of the book, it still hadn’t), the plot was confusing and weird, and I just didn’t want to waste any more time on it. I just didn’t care. I’m sad about it, but it happens. There were some comics that went along with it (and even a portion of the comic inserted into the middle of the book), but it didn’t help me like it any better. Maybe someday I’ll finish it…but I doubt it, lol.

So that wraps up the first Legends section of The Old Republic. Next up: “The Rise of the Sith Era” with Cloak of Deception, by James Luceno. Back into more familiar territory, and I’m looking forward to it! Stay tuned.

Canon Contemplation: Finishing up Alphabet Squadron

Some Spoilers Ahead!!!

Hello friends! With a few books in between, I’ve finally finished the Alphabet Squadron trilogy by Alexander Freed, with Shadowfall and Victory’s Price. I did a little review of its first book, Alphabet Squadron, along with the book Inferno Squad, in an earlier post.

The feel of this whole series reminds me of of the show Andor: no Jedi or Force or larger-than-life heroes or villains; just regular people doing their best and trying to end this war. Gritty, complex, no easy answers, the toll war takes on people. A slow burn at first, and then ramping up until I couldn’t stop reading. The Rebels may have won the war at Endor, but it didn’t officially end until a year later at Jakku, as the New Republic sought out renegade Imperials. In this trilogy in particular, Alphabet Squadron–along with General Syndulla and her New Republic crew–are after Shadow Wing, the Empire’s 204th TIE squadron.

I won’t go into plot details of these two books, but suffice to say there are many battles between the two groups, with losses on both sides. My eyes usually glaze over long battle scenes, whether it’s in a book or on the screen, and if these books were only about the battles, I wouldn’t be interested at all. For me, it’s the characters that made these books stand out. In the first book, I didn’t really like any of them (except Hera, of course), lol. But they were interesting and complex; and over the course of the books they grew on me. I became extremely invested in their welfare and what would eventually happen to them. I’ll just describe a few of them here:

Alphabet Squadron:

Wyl Lark is an A-Wing pilot from the planet Polyneus. His people are pacifists at heart, but felt the need to send 120 of their people to fight against the injustices of the Empire. Wyl is an excellent fighter pilot, but the constant killing wears down his soul. After Endor, he was getting ready to go home, but he was needed for more, and so he stayed. His extreme empathy–toward his enemies, as well as his allies-frequently puzzle and discomfit his team. In other words, he’s not jaded–not yet–and he tries several times to reach out to the enemy and end the killing. Wyl acts as the moral center of the story. He makes mistakes, but they’re always for the right reasons.

Chass na Chadic is a Theelin who flies a B-Wing. Chass is an angry young woman–she idolizes Jyn Erso, who died a glorious death to stop the first Death Star–and she very much wants a glorious death herself. But she wasn’t at Endor, and she keeps surviving battles while her comrades die around her. Mostly, she’s afraid if she survives, there will be no place for her in the New Republic. Fighting is all she knows. So she takes reckless risks, and Wyl Lark keeps saving her, and it enrages her. She has a difficult relationship with Wyl, as well as Yrica Quell. Well, with most everyone, lol.

Nath Tensent is a bit older than these two, an Ex-Imperial who pilots a Y-Wing. He left the Empire early on and became a sort of pirate, but lost his crew to the Empire; the Rebels recruited him after that. Mostly, he wanted revenge against the 204th, who killed his crew. Nath is an odd one–he isn’t particularly loyal to the New Republic per se. He’s in it for revenge, and also because he was being paid by Caern Adan, the guy who cobbled Alphabet Squadron together. Yet, he’s brave to a fault, saves countless lives, and gets several medals. He likes the attention and acclaim, but not the responsibility. He’s got a soft spot for Wyl and looks out for him, but he becomes attached to the whole squad. When pushed, he’ll do the right thing.

Kairos flies the U-Wing, and is a bit of a mystey at first. She’s non-human, but no one really knows anything about her or her people; in the first book she’s wrapped in robes and a masked helmet, and rarely spoke. But she’s intense, a terrifying killer if it comes to it. Turns out the Empire took control of her planet, and she, as the “shaman” was taken by them, interrogated, and imprisoned. Her people, however, were isolationists; their culture denies mingling with any other beings of the galaxy in order to stay “pure.” Kairos was not pure anymore, and she had no place with her people. So she was highly motivated to end the Empire. Her squadmates barely understand who she is, but trust her.

Yrica Quell is the defecting Imperial TIE fighter pilot who flies an X-Wing. She took part in Operation Cinder (Nacronis) in the 204th, but afterward defected to the New Republic, claiming Cinder as her reason and that she didn’t, in fact, take part. Turns out it was her mentor, Soran Keize, who pushed her to defect. He could see that Cinder was eating away at her but knew she wouldn’t go on her own. So she did, and Caern Adan put her in Alphabet Squadron to find and destroy the 204th, because of her knowledge of her former squadron. Just when it seems Alphabet is coming together, they find out that she did, in fact, take part in Cinder, and are appalled. Feeling she has no future in the New Republic, she goes back to the 204th, but not to really rejoin them; rather, to let the New Republic know where they were. She was part of neither, but wanted to do what was right, and to save as many lives as possible, as it seemed the 204th were operating a second Cinder. Towards the end of Victory’s Price, she goes up against her former mentor, Soran Keize, a man she likes and respects, but feels she must stop to save even more lives.

All of these people have tough character arcs, and I mean they really go through it. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, they go through the wringer; they come out the other side damaged, but wiser, I think, at least concerning themselves: who they are and what they want.

The 204th:

Soran Keize is the only character from the Empire I’ll get into, as he’s the most important to know and understand. After Cinder, and after he pushes Quell to defect, he leaves the Empire himself for a while. He takes on the name Devon, and tries to make an honest living in the galaxy for a time. He does this because he knows the Empire truly lost the war and there was no coming back; he also had issues with Cinder and what the Empire had become. But eventually, New Republic Intelligence catches up with him and tries to arrest and/or kill him. He gets away, but decides there is no life for him in the New Republic, not as long as they keep coming after him. So he goes back to the 204th. He doesn’t do it for the Empire. He does it for his squadron, the 204th. He does it out of loyalty to them, the people he had worked with and were responsible for. He still knows the Empire is done. But he wants to give the people of the 204th a purpose. If that means constantly engaging with the New Republic, then so be it, to whatever end comes. Eventually, though, he has to regroup with the larger Imperial Remnant fleet, and they take part in the battle of Jakku. Well, his people do, but he goes on a solo mission to Coruscant to try to destroy a vast Imperial database that holds every single horrible thing every member of the Empire had ever done; the New Republic could use it to harry and harass any ex-Imperials after the war. He wants to wipe the slate clean and give them a chance to live new lives. But in doing so, in bombing the database, it could kill thousands living nearby in Coruscant, and Quell tries to stop him for this reason (there are other reasons, too, which are interesting).

Soran is probably the only Imperial character I’ve encountered that I actually like. Except perhaps Leo Partagaz from Andor, but that’s mostly because of his disposition; he’s still a ruthless Imperial, lol. But Soran is a philosophical man, and truly believes that he’s helping the people he’s leading. He doesn’t care about the Empire at large; that’s over. Without many other options, all he can do is give them purpose, and he’s laser-focused on this plan. I think he’s doing it to give himself purpose, as well, in a galaxy that has irrevocably changed, and not in his favor. I respect him at least for that.

I want to mention the Emperor’s Messenger Droid, as well. This is one of many droids that announced Operation Cinder to the fleet commanders, with the eerie faceplate that held Sidious’ hologram face inside it. After Cinder, it went dark, and floated around Soran’s ship like a ghost. And I think that’s the point: it’s a symbol. The Emperor haunts them all, even in death. He’s a constant shadow looming over them, reminding them of their former glory, and of all the horrible things they did in his name. The crew at one point make a shrine out of it, praying to it for guidance. It’s frustratingly silent, giving no hint of what they’re supposed to do now. They have no idea the Emperor is punishing them for allowing the Rebels to win (typical that he doesn’t want to take any responsibility himself). It’s inside the droid that Soran finds out about the database, that the Emperor was keeping a mind-boggling account of every crime, big and small, of every Imperial out there. Because that was the point: making everyone in the Empire accountable and responsible, no matter how small a role they played. A petty and cruel bastard he was, lol.

Anyway, these books are as rich and complex, as dark and gritty as Andor, and asks a lot of the same thorny questions. When the story is about Jedi and Sith, good and bad tend to be clearly delineated. Here, as in Andor, we mere mortals have a harder time of it. We’re just people, caught up in terrible violence, with unending cycles of revenge. War is hell, and there are no winners, not really, not when the violence rips you to pieces, physically and emotionally and spiritually. These books are about the toll war takes on regular people, the scars left, the ambiguous moral decisions that have to be made. I’ll be thinking about these characters for a long time.

As a whole, I give this trilogy 4.5 out of 5 Lightsabers (the slow burn build-up requires a lot of patience, but the payoff is worth it; and they’re BIG books–500 or more pages each).

Have you read the Alphabet Squadron trilogy? What did you think? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My thoughts on Star Wars: Visions–The Ninth Jedi

Giant kyber crystal-sized spoilers ahead!!!

I’m a big fan of Visions, the non-canon anime shorts that are stories inspired by Star Wars. There were quite a few I loved from Season One, I adored virtually all of them from Season Two, and Season Three had some I liked but didn’t impress me as much as the other two seasons. One of the fan favorites from Season One was The Ninth Jedi, and though I liked it well enough, I wasn’t sure I was interested in an 8-episode run of its own. But it’s Star Wars, so I knew I’d at least watch it once.

And…it’s fine. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it, either. Maybe it’s because I’m not an anime fan at heart. There are elements of Japanese anime that really get on my nerves, lol, and maybe that’s why I loved Season Two so much more–the shorts were made by studios from around the world and had their own unique flavor, without the screaming, gasping, grunting histrionics of traditional anime.

But, having said that, I thought the story was interesting, and the characters grew on me. I liked the concepts it explored, particularly with lightsabers. These lightsabers changed colors depending on the feelings and motivations of the wielder. I also liked that lightsabers were presented to people who didn’t have the power of the Force, but had the heart and integrity of a Jedi, to become one of them.

The basic story is that the Jedi are trying to rebuild their Order. Kara’s father, Zhima, constructs lightsabers, but he is kidnapped by General Nawaam, and Kara and the other Jedi are trying to find him, as well as stop Nawaam from conquering the galaxy. I’ll talk a little bit about each character and what they contributed to the story.

Lah Kara is the main character of the story, a “child” or a “girl,” but I’m guessing she’s a young teenager, no more than fifteen. In the original short, she delivers the lightsabers her father made to the Margrave, to give to potential Jedi, but in the process her father is kidnapped for unknown reasons. Kara is young, so she’s impatient, reckless, and quite emotional, but she’s got a good heart. She just wants to find her dad, but her journey requires that she learns the ways of the Jedi. Which means learning patience, controlling her emotions, and dealing with information about her dad’s past that isn’t exactly flattering. She can be annoying at times, but I think that’s just adolescence, lol (as well as her constant gasping and grunting).

Margrave Juro (“The Margrave”) is Kara’s mentor and an old friend of her father’s. I like Juro a lot, because he’s wise, patient, kind, decisive. You know, everything that a Jedi Master should be. Naturally, because he’s the mentor, the leader, the one everyone counts on, he’s gotta die fairly quickly, but like any good Jedi Master, he comes back as a Force ghost to guide Kara in her moments of crisis.

Lah Zhima is Kara’s father. We see him in the original short as a lightsaber smith, but it turns out he’s a former Jedi who trained with Juro in their youth. There’s a lot of mystery around Zhima, an intriguing character that’s hard to figure out at first. His story comes to us in pieces, in the memories of other characters, particularly Juro and Nawaaam. For a while, it seems Zhima is a nefarious person, but it all turns out to be a big misunderstanding.

Ethan is one of the Jedi training and travelling with Juro. He’s sent on a mission to infiltrate General Nawaam’s stronghold to find out what he’s planning (surprise! It’s a superweapon made out of kyber crystal). We don’t get too much into Ethan’s character, except that he’s a good boy with huge eyes that make him look perpetually startled.

Homen is another Jedi with Juro’s group, and another character I wish we’d gotten more of in the story. I really like the looks of this guy (he vaguely reminds me of some cartoon character from the 70s I can’t quite put my finger on, lol).

General Nawaam is the villain of the story, a Kylo Ren-like figure who rejects both the Jedi and the Sith. He strives to purge all emotions, believing they are what causes all the problems in the galaxy. I mean, he’s not exactly wrong, and so that’s why his lightsaber burns blue instead of red–he has the best of intentions, I guess, at least at first. I’m not sure how conquering the galaxy and destroying a lot of it is going to help anything, to be honest. I’m also a little confused about the whole silver lightsaber thing. Apparently it means the wielder has purged all emotions. Okay? And? Eventually it turns red while he’s fighting Kara. Kara’s had turned red at some point, then silver, and then turned back to green, and…??? I think the point it’s trying to make is that a Jedi must balance their emotions. Not purge them completely, not give in to the negatives, but control them so they don’t control you. Jedi Theory 101. Anyway, I feel like Nawaam was a weak point, mostly because his motives weren’t clear and a lot about him didn’t make sense. Oh well.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention 4-9’s, the little yellow bird-like droid who is adorable; Gramps, the ancient pipe-smoking droid that pilots their ship; the Jedi Hunters who don’t actually have the Force, but have great banter; and one Sith that works for Nawaam that turns into a Grievous-like thing. Oh, and the space dwarves! They were great.

So the show was kind of uneven for me: I liked some of the concepts and characters, but the plot didn’t quite work for me in the end, mostly because of Nawaam. I’m not sure if there will be a Season Two, or if another short will be explored for expansion, but I’ll continue to root for more Visions in the future.

Did you watch The Ninth Jedi? What did you think? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Thoughts on Star Wars: Legacy and Eyes Like Stars

Hello friends, two new Star Wars books have come out in the past few weeks and naturally I’ve read them. Here are my thoughts about both:

Planet-Sized Spoilers Ahead!!!

Legacy, by Madeleine Roux. This is the one that I was really looking forward to. It takes place between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, and focuses on Leia and Rey. Rey has the broken Skywalker lightsaber and feels the need to fix it so she can use it to help the Resistance against the First Order. She’s also feeling the pressure of being the last Jedi and expectations of saving the galaxy and rebuilding the Jedi Order (who wouldn’t?). She’s also reeling from her last encounter with Kylo Ren and their Force connection. She’s been pouring over the ancient Jedi texts she got from Ach-To and with the help of C-3PO, finds information about an ancient “forge” on the planet Tython. She decides to go there to find it and reforge the lightsaber.

She intends on going alone, or at least with C-3PO, but then Leia decides she’s going to go as well. Leia has got her own troubles, as she’s very recently lost both her husband and her brother, and continues to deal with the pain of losing her son to the dark side; not to mention the very precarious position the Resistance is in right now, after the narrow escape from Crait. But she feels responsible for Rey and feels she can help in some way, as she did (briefly) train as a Jedi with Luke decades ago. Rey is impatient and feels a little weird around Leia, considering the connection she has with Kylo, but Leia is insistent, so off they go.

Near the planet, they run into some refugees from Hays Minor that are in trouble with the First Order: two young men, Gavrin and Ziff. Rey and Leia help them get down to the planet, where Gavrin’s father, Lijar, is with more refugees who are posing as members of the Church of the Force. Lijar himself is an actual, enthusiastic member, who is excited about the Jedi temple remains nearby. Gav and Ziff, not so much. They’re fresh off a vigilante mission to assassinate a First Order Major who helped destroy their home of Hays Minor, a mission that went horribly wrong and Gav was severely injured. When they learn that Rey is a Jedi, they want her to help them seek vengeance on the Major and save one of their own, who is to be executed soon. Of course, Rey and Leia refuse, seeing the rashness and futility of such a move. This only proves to them that the Jedi are not what they are hyped up to be.

Rey and Leia focus on the Temple and what it can tell them. Rey is impatient to get to the “forge,” not seeing that it’s actually a metaphorical forge for the Jedi who went there. Because of Tython’s strong connection with the Force, both Rey and Leia have strange dreams and visions while there. Leia has dreams of what might have been, had she continued her Jedi training with Luke. She dreams of being a powerful Jedi who stops the First Order before they can destroy Hosnian Prime (in the dream, she literally pulls apart a Star Destroyer with the Force, lol). Rey, on the other hand, dreams of her dark self, the one we see in TROS, the one who embraces the darkness within herself. She also sees Ben/Kylo, a what-if scenario of if she’d taken his hand and joined him. In the meantime, they find some holotapes of the ancient Jedi who lived and worked there nearly 5,000 years ago. Something bad had happened here; a Sith woman came to the temple to try to come back to the Light; it’s not clear exactly what happened, but it didn’t work out well–there’s evidence of a battle.

Anyway, in the meantime, we see First Order Major Brilla Wolstenholme in the aftermath of her assassination attempt. She survived only because Kylo Ren happened to arrive at the right time and saved her. She wants revenge on the rebels who tried to kill her, but is sent to the planet Chespea, an awful backwater where she and others are nearly killed by the wildlife there. She embarks on a near-mad journey to find Gavrin and Ziff, but in the process finds out that the First Order actually set up the assassination attempt to show Kylo Ren–and herself, at first–as a hero, to boost morale. But after the parades, they tried to get rid of her on Chespea. This is a woman who willingly joined the First Order as a child and was a devoted disciple; their betrayal cut deep. At one point she could have just disappeared and started over, but she couldn’t let it go and went back to the First Order, who promptly arrested her.

Back on Tython, Rey keeps resisting the darkness within her, constantly running away from it instead of facing and accepting it. At one point she climbs up a cold, snowy mountain just to get away, but then finds she’s stuck there, near-freezing. Someone comes along to help her–the Force ghost of Anakin Skywalker (which was a suprise, but a welcome one, lol). He tells her that she’s not alone, that she can’t do everything alone. He himself tried to fix everything by himself, and well, it didn’t work. She manages to get off the mountain and back to Leia, and she tells her about her connection to her son. That secret had been a barrier between them.

Leia herself has had Force ghost visits by her brother Luke, who helps her with her dreams, but also tells her that Rey is Palpatine’s blood. Leia decides not to tell Rey right now, as she feels it would just push her further over the edge; she’s clearly dealing with her darker self in the place.

Anyway, it all comes to a head when Ziff, clearly the more angrier of the two rebels, goes off and makes a deal with the First Order: he’ll lead them to the Jedi and General Organa, but they have to bring the Major. There’s a confrontation with Ziff in the temple and he accidentally shoots a little girl named Meepka, and Rey, with a new confidence, heals her and the crystal at the same time. While she does this, she has a Force vision of putting Dark Rey and Kylo Ren away for now, telling them goodbye. She’ll deal with them later.

They manage to get away just in time, but the Major blows up herself and Ziff in the end.

There’s A LOT more than what I’ve written here, obviously, but I loved the book because it shows how Rey and Leia get to the point of their relationship we see in TROS. We go from the ending of The Last Jedi, with the Skywalker lightsaber broken and Leia and Rey not really knowing each other too well, to Leia being her Master, the lightsaber fixed, and Rey able to Force-heal. There are a lot of questions that hovered between these two movies that get answered in this book. Some may complain that that there’s not enough “action” or planet-hopping, but I like that these characters get to slow down a little bit and digest all that’s happened to them, and have all these important conversations. It’s much more character-driven, which are the kinds of books I really like.

If you like Rey and/or Leia, the Sequels, the Jedi, and character-driven books, this one’s for you. If you’re not a fan of these things, you may not enjoy it. But I loved it and give it:

4 out of 5 Lightsabers

Eyes Like Stars, by Ashley Poston. This is the first Star book presented as a “romance,” and at first I thought I probably wouldn’t bother reading it, since it’s not my area of interest. I do like some romance in my Star Wars; it would be super dull if there wasn’t any, but not necessarily front and center. Lost Stars by Claudia Gray is about the closest I want to come to Star Wars romance.

BUT–I was waiting for Legacy to come out and was slogging through Shadowfall, and felt I needed a quick Star Wars read. So I checked it out, and guess what? It’s pretty good! Definitely in the YA romance department, with two young people who are thrown together under dangerous circumstances and naturally start falling for each other. It’s a very fast read; I got through it in two days, lol.

Ardent (if that’s not a romance heroine’s name, I don’t know what is, lol) works on the tour ship that belongs to her father, and is content to live her life on its predictable decks and predictable itinerary. While docked in Coruscant one day, she looks for a holotape of a romance series in a seedy part of town, where things get very complicated. She finds the tape, but when she leaves she realizes she left with something that she didn’t pay for (an old astrolabe) and brings it back to the shop. When she gets there, a young man is in trouble with some First Order officers. They’re after an old broken lightsaber he has in his possession, and she helps him get away. Sian, the young man, convinces her to let him stow away on the ship to get away from them, and he’d disembark on the first stop. But of course, things don’t go according to plan.

I won’t go deep into plot details, but it’s fairly interesting. I like how Ardent has a latent talent for “astrogating,” like her mother–no computer navigation, just getting somewhere through hyperspace with their minds, kind of like the Skywalkers from the Thrawn novels, clearly using some form of the Force to find their way through the stars. Her mother had died when Ardent was eight years old while astrogating, and her father won’t let her use it or learn about it anymore. He’s put a lot of pressure on her to continue the family business, just assuming that’s what she wants. Her older brother had left three years prior, chafing at the confines of the ship and their father, so the business would fall to Ardent. She always thought that was exactly what she wanted, but since meeting Sian, she’s not so sure. And when her brother shows up again on the ship, acting weird and snooping around, things just get more fraught.

I think the love story hits all the marks that romance fans are looking for. I enjoyed the book, but again, it’s not really my thing. There were enough “Star Warsy” things in it to make it a fun read for me, but I’ll give this one:

3 out of 5 Lightsabers

One Of My Favorite Posts

Hello friends, here’s a blast from the past that I had a lot of fun writing and thought I’d share again. Enjoy!

A Jedi’s connection with animals

Mon Mothma Fan Art

Hello friends! I’ve been working on a piece of fan fiction featuring Mon Mothma, so I thought I’d poke around and find some fan art of the Chandrilan Senator, Rebel leader, and New Republic Chancellor. Enjoy!

This one is part of the official artwork of Star Wars Celebration Japan in 2025. I love the style–called ukiyo-e, a traditional Japanese art style that flourished in the 17th to 19th centuries. Here Mon holds an official scroll while the Death Star looms in the background. The look on her face says “Do your worst…I’m still here.”

Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 official artwork by Japanese artist Takumi

Here’s the famous wedding crash-out dance in Andor, in which Mon feels her life spinnng out of control. This one scene conveys so much emotion without words, and this piece captures that perfectly. The tear running down her face is a nice touch.

I love the grace and elegance of this piece. Mon wanders the halls of her palatial apartments in Coruscant, but it means nothing without freedom. She exists in a gilded cage.

This one captures the glamor of Senator Mothma, before she must leave all the glitter behind and become a war leader.

I like how this one captures the duplicity Mon must maintain while in Coruscant, to keep up the mask of conformity while secretly funding and guiding the nascent Rebellion. As she reminds her friend Tay Colma while at a society party, “Smile,” while talking treason.

This one captures the uncertainty, doubt, and fear of actually going up against a powerful Empire. But once committed, she doesn’t back down.

I’m still working on the fan fiction story, but I’ve got a few others I’ll post here in the coming weeks. In the meantime, enjoy these awesome works of Star Wars fan art!