Booknote: Star Wars: Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens, Volume 1

Landry Q. Walker and Tyler Scarlet (illustrator), Star Wars: Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens, Volume 1. Los Angeles, CA: Disney/Lucasfilm Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-148474141-2.

Genre: science fiction
Subgenre: young adult, Star Wars
Format: hardcover
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library 

This is another of the many short story anthologies available where they take minor characters and give them a story. The results on these anthologies are often mixed. This anthology is part of Disney's new efforts on the Star Wars franchise. It is a good but not great nice read. The stories in this collection for young adults take place around the time of The Force Awakens.

The book contains six stories. Personally, I enjoyed "A recipe for death" quite a bit. Star Wars books often adapt pop culture ideas to a Star Wars twist. This story is basically a version of cooking competition shows with a murder mystery tossed in. In the story, the cook of Maz Kanata's castle finds his sous chef dead. He holds a cooking competition, ostensibly to find  replacement but it is really to find the culprit. It is an interesting concept and, like other good murder mysteries, it has an unexpected twist at the end.

The other story that caught my eye was "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku." In a remote world, an old Republic-era wrecked cruiser sends out a signal. Pirates decode the signal, and they realize it may contain a lost treasure belonging to Count Dooku. The race is on as pirate groups, including the Crimson Corsair and his gang, race through a hostile desert to try to get it first. The story was a bit too long at times, but it is interesting overall. No one really knows what the treasure is right away, so when it is revealed, there is a certain satisfaction.

In the end, I liked this book. Though it is labeled for young adults, I think adults can enjoy it as well. If you like exploring small, far corners of that galaxy far, far away, this may be for you.

3 out of 5 stars.

Booknote: Ahsoka

E.K. Johnston, Ahsoka. Los Angeles, CA: Disney/Lucasfilm Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-148470566-7.

Genre: Science Fiction
Subgenre: space opera, young adult, Star Wars
Format: hardcover
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

This young adult novel tells the story between the time Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order towards the end of the Clone Wars series and her appearance as Rebel operative Fulcrum in the Star Wars Rebels series. The book was interesting for me in terms of following the character after Clone Wars; I had recently finished watching the series DVDs, so I was curious. However, the novel does have a very slow build up initially, which bogs down the narrative pace. Once the book picks up around the middle of the book, it starts to get entertaining. The book also features various flashback episodes filling other gaps in the story. We even get some glimpses of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Overall, I liked it a little bit, but given its slow pace I found it hard to get into. I am sure hardcore fans will likely find the book of interest. If you've enjoyed both series, you might enjoy this. It is a young adult title, so it has a lighter feel than novels like Tarkin for example. Ahsoka is another example of character novels that Disney is putting out now that they own Star Wars. Besides Tarkin, there is also Kenobi. Kenobi has a bit more similar feel to Ahsoka. Personally, I liked Tarkin better. As I said, I think many fans will enjoy it. I thought it was OK, but it was nice to follow Ahsoka a bit more.

2 out of 5 stars.

This book qualifies for the following 2017 Reading Challenges: