Star Wars has always held a special place in my heart - but it's only recently that it's held a slot on my bookshelf. There's good reason for that. I mostly try to read books that everyone's heard of, and Star Wars has always been a movie franchise more than a literary collection. Even so, these books have wormed their way into my shelves. The first bunch are terrific, and the last one...not so much.
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars – Ian Doescher
It’s funny because normally I hate Shakespeare. Yet here we are with all nine of these Shakespearean books on my shelf. For whatever reason, I love this series. I think it’s hilarious, insightful, and incredibly well-written. There are a few lines spoken in the Star Wars saga that I think are flat-out horrible, but when they’re rewritten in Shakespearean they develop a really deep sense of the profound and they give a lot of insight into the mind of the character. The author clearly had a lot of fun writing these books. I feel like these books are meant to be performed more than they’re meant to be read. When I’m reading it, I’m imagining watching a play more than I’m imagining the story alone.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge - Black Spire – Delilah S. Dawson
This was such a cool idea for a book, but I just couldn’t get behind the writing style.
On May 31st, 2019, “Galaxy’s Edge” opened up at Disneyland. It was an entire ‘land’ within the park; so much bigger than the area at Hollywood Studios where you can find ‘Star Tours’. I was insanely excited about it, and read as much as I could in anticipation for its opening. As of the time of this review, I haven’t been yet, but I can’t wait to go.
On August 27th that same year, this book came out. The idea for the book is that it’s a canonical story that takes place within the world of the “Galaxy’s Edge” land. “Galaxy’s Edge” is supposed to take you to the planet Batuu, specifically to Black Spire Outpost. The whole book takes place at that outpost, which means that if you’ve read the book, it’s kind of like taking an in-depth tour of the park. How cool is that? Not only do you get to read about some of the lore behind the area, but when you actually go to the land yourself, you get to see where characters from a book you read actually did their stuff. It’s the kind of multi-media storytelling that isn’t really possible anywhere else. Call it what you want, but I thought the premise for this book was brilliant.
Unfortunately, the writing just stank. All of the dialogue is unquestionably cheesy. Characters spell out their individual desires to anyone who will listen. There’s no subtlety in their speech, and the fact is that when people talk, there’s usually more behind their words than what actually comes out. Even if someone is saying exactly what they’re thinking, they’re usually succinct about it. These characters wear their hearts on their sleeve in a bad way.
And why on earth would Leia pair someone up with a guy who had literally tortured them? Our protagonist, Vi Moradi, is tasked with going to Black Spire Outpost, and her partner is an ex-First Order guy who had formerly captured her, strapped her to a chair, and tortured her for hours. Leia! Come on! What kind of PTSD are you trying to muster up here?! I know that characters need interesting relationships, but this forced pairing (no pun intended) was just ludicrous.
All in all, the idea of this book was greater than the product itself. Skip it!
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