Book Review: Star Wars: Poe Dameron: Free Fall – Quick-fire Literature Review

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Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall

Learn more about the dashing hero from the new Star Wars films! Telling a story hinted at in The Rise of Skywalker….

It’s been a few years since Poe’s mother passed away, and Poe and his father, who was a pilot for the Rebellion, have had more and more trouble connecting. Not sure what he wants to do with his life, teenage Poe runs away from home to find adventure, and to figure out what kind of man he is meant to be.

Author: Alex Segura
Cover artist: Phil Noto
Publisher: Disney–Lucasfilm Press
Release date: August 4, 2020
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9781368051668

What’s it’s about?

Within The Rise of Skywalker there was a somewhat throw away line about Poe Dameron’s former life as a spice runner. Well my friends, here is the story that line of dialog hints at as we go on a far-reaching adventure with Poe Dameron and Zorii Bliss’s relationship being at the epicentre.

Should I read this book?

This one is missable. The story is fun enough and you have nods to wider works such as the comic Shattered Empire but does it add that much? Not really. What it does do is give light to the little explored back stories within Rise of Skywalker and that gives a sense of satisfaction. But should a book need to do what a film could have done? Possibly not?

What did you like?

Being a canon nerd it was fun to see the tie-ins to other works and to learn more about Poe’s life on Endor and what it was like to grow up the hero of the rebellion. The side characters added nicely to the story and I felt Segura wrote the downward spiral of Poe’s emotions and ethics very well. There was also a nice twist and treachery on every corner which made the story fun and exciting.

It was also enjoyable to read more about Zorri’s history and to learn about why she was who she was.

What did you not like?

It felt long. There were maybe too many escapades which didn’t add much to the story nor the characters. It just felt like there was peril for the sake of it.

What’s next?

Nothing has been announced. The powers that be are concentrating on The High Republic which is very much understandable. It seems that Lucasfilm are leaving the sequel trilogy well alone when it comes to literature.

Anything else to add?

Alex Segura makes a fun debut to the Star Wars world and I’d love to see more from him. From his writing style you can tell he loved writing it and the depth it gave to Poe’s surprising character turn within Episode IX.