Simon William Cree

We return to our favourite PhD holder in the continuing Crimson Dawn crossover, in what continues to be the strongest spoke of it outside if the main Q'ira narrative. As the crime syndicates agents strike out across the galaxy, Domina Tagge focuses on rooting them out of her corporation and securing her place at the head of it. When Aphra and Sana deliver her key information regarding Crimson Dawn's operatives, she makes them a final deal; she'll fix Aphra's mechanical injuries, if they go on one last mission to deliver her the Spark Eternal, a legendary artefact that was created to ape the powers of the ancient Sith. What follows is what the Doctor Aphra comic does at it's best, a well paced and sort-of-silly adventure, with a good array of freaks for us to root for and boo at, and the reveal of yet another sort-of-ex that Aphra has fucked up the life of.

For a novel that is at it's core a tie-in for the now-defunct Galactic Starcruiser hotel experience at Disney, this is a really surprising and welcome addition to a period we know a fair deal about (between Endor and Jakku, the end of the Galactic Civil War) as well as a great entry for both Han and Leia, and their relationship as a whole. 


As Mon Mothma and Alliance high command plot the next days of the war after the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of the Emperor, Leia and Han marry and are dispatched by the Chancellor-in-waiting on a PR tour for her new republic: the couple will take a public honeymoon in front of the holocameras on the Chandrilla Starlines vessel, the Halcyon Starcruiser. Classic Star Wars capers ensue, with oligarchs for whom the old regime was good for taking potshots at our princess, Han getting involved in an underground card match, and a local Imperial warlord taking her shot at the couple on an impromptu cruise stop. Revis captures both Han and Leia really well for me, understanding what makes the couple compelling to see together, and making a great argument that romance is a key part of Star Wars while doing it.

High concept, goofy and sexy, this comic definitely had it's moments of greatness, namely when they actually allowed it to be about the plot, or when they just centred on two dudes fuckin'. Unfortunately sections of it are hugely overwritten, with themes and topics that are tackled with the best of intentions and meant to come across as right on, falling a bit flat and reading pretty naff on the page. Come for the angel fucking a guy, stay for the angel fucking a guy, let that carry you through the tedious parts.

Like any book which is “officially licensed”, unsurprisingly I found this book pulled it's punches a little. It's not so much that I was expecting anything salacious, and more that you can feel the intense choreography around the passages featuring Toto Wolff, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The portions where they mention the sport and team's efforts around diversity, equality and inclusion fall flat, as the actual implementation of this in the prominent parts of the teams are a real damp squib.

That being said, the real sickos (me) will get a lot of enjoyment out of the detailed interviews and profiles of engineers, coordinators, and everyone else that keeps these silly teams and their silly race cars afloat in this deeply silly sport we have a fascination with.

The plot began in ‘War of the Bounty Hunters' continues as Q'ira's plans are revealed; the continuation of her predecessor Maul's work, the destruction of the Sith, and the establishment of a sort of radical meritocracy across the galaxy with no single centre of power, those rising to lead who are worthy of it and a galactic order based on compromise. It's refreshing to have an (anti)hero who's motivations are based around a politics differing from either the centre-leftism of Mon Mothma or the fascism of the Empire, and it holds the story together much better than in ‘War of the Bounty Hunters' as Crimson Dawn's methods of achieving this goal are put into action: a syndicate war stoked by the Dawn's agents to sow chaos across the galaxy, adding to the noise created by the civil war; a scholar of the Force sent to track down any remaining Jedi to rally to their cause; Ochi of Bestoon, changed by his time on Exegol, and Deathstick unleashed to assassinate Palpatine ‘s Royal Guard; and the Knight's of Ren sent on a mission to infiltrate Darth Vader's Castle and retrieve a relic that will lure the Sith out. I am now back in and invested in how this crossover event plays out!

An extremely engaging, pop (in the best sense of the word) analysis of our current moment in global politics. Naomi Klein's tour takes us from far right podcasts to fifteen minute city conspiracies, the wellness movement to ableist parents of autistic kids, and a critical look at Israel which feels more relevant in our current moment than ever. Would recommend pairing with the Philosophy Tube video ‘Why We Can't Build Better Cities', which I watched while reading this, which both speak to the mis-and-disinformation moment we are currently living through.

The High Republic Phase I comes to an end as the comic arc brings us the the fall of Starlight Beacon from the perspective of Jedi Avar Kriss, Keeve Trennis, and the cast of Trail of Shadows and The High Republic Adventures. While it adds nothing wholely new to the ideas explored within The Fallen Star, where we see these events primarily take place, it has some neat sequences that are very much on theme with Avar realising too late how her own obsession with capturing Lorna Dee has driven her to distraction, and some noble sacrifice as Jedi put life and light of others before their own lives.

Unfortunately much of that is undercut by an underwhelming epilogue that fleshes out the motivations of villain Marchion Ro and sets the stage for further Phases, marring what could be a reasonably interesting plot of the dangers of personal animosity and revenge, whether justified or not, with a sweeping narrative that flies far too close to the fantasy trope of ‘race essentialism' for my tastes.

If you've read, or watched, queer teen angst stories, you'll know the thrust of Bloom - a charming, funny, dickhead teen is Going Through It emotionally, and finds himself across a coming-of-age year with the help of a broad shouldered, empathetic himbo boyfriend. The family have money troubles. Our protagonist - Ari - doesn't see eye-to-eye with his father, but they love each other really. The friends all sound like teens from the television.

None of which is to say Bloom isn't well-written (it is!), gorgeously illustrated (it is!) or not worth your time (it is!), but to say that it's firmly one of those queer stories - within the first ten or so pages I knew where this story would go, and how it would play out. That in itself can be a comfort, but often for me places a ceiling on what I'll get out of it.

Taking place between the second and third adult novels of the first phase of The High Republic, Trail of Shadows pairs Jedi Master Emerick Caphtor and Private Investigator Sian Holt as the Republic tasks them with unravelling the mystery of the weapon unleashed by the Nihil against the Jedi.

A well-paced noir with all the trappings - shady back-alley deals, smokey piano bars, and femme fatales - this is probably one of the strongest complete stories within The High Republic thus far. The relationship between the two PI's leans into the wider initiatives exploration of the differences between this more liberated Jedi Order and the conservative one of the prequel era, and firmly establishes the threat of The Nameless as this phase ends, and we move into the next.

Shadow of the Sith is one of the Star Wars canon novels I've most looked forward to getting into - with the difficult task as it does of smoothing the rough edges of set-up hinted at during The Rise of Skywalker. 

Luke Skywalker is haunted by visions of Exegol, the hidden world of the Sith; Lando Calrissian, wracked by the kidnapping of his daughter years prior, is on the trail of a young family hunted by agents of the Sith Eternal. Together, the old friends will come face to face with the vastness of a galaxy which can never be fully known, their place within it, and cross paths with a young girl who will grow up to carry the Jedi Master's legacy into the future.

Christopher acquits himself well with a big task, coralling the disparate pieces of plot from a mess of a film into a pacey thriller that explores Lando's grief and sense of emptiness when the war you were a hero of is over, and the the people who matter most are taken from you; and gives greater depth to Luke's state of mind, and the mistakes he will inevitably make, as the timeline barrels towards conflict with the First Order. While it can never quite iron out the issues with Abrams's ham fisted plot decisions, it's a really decent attempt that gives more flair and flavour to an as yet vague part of the canon.

The Darth Vader comic interlude for the Crimson Reign crossover was pacier and with more meat on the plot bones than the mainline Star Wars comic, with Vader embarking on a purge of Crimson Dawn agents (and generally, anyone who gets in his way) within the Imperial hierarchy. It does still continue to suffer from some of the inertia that all the ‘Crimson' editions of the ongoing series do, in that you can feel the boundaries of the actual crossover around them, but the Vader comics have always been better at navigating this by virtue of the man himself being a compelling character to follow on the page. Shout out to a cameo for our man Valance from the Bounty Hunters comic.

I think there is a hard ceiling for the YA Star Wars novels, for me personally, and that probably reaches a four star. While I didn't dislike anything about this novel, I didn't find the prose particularly enthralling, and while the plot is quite different from the novel Master and Apprentice, the themes and general shape of the story (Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are butting heads) are treading very familiar ground. It does get some points for bringing the concept of a planet “alive” within the Force back into canon (shout out my guy Zonama Sekot).

A fairly boilerplate entry into the Crimson Dawn crossover trilogy. We don't gain any particularly new perspective on the main arc - Q'ira's plans or the syndicate war - and neither do any of the character arcs for the Star Wars comic move on much. We do wrap up the thread between Leia and Commander Zahra, but this doesn't really expand on the themes much more than we have previously, and feels a little perfunctory; as does Luke's continued search for Jedi teachings. Place setting for what is to come, I think.

It's unfortunate that this book coincided (and partially caused) my long reading slump this summer and autumn, as I do genuinely think it's an interesting and worthwhile read, focussing on themes and ideas I'm generally interested in, particularly with the linking of poverty, political corruption, US interference and organised crime. For me, it's some of the stylistic choices that hamper it for me, in particular the reliance for portions of the character points of view on stream-of-consciousness. Catch me in my early 20s and I'd be all over it, but as I've matured I think that style of writing can be impactful in small sections, but when elongated over 20, 30 pages is ultimately detrimental to my interest in it.