Canto Bight

Not the best, but certainly not the worst of the new canon. Second and third novellas are better than the first and fourth.

This was fun. Exactly the sort of fun you'd expect from a Star Wars book about a casino. Perhaps a little better than I anticipated.

I liked this surprisingly well. This has the feel of one of the “Tales of the...” books from 20-25 years ago. I would say these stories are better, though. I get that the casino city of Canto Bight is controversial among fans, but I think it was still better than the attempts at political intrigue in the prequels. But, I digress....

Four short stories in one volume. ThIs took a little for me to get into initially. I didn't like the protagonist in the first story, but he grew on me. I wasn't fond of him in the end, but I enjoyed the story.

The second story was in some ways the hardest to get through, but I liked it better than the first in the end. It took a while to build the backstory and the world. Once it got to the heart of the story, it got interesting.

The third story was likely my favorite. I was rooting for the protagonist and I think it felt familiar as a Star Wars story. This is one that didn't feel like it tried to have a twist I looked for, and I'm okay with that.

The final story is one that I imagine could No problem be frustrating. In fact, I sympathized with the protagonist with the number of annoyances he goes through. I found I moved along with the character as he grows through the story. The ending sounds spectacular and unlikely to happen in real life, but I think the author uses it to make a good point in the end.

I may be one of the three people who didn't hate The Last Jedi. That might lead me to liking this book better. However, I think if one is able to set expectations aside and just read this as stories in the Star Wars universe, I think one can enjoy four fun short stories