Canto Bight: The Vegas of Star Wars

While I did manage to finish reading Star Wars: Canto Bight, the last book in the Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi group, before the movie came out, I didn't quite have time to put together a post before I watched the movie. The difference in writing this up now or then is small, though: either way, I don't have a huge amount to say about Canto Bight. Also, I'd mentioned I was doing three Star Wars posts this week. I had hoped to do one last post with pre-Last Jedi thoughts, but again, I just didn't have that ready in time. So it'll only be these two for this week.

This book is a collection of four short pieces by Saladin Ahmed, Rae Carson, Mira Grant, and John Jackson Miller. The first one is more of a short story, but they get progressively longer; by the end, you might almost call the last one a novella. Each one focus on a different story in Canto Bight, which is basically the Vegas of the Star Wars universe.

Instead of enjoying the time looking at this edgy scenery, I found most of these stories frustrating. Frustrating in the situations in which the characters find themselves. People who are poor or downtrodden or down on their luck or overwhelmed, trying to make their way or mingle through this world of many, many individuals with many, many motives and methods of carrying out those motives. Stories like this weren't really pleasant for me to read--and they certainly didn't make me excited about Canto Bight.

Which, honestly, was probably the intention. Everybody's supposed to love the Mos Eisley cantina because it's the place where the story of the heroes launches; it's the exciting new place that acts as a portal into a wider world. Canto Bight, on the other hand, is the small world: the world trying to hold on to lavishness while holding everyone captive.

I didn't really care for the first story; the other three were better. I guess it was a good book to read--and now that I've seen the movie (this isn't a spoiler) I can say that it was nice to be familiar with a place before seeing it onscreen. I just don't feel like this book built up excitement for the film in the way that the Journey books tend to. Before the Awakening built excitement for The Force Awakens. The Legends of Luke Skywalker was a great read before The Last Jedi. But this one felt a little small and insignificant--and a little depressing (depressing is probably too strong a word, but you get the idea). It was too specific a corner of the Star Wars universe, I guess: we saw the dark side without seeing the hopeful side that is central to the Star Wars tone.

A New Dawn

I'll just go ahead and say that I received some sad and unexpected news that I'm not entirely sure how to process. So if I start adopting a strange tone, that would be why. Now let me move on to today's post.

While reading the Star Wars novelizations, I wasn't sure where I would go next--until I saw that all the old books are now considered non-canon and only the new ones are canon. So that makes it easy: for now, I'll start with the canon books, in published order. A New Dawn is first; it's something of a prequel to the Star Wars Rebels series.

For being a prequel, though, it has much less from the TV show than I might have expected. It's the story of how Hera and Kanan met--but it's slow-moving until they even have a full conversation and the plot keeps running on as if it's leading up to something big. And yet it never seems to reach that something which it's leading up to.

It's the story of one of the Empire's faults against the people, of the beginnings of Hera's quest to start a rebellion against the Empire, and of Kanan's journey from trying to stay out of everything to remembering his place in the world. Which are all good and well; it's just that I wanted a little more resolution at the end: I wanted them to actually have a conversation about the fact that Kanan is a Jedi in hiding. Otherwise it feels too matter of fact that Kanan joins Hera. Maybe a sequel is planned that will fill in the space between A New Dawn and Star Wars Rebels?

I did enjoy getting a different look at this universe: a different planet, a different type of characters, even a different type of plot. I also grew rather fond of Zaluna's character: the way that she's so smart and efficient, observing everything, and yet also small, hesitant, and vulnerable. While we're talking about characters, for that matter, Kanan and Hera are both great. Kanan is strangely, like a combination of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo--plus a lot of self-doubt. Hera is bold and quick, courageous and commanding and yet also empathetic and kind: the perfect leader.

So while I wouldn't say I loved this book overall, as an extension of the Star Wars universe, I'll take it.