Welcome back to Go/No-Go, Tosche Station’s regular feature where we offer our spoiler-free opinion as to whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money on a book, film, or other entertainment. Today on the launch pad: Star Wars: Black Spire. In Delilah S. Dawson’s latest Star Wars book, we’re headed off to the spires of Batuu so those of us who don’t live near Disney can experience a little part of Galaxy’s Edge from afar but how did we like the book? To mission control for the verdict!
Nanci: Black Spire was a fun read but for me, it did not live up to Dawson’s previous novel, Phasma. My favorite part of that novel was undoubtedly Cardinal, now known as Archex, and I was thrilled to hear he would return in Black Spire. While he’s a big part of the novel, I would have really liked for his POV to get more page time, or even for him to be the main POV character. I like Vi, and have enjoyed my interactions with her in Galaxy’s Edge, but to me it felt like Archex would have been a more interesting focus character for this novel. He’s changed the most and I really wanted to get inside his head. The other characters in the novel are all fun additions to canon and I would mind seeing them roaming around Black Spire Outpost, too! Black Spire does a good job setting up the plotline for all of Galaxy’s Edge, and after reading the end of the novel I’m super hyped for the Rise of the Resistance attraction to open. While some of the description of Black Spire Outpost was a little too much like a travelogue for my tastes, Dawson allows readers to visit Batuu without shelling out big bucks for a Disney vacation. And if you are lucky enough to visit Batuu soon, Black Spire will only serve to get you hyped about all the places you’ll get to explore. If you were a fan of Phasma or want to learn more about Galaxy’s Edge (or both!), I’d say go ahead and give Black Spire a read.
Bria: Okay, so here’s the deal: usually, I hate it when people start any sort of review with “I wanted to like this book but…” but it’s genuinely true here. Judging by the author, summary, and characters, I should have loved this book but I just didn’t and I don’t like that I didn’t love this book. The problem with me trying to talk about the book is that I can’t properly explain my feelings without flirting with spoilers but let’s just say that the reasons why the book really didn’t work for me are probably oddly personal and likely won’t apply to you. The easiest way to sum it up though is that I really dug the First Order sections of Phasma but it didn’t feel like the same author was writing Cardinal or the First Order here and I was really hoping for more for Cardinal/Archex. Make of that what you will. What I did like about the book was how Vi has such a central role because I am 100% here for more LGBTQA women of color at the forefront of Star Wars stories. It’s also a book that’ll almost definitely stoke your desire to visit Galaxy’s Edge with how descriptive it is of all the shops and food. I also liked getting a front row seat into how a Resistance cell gets set up which is something I don’t think we’ve ever really seen before. Bottom line is that the book didn’t work for me but it might work for you?
Flight Director’s Ruling: Black Spire is a mostly GO for launch. (Yeah, that’s a new technical term or something like that.)
