Black Spire by Delilah Dawson is an interesting and unique entry into Star Wars canon: it’s a tie in to a theme park expansion. Specifically Galaxy’s Edge, which opened at Disneyland in May and will open August 29 at Walt Disney World. Black Spire is named for the main settlement on the planet Batuu, which the locals refer to as Black Spire Outpos (BSO). When I started this novel, I had not yet visited Galaxy’s Edge, but I finished it in between my two visits, which made exploring the land a little more interesting. (I say “a little more” because the land in and of itself is amazing without any outside knowledge.) But the parts of the novel that described BSO, while making me excited to visit Galaxy’s Edge myself, also took me out of the larger story. Does that mean the novel is bad? No, just different. It’s not every day you read a Star Wars book set in a place you can actually visit. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Delilah S. Dawson
Go/No-Go: Black Spire
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! Continue reading
Review: No Country for Old Gnomes
Two gnomes, a dwarf, a gryphon, a half-sheep woman, and a halfling set out one morning from a gnome refugee center. No, that’s not the start to a joke, it’s the start of an adventure in No Country for Old Gnomes, the latest entry in the Tales from Pell series by Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson. Everything’s not fine and dandy in Pell even now that King Gustave (who was definitely not once a goat because wow wouldn’t that be silly) on the throne. The gnomes are in trouble because of some very cruel halflings and it’s up to our new band of heroes to find a way to save the day. Hopefully. What could possibly go wrong?
In all honesty, a heck of lot of things go wrong for our heroes but it would make for a pretty boring story otherwise. And if you think a book by Hearne and Dawson is going to be boring, boy do I have a lake on Tatooine to sell you. No Country for Old Gnomes has the same irreverent sense of humor as the first book, combined with the same heart and soul as a new set of heroes embarks on a crazy journey. Continue reading
Review: Kill the Farm Boy
A sense of humor is mandatory for reading this book.
Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne is delightfully absurd and laughs in the face of how one would usually expect a Chosen One fantasy story to go. Every last trope is engaged with in a way that flips it on its head and makes it hard for readers not to laugh out loud. (Unless you hate puns. Don’t hate puns when you read this book.) When Staph the Pixie tells the farm boy Worstly that he’s the Chosen One and also makes his goat talk, Worstly does what any Chosen One would do and finds a quest. But when his quest doesn’t go quite as planned, it’s up to a motley crew to try make things right and save both him and an entire enchanted castle worth of people. Continue reading
Go/No-Go: Phasma
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: Phasma. It may be Delilah S. Dawson’s first Star Wars novel but we’ve definitely enjoyed her stories about other Star Wars ladies. What did we think about her take on the shiny and chrome captain? To mission control for the verdict! Continue reading
Review: Phasma
If someone were to explain Phasma as ‘Mad Max: Fury Road but in Star Wars,’ it would simultaneously be correct but also not quite encompass everything that this book is.
Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson tells two stories: the plight of a captured Resistance agent and also Phasma’s origin story from before she joined the First Order as the aforementioned Resistance fighter recounts it to someone who would see Phasma struck down from her lofty position within the First Order. In neither is Phasma someone to be underestimated. Continue reading
Review: The Perfect Weapon
It seems like just last month that the Star Wars folks announced Delilah S. Dawson would be writing an e-short titled The Perfect Weapon. Oh wait, that was last month! Del Rey doesn’t make us wait very long with today’s release of The Perfect Weapon, one of five stories that feature the pictured beings from Maz Kanata’s castle. Bazine Netal is an efficient and lethal mercenary and spy who knows how to get a job done. When an anonymous client hires her to track down a former stormtrooper, she’s forced to trade teaching a newbie in exchange for use of a ship. And while Bazine is good, even she can still be taken by surprise on a dangerous mission…