Book Wars Pod, Episode 161: Grumpy Sword Grandpa

This week, we’re starting our discussion of Star Wars Visions: Ronin by Emma Mieko Candon, the tie-in novel to the a anime short “The Duel.” We discuss expanding the franchise’s cultural horizons, the possibilities afforded by alternate universes, and what it means to return Star Wars to its Japanese roots.

For this book, we’re highlighting Black & Pink National. Black & Pink National is a prison abolitionist organization dedicated to abolishing the criminal punishment system and liberating LGBTQIA2S+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS who are affected by that system through advocacy, support, and organizing. You can donate to them here.

For a list of black-owned bookstores to order from, now and always, click here.

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Book Wars Pod explores the Star Wars universe through the franchise’s non-screen media: the canon novels, comics, and video games. Check out our guide to past episodes, and subscribe on Stitcher, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever else you cast your pods. You can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Mega Feed for more great shows from our podcast network.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for episode updates! Hosted by Chris SedorKate Sedor, Rana LaPine, and Miranda Eldon. Audio and production by Kristen McDonell. Art by Joe Butera. Music by Podington Bear.

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Review: Star Wars Visions: Ronin

A lone wanderer with a red lightsaber faces down a group of bandits led by a Sith to help save a village… and that’s just where Star Wars Visions: Ronin by Emma Mieko Candon starts.

(Okay, wait. I’m sorry. The Ronin isn’t completely alone. He’s also aided by B5, aka: Hat Droid, aka: the best droid in the entire galaxy. We know no droid king but the droid in the straw hat whose name is B5-56.)

Ronin is not like any Star Wars book you’ve read before. It’s bold. It fully embraces the Japanese cultural influences that have long underwritten the galaxy far, far away. It grabs you by the heart and never lets go until the final page and even then, it will keep its grip on you well after you set the book down to go about your day. Ronin is the sort of Star Wars book that could have only come from the Visions project and from an author like Candon and we, as fans, are all the more fortunate to get to read it. Continue reading