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racheljohnsxn's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
It’s a great, quick, middle-grade read. It’s very fast paced and the plot is pretty straightforward. I wish the book hadn’t focused on the Spice Runner aspect of Poe; ideally there would be a story that shows how he got into the Resistance and his early time there, before Black Squadron. This part of his backstory is the least interesting to me. However, I am always a sucker for any form of Poe Dameron content. It’s a quick, easy read but ultimately I wish it had more depth.
It’s a great, quick, middle-grade read. It’s very fast paced and the plot is pretty straightforward. I wish the book hadn’t focused on the Spice Runner aspect of Poe; ideally there would be a story that shows how he got into the Resistance and his early time there, before Black Squadron. This part of his backstory is the least interesting to me. However, I am always a sucker for any form of Poe Dameron content. It’s a quick, easy read but ultimately I wish it had more depth.
psyco12_2000's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
poppyparkes's review
3.0
I was pleasantly surprised by this book and was glad to explore more about Poe who we don’t get to know much about in the films. It was also interesting to see the importance of Zorri Bliss providing more context to her relationship to Poe in Rise of Skywalker.
theravenqueen's review
4.0
Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Lucasfilm Press for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Poe Dameron : Free Fall starts to fill in the gaps for this beloved, at least by me, Star Wars Sequel character. It follows Poe Dameron on Yavin 4, young and full of that spirit that we know and love. He's itching to fly, a skill that his mother had begun to teach him and having in inherited her love for the freedom it affords he is acting out.
After facing off with his old man, Kes Dameron, Poe runs off with a group of trouble makers he met at a local watering hole. Spice traders, smugglers and among them a young and fiery Zorii.
This shows that there is a lot of history left within the Skywalker Saga, focusing on the lives of the characters before and after the events of the film. It's just the start of Poe's story, but does so much to expand the universe, dipping into the world of smugglers Post-Han Solo.
You can feel the chemistry between Zorii and Poe in the film and the same is true in this book. Even though I already knew who she was, the way the characters play off each other is so satisfying. Along with Zorii we also get a few scenes with Babu Frikk and a droid that likely sets the stage for Poe's future bond with BB-8.
Poe doesn't just grow up in this story, he finds his place. The son of two heroes in the Rebellion looking for his own adventure, he finally finds his footing and learns what type of man he wants to be.
I did really enjoy this and I hope this turns into a series and his character is expanded upon more. I'd love to see him starting out with BB-8 or when he first meets Leia. If Poe is a favorite if yours, you'll love this.
Poe Dameron : Free Fall starts to fill in the gaps for this beloved, at least by me, Star Wars Sequel character. It follows Poe Dameron on Yavin 4, young and full of that spirit that we know and love. He's itching to fly, a skill that his mother had begun to teach him and having in inherited her love for the freedom it affords he is acting out.
After facing off with his old man, Kes Dameron, Poe runs off with a group of trouble makers he met at a local watering hole. Spice traders, smugglers and among them a young and fiery Zorii.
This shows that there is a lot of history left within the Skywalker Saga, focusing on the lives of the characters before and after the events of the film. It's just the start of Poe's story, but does so much to expand the universe, dipping into the world of smugglers Post-Han Solo.
You can feel the chemistry between Zorii and Poe in the film and the same is true in this book. Even though I already knew who she was, the way the characters play off each other is so satisfying. Along with Zorii we also get a few scenes with Babu Frikk and a droid that likely sets the stage for Poe's future bond with BB-8.
Poe doesn't just grow up in this story, he finds his place. The son of two heroes in the Rebellion looking for his own adventure, he finally finds his footing and learns what type of man he wants to be.
I did really enjoy this and I hope this turns into a series and his character is expanded upon more. I'd love to see him starting out with BB-8 or when he first meets Leia. If Poe is a favorite if yours, you'll love this.
mareliweb1's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
neilrcoulter's review against another edition
2.0
Poe Dameron: A Han Solo Story
A short story in Greg Rucka’s book Before the Awakening gives some of Poe Dameron’s backstory. Then in The Rise of Skywalker, part of the heroes’ ultimately pointless and unnecessary mission requires that they get assistance from a band of spice runners on Kijimi. Poe drew the short straw as the only character who could possibly have had some past connection to smugglers, so this detail got added to his history with little explanation. I can imagine Disney then scrambling to find some way to explain how Poe could have spent time on the wrong side of the law, so Alex Segura drew the short straw and had to (quickly, I assume) figure out some way to make it work. I feel a little bad for Segura, because it was a poisoned chalice.
The story he wrote, Free Fall, is like so much of Disney-era Star Wars: every character, location, and event feels almost exactly like something else that’s already happened in another SW story. There’s a cantina just like the Mos Eisley cantina; a teenage kid who dreams of getting off his dead-end planet and having adventures in the galaxy; a crash landing on a planet and then a fight for survival; predictable double-crosses; vague hints at galactic politics, but nothing specific; crime syndicates that have no clear motive or plan and that shouldn’t be hard for law officers to track down (I mean, they’re called “The Spice Runners of Kijimi”—what planet do you think you’d find them on?); a girl, a boy, and a slightly humorous, clueless droid on adventures that include some petty bickering and possible romance; a hotshot pilot who can fly anything; dead parents whose memories haunt or motivate the protagonist; and on and on.
But the biggest error in this story is that all of it, 100%, feels like an alternate version of Solo. And it’s odd because in the movies, there’s nothing particularly Solo-like about Poe, nor does he have a lot of interaction with Han. So why make him another Solo character? The other misstep is that this story directly contradicts the version of Poe’s past in Before the Awakening (which was actually a pretty good book). Five years in, and Disney’s “everything is canon” is already having to retcon itself, contradicting itself in the process.
Along with the typos that make SW books feel deliberately disposable, Free Fall also has some dialogue that sounds really fake. This line early on, for example, which one of The Spice Runners of Kijimi says to Poe:
Another oddity is that in the movie, I’d thought the heroes were going to see some spice runners, who, you know, happened to be on the planet Kijimi. But in this novel, it’s like the name of a band: “‘Ever heard of the Spice Runners of Kijimi?’ Trune asked” (53). I don’t know why, but it always made me chuckle when the full name of the band was written out or spoken (which is really often).
I’m mostly done with keeping up with the SW books set in the sequel trilogy era (this is what I tell myself...), but I picked this one up because I liked Zorii Bliss in the movie and wanted to know her story. However, it’s just Qi’ra’s story from Solo, with a few small details rearranged to fool the plagiarism detector.
Why is current SW so incredibly uncreative? I don’t understand why people can’t imagine bigger and bolder.
A short story in Greg Rucka’s book Before the Awakening gives some of Poe Dameron’s backstory. Then in The Rise of Skywalker, part of the heroes’ ultimately pointless and unnecessary mission requires that they get assistance from a band of spice runners on Kijimi. Poe drew the short straw as the only character who could possibly have had some past connection to smugglers, so this detail got added to his history with little explanation. I can imagine Disney then scrambling to find some way to explain how Poe could have spent time on the wrong side of the law, so Alex Segura drew the short straw and had to (quickly, I assume) figure out some way to make it work. I feel a little bad for Segura, because it was a poisoned chalice.
The story he wrote, Free Fall, is like so much of Disney-era Star Wars: every character, location, and event feels almost exactly like something else that’s already happened in another SW story. There’s a cantina just like the Mos Eisley cantina; a teenage kid who dreams of getting off his dead-end planet and having adventures in the galaxy; a crash landing on a planet and then a fight for survival; predictable double-crosses; vague hints at galactic politics, but nothing specific; crime syndicates that have no clear motive or plan and that shouldn’t be hard for law officers to track down (I mean, they’re called “The Spice Runners of Kijimi”—what planet do you think you’d find them on?); a girl, a boy, and a slightly humorous, clueless droid on adventures that include some petty bickering and possible romance; a hotshot pilot who can fly anything; dead parents whose memories haunt or motivate the protagonist; and on and on.
But the biggest error in this story is that all of it, 100%, feels like an alternate version of Solo. And it’s odd because in the movies, there’s nothing particularly Solo-like about Poe, nor does he have a lot of interaction with Han. So why make him another Solo character? The other misstep is that this story directly contradicts the version of Poe’s past in Before the Awakening (which was actually a pretty good book). Five years in, and Disney’s “everything is canon” is already having to retcon itself, contradicting itself in the process.
Along with the typos that make SW books feel deliberately disposable, Free Fall also has some dialogue that sounds really fake. This line early on, for example, which one of The Spice Runners of Kijimi says to Poe:
“We’re smugglers,” she said flatly. “And our pilot is dead. If you can get us off this moon, you will begin a life of adventure and uncertainty unlike anything you’ve imagined. This place will be a blurry memory before too long.” (48)Come on, SW—be better.
Another oddity is that in the movie, I’d thought the heroes were going to see some spice runners, who, you know, happened to be on the planet Kijimi. But in this novel, it’s like the name of a band: “‘Ever heard of the Spice Runners of Kijimi?’ Trune asked” (53). I don’t know why, but it always made me chuckle when the full name of the band was written out or spoken (which is really often).
I’m mostly done with keeping up with the SW books set in the sequel trilogy era (this is what I tell myself...), but I picked this one up because I liked Zorii Bliss in the movie and wanted to know her story. However, it’s just Qi’ra’s story from Solo, with a few small details rearranged to fool the plagiarism detector.
Why is current SW so incredibly uncreative? I don’t understand why people can’t imagine bigger and bolder.
valeriefrankel's review against another edition
5.0
Poe Dameron: Free Fall by Alex Segura gives the hero a clear arc — something significantly deeper than in the films. His parents, established in the comics and other tie-in works, get more establishment as well. Young Poe is struggling with his father’s expectations and mother’s legacy, as well as his determination to get offworld. As such, it follows many traditional hero’s journey steps. In this lively children’s novel, Poe teams up with Zorri Bliss and willingly joins the notorious spicerunners. Together the pair have youthful adventures, telling a fast-paced story while setting up events in Rise of Skywalker. As it introduces planets already seen in the larger universe, there are few surprises, but the book entertains well.
This straightforward story still offers some nuance. Poe has his first time comparing being a good guy and a bad guy as he finds the universe offers shades of grey. The book also establishes how one can switch from a law-abiding child to a Han-Solo-type criminal. It’s an interesting topic, approached with authenticity and soul-searching. It’s also a practical, realistic story instead of one of the mystical Force. Adding nuance to the larger universe, Poe’s desperation to escape his parents’ legacy as squeaky-clean war heroes mirrors Ben Solo’s — especially when his father poignantly pleads with him to come home. It’s a good establishing story for Poe, like several adventures in the comics. Though it does feel as if, since the theme park opened, too many books have the characters ordering off Disney’s food and drinks menu.
This straightforward story still offers some nuance. Poe has his first time comparing being a good guy and a bad guy as he finds the universe offers shades of grey. The book also establishes how one can switch from a law-abiding child to a Han-Solo-type criminal. It’s an interesting topic, approached with authenticity and soul-searching. It’s also a practical, realistic story instead of one of the mystical Force. Adding nuance to the larger universe, Poe’s desperation to escape his parents’ legacy as squeaky-clean war heroes mirrors Ben Solo’s — especially when his father poignantly pleads with him to come home. It’s a good establishing story for Poe, like several adventures in the comics. Though it does feel as if, since the theme park opened, too many books have the characters ordering off Disney’s food and drinks menu.
divyareadssister's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Extremely underrated book
pickles027's review against another edition
4.0
This is a perfect companion to the Rise of Skywalker novel. I actually wish this had come out before the movie because it fleshed out the characters better than the movie. I enjoyed learning more about Poe and Zorii. The story jumps around a little, but overall it is a great journey that any Star Wars can will enjoy.
lemcclain8's review against another edition
4.0
Zorii is a completely mysterious character in episode 9 but there’s a lot to be desired with her and Poe’s relationship, so this book was really cool for that reason. We see into Poe’s past and his affiliation with the spice runners. It’s thankfully more content to try and make the sequels a tiny bit better.