A review by bookish_benny
Poe Dameron: Free Fall by Alex Segura

4.0

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This story is essentially Poe’s Origin Story. It’s actually a really good one and gives you a lot of the character development you would have missed from his appearances in the last trilogy which I think is important because he is such a prominent character in those movies.

We start with Poe when he is about 16 and he is on his homeworld, Yavin-4 looking for adventure and an escape from his boring life. Poe finds a way off Yavin-4 and that’s where his adventure really begins. He doesn’t want to do anything bad but to leave home he hasn’t got any other options.

As a character, Poe Dameron is an excellent one. He has personal issues with his parents that he is trying to deal with and has conflicts within himself surrounding what he wants from life and at what cost is he willing to pay to get it. For example, there is a part where Poe is willing to kill a certain being but later he doesn’t want others to die despite the fact that all of these beings are bad people.

Reading about Poe as a teenager and seeing the choices he had to make is actually really interesting to read. You will see what Poe thinks of droids and how that changes. He initially hates droids and thinks they’re worthless but a chance encounter with one slowly changes what he thinks about them, which makes so much sense when you see him with BB-8 in the movies.

His character really goes on a wild ride and along the way he has to make choices that are life or death for him. The supporting characters are also really well written and they push Poe to deal with his own thoughts. They also have their own very real issues and it brings them to life and to the forefront of your attention.

You get a huge backstory for a certain illegal group in the movies which I found really exciting to read about since I have only digested the movies, it’s a viewpoint I haven’t seen anything of in this universe.

The world is written really well and is Star Wars. There really isn’t much to say except that Alex has absolutely nailed it all and you might as well be watching one of the movies in book form. The action is well written and blasters, spaceships and droids are all as alive on paper as they can possibly be.

The book brings completely new content to the character and some other characters from the movies which I found completely refreshing.

If you enjoyed Star Wars then you will absolutely love this book. It’s a tale of personal battles, young love and doing the right thing for the right reasons.