Book Review: Star Wars Galaxy's Edge - Black Spires by Delilah S. Dawson

Pardon the interruption! While in the midst of reading Martin Amis’ London Fields, I decided to switch things up for an upcoming Disney vacation and read another Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge novel. The vacation didn’t totally work out – you can read my wife’s blog for more, also keeping in mind that we never even ended up setting foot in Hollywood Studios – but the read was well worth it.

The first Galaxy’s Edge novel, A Crash of Fate, was an underwhelming effort set around Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities (which was actually a really cool place in the theme park). Black Spire, on the other hand, is a Resistance vs. First Order novel (incorporating both the X-wing and the Tie Fighter in the park) centered on Oga’s Cantina as well as a scrapyard (not sure if that’s in the park – maybe where the speeder is refueling?) with a quick trip to the droid factory. Since it involves the Resistance setting up a base and living there full-time, there are also frequent stops at Ronto’s Roasters. Altogether, pretty good propaganda!

What was really surprising about this work is that it was actually a sequel. Two of the main characters, Vi Moradi and Archex (otherwise known as Captain Cardinal), were antagonists in the author’s Phasma book. While that book spent most of its time having Captain Cardinal torturing Vi for background information on Captain Phasma (yes, pretty intense stuff), Black Spire has them working together to set up an outpost, and, eventually, to beat back a First Order recon team.

This book was a lot of fun – the writing was clear, the storytelling was spot-on, and the characters were vivid. One extra – for a book set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, there are hints that the author was actually working with Duel of the Fates in mind, as Vi mentions at the start of the book that she was frustrated at having to go to Batuu instead of working on a mission involving Star Destroyers (!).

Anyway, fun read all around – seven out of ten hot dogs. Now I just have to hope I remember all the details in the book the next time I’m actually in Galaxy’s Edge!

Note: I read this book on a Kindle, and preparing to post this review is the first time I saw the cover. Now that I see it, I realize that Vi is an actual character within Galaxy's Edge - my son Ronan talked to her a couple of times when we first went!