The Starbird Files

  The Queen’s Bloom - Zoraida Córdova   Everyone’s favorite Phase II character (except mine), Axel Greylark is the focus of the first story of the anthology, and he is at university causing trouble and skiving off work using his status (there’s a surprise!). Despite this, he takes time to make friends with the lower paid staff and even helps a janitor with money - do I like Axel now? When a swish party is attacked by a gang of thieves Axel has a telling first meeting with a pivotal person a character in his life. The most interesting part of the story for me was meeting Axel’s father Lexxir who was clearly a very good influence on his son, and shows just how much his death would affect Axel in the future. 🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑 /5 A Closed Fist Has No Claws - Tessa Gratton The second story sees Marda Ro traveling the galaxy, looking for more Evereni, all the while gathering followers and feeding the occasional Jedi to the Leveler. She finds Evereni twins on the planet Siquay, and a possib...

The Edge of Balance Volume 1 by Shima Shinya & Justina Ireland (Viz Media) Art by Mizuki Sakakibara I was excited to finally get my hands on The Edge of Balance when it finally arrived in the UK after many delays, especially as it is my first Star Wars manga - heck my first manga. The story begins just before the Republic Fair, as Jedi knight Lily Tora-Asi and her former master Arkoff, a Wookiee, resettle refugees from the Great Disaster to Banchii -    a quiet farming world where their Jedi Temple has just been built. That serenity is of course broken when they discover several Drengir close to the village, after fighting them off they discover that some of the victims had, unusually, been turned to wood. The story concludes with Arkoff being called away to help deal with the Nihil following the attack on Valo, leaving Lily to investigate how the Drengir came to Banchii and why their victims have been turned to wood. The relationship between Lily Tora-Asi and Arkoff is an...

Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland (Disney Lucasfilm Press) I’ve honestly been struggling with how to start this review    of Out of the Shadows other than to say that this may be my favorite book of the High Republic era so far. The second Young Adult book in the High Republic project is written by Justina Ireland, and the story brings together characters from the first YA book in Reath Silas, Cohmac Vitus and Nan, and characters from Ireland’s A Test of Courage in Vernestra Rwoh and Imri Canteros. The story takes place several months after the events of the Galactic Fair on Valo and centres on Syl, a hauler formerly of the Byne guild who recently lost her ship and her mother in a Nihil attack when her ship was mysteriously pulled out of hyperspace in the Berenge sector. Together with Xylan Graf a wealthy businessman and the Jedi Cohmac, Reath, Vernestra and Imri she sets out to find out what happened. The story is a slow burn but that is just fine with me, especially as a...

Star Wars Visions Trailer Released Excitement for the Star Wars Visions project went up several notches this month when the First Look trailer was released at the LA Anime Expo on 3rd July, watch the trailer here . The trailer featured a stunning variety of styles, graphics and concept art, and revealed that the series will begin streaming 22nd September along with the episode titles and studios working on them. Studios & Story titles: Kamikaze Douga “The Duel” Geno Studio (Twin Engine) “Lop and Ochō” Studio Colorido (Twin Engine) “Tatooine Rhapsody” Trigger “The Twins” & “The Elder” Kinema Citrus “The Village Bride” Science Saru “Akakiri” & “T0-B1” Production IG “The Ninth Jedi” Also this month the cover art and synopsis for Emma Mieko’s Candon’s tie-in novel, Ronin: A Visions Novel was revealed by Del Rey and starwars.com . The Mandalorian Receives 24 Emmy Nominations   On 13th July The Mandalorian received an amazing 24 Emmy nominations including Outstanding Drama Se...

I have loved getting to grips with a different style of Jedi Order, new villains in the Nihil and Drengir and finding out about the state of the Galaxy in this new era of the Star Wars universe. And with the second wave of The High Republic publishing project just around the corner I thought now would be a great time to see what people have been making of this new era so far; It's been amazing so far seeing how the galaxy operated in a time not really explored. Jedi also seem like what they should be guardians of peace and justice not tied to the politics of the Republic. Can't wait for more and more content. Daniel Hales @danalexhales17 (Twitter) Absolutely love it and I really appreciate how clear it is that all the different authors are communicating and workin well together. It feels like a very cohesive era so far. Brandon @brandon.aka.jarjar (instagram) I absolutely love how all the books and comics are connected.  I really enjoy getting small bits and pieces about the tw...