Star Wars 7x7: A Daily Bite-Sized Dose of Star Wars Joy

It's one thing to read a Star Wars story. It's quite another to experience it as an audiobook, with the sound effects and the music and all of those other intangible aural elements that create the magic of Star Wars.

As I say in the show today, I think all the audiobook reviews to date that I've done have been for the adult novels, and that this may be the first time I've done one for a young adult novel. Weirdly, I had a moment where I wondered whether it would be a similar experience as the adult ones, but I needn't have worried. Penguin Random House Audio produces the young adult audiobooks as well as the adult ones, with familiar folks like Kevin Thompson and Nick Martorelli behind the scenes. So the experience is as fully immersive as you would hope.

Today, the audiobook review for Poe Dameron: Free Fall, which includes discussion of the narrative style of Sean Elias-Reyes in his first full-Star-Wars-book performance, as well as his characterization of Poe Dameron, his dad (Kes Dameron), and Zorii Bliss. Punch it!

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When we first meet Zorii Bliss in The Rise of Skywalker, it's clear that there's some bad blood between her and Poe Dameron. In the novel Poe Dameron: Free Fall, thanks to the assiduous time documentation by author Alex Segura, we know that she's been holding that grudge for a long time - about 18 years, to be specific. But why?

Well, to answer that question, we have to go into spoiler territory. It's actually part of the climax of the novel, so even though we're going to talk about their breakdown, I'm going to do it in a way that doesn't spoil the rest of the story for you... Punch it!

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The novel Poe Dameron: Free Fall takes place within a pretty specific period of time. Author Alex Segura is actually very explicit about the timeframes - not just for the novel overall, but even for the amount of time that lapses between specific adventures depicted in the story.

On today's episode of the show, we'll talk about exactly when the novel takes place, and how it fits in with other significant events that happen in the period between the Original and Sequel Trilogies. We'll also talk a bit about the state of the galaxy, from the depths of the criminal underworld to the heights of the New Republic. Punch it!

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If you were shocked - shocked, I tell you! - to learn that Poe Dameron used to be a spice runner before joining the New Republic and later the Resistance, well, then, the story of how that happened needs to be believable and compelling. If not, then it's a bit like a house of cards - it wouldn't just reflect negatively on the telling of the backstory, but also on how that storyline connects to The Rise of Skywalker.

Luckily, Poe Dameron: Free Fall rises to the occasion. It's a young adult novel that's basically a series of adventures where we see Poe running up against the limits of his young and forming ethical/moral boundaries, until he hits a point where he can't take it anymore. The fun is in hearing Oscar Isaac and Keri Russell's voices in your head (which are captured well by author Alex Segura), and in seeing how their relationship develops.

But it isn't just about them, and on today's episode, we'll talk more about it in a non-spoiler review. Punch it!

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A number of media outlets reported it as a "surprise" that The Mandalorian received 15 Emmy nominations for its inaugural season. (One creator's reaction from the official press release may have driven that take.) But when you look at the categories for which The Mandalorian has been nominated, you'll see an overlap with the kinds of categories for which Star Wars movies are often nomination for Oscars (as far as the categories themselves overlap):

Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series (three separate nods) Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Limited Series, Movie Or Special Outstanding Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation Outstanding Special Visual Effects Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)

These ones, on the other hand, tend to be new for Star Wars nominations (again, extrapolating to their movie counterparts):

Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Program (Half-Hour) Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Drama Series Limited Series Or Movie

And then of course there's the nomination for the season itself as Outstanding Drama Series. On today's episode, we'll talk about the individual Mandalorian episode that got the most nominations; how the other ones fared (only one episode was shut out of the nominations), likely winning possibilities, and more. Punch it!

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It's flashback time! Back in 2014, I did a series of episodes looking at interviews conducted with George Lucas by Alan Arnold for the seminal book Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back.

Here's what you'll be hearing about in this final look back:

Lucas talks candidly about the practical and creative sides of his nature, how he deals with them, how his preferred method of working was changed by Star Wars, and what he's had to do as a result of that change.

All right, time to dive in once more... Punch it!

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Here's the thing about the month of August 2020: This is the month that would have included Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, if it hadn't been canceled due to the pandemic. So in addition to the things that would have been released this month had there been no pandemic (i.e., the first of the High Republic books) there would have been a LOT of reveals happening.

And even though there's no in-person event, we still might be hearing about a lot of new projects this month - chief among them, maybe a first trailer for season 2 of The Mandalorian! Today, we'll talk about what we DO know is coming, and then about the logical possibilities for what could be coming. Punch it!

***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.***

It's flashback time! Back in 2014, I did a series of episodes looking at interviews conducted with George Lucas by Alan Arnold for the seminal book Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back.

Here's what to expect in today's episode, based on what I wrote back then:

[Lucas] talks about the financial investment he made by committing to Empire. What will it take to break even, what will happen if it doesn't make enough money, and what he dreams of creating with the hoped-for revenues of the film, as well as the challenges of making Star Wars a self-sustaining enterprise.

It is pretty astounding stuff (what he reveals, that is). Punch it!

***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.***

It's flashback time! Back in 2014, I did a series of episodes looking at interviews conducted with George Lucas by Alan Arnold for the seminal book Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back.

Here's what I said in prep for the episode:

Lucas gets personal with his discussions about how he prefers to work, what's on the line for him creatively and financially, and shares some things that, had he remembered them 20 years later, the prequels might have been much different.

Now, let's dig into the details... Punch it!

***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.***

It's flashback time! Back in 2014, I did a series of episodes looking at interviews conducted with George Lucas by Alan Arnold for the seminal book Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back.

I was a little worked up over this part, apparently. Here's what I said about it back then:

In this episode's set of interview questions, Lucas talks about the directing and not directing, and arrrgh!! What happened from 1979 to 1999 that he changed his mind about this?!

Well, have a listen today and find out why... Punch it!

***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.***