As part of my mission to have a book review for every canon Star Wars novel/short story collection, I re-read Aliens last week! I haven't revisited these stories since they came out, so I really did enjoy having them fresh in my mind again. Each story has something very different but equally entertaining to offer anyone who likes Star Wars and may want to get those fun bits of background about the people even in the background of the screen. The book's "Volume I" subtitle has unfortunately not lead to more volumes since, but I think that if we can find learn the fate of Barriss Offee 10 years after we last saw her in The Clone Wars, anything is possible! Especially with the 10 year anniversary of The Force Awakens this year!
Aliens is definitely a book worth reading if you want some sequels-era fun in bite-size pieces, or just some entertaining Star Wars stories that range from Frankenstein-esque horror, mysteries, and animal adventures. Pick up your own copy here!
Spoilers ahead for Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens by Landry Q. Walker!
"High Noon on Jakku" stars the infamous Constable Zuvio. While his main claim to the fame comes from his merchandising endeavors out-sizing his screen presence, I think Zuvio earns his respect in this story. We learn about Zuvio's daily operations protecting the people of Jakku and dealing with crime. Things go awry though when Zuvio's ever-loyal droid, CZ-1G5, seems to have committed a large robbery with a gang of other droids. Zuvio doesn't trust it though, and it really does feel like a classic detective story as he investigates, puts the pieces together and even has a showdown with CZ and the now-armed droids that raided his weapons supply. It turns out that CZ was hijacked and reprogrammed to take the fall for a banker stealing the money. But poor CZ isn't able to resist the reprogramming, and the showdown between Zuvio and CZ was actually pretty touching. I really enjoyed this Star Wars take on a detective story, and the other side of a heist.
"A Recipe for Death" is a murder mystery crossed with a cooking show. Yes, you read that right. Maz Kanata's chef, Cookie, is seemingly being framed for the murder of one of his sous chefs. Before he reveals what happened, Cookie makes it his mission to find the actual murderer, so that he isn't the suspect. He narrows it down to the other chefs in his kitchen, believing that one of them may have murdered his chef so that they could steal his prized secret recipe book. The only way to determine who it was? A cooking contest of course! Under the guise of needing to find a replacement for his missing chef, Cookie has the chefs prepare different meals in a series of Cutthroat- Kitchen-esque challenges, including cooking without gravity! It was really fun to see Cookie deduce who must have the recipe book slowly through each round- though the actual murderer was a bigger twist that I think you should read to find out!
"All Creatures Great and Small" might be my favorite of the stories. Bobbajo, a travelling elder on Jakku known for keeping a menagerie of creatures as his friends, is caught up in a storm of slavers taking over a small town on Jakku. Bobbajo sets all of his animals free in the chaos, but everyone is captured and being held together, huddled and scared. Above all else though, Bobbajo is a storyteller, who comforts the frightened children (and adults too) with a story. He tells the story about how his small friends once rescued him from a prison not unlike this one, on a space station called the Death Star. But upon his rescue, the creatures realize that there is much more to this strange place, and they set about causing a reactor problem that would destroy the station after they leave. The story is silly and filled with hijinks, and the adults simply don't believe it- until the townspeople are freed by those very creatures, who have driven off the slavers and save the town. Was Bobbajo's Death Star story true? Maybe! But it's an age-old lesson to never underestimate someone based off a glance. Not to mention very, very fun to read and keep up with, and one that I think would make a great bedtime story for sure!
"The Face of Evil" was another really great one. This story leaned into some horror elements, and was definitely a Star Wars version of a Frankenstein story. Two Frigosian (yes, the cute yellow fuzzy guys) scientists operate in secret, experimenting and creating monstrosities on Takodana. We also meet a young woman who has betrayed her partner-in-literal-crime. Said partner's last act was to broadcast the crimes of her betrayer, who is now on the run with an unfathomable bounty on her head. So when she comes across the Frigosians who promise they can change her face in exchange for some of the credits she's stashed, well how can she say no? The procedure, described in horrifying detail, is a success, but the story takes a number of betrayals, twists and turns afterward that I honestly don't want to spoil for you.
"True Love" was a story about everyone's favorite portions-man, Unkar Plutt. You see, Unkar Plutt has a hidden secret stash some scavengers are trying to get to so they can secure their own futures. The problem, though, is that Plutt is the only one that knows the location, and he has no plans to tell anybody. So our scavengers create an AI that will replicate a female Crolute, claiming to have been matched with Unkar on an online dating service, and they use her to convince him to reveal the location. Things go wrong for two reasons though- one, the AI actually falls in love with Unkar, and sides with him over the scavengers. And two- female crolutes don't exist! This attempted heist-gone wrong does in fact go very, very wrong, but this story really gets you into the head of Unkar Plutt and you begin to understand how he came to control the resources of Niima Outpost.
Finally, we have "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku," the story that people are familiar with even if they've never actually heard of this book. Now what many might know about it is that this story reveals the the clone trooper Kix was frozen in carbonite, and then unfrozen around The Force Awakens, making Kix presumably the only clone trooper to be alive in the sequel trilogy era. But there's more to it than that, and I think many of the people who find the recaps of this story interesting should read the whole thing as well! Leading up to the reveal of Kix being Count Dooku's mysterious treasure is a thrilling race of pirates and outlaws, and with these years later it really reminded me of the hyperlane races we see in The High Republic Phase II. Even when you know the outcome of the story, I think it's a worthy read and a fun way to learn about some new characters.
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