Boba Fett: The Bigger Story

With the popularity of The Mandalorian there has been a renewed interest in the mysterious character that introduced the infamous and iconic Mandalorian armour to Star Wars so long ago. 

Boba Fett has captured the imaginations of Star Wars fans since his animated on-screen debut in The Star Wars Holiday Special back in 1978. His appearance in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back was limited but had a huge impact on audiences. Suddenly Darth Vader wasn’t necessarily the coolest bad guy in the galaxy! That armour was just so cool, and he barely speaks but you know he means business. And he dares to talk back to Vader!

The 1978 Screen Debut!

While it may have appeared that the notorious bounty hunter died in the belly of the horrifying sarlaac creature in Return of the Jedi, there has always been speculation of how that armour could have saved him. Maybe he blasted his way out? Maybe he killed the sarlaac? Fans loved the character so much that many created their own storyline of how Boba Fett could have plausibly escaped.

Jango and Boba Fett

Knowing the ever-growing popularity of the character, Star Wars creator George Lucas made young Boba and his father Jango into key characters in 2002’s Attack of the Clones. That’s when fans learned for the first time that Boba is a clone of his father, that bounty hunting is the family business, and that Boba has a very good reason to dislike the Jedi.

What happens next for young Boba Fett was originally explored in a series of six middle-grade chapter books from Scholastic publishing. While entertaining and still fairly easy to find, these stories are not the official story of Boba Fett and are now out of print. 

When The Clone Wars was in its second season, young Boba Fett was introduced into the animated series in 2010. Once again Boba Fett was on the small screen, animated just as he had debuted almost 32 years earlier! Unlike the earlier novels, those seven episodes are part of the official Star Wars chronology, or “canon”, and expand on the story of the vengeful youth and his loathsome bounty hunter mentors.

Anyone wanting to know the whole story of Boba Fett would be well-advised to watch those episodes. Several of them were adapted by frequent Star Wars author Jason Fry (The Weapon of a Jedi) into the illustrated chapter book Star Wars: The Clone Wars Boba Fett: Bounty Hunter in 2010.

While not entirely in sync with the official Star Wars chronology, 2013's The Bounty Hunter Guide is also an excellent read for fans of The Mandalorian and Boba Fett.

More recently, some of Boba Fett’s young appearances on The Clone Wars were adapted into short stories in the 2020 collection Star Wars: The Clone Wars Tales of Light and Dark.

However you dive into the story of the fearsome bounty hunter Boba Fett, there may be more to the story than you realize. There’s probably plenty more to come too! Without spoiling too much, Boba Fett fans really need to check out The Mandalorian!

High Excitement for The High Republic Stories

In February, Lucasfilm announced a forthcoming new era in Star Wars storytelling to be known as The High Republic. This new series of stories would all take place approximately 200 years BEFORE any previous canon Star Wars stories we've seen so far.

This is the era of the Jedi in their prime as peacekeepers, long before the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire. (Learn more here)

Now only weeks away from release, here are some more details about the first two High Republic stories of most interest to younger readers. Both are scheduled for release in North America on January 5, 2021.

A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland (256 pages 8-12 yrs)

"Vernestra Rwoh is a new Jedi Knight at age sixteen, but her first real assignment feels an awful lot like babysitting. She's been charged with supervising twelve-year old aspiring inventor Avon Starros on a cruiser headed to the dedication of a wondrous new space station called Starlight Beacon.

But soon into their journey, bombs go off aboard the cruiser. While the adult Jedi try to save the ship, Vernestra, Avon, Avon's droid J-6, a Jedi Padawan, and an ambassador's son make it to an escape shuttle, but communications are out and supplies are low. They decide to land on a nearby moon, which offers shelter but not much more. And unbeknownst to them, danger lurks in the forest?"

Justina Ireland is the author of Spark of the Resistance and Lando's Luck.

The Great Jedi Rescue by Cavan Scott (24 pages 5-8 years)

"Meet the noble and wise Jedi of the High Republic!

When a disaster strikes in hyperspace, putting the people of Hetzal Prime in grave danger, only the Jedi of the High Republic can save the day!"

Cavan Scott is the author of several of the Adventures in Wild Space novels as well as the Choose Your Destiny books.

Looking forward to this new era? Have a story in mind you hope to see? Comment below! 

Read, You Must: The Star Wars Book

DK Publishing has for been creating amazing guidebooks for Star Wars fans for nearly 25 years. From Star Wars Encyclopedia, to Star Wars Year By Year, each sounds like it’s the final, definitive book, THE book for Star Wars lovers.

In 2015 alone they published Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know AND Ultimate Star Wars!

All the above titles are wonderful, must-have books but Star Wars is an ever-expanding galaxy of stories and characters, planets and aliens, spaceships and droids, and a LOT of Star Wars has happened since 2015!

Which leads us to the brand new guide book, simply titled The Star Wars Book. The subtitle “Expand Your Knowledge of a Galaxy Far, Far Away” holds true as even the most dedicated fans will probably find some new information in here.

As the Skywalker Saga has ended and The Mandalorian is the main new Star Wars story coming out right now, and before the launch of the High Republic era, this is a great time to capture the story so far, in so many facets.

The Star Wars Book looks at all aspects of the saga as they relate to the bigger story. Where the Visual Dictionary books simply look at one film at a time, The Star Wars Book draws connections between books, comics, tv and video games and how each aspect relates to the bigger picture. A topic like the Force might refer to moments from the movies, episodes of The Clone Wars and Rebels, novels and more.

Authors Pablo Hidalgo (Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary, and many more), Cole Horton (Absolutely Everything You Need to Know) and Dan Zehr compile each subject into easy to read but insightful segments.

Zehr (aka Dan Z) is a first-time Star Wars author here, but longtime host and co-creator of the popular Star Wars fan podcast Coffee With Kenobi, a teacher and a very positive face in the fan community. Its great to see him contributing officially!

The are many wonderful Star Wars books, but only one that bears this title. Do yourself a favour and get the book, The Star Wars Book!

I Know That Star Wars Voice! (Part 1)

Have you ever been watching an animated show and one of the characters sounds really familiar? Like they should be talking about the Force and the Empire? You're not imagining things!

Many actors who appear in the Star Wars movies also act with just their voices for animated TV shows and movies!

Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker) probably has the most voice acting credits of any Star Wars performer. Nearly every animated version of Batman's The Joker has been played by
Hamill since 1992's Batman: The Animated Series. 

He has also appeared in many, many cartoons for kids and adults including The Simpsons, Scooby Doo, Hey Arnold!, Johnny Bravo and Clifford the Big Red Dog!

Hamill may be the Star Wars actor best known for also doing animation acting, but he is far from alone!

If you saw last year's creepy and kooky animated feature The Addams Family you might've noticed a familiar sound to Gomez Addams, the Dad of the family. That voice is none other than Oscar Isaac, better known to fans as Resistance pilot Poe Dameron!

In The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019), you don't need the hearing of a dog to notice that gruff, annoyed voice of farm dog Rooster sounds a LOT like Han Solo in The Force Awakens. That's actor Harrison

Ford in a rare voice-over performance as the older, wiser Welsh Sheepdog who tries to teach Max the ways of country life.

Maybe rabbit-strength ears will help your hearing to notice Rey herself, actress Daisy Ridley, as the voice of Cottontail in 2018's Peter Rabbit. Cottontail, along with Flopsy and Mopsy are sisters to Peter Rabbit in this retelling of the Beatrix Potter
classic.

Fans of the incredible Disney/Pixar Incredibles movies may

certainly notice that Mr. Incredible's close friend and "Super" Lucious (aka. Frozone) sounds a lot like Jedi Master Mace Windu. He should, because they are both performed by the super Samuel L. Jackson!

In The Lego Movie, fans probably didn't need the Force to sense something familiar about Bad Cop/Good Cop. The dual-personality police officer with a double-sided head is voiced by Liam Neeson, better known as Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn.

There are plenty more examples but we'll save those for next time! Who is your favourite Star Wars actor you've heard in animation? Comment below!

Read, You Must: Complete Vehicles New Edition

A whole lot of Star Wars has happened since the last North American edition of Complete Vehicles!

Despite only being 7 years ago, this book was due for an update. Now available from DK Publishing: Star Wars Complete Vehicles Incredible Cross Sections (New Edition)!

For those of you not familiar with these lavishly illustrated, extremely detailed "Cross Sections" books, here's our previous reviews of The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections and Star Wars Complete Locations.

This new "Complete" version is like a "Best of" of all the previous cross-section vehicle diagrams previously published in various DK books, with the addition of two brand-new spreads: The Knights of Ren's Night Buzzard ship and the massive Sith Star Destroyer, both from The Rise of Skywalker. It is a 264-page treasure trove of rich details, stunning images and tons of information about the vehicles of the Star Wars galaxy.

From the smallest one-person transport to the colossal Death Star, this book spans the entire Skywalker saga. This "New Edition" includes vehicle diagrams from The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One and Solo, all released after the previous 2013 edition.

Since this is a compilation of works from previous books, there is a whole team of authors and illustrators involved. Many of the biggest names in Star Wars books have been involved in this one!

Unlike many of the recent books about Star Wars, this one seems to solely focus on the theatrical movies. There doesn't seem to be any content from The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance or even the smash hit The Mandalorian. There could easily be a 2nd volume made to focus on the vehicles in those TV series!

Also a noticeable change from previous books is that there are no fold-out pages this time. 

For detail-oriented Star Wars fans, especially those who missed out on previous Cross-Sections books, this hefty compilation of amazing technical illustration is a must-have!

Upcoming The Mandalorian Books!

Scheduled for release this January is the first official junior novel tie-in to the smash hit Disney+ series The Mandalorian!

Here is the official description so far from Disney/Lucasfilm Press:

Relive the excitement of the first season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian!
After the fall of the Empire but before the emergence of the First Order, a lone bounty hunter known as The Mandalorian travels the outer reaches of the galaxy. When his newest bounty hunting target turns out to be a small Child, the Mandalorian decides the Child must be protected at all costs. Relive all the excitement of the first season of the smash-hit streaming series in this action-packed junior novel by Joe Schreiber! Includes an insert of color photos from the show!

So it seems in one novel, the main events of the entire first season will be covered. That's a LOT to pack into one book! But since neither the Mandalorian nor The Child speak much, maybe it will fit nicely into one volume.

The author, Joe Schreiber, is no stranger to young Star Wars readers after writing the junior novelization of Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Schreiber is better known to adult readers as the author of the most gruesome, violent and horror-based Star Wars novels like Death Troopers, Red Harvest, and Maul: Lockdown. 

This is not to say Schreiber only writes dark and horrific stuff for grown-ups. He is also the author of several middle-grade novels including Game Over, Pete Watson and Lenny Cyrus, School Virus. 

Younger fans of The Mandalorian can look forward to the upcoming picture book A Clan of Two, due out in December. As well, the World of Reading series has a The Mandalorian early reader (Level 2) called Allies & Enemies also out in December!

In case you missed it, The Mandalorian Little Golden Book was also recently released!

Read, You Must: Even MORE Little Golden Books

The Skywalker Saga is now complete in Little Golden Book form! 

With the recent release of the Little Golden Book adaption of The Rise of Skywalker, it is now possible to read the entire saga as part of this classic children's book series.

The interior art is by Alan Batson (We Are the Resistance, I Am a Pilot, The Last Jedi), with a cover by Caleb Meurer (The Force Awakens, A New Hope). For some reason no author is credited for this book unlike the previous Star Wars Golden Book titles.

In the typical retro cartoonish art style of the previous books, The Rise of Skywalker retells the events of the film in a fun and kid-friendly way.

With this release, young fans can now enjoy reading all nine Skywalker saga "episodes" as well as Solo. The only Star Wars film to date that has not been adapted to this series is Rogue One. 
 

Also out now: The Mandalorian: This Is the Way Little Golden Book! Written by Christopher Nicholas and Illustrated by Shane Clester (I Am a Padawan), The most exciting Disney+ series gets its own picture book. There are more cool The Mandalorian books coming for young readers, but this appears to be the first one available.

Click the links above to see more fun Little Golden Books Star Wars adventures!

Spooky Star Wars Stories

In the past few years there have been plenty of options for young Star Wars readers to enjoy all aspects of the saga. Whether you prefer funny adventures like C-3PO Does Not Like Sand! or serious tales of the galactic struggle like Spark of the Resistance, there is a Star Wars story for everyone. 

Even fans of the SPOOKY side of the Force can find plenty to give them nightmares!

Here's a few of our favourite chilling tales in a galaxy far, far away... (Click on each for our original review)

Dark Legends by George Mann is a spine-tingling set of spooky tales has much in common with Myths & Fables as the stories are generally cautionary tales set in-universe in the Star Wars galaxy. Perhaps these are the stories that kept young padawans up at night?

The Mighty Chewbacca in the Forest of Fear! by Tom Angleberger is a middle-grade adventure novel featuring creepy chills and thrills hiding around every corner, or lurking in the next tree. Wookiees may not be afraid of the dangers that lurk ahead, but will you be?

Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex is a fun picture book where New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Adam Rex tries to answer the question of what could possibly scare the most terrifying villain in the galaxy. Spoiler alert: not much!

Tales from Vader's Castle are comics from IDW and part of the Star Wars Adventures series. These creepy comics have an over-riding story but also short stories within, featuring many familiar Star Wars characters facing horrors and frights! A follow up series called Return to Vader's Castle was also released. Both have been collected as graphic novels from IDW books.

Adventures in Wild Space is a series of middle-grade chapter books featuring all sorts of creepy crawlies and chilling brushes with danger. Exciting and fun, if you are brave enough!

And of course for those of you who are willing to dig deep and hunt them down, the original Galaxy of Fear chapter book series from 1997-98 is a must-read for terror and suspense in the Star Wars galaxy. The Adventures in Wild Space books and The Mighty Chewbacca

both owe a bit of debt to these Goosebumps-inspired thrillers! 

And while it's not a story, exactly, fans of the hairy, scary, scaly and creepy creatures of the Star Wars galaxy will want to check out DK Adventures' What Makes a Monster? by Adam Bray. This collection is recommended for any detail-oriented reader who’s enthusiastic to learn more about the furry, slimy or slithery beasts in the Star Wars saga.

What's the scariest Star Wars story you remember? Comment below!

Read, Dare You? Dark Legends

The creative team behind 2019's Myths & Fables returns with another collection of stories for younglings, but this time not for the easily frightened!

Star Wars: Dark Legends (Disney-Lucasfilm Press) is a 200+ page middle-grade hardcover collection of stories from author George Mann with eerily wonderful illustrations by Grant Griffin.

This spine-tingling set of spooky tales has much in common with Myths & Fables as the stories are generally cautionary tales set in-universe in the Star Wars galaxy. Perhaps these are the stories that kept young padawans up at night?

Continue on...if you dare!

If you enjoyed the creepier stories in Myths & Fables you'll love Dark Legends too. The stories are all Star Wars, but certainly some resemble horror stories of earth. Featured among these tales are the Star Wars equivalent of vampires, werewolves and witches. There's a few that have a strong "be careful what you wish for" message, and twist endings right out of the Twilight Zone.

Like Myths & Fables, everything about the Dark Legends presentation is like an old-fashioned book of tales for children, from the look of the book, the cut of the paper, the style of the artwork and the language of the narratives. It is a real treat to see these kinds of books and the attention to detail that goes into them.

Also available!

The "Legends" within Dark Legends are not connected to each other, cross the Star Wars timeline in interesting ways, and can be enjoyed in any order.

The only thing close to a complaint would be that this book is much smaller than Myths & Fables. It's digest size is dwarfed by the previous collection. Together they don't really look like the set they appeared to be.

That aside, Dark Legends is another great collection in a fun new direction in Star Wars publishing!

Publisher's recommendation: 8 - 12 years

Discover Use the Force!

What does it take to be a Jedi? Do you have what it takes? A brand-new book from DK poses those questions for young readers in a fun, entertaining way.

Use the Force! Discover What It Takes to Be a...Jedi is a 128-page guide book of sorts, but more of a light-hearted look at Jedi culture and famous Jedi in the Star Wars movies and TV shows. Not quite an In-Universe book, but still kind of is, this book explores the world of the Jedi in its own cheeky style.

Covering similar ground as more serious books like The Secrets of the Jedi and The Jedi Path, Use the Force! is a middle-grade "hybrid" book, meaning it's not really a graphic novel like the Jedi Academy series but still illustrated throughout with black and white photos and sketchy drawings. The design of this book is unique: LOTS of different fonts and plenty of yellow.

Fans of the Jedi Academy series and Tom Angleberger's Origami Yoda books will appreciate author Christian Blauvelt's humorous approach to the usually very serious topics of Jedi training, lifestyle, philosophy and more.

It's wonderful to see the continued practice of including TV characters and storylines in these books and not just focusing on the movies. Also Use the Force! is very current as it mentions a few things only revealed in the recent The Rise of Skywalker movie.

The overall look of the book may not appeal to some. DK is known for their amazing Visual Dictionary and other stunning Star Wars guide books but here the images are all black and white, or intentionally-amateurish line drawings.

One small complaint: the author makes it seem that Luke Skywalker himself trained Rey in the Jedi ways, but it was Leia who did that. Luke famously REFUSED to train her in their short time together in The Last Jedi. As seen in The Rise of Skywalker, Leia is the one training Rey. Here Leia is not mentioned as having been trained or teaching Rey as a Jedi, only that Leia "helps" Rey redeem Kylo Ren.

Use the Force! covers some pretty familiar territory as other books, but in very light-hearted way many younglings will enjoy.

(Publisher's Recommendation: Ages 7-10)

Also by Christian Blauvelt: 

 

Read, You Must: Force Collector

Every teenager goes through dramatic changes. Karr Nuq Sin, a teen on the planet Merokia, is experiencing something entirely unique. In an era long past the end of the Jedi, Karr is realizing he is Force-sensitve, and possibly more directly connected to the Jedi than he could ever imagine!

Force Collector is YA novel from Disney/Lucasfilm Press published last year as part of the "Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" promotion. Author Kevin Shinick previously penned the adorable picture book Chewie and the Porgs and now brings us his first Star Wars novel.

The story follows the teenage Karr as he more and more frequently has to deal with his "episodes" - blackouts and seizures - when he comes in contact with items with a connection to the Force or past Force-users. Karr's parents expect him to follow them into the family business. Karr sees his destiny on another path...

Along the way he connects with and befriends a fellow student named Maize. With her rebellious spirit and his longing for answers they set out on an adventure seeking more and more artifacts across the galaxy. They hope to learn more about the Jedi in their travels, but little do they know the secrets they may uncover.

Also by Kevin Shinick

What follows is a 379-page planet-jumping adventure, virtually a tour of the Star Wars galaxy as we know it. Instead of exploring new and exotic worlds, Karr and Maize travel to parts of the galaxy we as readers are quite familiar with. Tatooine, Jakku, Takodana, and even Batuu from Galaxy's Edge. Kajimi makes an appearance here too, before the release of The Rise of Skywalker happened.They learn about the Star Wars galaxy from a fresh perspective, meeting familiar faces like Maz Kanata and Unkar Plutt.

Set shortly before the events of The Force Awakens, Force Collector offers a unique way to explore the Star Wars galaxy. The reader is probably already very familiar with the places Karr visits so we often know more than Karr simply by having seen the movies. That is until the last quarter or so, where we are just as in the dark as Karr and secrets are finally revealed!

Force Collector is fairly light-hearted by modern Young Adult standards, and very mild on the "Adult" part of the YA moniker. While it has it's serious parts and pretty raw emotions at times, it is an excellent YA starting point for young teen readers stepping up from middle-grade novels like Join the Resistance, Ezra's Gamble and the Adventures in Wild Space titles.

Add Force Collector to your collection!