For a character who was originally supposed to die in the opening minutes of The Force Awakens, Poe Dameron has had quite the extended life. Beyond the sequel trilogy, he’s had an excellent on-going comic, starred in an adult novel, and already gotten a little back story in novels/comics before. After his surprise additional backstory introduced in The Rise of Skywalker, we’re getting a YA novel by writer Alex Segura that’ll dive into Poe’s time as a spice smuggler this August, titled Poe Dameron: Free Fall (via Polygon). It’s surprising characters with less backstory and content weren’t chosen for a novel, but here we are. Check out the blurb and some of my thoughts below.
“It’s been a few years since Poe’s mother passed away, and Poe and his father, who was a pilot for the Rebellion, have had more and more trouble connecting. Not sure what he wants to do with his life, teenage Poe runs away from home to find adventure, and to figure out what kind of man he is meant to be.”
It’s a little thing, but Poe’s father Kes was a soldier for the Rebellion, specifically the Pathfinders, and his mother Shara Bey was the pilot. Thankfully, Jennifer Heddle (Executive Editor for Disney Publishing’s Star Wars arm) has acknowledged the error and they will have it fixed!
Why it felt necessary to add teenage spice smuggling to Poe’s backstory in TROS I’ll never quite understand, as it makes him even more like Han Solo than he already was, but I will say they at least made it seem interesting enough to explore. Zorii Bliss was an intriguing character, portrayed by Kerri Russel far better than one would expect considering she was stuck in a mask, though I’m not too excited about them exploring her relationship with Poe; Babu Frick is a new fan-favorite, including mine, and I can’t wait for more drunk-like antics from the small guy; and Kijimi, the planet they were on, seemed to hold a deeper history (before it got blown to chunks). I’m not particularly excited for the book, but I always enjoy Poe and look forward to learning more about these characters, so in the end I’m eager to read this when it releases. I just wish there was a novel about literally anyone else, especially a female character, where there are plenty waiting to get as much exposure as Poe already has; and ones who need it far more than he does.
Alex Segura’s Poe Dameron: Free Fall arrives August 4, 2020, with cover art by Alice X. Zhang.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.