Published: August 4th, 2020
Author: Alex Segura
Cover Artist: Phil Noto
Publisher: Disney-Lucasfilm Press
Formats: Hardback (384 pages), eBook (384 pages), Audiobook (510 minutes)
Timeline: 18 ABY (approx.)
The synopsis;
Learn more about the dashing hero from the new Star Wars films! Telling a story hinted at in The Rise of Skywalker….
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.
The review;
Considering all of the amazing covers Noto created for Marvel’s Poe Dameron comic series between 2016 to 2018, it makes perfect sense that he’d tackle the artwork for Free Fall. Poe’s teenage portrait mixes dashing hero and rakish scoundrel, all finished with an artfully tousled haircut. It really captures the essence of his character, yet also hints at the events in the story by posing Zorii and her ship, the Ragged Claw, in opposite corners.
Teenage Poe Dameron hates the calm day-to-day life on Yavin 4, craving adventures among the stars fuelled by his parents’ stories from the Rebellion. However, since the death of his wife, Kes Dameron has become overly protective of his son and will hardly let the young man out of his sight. So, when the Kijimi Spice Runners become stranded on the planet and are in need of a pilot, Poe jumps at the opportunity to run away from his father, Yavin 4 and live a little dangerously. What he doesn’t expect are some of the consequences that come with being on the wrong side of the law, especially when the New Republic – the government his parents fought for – give chase.
There were a lot of shocks in The Rise of Skywalker and learning that Poe Dameron, poster-boy of the Resistance, was once a spice runner was quite surprising. It makes some sense though, because in real-life many people change careers. Poe’s shady past makes for a thrilling read, but rather than make him a bad-boy or troubled-teen, Segura writes Poe as a sheltered youth who just wants to find himself.
Even during this journey of self-exploration, Poe’s still a flyboy. Segura faultlessly captures the characterisation, balancing Poe’s overconfident bravado with his natural good heartedness, and it’s difficult not to hear Oscar Isaac’s voice behind every line. This younger Poe though has a charming naïveté about the galaxy at large, having never left Yavin 4, and seeing him in situations where he’s way out of his depth is fun to read. It links in with how he matured into an adult that could talk or fly himself out of anything.
Poe’s relationship with his father is also deftly written by Segura, and there’s an emotional rawness to it that makes it so much more believable. Heartbreak has made Kes shut the world out, even his son, and it’s this distance that ultimately leads to Poe running away. At the same time though, Kes deeply cares, and his line “Fathers will do whatever they need to find their sons,” is not only probably the best in the book, but should become a famous quote from the entire Star Wars universe.
Not only does Free Fall flesh out characters fans have seen before, it also weaves in plenty of new ones. Segura teases the reader by creating detailed characters that have history, hidden motivations and secrets that he reveals extremely slowly throughout the story – particularly at the end. New Republic Security Bureau Officer Sela Trune is a perfect example of this; she’s obsessed with bringing the Kijimi Spice Runners down, and happy to arrest Poe, yet only in the final chapters do readers learn why. One slightly jarring thing about these characters though is that they’re almost always referred to by their full names, even in dialogue, which does slow some scenes down a bit.
However good the characterisation, a story all about Poe Dameron obviously has to include flying. A lot of it. With so many cockpit scenes and dogfights, it could easily have become repetitive, yet Segura makes each one different by having Poe learn new maneuvers, so as his skill improves the space skirmishes become ever more intense and more thrilling to read. Poe’s improving flying skills then parallel his growing maturity, so he’s really on a dual-journey of self-discovery that makes Free Fall a true coming-of-age story. Poe’s arc in Free Fall is guided by his conscience, morals instilled by his parents, and there are aspects of a scoundrels’ life he just can’t ignore. Poe realises he’s too good a person to be a spice runner, yet getting out of that life is a lot harder than rashly jumping in.
The ending severs Poe’s relationship with the Kijimi Spice Runners in an explosive way. For a book full of action sequences, Segura saves the best till last and the revelations at the end will definitely surprise. However, the final scene of all is quite open and it will be interesting to see if there’s a sequel. Many fans would probably want more stories about Poe, especially with Segura safely at the helm.
Poe Dameron: Free Fall is a fantastic story, adding so much more background to the characters and some of the events in The Rise of Skywalker. Adolescent Star Wars fans will definitely find this story extremely relatable, while the wit and sarcasm of Poe is sure to entertain fans of all ages. So, if you need more of the flyboy in your life, then grab this book – wearing an X-wing pilot helmet while reading it is not mandatory but advised.
Availability;
Poe Dameron: Free Fall was published August 4th, 2020 in the US and in the UK in hardback and is available at all good bookstores and through online retailers including Amazon UK and US with an RRP of £14.99. It is available in hardback, eBook and audiobook formats.
