Tales From A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens Volume I

Star Wars: Tales From A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens Volume I is a long title, but it’s worth checking out. This collection of short stories is written by Landry Q. Walker. It contains six tales, four of which were released as digital eBooks back in November. Rather than reviewing those four again, please check out our original review which covers “High Noon on Jakku”, “The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku”, “The Face of Evil” and “All Creatures Great and Small.” Each story stars a different background character from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. From Zuvio to Bobbajo, there’s a wide variety and each has their own flavor of story. However, with the physical release of the hardcover collection, Disney Lucasfilm Press included two new stories, which is what will dive into with this review.

First up, “A Recipe For Death.” While this isn’t first time Star Wars has shown the spotlight on cooks in the Galaxy Far, Far Away, this is the first time we’ve seen one in the modern era of Gordon Ramsay and reality tv. Diving into Maz Kanata’s castle, this story takes a look at her team of cooks. The head chef is left with a body and a dilemma – turn it in or hunt down the guilty party? Strono “Cookie” Tuggs decides to take matters into his own hands, and through a series of cooking challenges disguised as a reality tv stint, he narrows down who the killer is. You see, the killer stole a prized recipe book, so by tasting the best dishes of the wannabe top chefs, Cookie plans to find the guilty party. It’s weird, but it’s fun. Depending on what kind of Star Wars fan you are, you’ll either enjoy this one for being different bug fun, or you’ll just be put off by how far away it strays from the formula of the movies. Personally, I liked it, and it fits in perfectly with the style of stories of the old Legends tales.

The second new story is “True Love” and stars none other than Unkar Plutt. Of all the characters getting a story in the book, he’s the one who gets the most dialog and screen time in the actual movie. Thus if any minor character is deserving of a story, it’s certainly Unkar. While we don’t learn of his ties to Rey, we do get to learn a bit about the character and his motivations. In this tale, a couple of his lackeys try to scam over the blobfish junk dealer with a dating service. Their goal is to find his secret riches hidden out in the desert wastes. This means we get to see Unkar being romantic, and ultimately betrayed. It’s a battle of wits in the end to see who has the upper hand. Again, it’s another classic story that’s just plain fun. Nothing earth shattering, but definitely a worthy addition to the collection.

So, if you bought all four digital eBooks, is the physical hardcover worth getting just for two new stories? Personally, I say yes. It’s a nice hardcover bindup that makes an excellent addition to your Star Wars library. The dust jacket is removable and reveals the full cover art without any words. It’s a slightly textured cover and a smaller sized book which makes it comfortable for longer reading periods. All of the stories are worthwhile and it’s not that expensive. Overall, it’s a nice short story collection and I’d love to see more. Landry Q. Walker did a great job tackling Star Wars in the none-too-easy format of short fiction. Each packs a punch with colorful characters. I give Tales From A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens Volume I a five out of five metal bikinis.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.

For more reading, check out our interview with author Landry Q. Walker right here.