I’ve successfully avoided seeing Rise of Skywalker at the cinema. After the mediocre Force Awakens and the positively insulting Last Jedi, I know it’s not for me and I count Episodes VII-IX is an Elseworlds in my personal Star Wars universe. It sounds ridiculous (and trivial). And, of course, it is. What I have read, though, is the new Star Wars #1 from Marvel written by Charles Soule and drawn by Jesus Saiz. It’s set at the end of Empire – wow, Empire was 40 years ago! – and shows what happened immediately afterwards. It seemed to capture the tone of the original trilogy which suits my nostalgic self perfectly. Enjoyed it very much.
Moment of nostalgia: I can vividly remember sitting in front of the tv in my pyjamas watching a BBC (?) documentary about the making of Empire before its release (I guess in 1980). I’d talked my mum into letting me stay up late as I’m sure it was shown on a Sunday night about 9 or 10p.m. and I had school the next day and I was incredibly excited to see clips from the upcoming sequel. In those days I relied on Star Wars Weekly comics and Starburst magazines for news. While I was watching I drew a snow speeder on a page in a reporter’s notebook from what I briefly saw on the screen. It was the first time I saw a snowspeeder and gave it a background full of stars as if it was flying through space. I can still see that blue biro drawing in my memory. I remember being amazed at the scenes of Dagobah and the steps where Vader and Luke cross lightsabers.
Finished Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. It’s a well-plotted space opera combined with a detective story and a little horror thrown in. Undoubtedly, I would have enjoyed it far more if I hadn’t seen the tv series, which is pretty faithful in its adaptation. I’m going to try to read all The Expanse short stories and novels over the next month or so.
It’s back to work tomorrow. For one day! I’m having abdominal surgery on Tuesday which will put me out of action for at least a week or two. I haven’t thought about going into hospital at all and it still seems something that isn’t really going to happen or is going to happen to someone else.
