Alex Segura is a great mystery writer, but unfortunately Poe Dameron: Free Fall was very tough to get through. The characters felt flat, the plot meandered without going anywhere until the last third of the book, and the entire first half of the novel was in desperate need of basic editing -- I got this copy through Netgalley, so that might change.

Segura tried to use his writing chops to include a small mystery --and a very effective twist at the end--... that only affected a couple of secondary characters that then went on to die on the page. His original characters are really good -- kudos to lovely droid Eevee and to Trune, a Galactic Javert if there ever was one, but the villain's plan is moronic, we never learn what Spice does in a book about Spice Runners, and Poe and Zorii's relationship is convenient at best.

The book shines in a couple of places -- the final scene, where Poe finally finds his calling, is quite moving. Zorii also has a quite intermission with Babu Frik where we get to hear her thoughts, and the little backstory that we get about Kijimi is quite interesting.

This is not the author's fault -- a gig is a gig -- but why was this specific book necessary right now? Poe is the only character from the sequel trilogy that is getting a novel even after he got a long-running comic-book series of his own... and the only answer that comes to mind is that this was commissioned to plug the holes that The Rise of Skywalker blew in Star Wars canon, and, if possible, to convince the fanbase that Poe is definitely not gay (the jury is still out on that one, even after this book).

I'd love to read more about Eevee and Trune in the future. I wanted to know more about Spice and Babu, and I will pick up more of Segura's mystery series... but I cannot, in any good conscience, recommend Poe Dameron: Free Fall in the state I got it.

Two stars, one for Trune and one for Eevee.

This book just did not work. It failed to capture anything of Poe that we know from the films. It could easily have been about someone else and have been the same.

I had so many issues with this book. Poe having a dead mom, like the Star Wars universe doesn’t already have enough of those?

Zorii being described as a woman from the get-go even though she’s a teen; while Poe is called a boy for the majority of the book.

The way the characters’ full names were given, like it was being written for SEO and not as a storybook. What was up with that? Also, why was Poe speaking in full sentences without contractions? It makes him sound weird and not like a real person.

The story fell flat for me. It was repetitive and focused on a very short period in Poe’s life. This book could easily have been 200 pages shorter and said the exact same things!

Zorii being reduced to a love-lorn sidekick was so frustrating. Can’t a female character ever be more than that?

And honestly, the tone was just off. We saw Poe and Zorii together, they’re funny, and they tease each other. Nothing like that comes across in this book at all because it’s so serious. That isn’t Poe at all.

If you’re hoping to find out more about Poe’s connection to the Resistance, you’re going to get half a page of Poe seeing Leia on a broadcast. Sigh.

Not a good book by any means.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

Where do I start with how bad this book is? The writer was given one brief - elaborate on Poe’s spice runner career. Using the keywords Poe, Zorii, spice runner and Kijimi, the author came up with this travesty.

Reading this book made me feel like someone was pulling a fast one. The story is written as if a robot churned it out. There is no emotion, no depth. It lacks stakes and connection between the characters. The writing is so tired and full of old fashioned idioms and proverbs. There’s nothing Star Wars about the writing - no matter how many creatures and references to the Rebellion are thrown in.

Poe falling in with the runners at age 16 is the silliest take. A better, smarter writer would have dug into the insidious ways that drug dealers entice young innocent people into the trade in the real world. We could have witnessed another side of Poe if he were a young man being pulled into a world that was bad for him. What toll does it take on Poe who has lived a sheltered life? How do his mistakes really affect him? Instead we’re saddled with a dead mother, daddy issues and a hotshot pilot who can do it all and get the girl. Wow, we’ve never read any of that before.

We don’t get any sense of urgency or fear in this book because all the important stuff happens off-page or has no bearing. This comes down to the horrifying pacing that speeds up when establishing the dynamic between Poe and Zorii but slows down to tell us that they’re now very close and have a connection. Show, don’t tell, is not this author’s motto.

The final act clinched how directionless the writing was. Suddenly the points of view were everywhere and Poe and Zorii, the characters we had picked this book up for, were taking a backseat to a fight between two people we didn’t care about.

It’s obvious the author wrote this with a cinematic mind which meant the writing was stripped down to the minimum. The flare came in describing the species but not in expanding our understanding of these characters and their criminal lives.

I hate that the author actively makes Zorii a villain. She has no morals. I am going to have to scrub this take on the character from my mind because it’s just unfair. Zorii could be a spice runner for a million reasons and she didn’t necessarily have to be murderous. There’s no redeeming her in this book and that undermines her heroic arc in the film.

I’m astounded by how phoned in this writing was. I’ve read other Star Wars novels and while they may not be purple prose, they work wonders with exploring the human condition through their characters.

This is further proof that we need diverse minds to expand on pop culture. It’s not enough to give the safe bet every chance. They’ll just churn out the same boring tropes and stories that have come before. Hard pass on this book.

Poe Dameron: Free Fall, written by Alex Segura, shows the events from when Poe grew up on Yavin IV, to him joining the Spice Runners of Kigimi and meeting Zorii, to him eventually joining Leia.

The events that take place in the book make numerous events from The Rise of a Skywalker easier to understand. A few examples of this is hyperspace skipping, which we learn more about in the first few chapters of book, and the events that took place between Poe and Zorii which resulted in Poe leaving Zorii and the Spice Runners of Kigimi. We also get to see what happened from the time when Poe, Rey, and Finn left Kigimi to the destruction of the planet, and how Zorii and Babu escaped.

Segura does an incredible job of telling the backstories of two already known big screen characters. The young adult novel explores what happened between the two characters between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, as well as giving insight into the characters’ relationships with their families. The book also shows the newly formed New Republic and how they dealt with crime after the Battle of Jakku like the Spice Runners of Kigimi. We get to see the organization’s history and how they operate, along with the enemies of the crime organization.

Sigura writes the Poe’s coming of age story beautifully, keeping me on the edge of my seat and guessing what would happen next, when though I was rarely right. The book keeps the reader’s interest throughout the story by telling smaller stories and adventures within the overall novel. Once I got to the end of the book, I couldn’t believe that it was over. The final events of the story are told amazingly and leaves me wanting to learn more about the rest of Poe’s life before The Force Awakens.

Segura makes it easy to understand and bond with the characters. He presents both Poe and Zorii as relatable teenagers growing up and finding their place in the galaxy. The relationship between the two characters as they both grow up really made me like them and makes me almost feel bad for them because of how much they went through. Segura also includes amazing side characters that add so much to the story.

The book can be confusing at times. The beginning starts out immediately in a space during a skirmish with the law enforcement. I had to reread sections of the book once in a while to fully understand what was going on, mainly during action sequences, but it rarely took away from what was going on. The book also tends to jump a period of time after an important event, which can cause the first pages of the next chapter to be confusing, but Segura tends to put a passage in the explains what has happened, normally as Poe thinking to himself.

I would recommend this book to anyone who takes interest in the criminal underworld of the Star Wars universe or anyone who was interested in Poe or Zorii or their relationship when they were younger. Also, if a main problem that you had with The Rise of Skywalker was Poe, Zorii, and Kigimi, I definitely recommend reading this to clear up everything that took place.

Thank you to Disney Publishing Worldwide for an advanced reader copy from Netgalley!

This is a hard review to write for multiple reasons. I was super excited to receive this ARC because Poe Dameron is one of my favorite Star Wars characters and I feel that he had so much potential that was wasted in the movies. I wanted to know so much about him, his past, his romantic interests, etc. And then the last movie came out and Zorri got introduced and I didn’t care that much. I personally didn’t like her as a character. But I believed this book would answer so many questions I had, but it really did nothing for me.

“Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall” takes one line Poe says in “The Rise of Skywalker” about being a spice runner, and turned it into a whole book which explains how he got into the action, how he met Zorri, but drags it out for 300+ pages that just wasn’t worth the time to me.

Before I get into the book more, I think my reading experience would tell you how I approached this book. I read about 30% of this book over the course of about 2 weeks and then I read the last 70% in under 24 hours because the book had such little dialogue and plot points that I didn’t even need to read all of the page to understand what was going on.

Moving on to the book itself, I thought it was pretty mediocre. Nobody has to read this book to understand Poe or his character anymore than the movies do. There are a lot of other books that cover Poe as a character before the events of the sequel trilogy that would probably cover him better, and this book actually made me want to pick up those books instead. I would honestly just recommend this book if you want to know more about Zorri because she is covered more in the book than Poe.

It just felt like any other Star Wars book to me, which made me very sad. I love Star Wars, and Poe is one of my favorite characters but it just didn’t do him justice for me. I would love an in-depth look at him and his past and his family, but what was covered in this book just scraped the surface. I could just be a little too old for the intended audience but this book was not my favorite and would suggest looking at one of the other amazing Star Wars books that are out/coming out in the future. I appreciate the ARC but I don’t think I would recommend it.

Poe Dameron: Free Fall by Alex Segura starts off as a tale about teenage Poe Dameron as he begins to get involved as a spice runner before he joins the rebellion. It's a fun, fast-paced adventure that jumps from mission to mission. It does a decent job of bringing young Poe and Zorii to life and letting us in to their world. Poe Dameron is one of my favorites characters from the new Star Wars films, but I wasn't terribly thrilled with where his character ends up over the course of three films. Either way, I was pretty excited to see the character I loved from The Force Awakens gets his start. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed by this novel. The characterizations, relationships, and world-building were a little too flat for my tastes. My expectations were quite high and it just never got there, but to be honest usually any day I get to see a Star War is a good day.

The first act starts off with a bang and does a great job introducing us to the characters as well as Poe’s motivation. I feel that his thirst for adventure, while compelling and relatable, perhaps isn't a strong enough motivation to sustain the choices he’s making in the second and third act. The story seems to remind us that Poe's joined the wrong side and that the criminal life conflicts with his own morals, but I feel as though it doesn't provide a strong enough reason for him to stay in the situation, which sometimes makes it hard to root for him. I think I'd like him to fight for a good moral cause or be caught in a situation where he has to do morally ambiguous things to survive, but it feels like he’s voluntarily living on the wrong side in order to satisfy his need for adventure.

That said, what the book does, it does well. The action is exciting and engaging, and the story is well-paced. I enjoyed Poe and Zorii's relationship, as well as Trune's journey. Despite maybe needing a stronger motivation for the main character, this was a fun and engaging read.

First off and as always, thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the e-ARC to read and review!

I greatly enjoyed this as an addition to the Star Wars sequel story! It gives some great background to Poe and to how/why he was a spice runner, as well as how he met and knew Zorii. There was plenty of action, space travel, and adventure! Anyone that loves Poe and his amazing piloting skills will love this one, so I highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed reading this, it really brings more light to Poe Dameron's backstory. The way it was written was great and it had what I was looking for in both a Star Wars Story and a Poe Dameron story. Overall I really enjoyed reading this.

Give me all of the Poe Dameron stories. I will read them all and love them. Seriously this was just what I wanted. I could picture him in my head and the voicing and conversations felt realistic to the character.
Give me more.

DNF @ 50%. This started off promising; it seemed like we were getting a character driven look at Poe’s youth, his relationship with his father, his dreams, etc. That quickly fell away in favor of mindless action and forgettable side characters. I was looking forward to exploring Poe’s friendship with Zorii, but the way it was portrayed had very surface-level depth; their relationship held no surprises and it was the most predictable route they could have taken it. Star Wars books are tricky to get right, and I’ve only found a couple that really worked for me— sadly, this seems to be another middle of the road addition to the Star Wars novels canon. If you’re a diehard Poe fan and you aren’t looking for anything too unique or refreshing, this might be for you. 3/5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book! I’m a big Star Wars fan anyway, but Poe was one of those characters I wanted to know a bit more about. I found this entertaining, interesting, and fun. I could absolutely see the Poe we know from the movies being the same as this written Poe which isn’t always the case. I was also impressed with the writing and can’t wait to read more by this author.

Poe Dameron: Free Fall is finally the backstory we needed especially after the events of Rise of Skywalker. This book focuses on the early life of Poe and most especially, Zorii - who she is, how they met and why she is such a big deal to him. The book was much better than I expected it to be and I recommend reading it to understand more about the characters.

I requested this book on NetGalley and never expected to actually receive a copy - thanks so much to Disney/Lucasfilm for the opportunity!
Poe Dameron: Free Fall has got everything you could want from a Star Wars story - action, adventure, cool starships and a fun cast of characters. Zorii is a major player, of course, and it's great to see her again here. (She's such a fascinating character here, I wish the book were about her instead of Poe!) And Babu Frick absolutely steals the few scenes he's in.
That being said, this wasn't my favorite Star Wars novel, by far.
It's doesn't have an epic story to tell and doesn't expand the galaxy the way some other books do, which can be fine, but isn't going to ever get top billing from me.
My main issue, though, is not necessarily with this book, but rather, the way it fits into the larger Disney canon. The Rise of Skywalker's retconning of Poe's backstory as an ace New Republic pilot to a spice runner. Rather than the fun romp it should've been, this book just felt like an attempt to bend over backwards to justify a poorly-executed plot twist. If I hadn't been so invested in Poe's former backstory, I think I would've enjoyed it much more. Poe's characterization here is solid and believable but I just don't think it meshes especially well with his other appearances, not significantly later in the timeline, which I personally prefer.
Verdict: 3.5*
Recommended for: Star Wars fans eager to learn more about Poe's time with the Spice Runners of Kijimi, especially those who aren't already familiar with Poe's comics and novels.

Here goes the answer to Poe Dameron's mysterious backstory that was hinted in "rise of skywalker"!

I have to say, I'm impressed. Since page 1, the author knew it was going to take me into a wild ride and indeed, I was definitely caught up in all the action that the star wars universe provides us , and for this character to receive a mysterious and intriguing past, just like the character himself.... I am definitely satisfied. Fast-paced action, adventures in the stars as well as finding oneself in such a big galaxy...er, well society, Poe definitely makes many choices, some of which helped him become the person he is now and other choices that could've meant the end of his existence. His blooming romance with Zorri was nice, I enjoyed that plot and as for the different characters in this book... I absolutely loved the diverse cast of characters in this book. Definitely a great read.... I would loove to read a sequel sometime because this was great!!

I thought I would like this book more to get Poe’s backstory as he was one of my top characters in the movies, however, I know it is totally my problem but I just didn’t like his character (so sad).

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

An awesome story that gives more background into the character of Poe Dameron and Zirri Bliss. All the action and adventure of a Star Wars movie. Will keep any Star Wars fans interest.

My second Star Wars book in two months. Who am I? I really enjoyed learning about Poe Dameron's past in this book. We learn about how he became involved with Kijimi, Zorii, and the smugglers (all mentioned and shown in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker). I also liked seeing Poe's reckless and brave personality as a teenager. But the plot itself of the book is pretty lacking. It's one smuggling run after another, patched together without any smooth transitions. But the backstory is still pretty interesting.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 4
Plot/Movement: 2
Character Development: 3
Overall: 3

Thank you, Disney Lucasfilm Press and NetGalley, for the review copy!

I really enjoyed this book and getting to learn more about Poe's backstory!. He has become one of my favorite characters through my rewatch of all the movies, so I was thrilled to get to read a whole book about him! I thought the book did a great job with his character as well as showing even more of the Star Wars universe. One of my favorite things in terms of the writing was the variety of chapter lengths that really helped pace the story. I would definitely recommend this book to Poe fans and Star Wars fan in general!

There is a throwaway line in The Rise Of The Skywalker where Finn finds out that Poe Dameron used to be a spice runner in his youth. Spice runners in Star Wars being the equivalent of drug runners, this comes as quite a surprise to the group as they know Poe to be a standup member of the resistance. But as we watch them weave through the planet with Zorii Bliss, you start to wonder what happened back in those days.
Or at least that is what new book Poe Dameron Free Fall by Alex Segura is hoping for. The book starts with a teenage Poe Dameron living on Yavin 4, dealing with the how the loss of his mother has affected his family and feeling as if he wants to live a life more than what Yavin 4 has to offer. It is here he meets up with the spice runners of Kijimi and the one and only Zorii Wynn.
To be honest this is where the book lost me a little, since I have seen The Rise of the Skywalker I knew Zorii as Zorii Bliss, that is how she was introduced in the movie and so when this other Zorii came along I was confused and thought I was going crazy. How common could the name Zorii be that Poe met 2 in such a short time? Mild tiny spoiler, they are the same person and the name change is not a typo. It all comes into play in this book.
Poe and Zorii meet each other after Poe gets into a fight with his dad and in a desperate act of teenage rebellion he joins her as the new pilot for the spice runners of Kijimi and together they get off Yavin 4 and start Poe’s journey into spice running.
All in all this book is well plotted and the doesn’t have too much downtime in between adventures, but at it’s heart it is a coming of age story that doesn’t give too much insight on how decisions are being made. Poe’s character lacks the charisma that his older counterpart has though you do see it try to sneak in from time to time. I would be interested to see if this becomes a series of books that will give us more insight to how he became such a well beloved member of the resistance,
It isn’t that his time as a spice runner isn’t that interesting because it is just not the most interesting thing about Poe since it wasn’t a thing that was fully formed in the movies. But it is nice to see them take a small bit of the movie and decide to run with it to make the character a but more fully formed. One of the saddest parts of the new trilogy to me was a lack of development for some of the characters, but they are bringing that around within the literary universe.
So should you read this book?
Yes, if you like Poe Dameron, read this book. If you like spice runners, read this book. If you want more Babu Frick read this book. And if you want more Zorii Bliss, read this book. Really I can’t think of a reason for a Star Wars fan to not read this book. Overall it is a 3.5 our 5 stars