Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run

Crash of Fate is listed as a YA Star Wars novel. That a product in a universe as PG as Star Wars is given a “YA” tag should give an indication that this skews very young – more middle school tween than high school, to be honest. And there isn’t a lot of true Star Wars in here – Stormtroopers and Resistance appear for a total of 2-3 pages each in the entire novel. So if you modify your expectations down a bit and look at this more as a sci fi YA romance rather than a Star Wars or Disneyland Galaxy’s Edge novel, you’ll probably enjoy this more.

Story: Izzy and Jules are best friends – kids together on Batuu exploring the spires and playing together. But one night Izzy’s parents take her away from Batuu, never to return. Years later, now grown up, Izzy is a spacer doing smuggling on various planets and Jules is following in his farmer father’s footsteps, providing food for the Black Spire outpost. When Izzy is contracted to personally bring a suitcase to Batuu and deliver to Dok Ondar, she will run into Julen again for the first time since she left. Sparks fly.

These books set in Galaxy’s Edge at the Disney Parks are a great way to enhance a visit and I am really glad to have them for that aspect. Especially in the book Black Spire, we got a full introduction to the shops, history, and reason that both the First Order and the Resistance are interested in and located at such a remote location. For that aspect, I highly encourage people planning a Disney vacation to read Black Spire in advance.

This book, however, uses the Batuu location but doesn’t really enhance it or give us much in the way of furthering the story or understanding of it. If anything, all we get is a backstory of the popcorn stand in Galaxy’s Edge (Kat Saka’s Kettle) since that was oddly a strong focus (more so than Dok Ondar’s Den or Oga’s Cantina). Main character Julen’s family does ‘grain’ farming and supposedly the soil is so rich it makes the popcorn amazing and highly sought after. So oddly enough, product placement was fun in the Black Spire book yet oddly conspicuous here. But I appreciated seeing Salju (the mechanic) again as well as Oga and Dok. However with the opening of Rise of the Resistance ride this year, I really had hoped we would see more of the ancient ruins in which the ride is housed.

All Disney geek stuff aside, this is a story told in alternating viewpoints of the two main characters Jules and Izzy. Jules is the guy who stayed on the planet and never followed his dreams to leave while Izzy is the one who had to hard scramble to survive after her parents were killed when she was younger. They both seem far too innocent to live and I would have liked to see a bit more edge here and there. The book is mostly about the smuggling aspect of Star Wars and in that way, the characters reminded me a LOT of younger versions of Han Solo and Qi’ra.

For me, I really want the Star Wars world to intrude more. More Stormtroopers or more Resistance, especially since both are a huge presence in the city in which this takes place. I could have done with less romance as well; while I appreciate having character development this still greatly felt like instaluv and too much time was spent on the two mooning over each other or past mistakes. In that way, it seems like a wasted opportunity: not all that much Star Wars, not all that much Batuu/Galaxy’s Edge, and not enough that made either character nuanced and real. I don’t regret buying it but I had greatly hoped for more. Maybe a good read on the plane for your 15 year old?

The Ecuadorian Zoraida Crdova gives us a romance and action tale about a girl, Izzy, and a boy, Jules, from Batuu, the planet from the Disney parks, she leaves the planet and only a succession of events bring her back after several years, shortly after the Hosnian Massacre.

Izzy will get involved in a race to stop her former crew from ruining the lives of several people in Black Spire Outpost, while reconnecting and trying not to fall in love with Jules a mere day after being dumped by her ex-boyfriend.

The tale is interesting and well crafted, but the scope is limited to the planet and has no galactic repercussions. My only complaint is that at some points the product placement feels forced into the story, where not only the names of the many stores, but also every single drink, must be named before the book ends.

Other than that, Zoraida Crdova is a fine writer, and I have enjoyed her non-Star Wars titles.

Went in without expecting anything, came out with a new favorite author. I hope hope hope she gets more books because I’m 100% sold on her vision of Star Wars.

I am currently as CM at Batuu and this is an amazing book! Its full of detail and adventure! Any Star Wars fan would love ton add this to their collection!

I pretty much read this in one sitting, looking forward to each page. I loved the romance aspect of the book and to be honest, that’s part of what drove me to the end. I hope I haven’t read the last adventures of Izzy and Jules.