Book-Thirsty Thursday: Star Wars: Canto Bight might not be necessary, but it’s a lot of fun

Do you absolutely need to read Star Wars: Canto Bight to be completely ready for Star Wars: The Last Jedi? No, but should you? Yes.

Like Phasma and Leia, Princess of Alderaan, Star Wars: Canto Bight has “Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi” atop its dust jacket. In terms of expectations, Canto Bight should probably tie with Phasma as the most essential of the three, as it takes Star Wars fans deeper into something new. For Phasma, it was that character’s backstory. Canto Bight should shed some light on the new world.

But, lurking on the back of that dust jacket is perhaps a more telling line: “Whatever happens in the galaxy, Canto Bight prospers.” And while readers might be expecting secrets, or even a cameo by Benicio del Toro’s DJ, it’s impossible to see what might end up paying off later without knowing much about what we’ll see in The Last Jedi. I think that that’s the point, actually, because Canto Bight is a casino city, and it always wins, to restate the above line into the more common phrasing.

Is it worth it to wait a week, until after you’ve seen The Last Jedi for the first time, to come back to Canto Bight? That I can’t agree with, because these four writers — Saladin Ahmed, Mira Grant, Rae Carson and John Jackson Miller, in order of story appearance — have put together a fascinating anthology.

I admit I’m biased here as a fan of Mira Grant both writing under this name and her actual name, Seanan McGuire, but her “The Wine in Dreams” is exquisitely written and perhaps the most expansive of the four, if only because of those Grammus sisters. The old Expanded Universe had a lot of colorful characters, but the sisters could give any of them a run for their money, and that’s absolutely fine by me.

And yet Rae Carson’s “Hear Nothing, Say Nothing, See Nothing” is basically Taken, but with Star Wars. Which … is also not a bad thing, and that’s a very simple summary, to be completely fair. The more ridiculous (but accurate) summary is that a masseuse tries to get his adopted daughter back from a very corrupt councilor by utilizing some old abilities. (You’ll never know how much it took to not say “a very particular set of skills” there, but now I’ve gotten it it in.) But her writing takes this and makes it gripping. We want Lexo to get Lula back, even if he doesn’t do good things to do it.

Saladin Ahmed’s “The Rules of the Game” might be the most traditionally Star Wars of the stories in the sense that it’s ultimately weirdly hopeful and unlikely, even if things get bleak in the middle there. In that sense, it makes for a good choice to open the book — easing us in, lulling us into thinking that things will be about the same through the other three works. Again, it feels quite calculated to evoke the feeling of Canto Bight and a casino, because “The Wine in Dreams” and “Hear Nothing” are the most gut-punchy of the four, at least in this reviewer’s estimation.

And so you come to “The Ride,” Miller’s contribution and the last of the four … and it seems, at first, like perhaps the most uninteresting. But it turns into a wild romp thanks to the plot. (A very mild discussion of plot follows. No details.) Does it perhaps go on a little too long, just so that Miller can build up a series of coincidences that pay off? Yes. It’s the longest story (not by much, but it is), and that feels like it might be part of the problem. I wouldn’t say it’s exactly weak, but after the three solid pieces that precede it, it does feel like a slight letdown.

Next: 15 things you need to know about Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Canto Bight could have included more than four writers, and I probably would have lapped it up anyway. But the mix works, for the most part, and I’m only more excited for the movie that this book is meant to publicize.