New Star Wars Young Adult Novel Explores Poe Dameron’s Past

Since the release of the The Force Awakens, we’ve known Resistance hero Poe Dameron as an ace pilot and the son of war heroes who fought beside Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo during the rebellion against the Empire. But in The Rise of Skywalker a new character, Zorii Bliss, reveals that Poe had once been part of a gang of spice runners on the Mid Rim planet of Kijimi. It’s a surprising detail about the character, and in a YA novel coming this summer we’ll find out more about Poe’s formative years and the Star Wars underworld he became a part of as a teenager.

 

 

In an exclusive interview with Polygon, Alex Segura, best known for his Peter Fernandez mystery series, opened up about his debut novel for Star Wars. He says he loves writing multi-faceted characters like Poe.

Poe is, of course, a hero—but that doesn’t mean he woke up one day fully formed in terms of his beliefs and experiences. Poe’s loyal, driven, extremely sharp, and stubborn—but the chance to tell the story of how he came to be that Poe, and the shady, dangerous corners of the galaxy he had to walk through to get there, was extremely appealing to me as a storyteller.

 

 

According to Segura, Poe Dameron: Free Fall will be “very much a galactic crime novel, in that it explores the seedier side of the Star Wars universe.” He says he’s indebted to previous authors like Greg Rucka, Charles Soule, and Rebecca Roanhorse, who have developed the relatable sequel trilogy character in a short story, comic, and last year’s Resistance Reborn respectively. Segura adds that their work “fleshed out key moments in Poe’s life” giving him “some really exciting jumping-off points to tinker with.”

 

The upcoming YA novel will feature cover art by Alice X. Zhang, who also provided art for last year’s Master and Apprentice. Alex Segura promises his book expanding on Poe’s youthful backstory will be “an action-packed, thrilling adventure that’s firmly entrenched in the Star Wars mythos.”

 

Look for Star Wars: Poe Dameron: Free Fall on shelves August 4 and available for pre-order from online retailers starting next month.

 

 

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Lover of all the Star Wars, especially Rogue One. One half of @heartskyberpod

Christy Wilson

Lover of all the Star Wars, especially Rogue One. One half of @heartskyberpod

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