Canto Bight – Review

One of the very first glimpses fans got from The Last Jedi was a menagerie of high rollers from a brand new casino planet called Canto Bight. It featured aliens of all shapes and sizes while evoking feel of Las Vegas in the 1960s. Now as the film rapidly approaches (2 days from the writing of this review), the last book in the “Journey to the Last Jedi” gives us a taste of what life is like on this “paradise”. Canto Bight is like a few of the most recent Star Wars books, a collection of short stories connected by a single theme or place. It has four different tales by four different authors, each giving us their own unique perspective on this world.

Rules of the Game

In the first story, Saladin Ahmed tells the story Kedpin Shoklop, the winner of VaporTech’s Salesbeing of the Year award. The award comes with a full, two-week, all-expenses paid trip to Canto Bight. The tale is mildly amusing. Kedpin is a trusting soul, which leads him to being a “mark” from the moment he lands on the planet. As hijinks ensue, he finds himself mixed up in a dangerous game with a corrupt police officer and the man hired to kill him. It’s a weak opening to the book, but luckily there are three more stories.

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Wine in the Dreams

The second story is by Rae Carson. Her writing is exquisite, and her exquisite use of language is mesmerizing. She leaves you feeling like you understand Canto Bight perfectly when you’re done reading her installment. The story revolves around Derla, a sommelier who’s arrived in hopes of procuring one of the rarest wines in the galaxy. She finds herself in an interesting game with one of the casino owners and some twins. The theme that, “Everything is the legend. Everything is the lie,” is perfectly portrayed. Canto Bight is a beautiful lie, and most people in it are as well, and by the time this story is over you know intrinsically what that lie is all about.

Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing

The third story by Mira Grant adds the mob element that every good casino town needs. Lexo Sooger is a simple massage specialist who ends up having to relive his past in order to save an adopted daughter. The question is, just how far will he go to get her back? Carson finds that right balance between the mob and action genres to craft the perfect yarn for this “Star Wars Vegas.”

The Ride

The last story is by a name familiar to Star War book fans. John Jackson Miller writes the story of Kaljach Sonmi, determined to make it in Canto Bight. He’s a decent card player and a proposition player employed by the casino. But that’s not good enough for him; he wants to win big. This desire puts him in debt with one of the mob bosses and he’s got just till sunrise to pay it all back. As luck would have it, he runs into “The Lucky Three” and they may just help him find the right streak.

The best thing about the story is the way it ties in the theme of losing joy in life and how many times we’re the ones responsible for killing the magic in our own lives. Much of the time, the way to get that joy back is have it shown to you by a friend. It’s not only the theme of joy that is well done, Jackson is also able to comment on the importance of places like Canto Bight existing. One of the characters sums it up best when he says,

“Of course not—because people come to Canto Bight so as not to have to think about all that.” He gestured to the casino floor, teeming with happy people. “When there’s so much bad going on, it helps to know that there’s a place where none of that matters.”

Conclusion

Canto Bight is a fun book. Three out of the four stories really work. Yet, there is still a feeling like none of them are truly essential or add anything to the mythos of Star Wars in a way you’d be missing if you hadn’t read them. It is a fun way to wait for The Last Jedi and could possibly be even more rewarding to read after the movie is out and seen. Canto Bight is rated 3.5 out of 5 stars.

This review was completed using a copy of Canto Bight provided by Del Rey.

You can find the author Matthew Rushing at The 602 Club PodcastAggressive Negotiations: A Star Wars Podcast or Owl Post: A Harry Potter Podcast.

 

Author: Matt Rushing

Matthew Rushing is the host of Trek.fm‘s The 602 Club and co-host of TheNerdParty.com‘s AggressiveNegotiations: A Star Wars Podcast. He can be found on Twitter @mattrushing02.

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