Hey so speaking of โ did you know Rainbow Rowell once wrote a Star Wars story? Well, Star Wars-adjacent, at any rate. For World Book Day a couple of years ago she came out with a short little story about a group of fans waiting in line for the premiere of ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด. I read it a short while after the story came out and, like a lot of Rowellโs work, I pretty much loved it. Hereโs a short review from an old blog:โ
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๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ญ๐ด, ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐). ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐.โ
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๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐
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๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ข-๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ธ๐โ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข.โ
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๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐. ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.โ
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Like every December since the first film in the sequel trilogy came out, Star Wars has been on my mind a lot, which is why I decided to revisit the slim volume. I enjoyed it just as much this time around, appreciating especially how it captures the eager, edgy excitement a lot of fans of the saga felt in the run-up of the release of TFA. You know, before the dark times. Before the ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ. This does tragically make the story act somewhat like a time capsule, however, portraying as it does a facet of fandom that seems quaint and innocent considering the meaningless gatekeeping and toxic rhetoric that is so maddeningly prevalent these days. Alas. โ
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You and I can still enjoy things, though. Itโll be our secret. โ
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Shortly after finishing the novella, I was made aware of a series of fairy tale retellings a bunch of prominent authors were doing for the Amazon Original Stories initiative. Rowell was one of these writers, contributing ๐ป๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐, an odd little tale that doesnโt seem to be an interpretation of any one fable in particular but instead plays with the troll-under-the-bridge narrative. The story seems to be a blend of Rowellโs realistic contemporary style and the dark whimsy found in her fantasy fiction. This makes it a bit disjointed but it works for the most part. The aforementioned gift is once more in full display here as I also finished this peculiar yarn wanting to know more about the two protagonists, and about the world in specific, which appears to be a sort of post-climate apocalypse mythical land (that, you know, still has Starbucks). Also because once I read that title I just ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ Rowell would make them fall in love with each other and that I would buy it hook, line, sinker โ and, reader, I ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ.