4/5 Rancors - Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina is the first of five short story collections we will be reading in the Rancors Love to Read program. Edited by Kevin J. Anderson, eighteen authors (including three husband-and-wife teams) contribute sixteen stories fleshing out backgrounds for some of the memorable but briefly featured aliens in the Mos Eisley cantina sequence in A New Hope. I grew up playing with action figures of some of these guys and it's great fun to explore their varied backgrounds.
The common linchpin to each story within this volume is Obi-Wan and Luke's escapades in the cantina. This scene drops into every story at some point (not necessarily in present tense), giving a point of reference for what are otherwise some remarkably far-ranging tales. Some barely take place in the cantina at all and spend more time on interesting new planets far away from Tatooine. Almost all receive high marks for retaining a Star Wars "feel" without relying on the main film characters or plotlines.
One aspect that I was impressed by was Anderson's editing work. Several scenes recur throughout many of the stories, such as a Jawa's doomed attempt to inspire his people or Jabba's Mos Eisley townhouse erupting into violence. The stories flow very well despite jumping around on the timeline, and often an element introduced in one story is expounded upon in several others. For instance, Anderson contributes a story centered around Het Nkik, a Jawa with delusions of grandeur. Het's tale cuts off rather abruptly, and in the next story, written by Anderson's wife Rebecca Moesta, we learn why. Het's fate is then mentioned in passing in several more stories, giving the whole affair more the feel of a long novel.
Standout stories include Timothy Zahn's "Hammertong: The Tale of the 'Tonnika Sisters'," Dave Wolverton's "The Sand Tender: The Hammerhead's Tale," Barbara Hambly's "Nightlily: The Lovers' Tale," M. Shayne Bell's "Drawing the Maps of Peace: The Moisture Farmer's Tale," and the final story in the book, "One Last Night in the Mos Eisley Cantina: The Tale of the Wolfman and the Lamproid" by Star Trek veteran authors Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. Zahn brings us his usual labyrinthine plotting and puts quite a bit of complexity into the story of the two women in the green jumpsuits lounging by the bar. Wolverton's story introduces us to the gentle plant-loving Ithorians, turning upside down my childhood vision of who Hammerhead was. Hambly brings us an entertaining story of lust and power with a wicked twist, and Bell's story of a moisture farmer determined to change Tatooine for the better shows outside-the-box thinking and a lot of heart. The final story by the Reeves-Stevens takes the one-second shot of the Wolfman and the Lamproid from Episode IV (note: the Wolfman, Lak Sivrak, was edited out of the Special Edition of the film!) and takes their relationship to entirely unexpected and genuinely affecting places.
The majority of the remaining stories are also quite good. A few don't hold up so well, notably Jennifer Roberson's "Soup's On: The Pipe Smoker's Tale" and Kenneth C. Flint's "Doctor Death: The Tale of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba." Roberson's story introduces us to Dannik Jerriko, a vampiric Anzat assassin who thrives on drinking the "soup" of other beings. The word "soup" was used like a jackhammer throughout the story and nothing really happened in the tale besides introducing us to Dannik's twisted world. Flint's body-swapping story of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba was over-the-top and didn't feel connected to the rest of the book.
Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina is great fun to read. It manages to largely ignore the film characters while remaining firmly rooted in the galaxy far, far away. It seems that with the turnover of publishing rights to Del Rey, the notion of "Tales" collections has fallen out of favor, which is too bad. There are many fruitful areas that could be mined. For instance how about Tales of the Jedi Council, Tales of the New Jedi Order, Tales of Order 66, Tales of the Boonta Eve Podrace, or Tales of the Outlander Club? Since everything in Star Wars seems to get attention sooner or later, maybe these can happen at some point. Anyway, for now I'll definitely enjoy reading the ones published to date.
1 comments:
It's interesting to see how different your and David's perspectives and ratings are on this one. Overall, I found the entire "Tales" series of books to be a mixed bag. But out of all of the books, I actually felt this one had the best stories and writers. I would agree that reading about how Han Solo greases Greedo from a bazillion different perspectives in same #@*^&~! cantina gets a bit dull after awhile. But the stories in this one are quite intricately woven together to create a broader tapestry for the reader. It's hard to say what stories were best - but I particularly enjoyed the Hammerhead's tale, which is a decent little meditation on regret, retribution and what you leave behind. I also found the tale recounting the odd love affair between the Wolfman and the Lamproid to be surprisingly moving and poignant (though a little weird if one tries to contemplate how on earth they would consumate their love for one another). I also found the tale on Muftak and Kabe to be a fun read. While the Dr. Evazan story feels out of place as it's set on a water world - I found the story itself to be a major letdown. I am sure we have all seen this plot in a cheap horror movie or cartoon before. Thoroughly unoriginal. I note that there are little connections between this book and future Tales. The fate of the Devaronian for instance is picked up in Tales from the Bounty Hunters. The Prefect is fleshed out more in Tales from Jabba's Palace. In my mind, this book marks the highpoint for the "Tales" series of books. None of the ensuing books are this good. A great read that will increase your enjoyment of the iconic locale in Episode IV. One little note: I had to wonder if Anderson and co. would have written the tales differently had they known that Lucas intended to introduce Jabba, the adult Boba Fett and a cadre of minions in the Special Edition?
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