Rating: 2 stars

On principle, I should not have read this. I am trying my best to ignore the fact that J.J. Abrams exists, and with him all the damage he did to the Star Wars franchise (and Star Trek, for that matter). I just hope that one day I can wake up in a universe where the only modern Star Wars TV show we get is Andor, and the last Star Wars movie made was Rogue One. Anyway, on to the mini reviews:


Rules of the Game by Saladin Ahmed
This one is meh. Naive dude gets duped, but then duper is kind of nice. It was too quick and neither character felt like they embodied the archetype they were supposed to. I don't want this to sound rude or anything, but in my opinion this was not the best story to start the collection on, because it was by far the weakest. It's still better than anything J.J. Abrams has made, but the bar is in literal hell there, so not much of a compliment.


The Wine in Dreams by Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire)
There is this wine that it just so damn good that it makes everyone lose their minds with how great it is, but the winemakers are very particular as to who they sell it to. This boss lady wants the fancy wine and she wants it A LOT so she sends her "servant" (who is, for all intents and purposes, a slave) to negotiate with the seller ladies and get the wine at all costs. Though I have tried for many years, I don't really like wine, so it was hard for me to picture these people's intense desire. I mean if it was chocolate or especially ice cream then I would understand, but sour grape juice...? Either way, this story was pretty good, though I honestly expected more from a big name author like Seanan McGuire.


Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing by Rae Carson
A single dad is a masseuse and he loves his adoptive daughter a lot. His daughter gets captured by some dudes and the dad will do anything to get her back, even if it means leaning back on skills he had acquired in a previous life... This was probably the best story in the collection. It has the heart and actual proper emotional beats that a lot of modern SW lacks (take notes J.J.), even if they weren't always the strongest. Nonetheless, the attempt was made, and it moderately succeeded.


The Ride by John Jackson Miller
This guy is a compulsive gambler, and he finds these alien dudes who he thinks are good luck when they are apart but bad when they are together (or it might be the other way around, I just finished this story and I've already forgotten). Shenanigans ensue. I can think of no better explanation. This one is totally a screwball comedy in a sci fi setting. In fact, on premise, it sounds like something Connie Willis would write (though I would argue Willis would execute it better, but that's just my bias speaking).


In terms of how this all relates to The Last Jedi... I honestly cannot comment on because I have not watched that movie in years. I saw it in the theatre like everyone else, and then I rewatched it when the abomination that is The Rise of Skywalker came out, but I haven't (intentionally) seen a frame of it since. I just remember that the throne room scene was cool and Rey's parents being nobodies was a nice change from the regular Star Wars formula until that idea was retconned and we got the Palpatine nonsense in TRoS. And yes, I am still salty that The Last Jedi has a higher IMDb score than both Darth Maul Movie and Jedi Mullet Movie. That fact alone proves that site is not trustworthy.