Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 7: A Rogue's End by Simon Spurrier et al.

 Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 7: A Rogue's End by Simon Spurrier et al.

Doctor Chelli Aphra's journey comes to an end (at least for now) in this seventh and final volume. It seems that Doctor Aphra may have finally turned a corner from being only a selfish user to truly caring about others. She finally decides to do some good and to do right by those she cares about. I really liked the way this series ends. I would recommend this to Star Wars fans and those who enjoy comics/graphic novels. 

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 4: The Catastrophe Con by Simon Spurrier et al.

 Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 4: The Catastrophe Con by Simon Spurrier et al.-152 pages

Doctor Aphra has been captured and is in the Imperial Accresker Prison. Inspectorate officer Tolvan, her new lover, and an old lover both appear at Accresker for different reasons. The prison is set to self-destruct and crash into a rebel base. Aphra and the rebels must escape before impact. Also, Aphra finds an old Jedi ship that may have old artifacts to find. Aphra tends to use people around her and not think of the consequences. She has made many enemies. Will Aphra escape? I continue to enjoy reading this series and look forward to the next volume. 

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 2: Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit by Kieron Gillen et al.

 Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 2: Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit by Kieron Gillen et al.-168 pages

Archaeologist Chelli Aphra's adventures continue. Doctor Aphra's plan to make a large profit from selling the Immortal Rur crystal she took from her previous adventure with her estranged father goes awry. She gets several offers for the crystal and chooses the Shadow University. They offer her other artifacts along with money as payment. However, her murderous droid companions turn on her and call Darth Vader (who she used to do some jobs for). Doctor Aphra must use all her cunning and resourcefulness to escape Vader and get away from the planet. She may yet get a big payday after all. I enjoyed reading this second volume in the series. 

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 1: Aphra by Kieron Gillen et al.

 Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 1: Aphra by Kieron Gillen et al.-144 pages

Doctor Aphra is about a galactic archaeologist named Chelli Aphra who travels the galaxy with a protocol droid and astromech droid. Usually, the Wookiee Black Krrrsantan comes along on Aphra's adventures, also. Mostly, he is concerned with getting what Aphra owes him. Aphra's father comes back into the picture in this first volume. He is still chasing after the Ordu Aspectu as before when he left her. Now, he's roped Doctor Aphra into searching for them. What will they find? Who were the Ordu Aspectu? I enjoyed reading this first volume and look forward to reading more in this series.

Star Wars: Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol. 4: Fortress Vader by Charles Soule

Star Wars: Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol. 4: Fortress Vader by Charles Soule-168 pages

Darth Vader leads the Inquisitorius whose only job is to hunt and destroy the remaining Jedi across the galaxy. Together they find and kill Eeth Koth and take his infant child. However, two of the Inquisitors allow his wife to escape. Vader sees this and kills those two Inquisitors. Following his report to Emperor Palpatine, he requests he be given Mustafar as his home base to build a fortress. Palpatine grants him his request. Mustafar is where Vader (as Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side) battled against Obi-Wan Kenobi and became deformed. What will Vader find on Mustafar? Will he defeat the local forces who rebel against him in the Battle of Fortress Vader?

Star Wars: Vader-Dark Visions (Star Wars: Marvel Miniseries) by Dennis Hopeless

Star Wars: Vader-Dark Visions (Star Wars: Marvel Miniseries) by Dennis Hopeless-128 pages

This was a "shelf" read. I saw it on the shelf and was immediately intrigued. It is a collection of 5 short stories about Darth Vader in graphic novel form. In one story he is a savior, while in others he is a feared villain/superior. In one story, a somewhat crazy nurse is infatuated with him. It was intriguing to read about different sides of Vader.

Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn #2) by Timothy Zahn

Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn #2) by Timothy Zahn-342 pages

I have read the original Thrawn trilogy and the first Disney Canon Thrawn novel, so when I saw the pre-pub ads for this I knew I had to read it. I enjoyed reading this novel, especially the flashbacks to Thrawn helping Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. Timothy Zahn captured the conflict within Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker well. I was slightly disappointed in his portrayal of Thrawn because he seemed a bit weak compared to his portrayal in Zahn's other novels. I also thought the plot was a bit thin, yet still good. Overall, I enjoyed reading Zahn's latest Thrawn novel and would recommend it to anyone interested in Star Wars.

Thrawn (Star Wars Disney Canon Novel) by Timothy Zahn

Thrawn (Star Wars Disney Canon Novel) by Timothy Zahn-427 pages

I read the Thrawn Trilogy by Zahn in 2015 in anticipation of The Force Awakens, so when I heard this was being written and released as an "official" Disney canon novel (the original Thrawn Trilogy is a "Legends" or not official Disney canon now) I immediately pre-ordered it. I really enjoyed reading this and Zahn does Thrawn well in his imagining of his rise to Grand Admiral. I especially liked that he included Thrawn's studying the adversary's cultural art as a means to glean patterns of expected behavior, just as Thrawn did in the original trilogy. Thrawn is depicted as a master tactician (although not great at politics) in this novel just as he was in the original trilogy. The fact that Zahn wrote both the original trilogy and this standalone novel helps with continuity and effectiveness. I enjoyed the secondary stories of Eli Vanto and Arihnda Pryce woven throughout this novel as companions to Thrawn's rise. Overall, this was as good, maybe better, than I expected and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Star Wars (especially anyone who read the original Thrawn trilogy). 

Lost Stars (Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens) by Claudia Gray

Lost Stars (Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens) by Claudia Gray-551 pages

I read Bloodline, also by Claudia Gray, and enjoyed it quite a bit and I had read many good reviews of this so I wanted to read it. It was very interesting to see the events of the original Star Wars trilogy through the eyes of those who were in the lower positions and worked their way up. I also enjoyed the plot of this novel and Gray's prose is high quality. I enjoyed Lost Stars much more than Aftermath by Chuck Wendig (although I am not as harsh on Aftermath as some) as the plot and prose are so much better and more professional. Overall, I enjoyed reading about a boy and a girl from the same planet who both initially join the Imperial Fleet happily, but eventually take two different paths only to be reunited in the end.

Tarkin by James Luceno

Tarkin by James Luceno - 288 pages

This book takes place in the Star Wars universe five years after the Clone Wars and the rise of the Emperor.  I found this book to be slow going.  It is a very lengthy character study of Moff Tarkin and his experiences growing up that shaped him into the leader we know and hate from the Star Wars movies.   The present time plot is basically an extended chase scene so it isn't all that intriguing.  But there are glimpses into the early days of Vader which I liked plus a window into the thinking of the Emperor in the early days while he was still consolidating power.  I would not recommend this book to anyone by the diehard Star Wars completist.