I really enjoyed learning more about Poe Dameron's past. The characters were really well written and the plot kept me interested. I thought the writing was also really well done. I would love to read more from this author!

An upfront disclaimer on this review, I read Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall a few months ago. I thought I’d written my review on the book, but accordingly to my shelf on NetGalley I have not.

So I’m going to do my best to write the review now.

I won’t be able to share any of the emotions or thoughts I had while reading the book, but I still remember well enough to write a decent review. It just may not be in my typical format because of that.

Don’t let the ugly cover (I mean let’s be real, it’s pretty ugly) fool you. This is a great book and worth a read.

Poe Dameron: Free Fall Review

I’ve read over 100 Star Wars books. It’s not even close to the 200 some that are available, but I’d consider myself well read in the Star Wars universe.

Poe Dameron: Free Fall was a fantastic YA space romp that scratched “the itch” for a fast-paced adventure. At the time that I read Free Fall, I had been disappointed by a sequence of average book after average book.

In true fashion to Dameron’s character on screen, Poe is a energetic and driven with enough humor sprinkled in to grab a hold of your attention and never let go.

There’s some romance sprinkled in here and you get a deeper look at the relationship between Poe and Zorii that was hinted to us in The Rise of Skywalker. Again, the details are fuzzy, but I remember enjoying it immensely.

Free Fall tells the story of how Poe ended up with the spice runners and the series of bad decisions that led to his troubled past that was only briefly mentioned on screen.

There’s not much more to say other than if you love YA book and love Star Wars, this is an excellent addition to the new canon.

I give Poe Dameron: Free Fall a solid 4.5/5 stars.

As someone who loves both STAR WARS and Poe Dameron, I wanted to enjoy this so, so badly. Unfortunately, it never quite felt like it progressed from script to a proper story, and I was even more disheartened to see it functioning primarily to further the retconning of this beloved character that originally occurred in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER.

Free Fall is the story of 16 year old Poe Dameron who, longing for adventure and running away from his problems, joins a band of spice runners only to discover spice runners are bad. It’s basically just Solo, with Poe finally becoming the Han Solo 2.0 many thought he would be. There really isn’t anything to this story and you can tell it was only told to tie in with The Rise of Skywalker. And if you are looking for any connections to the Poe we see in the comics or in Resistance Reborn, you won’t find that here.

What gets me the most is that it feels like the story never got out of the “idea” stage. It’s almost written like a script, and is so exposition and battle heavy that I think the author forgot to give it any heart. All the characters came off as robotic versions of themselves and it was impossible to sympathize with any of them.

It makes me sad that this is the first thing we got with our sequel trilogy cast after TROS, like they are just trying to retread everything to make it fit better with the film. Like TROS, this book is empty, heavy handed, and made me worry that this is all Star Wars is going to be now. I’m giving it 1 star because it was rushed, poorly written, and in no way stands up to the other new canon books.

Poe Dameron is my favourite Star Wars character and sadly this book did nothing for me. I felt like most of the time it wasn't even Poe being written about. He bore very little resemblance to the character we know and love from the films and comic books. And the plot was very thin and I found it quite contradictory to what we know already. Also the 'love story' aspect felt so forced and I just couldn't believe in it.

Such a shame as I was looking forward to something fun with my fave.

Enjoyed the added emotional backstory to one of my favorite Star Wars characters. It was fun to learn Poe's origin story before the movies. This book made me want to go back and rewatch them.

An interesting read from the first chapter giving an in depth look at the events that made Poe the hotshot pilot of The Resistance.
Segura really captures the essence of Dameron's character as it develops thorughout the story.
A great tale looking at the younger years of Poe Dameron.

I've been on quite the Star Wars kick lately. Though I'm wrapped up in watching Rebels for the first time, I really enjoyed reading this book to gain more insight into Poe Dameron. I think we can all agree RoS was an . . . interesting . . . conclusion to the Star Wars sequel trilogy, that introduced some new faces and new storylines. FREE FALL sought to explain who those new faces were and why they were important to Poe Dameron's character arc.

Poe Dameron is just one of the many characters in the sequel trilogy whose character arc was pushed aside after The Force Awakens. I think RoS tried to explain more about who he was and how he came to be involved with the Resistance, but left a lot of things unsaid. I really liked this book, because it offered insight to a young, rising pilot, Poe Dameron and introduced us to his relationship with Zorii and the planet Kijimi. It was an adventure that reminded me of The Clone Wars and Rebels especially, and I could really see this plotline turned into a television series for Disney+ and probably do extremely well.

The story contained nuances of a prodigal son, who in seeking after adventure and a life outside the one he grew up in, Poe finds himself caught up in something more sinister than he first realized. I loved seeing Poe toil over the morality and ethics of his choices, whether he should continue on with the Spice Runners, and whether or not he'd follow Zorii to the end of the galaxy.

The ending laid great groundwork for Poe's introduction and involvement with the Resistance, and I think that's a book I'd like to read next. There was a lot left open-ended here, and many plot holes left over from the sequel trilogy that I think would make for some great books involving Poe (and others.)

4/5 stars

This was a good, fun look into Poe's life before we meet him in the films and as we discover a bit of in the second film. Very enjoyable!

I was checking out available books on Netgalley when I saw an upcoming book from the Star Wars series. I haven't read comics or previous books in the series. My only exposure to Star Wars was 6 movies under the Skywalker saga. I know for Star Wars fan it is a crime but for me, that's the fact. Since 2016 I have reduced my visual content consumption very very low, I am spending maximum free time in reading. So when I saw this book, I thought of taking Star Wars in my reading experiences. Here I am discussing the book "Poe Dameron: Free Fall" by Alex Segura

Don't get confused between Dameron & Doremon. It's is the first non-cartoon character.

Jokes apart, Poe Dameron is our protagonist. He is living with his father on Yavin 4. Both of Poe's parents had an adventurous life, they have participated in the war against the Empire. His mother, Sarah, wanted Poe to become a pilot like her, but after she died his father wanted Poe to stay close to him. But Poe wanted to travel, to visit new places, and to get an adventure. His rebellious nature made his join a notorious group called spice runner of Kijimi. His good upbringing made him stick to his basic values. But his attachment to Zorri may lead him to danger. Read the book to know more.


Talking about the story built up, I found the plot plan. Expected few more turns but from point, Poe joined spice runner to his capture, things were in bits and part, and before I realize half the book was done. Narration and language usage is simple and to-the-point. Basic knowledge of Star Wars is recommended. Overall a nice content for Star Wars fan. Even non-follower can have a good one-time read.


I will give 3.5 out of 5 to this book.

If you were curious about Poe's spice running days, this is the book for you. Segura did an amazing job giving us a backstory that aligned with Poe's personality and history while undoing some of the wtf you may have experienced learning that fact on Kijimi.

Not my cup of tea. So much emphasis placed on Zorii, who I didn't really care about considering the movies neglected the characters they already HAD (Rose, Finn, etc) and instead introduced new ones for approximately ten minutes. This story was pretty boring for me.

It's a fun and thrilling adventure story that doubles as Poe Dameron's origin tale. While parts of the exposition and backstory laid out could feel over-explanatory, it doesn't come off that way in Alex Segura's hands, and it does a great deal into shaping Zorii into a tangible character.

This book provides a wonderful insight into beloved character Poe Dameron. I loved seeing him as a teenager and learning more about his upbringining. It fills in many gaps to who he is, and made me feel even more connected to him.

I love that thanks to Netgalley & Disney Publishing Worldwide I get to share these advance reader copies of books about some of our favorite Star Wars characters come to life with my teen who is a HUGE fan.

Poe Dameron is a character we've had a lot of love for over the years, and we were thrilled to see him get a stand alone title to read, learning about his teenage years before he joins the rebellion. As expected, there was lots of action and adventure as Poe runs away from home to find his own way in the world.

While it wasn't quite as amazing as we were hoping for, this was still a solid 4 star read for us. Fun, quick-paced adventure, how could we not love getting some more in the Star Wars universe?!

I received a free advance copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for this review.

If you’re a Star Wars fan it’s a real best-of-times/worst-of-times situation these days. We’ve gotten some great new stuff, but also a couple of real duds. Plus, much like how the worst thing about capitalism are the capitalists, the worst thing about Star Wars fandom turned out to be Star Wars fans.

So I wasn’t exactly dying to pick up a new young adult tie-in book, but I’d recently read Alex Segura’s first crime novel, and I thought Poe Dameron was an interesting but underused character in the latest movies so decided to give it a shot. And it turned out to be a fun Star Wars story.

This starts out with teenage Poe living on Yavin 4 with his father. Both his parents fought for the rebels against the Empire, and his mother was a great pilot who taught him to fly before she was killed while on a mission for the New Republic. Now Poe’s father just wants to live a quiet life as a farmer, and he’s kept Poe from leaving for the adventure he craves. Hmmm… a young man dreaming of space adventure who is trapped on the family farm…. I wonder why that sounds familiar..?

Anyhow, after Poe pulls a knuckleheaded stunt that lands him in hot water with the authorities and leads to a blowout argument with his father, he impulsively takes a piloting job for several shady characters looking to get off Yavin 4 quickly. It turns out that these people are Spice Runners of Kijimi, one of the most dangerous criminal gangs in the galaxy, and a zealous New Republic officer with a personal vendetta is hot on their trail. Poe wanted excitement, but he’s uneasy with his new role as a criminal. However, his growing relationship with the mysterious young lady Zorii makes him hesitant to leave.

Segura takes an interesting approach to this one because it plays out in a series of stories that often begin with Poe in the middle of his latest job gone wrong with the Spice Runners that then fills us in on how it came about. The time jumping helps build a complete narrative arc that leaves Poe with some gaps that could be filled in later (Something the Star Wars franchise loves doing.) while also giving us the depth and backstory that the movies never did. One of the few things I liked about Rise of Skywalker were the hints to Poe’s past, and that fleshes that out.

Since it’s a short YA novel we’re not getting the kind of deep dive into Star Wars lore that some nerds demand, but overall I found it to be a fast, fun, and enjoyable adventure. It’s obvious that Segura is a fan who knows the universe well, and he brings a young Poe to life with energy and enthusiasm.

I loved learning so much more about Poe’s background and all of the Zorii content! It really fleshed out references from the films. The book may begin a little slowly, but the payoff at the end is just amazing!

This book was a difficult one to review! It's a book that I might have liked in another universe, but part of the problem with Poe Dameron: Free Fall is that it's fundamentally a book that exists to provide a backstory to some lines of dialogue in a film. Is that a bad thing? No! That's what movie tie-in books do, and there are plenty of great examples of this in the Star Wars franchise.

The problem with Free Fall is that it almost feels like there are two Poe Damerons: the Poe Dameron that we met in the initial films and the Poe Dameron of the latest film and this novel. We had stories about Poe's parents and about Poe's career before The Force Awakens to get to know the character and where he came from.

The book tries its hardest to square those two backgrounds, and I think the earliest scenes in the book were some of the strongest for dealing with Poe's family background. But ultimately it's trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. This is no fault of the author's -- I think Alex Segura told a great story -- but the premise was ultimately a challenging one to work with and that marred the story.

Setting aside the issues with Poe, the story is enjoyable enough on its own! It was just unfortunately very hard for me to separate that from the story. Other readers who are less attached to previous Poe background stories may very well feel differently.

When Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was released last year, one line of dialogue that raised a lot of eyebrows was the revelation that Resistance hero Poe Dameron was once a spice runner. The YA novel Poe Dameron: Free Fall by Alex Segura, released last week, covers this period in Poe’s life and attempts to have it make sense in the wider context of Poe’s life.

Please note: This post contains affiliate links.

Poe Dameron: Free Fall opens with a sixteen-year-old Poe living with his father Kes on their Yavin 4 farm. Poe, much like Luke Skywalker years before, yearns for more than life on a farm. Worse, Poe has grown up listening to tales of the heroics his father (Rebellion soldier Kes Dameron) and mother (Rebellion pilot Shara Bey) got up to during the Galactic Civil War and he is desperate to prove himself. However, since the death of his mother, Poe’s father has become overly protective of their only child, meaning the teenage Poe feels suffocated on the small moon where everyone knows who he is. That’s why, when he finds a bunch of smugglers in need of a pilot sitting in a local tavern, he offers to fly them off-world himself, anything to get away from Yavin 4.

It’s only after their daring escape that Poe discovers exactly who he has fallen in with. No ordinary bunch of smugglers, Poe is now a pilot for the notorious Spice Runners of Kijimi, a relatively new gang making the best of the power vacuum left behind by the collapse of the Empire. Poe’s loyalties are immediately at odds with one another. He knows he should return home to his worried father and that becoming a Spice Runner is the opposite of what his beloved mother would have wanted for him, but here is an opportunity for a lifetime of adventure and daring that he could barely have dreamed of.

And then there’s Zorii Wynn, a teenage girl who forms part of the team Poe met on Yavin 4. Zorii seems wise beyond her years and the rest of the hard-boiled crew are oddly protective of her despite her obvious lack of experience. As Poe and Zorii’s relationship develops, he finds it increasingly difficult to walk away from the Spice Runners, even as their missions become darker and ever more deadly, forcing Poe into moral choices that often turn his stomach.

The book climaxes as Zorii’s secrets are finally revealed, forcing Poe into a final showdown where he will finally have to make a choice between two very different futures.

Poe Dameron: Free Fall is a book that has clearly been written out of necessity in order to explain away the backstory that was dropped bombshell-like into the final film. Author Alex Segura has had to write something that explains how a son of Rebel heroes could wind up working as a Spice Runner and then, equally difficult, how he could have escaped from that life. After all, notorious criminal gangs are not known for letting people simply walk away from them if they change their minds. The result is a book that feels forced and, unfortunately, struggles to work.

Poe’s initial decision to join the Spice Runners was probably the most believable part of his journey. Rather than a conscious choice to fall in with a bad crowd, Poe is simply an impulsive teen who takes an opportunity to get away from his responsibilities without really thinking through the consequences—something I’m sure most of us can relate to. However, the longer he stays with them, the less that rationale holds water. As Poe witnesses and even participates in more and more criminal undertakings, the more he becomes complicit in them and no amount of painful ruminations after the fact can alter that. In fact, the endless moral dilly-dallying became annoying after a while. Poe knew full well that he was in the wrong but continued finding reasons not to leave and my sympathy for him as a kid who made a poor choice wore away to almost nothing by the end.

There were, of course, good points. The inclusion of the adorable and hilarious Babu Frik in several scenes was a natural highlight—how could it not be—and new droid character EV-6B6 was a delight. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if, given the events at the end of the book, we eventually discover that she and BB-8 have more in common than simply belonging to Poe. I’m not a huge fan of pilot-themed books but reading about some of Poe’s more imaginative maneuvers was also a lot of fun, even if it did take some significant suspension of disbelief to accept they were pulled off by a cocky teen who hadn’t flown anything beyond a beaten up A-Wing before the start of the book.

I do also feel the need to talk about Poe’s relationship with Zorii. Ever since the release of The Force Awakens, fans immediately began shipping Poe with his fellow Resistance hero Finn, something actor Oscar Isaac would have been happy to see progress in the later films. Naturally, that never happened, and there have been mutterings that Poe’s relationship with Zorii in The Rise of Skywalker was specifically added in to derail those theories and make the film more palatable to less LGBTQ-friendly markets. Free Fall explores this relationship in more detail and it is clear that Poe does have feelings for Zorii. However, it is also made clear that having grown up on the backwater of Yavin 4 with almost no others of his own age around him, this is Poe’s first experience of anything even vaguely romantic and both his and Zorii’s actions can best be described as fumbling. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that there is nothing in Free Fall that precludes Poe from being bi or pansexual, and thus nothing here that could prevent StormPilot from becoming canon one day in a future book or comic. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it.

Taken with a pinch of salt, Poe Dameron: Free Fall is a fun adventure novel and I’m sure younger readers and fans of movie-Poe will enjoy it. For those of us hoping it would fix the canon issues raised by The Rise of Skywalker, I’m not sure it does. I was hopeful at the beginning but Poe’s journey throughout this book didn’t work for me and left too many issues for me to feel fully satisfied. This is one I probably wouldn’t recommend to anyone beyond die-hard Poe fans and Star Wars canon completists.

GeekMom received a copy of this book for review purposes.

This is a great book to get backstory on one of the most popular new Star Wars heroes and learn about the tribulations of his youth.