Star Wars: Myths & Fables
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
Written by George Mann
Narrated by James Monroe Iglehart
Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm Press | Listening Library
Release date: August 6, 2019

Back in college, I took a class on short stories. As a result of what I learned, I have carried a deep love of the form throughout my adult life. So, imagine my joy when Star Wars: Myths & Fables, a collection of short stories set in a galaxy far, far away, was thrown my way.

Okay, so writer George Mann is not the first to offer up Star Wars short stories. He’s not even the first to do it since George Lucas sold the rights to this universe to Disney (that honor goes to 2017’s multi-authored collection From a Certain Point of View). This is, however, the first time I can recall in which a single author wrote an entire collection of short stories that all share a similar voice and style.

Bethesda has released a series of Fallout 76 holotape recordings titled “Tales from the West Virginia Hills.”

The series is a collection of stories about things like Wendigo, Mothman, and more presented in an old radio show style, similar to the Silver Shroud radio show heard in Fallout 4. You can read more about each of the five episodes and give them a listen below.

Solo: A Star Wars Story
Expanded Edition Novelization
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
Written by Mur Lafferty
Audiobook narrated by Marc Thompson
Publisher: Del Rey Books | Random House Audio
Release date: September 4, 2018

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the audiobook for the junior novel for Solo: A Star Wars Story, the first of two novelizations of the film released in conjunction with the Blu-ray Edition. I apologize that it took nearly three weeks to get around to this Expanded Edition, but, yanno, life and other Geeks of Doom reviews.

Much like I explained in the review of the Joe Schreiber junior novelization, Mur Lafferty‘s novelization is just that, a scene-by-scene retelling of the movie. The Junior Novel promised and delivered on a handful of deleted scenes that didn’t make the theatrical cut; the Expanded Edition promises and delivers on that and a whole ton more.

Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances
Hardcover | Kindle | Audible
Sequel to Star Wars: Thrawn Book 1
Written by Timothy Zahn
Audiobook narrated by Marc Thompson
Publisher: Del Rey Books | Random House Audio
Release Date: July 24, 2018

Ever since the 1991 release of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire, I have maintained that Grand Admiral Thrawn could be the best bad guy to ever grace the Star Wars universe. Even badder than Darth Vader. After author Timothy Zahn closed out the Thrawn trilogy of books – which also includes Dark Force Rising and The Last Command – I have been chomping on the bit for more Thrawn love.

Not only did I get no additional love, I had what I’d grown to love practically ripped out from under me as Thrawn and all the other characters introduced in the Expanded Universe of books and comics were declared non-canon by Lucasfilm. I was heartbroken.

Angel Catbird
Audiobook
Written by Margaret Atwood
Narrated by”Ž Kyra Harper,”Ž Allegra Fulton,”Ž Christo Graham,”Ž Julie Le Mieux,”Ž David Calderisi,”Ž Michael Cash,”Ž Andrew Jackson
Audible Studios
Release Date: February 13, 2018

I’m no stranger to audiobooks, but I dare say few have been in radio play format. I wanted to call Angel Catbird a radio drama but that would be a misnomer. For while it embodies the same concepts at its core, there was little dramatic about it. Words I would use instead include hilarious, rollicking, and ludicrous. It was almost off-putting at first for I had never read one of author Margaret Atwood‘s comics before, instead having consumed her novels in the past. As I listened longer, however, I found it quite amusing and even began to laugh while the audiobook played out.