Book Review: ‘Star Wars: Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina’

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“Mos Eisley Spaceport,” says Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker as they stand on a mesa overlooking the Tatooine metropolis in Episode IV: A New Hope. “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be careful.”

Of all the eye-catching and memorable sequences in Star Wars, the fateful meeting between Luke Skywalker, Ben Kenobi, and a pair of smugglers with a starship for hire is perhaps the most intriguing. Dramatically, it marks a turning point: from this moment onward, the film accelerates into chases, shootouts, rescues, and battles. Visually, it is unforgettable—the dim lighting, the tense atmosphere, the menagerie of aliens, and of course, that funky cantina band riffing like Benny Goodman in space.

In the film, the focus is squarely on Kenobi, Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca as they negotiate passage to Alderaan. Yet the cantina was crowded with other denizens—minor figures, background players, and silent witnesses to history. Who were they? What were their stories?

That question inspired Star Wars: Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, edited by Kevin J. Anderson (The Jedi Academy Trilogy). This anthology gathers sixteen original short stories, each spotlighting one of those overlooked characters. The result is a mosaic of perspectives that enriches the iconic cantina scene, adding depth, humor, and unexpected poignancy.

📖 The Sixteen Stories and Authors

#	Title	Author(s)	Central Character(s)
1	We Don’t Do Weddings: The Band’s Tale	Kathy Tyers	Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes
2	A Hunter’s Fate: Greedo’s Tale	Tom Veitch & Martha Veitch	Greedo
3	Hammertong: The Tale of the “Tonnika Sisters”	Timothy Zahn	Shada D’ukal & Karoly D’ulin
4	Play It Again, Figrin D’an: The Tale of Muftak and Kabe	A.C. Crispin	Muftak & Kabe
5	The Sand Tender: The Hammerhead’s Tale	Dave Wolverton	Momaw Nadon
6	Be Still My Heart: The Bartender’s Tale	David Bischoff	Wuher
7	Nightlily: The Lovers’ Tale	Barbara Hambly	Feltipern Trevagg & M’iiyoom Onith
8	Empire Blues: The Devaronian’s Tale	Daniel Keys Moran	Kardue’sai’Malloc
9	Swap Meet: The Jawa’s Tale	Kevin J. Anderson	Het Nkik
10	Trade Wins: The Ranat’s Tale	Rebecca Moesta	Reegesk
11	When the Desert Wind Turns: The Stormtrooper’s Tale	Doug Beason	Davin Felth
12	Soup’s On: The Pipe Smoker’s Tale	Jennifer Roberson	Dannik Jerriko
13	At the Crossroads: The Spacer’s Tale	Jerry Oltion	BoShek
14	Doctor Death: The Tale of Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba	Kenneth C. Flint	Cornelius Evazan & Ponda Baba
15	Drawing the Maps of Peace: The Moisture Farmer’s Tale	M. Shayne Bell	Ariq Joanson
16	One Last Night in the Mos Eisley Cantina: The Tale of the Wolfman and the Lamproid	Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens	Lak Sivrak & Dice Ibegon

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What makes the anthology especially fascinating is its blend of voices. Some contributors, like Timothy Zahn and Barbara Hambly, were already celebrated in science fiction. Others, such as A.C. Crispin and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, were better known for their Star Trek novels. Here, they prove equally adept at capturing the grit, humor, and wonder of George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away.

Taken together, these stories transform the cantina from a backdrop into a stage teeming with lives, ambitions, and secrets. They remind us that even in a saga dominated by Jedi and Sith, every character—no matter how briefly glimpsed—has a tale worth telling.

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