Magazine Review - Star Wars Insider #213

Name: Star Wars Insider #213

Published by: Titan Magazines 

Release Month: September '22

Editor: Christopher Cooper

Fiction Writer: George Mann

While I had watched the original Star Wars trilogy, parts of the prequel trilogy and some of the animated shows previously, my actual fandom with Star Wars started with the awesomeness of' The Mandalorian'. Then I went back and started delving into the world of Star Wars, both media and prose fictions of the expanded universe. 

This issue is my first foray into 'Star Wars Insider', which I mainly decided to check out for the fiction piece starting 'High Republic: Phase II'. This was a pleasant experience, as while I didn't like everything, I did enjoy many of the contents on offer. 

The two interviews were great. I liked learning of the unused scenes and his experiences from the original trilogy from Garrick Hagon. Loved to read about the story behind Warren Fu's designing of General Grievous. 'Joining the Quest' piece was a nice introduction for the creators of Phase II of the High Republic. The Book of Boba Fett companion was a nice refresher of the story of that series and made me intrigued about the future of the characters. 'A certain point of view' feature about the ships was another delightful little piece. 

Now lets come to the fiction, "Tales of Enlightenment: New Prospects" is a short story set during the High Republic Era, written by George Mann. Only part one is published here and readers have to wait for the next issue for part two. 

The story is set on the tapbar called Enlightenment, where a human prospector named Saretha von Beel tells her story to some regulars of this establishment in exchange for a drink. In her story she details her experiences as a prospector. Her encounters with pirates, a Jedi and monsters.

The prose was quite enjoyable and the method of establishing the setting and the characters also gives us some insight into this time period in the history of the Republic. The short little piece is clearly intended as a jumping on point for new readers as well as to entice anyone interested to start their journey into this era and does a commendable job serving its purpose. 

As a whole, I liked this issue and will definitely check out other issues of this magazine in the future. 4 out of 5 stars.