All five stories are pretty different, and prove the virtue of the short story: allowing for exploring different types of stories without the pressures inherent in a full novel (witness the drama generated by Aftermath and Chuck Wendig’s stylistic choices). Personally, we welcome experimentation and authorial new blood in novels as well – but if that’s going to be significantly harder to achieve, short stories are how to accomplish that.

Just remember, don’t read these expecting revelations for The Force Awakens. Read them and expect fun Star Wars stories about characters you’d otherwise never think twice about. If you only wanted to get one or two, we’d recommend either Dawson’s “The Perfect Weapon” for a great all-around story with a well-developed character or Walker’s “The Crimson Corsair” for a fun-filled romp that’ll leave you grinning.

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You can learn a lot about a setting by looking at the characters who live on the margins of storytelling – and remember that the margins of storytelling might not mean the margins of the galaxy. We could easily envision a Tales From the Galactic Core or Tales From the Imperial Opera – granted we might be the sole member of the audience for the latter, but the idea holds. Characters who don’t get the focus in novels, like strange species of aliens or professions which aren’t heroic or exciting in the traditional sense are ideal subjects for short stories. Star Wars has been great with character diversity in the new canon — at least on the gender and human racial front — but we can do even more.

Sometimes it’s fun to take a step back from the epic mythology of Star Wars, from the gritty warfare, and from the high politics and just enjoy a good ol’ story with this wonderful Star Wars galaxy as its backdrop. Mystery, romance, adventure, comedy – let’s get some interesting stories. The films are going to be experimenting with genre, and Star Wars publishing should very well continue to do so.