The Lady's Favour - Taking Stock of My Work

Well, last weekend I published another book. However, this wasn't a new story but rather a collection of my three earlier stories: Gentlemen of Fortune, The Pirate King, and The Homecoming, released together as The Lady's Favour (the original working title for Gentlemen of Fortune).

These three stories follow my wondering rogues Kestrel and Scar as they meet Rosanna Barclay, recently arrived in Port Royal from England in search of her missing father (Gentlemen of Fortune). They're later tasked with bringing down the operations of Port Royal's leading information broker "Lord" Pettigrew (The Pirate King) and return to England where Kestrel is forced to confront his past (The Homecoming).

I originally started writing Gentlemen of Fortune at the tail end of 2015, and finished the initial draft in 2016. After several rejections and re-writes, I eventually published it in 2021 for a university assignment while it was being considered by an American pulp magazine. When there was a delay in the magazine's decision-making, brisk sales at the Swanwick Writers' Summer School led me to self-publish it on Amazon. Publishing the e-book was relatively effortless, but I remember struggling to publish the paperback due to Amazon's cover formatting, to the point I decided that any individual stories I subsequently published would be e-book only.

I followed Gentlemen of Fortune with The Pirate King in 2022, announcing at the end of August that I would be launching it on Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th). Unfortunately, matters were complicated when the queen died a week later, and the funeral was held on the same day. Nevertheless, I opted to proceed with the publication as planned. Not everyone grieves in the same way, and I wasn't exactly grieving myself so I saw no reason to alter my plans. In 2023, I followed up that story with The Homecoming, which I'd originally started as part of another university module. That story got published at the end of October, and gave me a nice trilogy.

This year has seen me get a new work contract along with a flat move, which took up a lot of time. With that in mind, I decided to put that trilogy together, make a few edits (don't worry, nothing gets altered so another character shoots first), and this time publish this as a physical release.

What's next for Kestrel and Scar? Well, this month I'm focussing on my course for Swanwick in August (plus the tech requirements). As for future stories, I'm thinking perhaps a trilogy of origin stories. One for Kestrel, one for Scar, and one for how they first met. I've also got a ton of other story drafts in various stages of completion. The sky's the limit.

The Lady's Favour is currently available on Amazon as a paperback and an e-book. In the meantime, happy writing.

The Mandalorian Marathon - Wrap-Up

Well, that was a fun month, and it was nice to revisit one of the first live-action series set in the Star Wars universe.

The Mandalorian serves as a pretty good Space Western. I love the action and the characters, and it's nice to see other stories in the wider world of Star Wars. The first two seasons are pretty solid, but I think the decision to continue Din and Grogu's story in The Book of Boba Fett made it difficult to maintain a coherent story. The pacing of the third season was pretty slow as well due to a lack of a clear goal until the end, even if there were still some solid episodes within that season. Granted, the first season didn't have a clear goal beyond keeping Grogu safe and keeping flying. Kinda like Firefly.

If I was to tidy up the third series, I'd have the Din and Grogu-focussed episodes from The Book of Boba Fett as the first two episodes of the third season. You could then cut a lot of exposition from the actual first episode of the season. Secondly, I'd cut out the episode with Dr Pershing. He barely appeared in the previous two seasons so it seems odd to give him a day in the limelight. It would make Elia Kane's appearance in "The Pirate" more tense.

Anyway, because there were only eight episodes in each season, I'm going to do a "pick of the season" for each one (excluding The Book of Boba Fett).

For the first season, it's a toss-up between three. I liked "The Sin" for the emotional depth, "The Prisoner" for the humour and catharsis factor, and "Redemption" for the blazing action. Ultimately, I'm going to say "Redemption", and give the honourable mention to "The Prisoner".

For season two, I'm set on "The Tragedy" as my pick of the season. It's got some great action, the return of familiar faces, and our protagonist at one of his lowest points. For the honourable mention, I'm going with "The Passenger" for its atmosphere.

Finally, my pick for season three would have to be "The Mines of Mandalore". Again, I love the tense atmoshpere and horror element it provides, along with the development it gives to Bo-Katan. My honourable mention would go to "The Pirate" for the epic battle between the Mandalorians and the pirates.

As for the future? Whether they do a fourth season or a movie, I'll probably look at that later down the line.

But for now, I've got a book to format. That's right, I'm publishing The Lady's Favour at the end of this month.

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 24: The Return

Well, here we are at the end.

When we last left off, things were bad. The expedition to scout the Great Mandalorian Forge ran into an Imperial ambush. Din was captured, Paz Vizsla was killed, and Bo-Katan was forced to retreat. Axe Woves managed to find an opening to return to the fleet, but Gideon scrambled his air force to knock out the ships. Meanwhile, Grogu saves Din and he opts to put an end to Gideon. In the process, he learns that Gideon has been making clones of himself.

Most of this episode is taken up by the action. Din fights with Gideon. Grogu fights his Praetorian Guards. The Armourer reinforces Bo-Katan's team and they storm the base. Axe Woves even sends the captured cruiser on a collision course. It's all suitably epic for a season finale, and there's not much else to say.

When everything's resolved, I can't help but wonder what else there is to do. Bo-Katan re-lights the great forge, and Din formally adopts Grogu as a Mandalorian apprentice. The Armourer tasks him with leaving Mandalore to travel the galaxy with his adopted son. Din settles down on Navarro and subsequently offers his services to Carson Teva as an "independant contractor", taking on New Republic bounties. He also takes an IG unit head amongst the trophies in the officers' mess at Adelphi base, using it to rebuild IG-11 so he can serve as Karga's new marshal.

There's talk of another season and/or a film in the works. Honestly, where can they go next? I suppose we could get an opportunity for something else to threaten Navarro so he can team up with IG-11 again. Plus there could be the jobs he takes with Carson, maybe going after more pirates or Imperial war criminals. I'm sure there's scope for more stories, but I don't know if there's enough for a season arc. There's also the issue of what to do with Greef Karga, following the passing of Carl Weathers.

We'll see how this plays out.

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 23: The Spies

Getting a Blade Runner vibe from that opening scene. After a season largely comprised of diversions, we're about to get some actual story. Although I'm not sure what spies the title is referring to.

Din and Bo-Katan return to Navarro, where they introduce their respective coverts to one another. Bo-Katan then proposes a move to re-settle on Mandalore. Din and Grogu opt to travel with her, alongside Koska Reeves, Axe Woves, Paz Vizsla, and The Armourer. On the surface, they encounter another group of Mandalorians who have been surviving on the surface in a sail barge ever since the bombings ended. Meanwhile, we learn that Elia Kane is still working with Moff Gideon, who is part of "The Shadow Council"; a secret alliance of Imperial warlords. As they tease the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn (a plot for Ahsoka), Gideon hatches a plan to remove the Mandalorians once and for all.

This episode has a lot of build-up with a great payoff, although there's some underlying tension from both the teeth-clenched teamwork between the Mandalorian factions and the reveal of Gideon's return. And that's on top of the hazards we've already seen earlier in the season.

There is some comedy at the beginning too. Greef provides Grogu with a mecha built out of IG-11's chassis, which includes buttons that say "Yes" and "No". Chaos ensues, but it even provides a dramatic payoff when he uses it to diffuse a fight between Axe Woves and Paz Vizsla (which is also funny on the grounds it's for the pettiest of reasons).

We also get some drama when it's revealed that Bo-Katan had actually surrendered the Darksaber to Moff Gideon after he defeated her forces in a bid to avoid a purge, only for him to renege.

The final part of the episode has the expedition travelling to the remains of the Great Mandalorian Forge, where they discover Gideon's hidden base. And he's got troopers wearing Beskar whom I initially thought were the return of Imperial Supercommandos from Rebels.

Great climax, with a harrowing cliffhanger. I'm excited for the finale.

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 22: Guns for Hire

Strange mix of guest stars in this one. Feels kinda like stunt casting.

When we last left off, The Armourer tasked Bo-Katan with uniting the other Mandalorians in a bid to reclaim their homeworld. She sets out with Din and Grogu to search for her old force now under the command of Axe Woves, who set up his own privateer fleet with the captured Imperial ships. They trace him to the lush outer rim world of Plazir-15, but are summoned by the world's rulers: an unnamed Duchess played by Lizzo; and her husband Captain Bombardier, a former Imperial officer on the Amnesty Program, played by Jack Black. The pair seek the Mandalorians' aid in investigating a series of incidents involving rogue droids in exchange for an audience with Axe Woves and a future promise to formally recognise Mandalorian sovereignity.

Overall, this story feels like a police procedural, and an uncomfortable one at that. The pair meet with Commissioner Helgait, played by Christopher Lloyd, and learn that many of the droids who perform the community's menial work are repurposed battle droids dating back to the Clone Wars. Din seems to sink back into his old anti-droid sentiments, and very much becomes a bigot with a badge while Bo-Katan serves as a more level-headed foil. That said, they do briefly reverse their roles while dealing with Ugnaughts. There also seems to be some social commentary with regards to automation and "leisure classes", but that doesn't seem to go anywhere.

Copaganda aside, the visuals of this episode are stunning, with both the domed city and the surrounding countryside. The city's rulers both seem likeable (real-world issues aside), with a particularly funny moment where the Duchess asks if she could hold Grogu. We also get a pretty cool moment at the end when Bo-Katan finally meets Axe Woves, and Din is able to get him back on her side by revealing his capture by the cyborg; as Bo-Katan defeated the cyborg who had defeated Din, she's technically won the Darksaber. 

Although with the cliffhanger of the previous episode, you can't help but feel uneasy about the reunion. I'm still curious about where that goes.

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 21: The Pirate

We're five episodes into this season and finally coming back to a thread from the first episode. Despite that fact, this is still a strong episode.

The "Pirate King" Gorian Shard launches a full-scale invasion of Greef Karga's town on Navarro, and he's forced to flee with the townspeople. He gets a message out to Carson Teva of the New Republic's Adelphi Rangers, trying to appeal for backup. Carson travels to Coruscant to directly appeal to his superior, who is reluctant to muster a fast response due to Navarro being an independent world. He then locates the Mandalorian covert through R5 and appeals to Din to help his friend.

The first portion of the episode is tense, with Carson trying to get through to his superiors, which includes a meeting with Elia Kane (who suggests using the pirate attack as a way to convince Navarro to join the New Republic). It goes to show that the New Republic's obstructive bureaucracy is probably no different from the Empire's. When he finds the Mandalorian covert, Paz suggests killing him outright to protect the covert's secrecy until Din intervenes. And when Din talks to the rest of the covert about intervening, Paz speaks about how he previously came into conflict with Karga's hunters back in the first season. You think he's going to speak against it, until he talks about how Din and Bo-Katan helped him save his son and offers support.

The second half is largely a battle sequence as the Mandalorians retake the city. Din and Bo-Katan use their craft to deal with Gorian's ship and fighters, while Paz and the Armourer lead the ground forces. When you get down to it, sometimes you just have to have some action. It's also nice to see Karga give the Mandalorians a heroes' welcome, after his previous conflict with them.

We also set up the story for the remainder of the series, as the Armourer tasks Bo-Katan with uniting the other Mandalorians in a bid to reclaim their ancestral homeland (allowing her to remove her helmet in the process).

When all that's resolved, we get a tense final scene as Carson stumbles across a derelict ship. It plays out like a horror movie as he sends in a probe to investigate, learning that Moff Gideon was extracted by Mandalorians. Having watched Rebels, I was reminded of Clan Saxon, a Mandalorian clan who served as Imperial viceroys.

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 20: The Foundling

Now that the Living Waters have been visited and Din's back in the covert, I guess the writers had to figure out what to do next. As such, this feels a lot like filler and turned this season into "The Meander-lorian". I'm also getting a "Beware the Grey Ghost" vibe from it.

Din volunteers Grogu for combat training, but their sparring is interrupted when a winged beast snatches another foundling. As Din and Paz run out of jetpack fuel while trying to pursue the creature, Bo-Katan shadows it back to the lair in her ship. She promptly volunteers to lead a hunting party to rescue the foundling. Meanwhile, Grogu is forced to stay with the Armourer, who forges him an extended flashback of how he escaped the Great Jedi Purge; he was spirited out of Coruscant by Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, aided by several members of the Royal Naboo Security Force.

Despite this episode being a filler, it's not actually that bad. It's cool to see Bo-Katan leading the hunting party and gain acceptance amongst the covert. Through her, we learn more about the practices of this particular group of Mandalorians. We also get to Paz Vizsla get some more depth. In his first appearance, he accused Din of cowardice by taking an Imperial bounty. In The Book of Boba Fett, he challenged Din for the Darksaber, and in the earlier episodes of this season he always disparagingly referred to him as an apostate. But he still works with them, especially when it's later revealed that the foundling who was snatched is his son. He's also a lot nicer to Bo-Katan; when the hunting party is camped, Din explains that the Mandalorians find a secluded spot to eat so they can remove their helmets. Paz tells Bo-Katan that as the leader of the hunting party, she can stay by the fire.

The rescue sequence gets tense as they climb the mountain with grappling lines and later encounter chicks in the creature's nest. In a similar vein, we get some more blazing action during Grogu's flashback as he and Kelleran are pursued by clone troopers. It's also great to see that not everyone agreed with the purge, as Kelleran's allies fight the clones. It's implied they're part of Padmé's security detail, whome she probably sent to extract any Jedi they could while she went to find Anakin on Mustafar.

Of course, I can't talk about this episode without talking about Kelleran Beq. Apparently he was a character who appeared in some game show, but this is his first canonical appearance. He's also played by Ahmed Best, who previously played Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy. Alright, Jar Jar was a reviled character, and Ahmed Best got a lot of flak for playing him. But I wish him well, and I'm happy he was able to find another role in the franchise. I couldn't help but draw a parallel with the aforementioned episode of Batman: The Animated Series which featured Adam West.

Although I'm still wondering what else happened to Grogu. That could be its own story.

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 19: The Convert

Ah, the "Paperclip" episode. And probably one of the weaker ones of the series.

Picking up where we left of, both Din and Bo-Katan have bathed in the living waters. But as they're returning to Bo-Katan's castle, they're attacked by a squadron of TIE Interceptors. Din has to bail out of Bo-Katan's ship so he can engage them with the Hotrod N1. But after they fend them off, a bomber squadron razes the castle.

And now for something completely different. The rest of the episode follows Gideon's scientist Dr Pershing, who has since accepted a pardon through a New Republic "Amnesty Programme" and has become a celebrity on Coruscant. At a housing project set up for the numerous ex-Imperial personnel on the programme, he re-unites with Elia Kane, the former comms officer from Gideon's cruiser (whom I thought was killed during the season two finale, but then noticed on the re-watch she only got hit in the shoulder). Frustrated in his soulless 9 to 5 and learning that his field of research is illegal, Pershing joins Kane on a plan to salvage some lab equipment from a de-commissioned Star Destroyer.

You can probably see why this episode is considered weak; all told, it has little to do with the main series. Din and Bo-Katan's skirmish with some suspiciously organised Imperials takes place entirely before the opening titles, and they don't appear again until the very end of the episode. It seems rather meandering.

Having said that, it's interesting to see what life is like on Coruscant now that the New Republic is in power. All told, it's not great. You've got a sheltered high society who are completely indifferent to the regime change, obstructive bureaucracy, and work cultures that seem to value busy work. On top of that, there's unsettling treatments for Amnesty personnel who are deemed "failures" that are apparently based on Imperial technology that people on the Outer Rim believe to be horror stories or propaganda. Other than that last part, it seems to perfectly encapsulate the illusions of western democracy.

Anyway, after that lengthy diversion, we see Din lead Bo-Katan to his covert. After proving that he's visited the living waters, he's welcomed back to the covert with open arms. When the Armourer learns that Bo-Katan had also bathed in the living waters and hadn't removed her helmet since, she's also invited to join the covert.

Well, I suppose we could get some hooks from this episode for the rest of the series.

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore

Well, that quest didn't take long.

Seeking a replacement memory core for IG-11, Din travels to Mos Eisley and makes inquiries with Peli Motto. When he mentions he requires a droid to visit Mandalore, she sells him her astromech droid R5-D4 (the one which Luke's uncle almost bought instead of R2 back in A New Hope). After travelling through an electrical storm in the upper atmosphere, Din finds that Mandalore's atmosphere is breathable and ventures into the ruins of Mandalore's capital, Sundari. While travelling, he's captured by a cyborg, forcing Grogu to flee the ruins and find Bo-Katan.

This episode is actually a pretty good one. The ruins of Sundari are reminiscent of the Mines of Moria in Lord of the Rings. Once a great city, it's now fallen into ruins and occupied by troll-like creatures called Alamites. The poor lighting creates a tense atmosphere, and makes you wonder what kind of dangers are lurking. In addition to the Alamites, there's some creatures that feel like a cross between wolves and bats, and the cyborg that captures Din. I found the design similar to General Grievous from Revenge of the Sith, but this one is more feral in nature. You don't learn much about it, but the fact that you don't actually makes the encounter more chilling. What follows is probably the most active we've seen Grogu as he races back to the ship (Force pushing an Alamite at the cave entrance in the process).

If there's anyone who truly steals the show, it's Bo-Katan. While she told Din last episode where the mines were, she wants nothing to do with him and is ready to send him away when his ship returns. But when she only finds Grogu there, she realises Din's in trouble and goes to save him. She takes out the cyborg and shows him the mines, while still being dismissive of the stories. She then saves Din a second time when he falls beneath the waters. What is kind of funny is that it's built up to be him getting pulled in by another monster, but in reality he just took a bad step. However, it turns out that there is something in the water: a creature called the "mythosaur", which has a legendary status and is used as the main emblem of Mandalore. Said mythosaur leaves them be though.

All in all, this was one of the strongest episodes of the season. The trouble is that the previous episode set this up to be the main story arc for the season. Now that's been resolved, what do you do with the rest of the it?

The Mandalorian Marathon - Chapter 17: The Apostate

After a brief diversion to deal with an attack by the supporting feature, it's time to start the third season of The Mandalorian.

If you didn't watch The Book of Boba Fett, and skipped the recap, here's a quick rundown: After entrusting Grogu to Luke Skywalker, Din Djarn reconnected with the survivors of the Mandalorian covert from Navarro. However, he was cast out because he had removed his helmet in front of somebody, and is tasked with bathing in the living waters beneath the mines of Mandalore.

Anyway, it turns out that the Armourer has managed to find other Mandalorians to rebuild her enclave, but a large sea creature disrupts an initiation ceremony. Din Djarin arrives in his "hot rod" Naboo fighter with Grogu and saves the day, but receives a cold reception. In a scene that's largely exposition for anyone who didn't watch The Book of Boba Fett, Din and the Armourer discuss rumours Mandalore has been rendered uninhabitable since the Imperial purge. She permits Din to return if he can prove the rumours wrong. Again, the quest that was outlined in the spin-off, which goes to explaining why those events should have been depicted in this series rather than that one.

But I digress. Din returns to Navarro, which has received a makeover and become a prosperous independent trade port under High Magistrate Karga's supervision. He even offers Din a home in the region. However, all's not well as a subplot emerges: A group of pirates are causing trouble at the local school (which used to be a cantina). In the ensuing showdown, Karga proves he's still a fast draw, but he seeks to recruit Din as a new marshal; Cara Dune's been promoted to special forces (as Gina Carano had been fired at this point), and his desire to make his town independent has made him reluctant to approach the New Republic. He's also kind of crestfallen when he learns that Din had come back on business; seeking to rebuild IG-11 to help him go to Mandalore.

As stated above, the story gets a little jumbled in this episode. Although it does finally reveal what happened to Bo-Katan in the aftermath of the last season; her people abandoned her when she didn't recover the Darksaber, and she's since grown bitter over her failure, giving up on her quest to reclaim Mandalore and living in solitude at her castle on one of the other worlds in the system.

Jumbled story aside, there's still some good action sequences, with the monster battle at the beginning of the episode and the stand-off with the pirates. There's also a Terminator-like sequence when a rebooted IG-11 tries to kill Grogu, and a space battle with more pirates.

Speaking of Grogu, he provides a bit of comic relief in the episode; using the force to steal candy and spin the chair in Karga's office, and later trying to hug the diminutive Anzellan technicians whom Karga tasks with rebuilding IG-11.

The Mandalorian Marathon - The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor

I've got some time to kill, so I figured I'd wrap up this little interlude before returning to the actual marathon.

Fett is preparing for war with the Pyke Syndicate, and it isn't looking good. The mayor of Mos Espa is on their payroll, the city's major gangs have pledged neutrality, and Fett's crew is underpowered: Fennec Shand, Din Djarin, a wookie gladiator called Krrsantan, two Gamorreans who used to work for Jabba, and a gang of 70s mods with cyberpunk mods. Yes, really. I groaned when I heard them referred to as such too.

Anyway, Murphy's Law is in full effect. Cad Bane makes his presence known, revealing that he gunned down Cobb Vanth and threatened the people of Freetown into staying away, while also admitting that Pykes were responsible for killing the Tuskens Fett lived with in the earlier flashbacks. At the same time, the local bosses double-cross Fett and ambush his people as they're scouting. As the Pykes converge on the ruins of The Sanctuary, Fennec Shand leaves to assassinate the bosses, leaving Fett and Din to face them alone.

There's a particularly funny part when Fett sends the mayor's majordomo to negotiate when he volunteers to present terms for surrender, until he realises what those terms actually are. After that, it all kicks off. While that's going on, Grogu arrives in Mos Eisley, having decided to be a Mandalorian rather than a Jedi. He finds Pelli Motto and they travel to Mos Espa.

The climax is full of highs and lows. Fennec takes a detour to save the Mods, Krrsantan is able to escape from his ambush, and a posse from Freetown arrives to save Fett and Din. This is promptly reversed when the Pykes send out two war droids, until Fett arrives with his rancor. Yes, he got a rancor (supplied by Danny Trejo), and is riding it into battle (like the Nightsisters in Empire at War: Forces of Corruption). It all plays out like a Kaiju battle. And while that's going on Fennec goes all Agent 47 on the other bosses and the mayor.

Overall, the action was great, but it did feel a bit too over-the-top at times. Anyway, we end with Din reunited with Grogu, leaving Tatooine to go back their own story.

I'll be back tomorrow to talk about that.