Taking place in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi, this graphic novel features Shara Bey, mother of Force Awaken's Poe Dameron, as she meets a number of the Star Wars universe's big names. 
 I really can't say that I loved Shattered Empire. The dialogue writing was passable, but not great. The artwork was fine, albeit a little showy, and lacked character. The plot writing was unfocused. 
 The artwork felt a little too polished, and it bordered on the uncanny valley with the characters from the movies - trying too hard to make them recognisable. In some portions, it actually looked like the scenes were made with 3D models and then sketched over. There's a certain stiffness, an inorganic Barbie doll-ness, to that art style that kept popping up. I also found that the action sequences lacked clarity, so that I had to skip ahead to figure out what I was supposed to be seeing. 
 For the plot, each section of the book has Bey going off on a different adventure, each time with a different original cast member from the movies. The adventures themselves are interesting enough, but nothing ties them together, they don't build toward anything. 
 My last complaint - and this is with the Star Wars universe more broadly - is with the focus on parentage. I would have enjoyed Shara Bey just fine as a character without her being the parent of another character. I could have enjoyed Poe Dameron just fine as a character without finding out that his parents were important people who got to meet Luke and Leia. 
 The parentage theme works with Anakin and Luke because that's the story, "the sins of the father" and so forth. But there's no reason to take it any further than that. We don't need to find out that Anakin is actually the one who built C3PO, or that fan favourite Boba Fett's father was actually the genetic pattern used for the clone army, or whatever is going on with Rey. These characters are all lovely and important on their own, without the need for intricate breeding certifications. 
 What I loved about this book, and about the expanding universe in general, is how diverse they make the universe feel. And by retconning women and POCs back into the events of the original trilogy, they let me feel, for the first time, like characters who look like me can really matter in this epic story. I've always loved Star Wars, but the new canon is the first time I've ever felt loved back by the franchise.