Star Wars: Delusions Of Granular

Before they were in The Force Awakens, John Boyega was in a little film called Attack the Block; Daisy Ridley was in a short called Blue Season. How did they do as actors? Are we going to get some stilted performances a la the Prequels? Or are we going to get some fine acting ("but I wanted to go to Toshe Station to pick up some power converters!") like we got in the original trilogy? Ron analyzes what will go down in history as the early work of these future Star Wars stars!

Radio dramas were once a popular thing before television came into being. Although a thing of the past, the popularity of Star Wars led to National Public Radio turning the very visual movie into a 6-1/2 hour radio series. With only Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels reprising their roles many other changes were made to extend the movie well past it's running time. So how entertaining can this all be? Find out as Ron gets granular with the Star Wars Radio Drama!

We look at the Sphero, the company behind BB-8, the new droid in The Force Awakens. The company was hand-picked Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney to use their technology in the new movie. Not only did Sphero create the real life working droid for the movie, they created the remote control toy that fans love as well. And their plans only begin there! Meanwhile we explore Disney's relationship with technology from their early beginnings. Is Star Wars in good hands? You might be more reassured after this episode!

The Journey to The Force Awakens continues with Star Wars: Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure! This book actually takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi but that doesn't make it a light romp. This one has more to do with the power of friendships and the costs of war. By seeing the galaxy through Leia's point of view, this book has an emotional depth that is missing from the previous books. Be sure to check it out!

Ron explores a part of Star Wars fandom that used to be a big part of his past...going to toy conventions and collecting toys! After being away from the scene for many years, the lure of new toys for The Force Awakens is too strong for Ron to resist. Join Delusions of Granular as we explore the secondary market for toy collectors. Have things changed in the years between when Ron used to go to these shows? Are they seedier? Are there deals to be had? Find out as we go back to the toy conventions!

Continuing our coverage of The Journey to The Force Awakens, we take a look at Star Wars: Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure! Although a little misleading, this book doesn't actually take place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. But what it does do is give us an adventure about Han and Chewie as they embark on a rescue mission that takes place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Listen to Delusions of Granular to find out what we think of this Young Adult book. Is it worthy of the new canon or just another story that can be skipped? 

The Journey to The Force Awakens rolls on with some of the other books that were released on Force Friday besides Aftermath. Three young adult books came out, each one focusing on Luke, Leia or Han. This week we take a granular look at The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure. Does this story pick up after Return of the Jedi as promised or is this more leftovers from before the Extended Universe was deemed Legends? Find out if this book is a must-read or a skip!

In our last look at the new canon novel, Star Wars Aftermath, we get granular with all the Interludes that are interspersed throughout the book. Although these stories have nothing to do with the main story being told in the book, there is a lot of interesting information that fans will be curious to know as we all that the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens!

Delusions of Granular continues their coverage of the new novel, Star Wars: Aftermath with a spoilerific episode about the main story that is told throughout the book. Many people were wondering what the focus of this book would be. Would it be continuing the stories of Han, Luke and Leia much like the Timothy Zahn trilogy did in the Expanded Universe or would it go in a different direction all together? Now that everything being told "counts" as canon, it is an interesting journey that they are starting out on. But is it a journey that the fans are going to gravitate toward. Find out as we get granular with our second episode about Aftermath!

We tell our story of adventures in retail as we discuss the events that happened during Force Friday and give our opinion of the successes and fails that went into the marketing juggernaut. Then we give our non-spoiler(ish) review of Star Wars: Aftermath. Is this the new canon you've been looking for? Maybe...but don't expect this book to be like any other Star Wars book you've read. Join us for the first part of our granular dissection of the first book in the Journey to The Force Awakens!

In preparation for a big shopping spree (and Ron's eventual relapse as a toy addict) Delusions of Granular give you their guide to everything that is going on for Force Friday on September 4th. Are you excited for all the new Star Wars merchandise that is going to hit store shelves? Or are you over it all? Find out about all the planned releases and festivities that the retailers are planning!

After Disney ruled the Expanded Universe to not be canon, the first of the "everything counts" canon in the form of short stories being published in the fan magazine, Star Wars Insider. We take a look at three of these short stories: The End of History, One Thousand Levels Down and Last Call at the Zero Angle. These stories don't involve any of the main characters from the Saga but seem to give a glimpse of the universe during war from smaller character's points-of-view. We'll give you our granular opinion on these stories and let you know what else you can expect from these stories in the future!

Six movies, two television shows and countless comics and novels...and more on the way. You would think that we would have enough Star Wars content to last us a lifetime! But no, some Star Wars fans are so inspired by the movies that they went ahead and created their own short films. This week Delusions of Granular takes a look at two of the earlier fan films that have been recognized by Lucasfilm's Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards. Troops from 1997 and George Lucas In Love from 1999 are two shorts that won the Pioneer Award. They inspired many other young filmmakers to create their own Star Wars films and it is where we start our journey in exploring the fan films of the Star Wars universe. Join us as we get granular set out on this journey!

Initially turned off by Marvel's Star Wars: Darth Vader comic series, Delusions of Granular was urged to give it another chance. This time picking up the first 6-issue arc and reading it in one sense, it started to sit better with us. This series picks up right after the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the first Death Star. The Emperor is not pleased with Vader's performance and Vader is feeling a little distrustful of the Empire in general. There's a lot of maneuvering by Vader to regain his power in the Empire. And a few new characters are introduced as well! Listen in to see what we ultimately thought of this between-the-movies story about everyone's favorite Sith Lord!

After Jp and Ron discovered The Yoda Chronicles on Disney XD, they wanted more. Luckily they were informed that more was on its way in the form of Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales. Billed as a retelling of the Star Wars Saga through the droids eyes, this show not only retells all six of the Star Wars movies in five 22-minute episodes, it does so with the same Lego humor that we've come to expect from the Lego franchise! So is this show worth checking out if you are a Star Wars fan? Listen to the latest episode of Star Wars: Delusions of Granular to find out!

There was a ton of information that was leaked/released over that last five days for The Force Awakens. So much so that we could hardly keep track. So we take an episode to try to take inventory of it all. Entertainment Weekly had a very Star Wars focused issue about the new movie and Disney's D23 Expo happened over the weekend. With those two things we learned a more about Kylo Ren, the cast for Rogue One, the director of Episode IX, the Disney Star Wars Theme Parks, and more! Along with all the official announcments, we got a ton of leaked toys and an image of what Luke Skywalker is going to look like for The Force Awakens! With Force Friday right around the corner and the new movie getting closer every day, it's getting more and more exciting to be a fan!

On this episode of Delusions of Granular, we talk about the retelling of Star Wars in two different forms: William Shakespeare's Star Wars and Little Golden Books. Both are very different outlets to tell the Star Wars story. While the Shakespeare books might be looked at as a novelty and the Little Golden Books considered "kiddie books" we will give our granular opinion on whether these books are worth your time? We also look at some of the other avenues that Star Wars has been retold in the past. One thing is for certain, Star Wars is the modern mythology that seems to be getting passed on from generation to generation.

A series of videos compiling all the Changes that George Lucas made to the Original Trilogy has been floating around the Internet recently. We thought we would take the opportunity to share our feeling about these changes. As with most Star Wars fans, our feelings are conflicted but not as conflicted as you might think. Han not shooting first? Yeah, we're fine with that but that musical break in Jabba's palace? Unforgivable! Join us as we give you the official SWDOG take on the changes to the Star Wars movies!

Ron takes a look at the one-shot from Marvel's Star Wars comic. Taking a break between story arcs, creator Jason Aaron write a short story about what Obi-Wan was up to between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, a time period that any good Star Wars fan has alway been curious about. Is this story worthy of being in the new "everything counts" canon? You bet! This is a very interesting vignette where we not only see Obi-Wan struggle with not being about to be a Jedi, we get to see a young Luke Skywalker be a "new hope" for Ben himself. Listen as we get granular with a new Star Wars story that we are very fond of!

After the first four now-canon novels were announced, Dark Disciple was revealed a little later. Taking and unaired arc from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this novel continues the adventures of Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos. With these two characters' shady use of the Force, this was sure to be an interesting tale to read. Find out what we think of this new novel! But be warned, there are spoilers in this podcast about what happens to Ventress and Vos by the end of the book. Join us as we get granular (and excited) about new Star Wars content!