Star Wars: Tales from the Rancor Pit

by Cavan Scott

It’s a dark and stormy night on Tatooine as Jabba the Hutt’s victim hangs perilously above the rancor pit with only his collection of scary stories to save him.

New York Times Bestseller Cavan Scott (Star Wars: The High Republic, Tales from Vader’s Castle) teams up with with fan-favorites artists Nick Brokenshire, Juan Samu, Rafael Pérez, and Puste for a trio of terrifying tales just in time for Halloween. Experience clanking droid ghosts, explore the chilling wampa caves of Hoth and go monster hunting with Saber-For-Hire Ty Yorrick.

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Short Stories

56 pages, Hardcover

First published November 23, 2022

About the author

is a freelance comic writer and author. He is best known for his work on a variety of spin-offs from both Doctor Who and Star Wars, as well as comics and novels for Vikings, Pacific Rim, Sherlock Holmes, and Penguins of Madagascar.

Cavan Scott, along with Justina Ireland, Claudia Gray, Daniel Jose Older, and Charles Soule are crafting a new era in the Star Wars publishing world called Star Wars: The High Republic. Cavan's contribution to the era is a comic book series released through Marvel Comics titled Star Wars: The High Republic.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

A grabbag of Star Wars short stories, told through a connecting story. It all feels a lot like an 80s Star Wars book, including the style of art and the colouring (very bright) - I don't mean that in a negative way, btw.

The stories are.. okay. The connecting story is a bit pants - normally you'd build to some kind of twist that connects the short stories back to the greater one, and this book sort of pretends it does that, but it doesn't really make sense.

Read it when you're 10 or 11, during some kind of holiday.

(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 rounded down. These were fun little stories. I loved seeing Ty Yorrick again so soon after reading her in Monster of Temple Peak. But also seeing Mace Windu and Deepa Bilaba team up was nice too. The last story didn’t interest me a whole lot and felt very childish honestly but that’s okay, just not for me. Over all a quick and fun read.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of Star Wars anymore, but the "Tales from" comics for kids were sometimes fun, so I picked this one up at the library. Unfortunately, it seems half-formed. Though it features Jabba on the cover and "the rancor pit" in the title, the three stories in the book have nothing to do with the location. There's a prequel story, a High Republic story, and an Empire Strikes Back story. So at least it's nice to see that Disney is giving up on trying to include the sequel trilogy everywhere. But the stories are dull, and the frame that connects them ends up being pointless.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teensy little horror stories for kids, like the Vader's Castle series, but somehow more bland. Instead of a Rebel spy telling stories to Darth Vader, we get a nameless nobody telling stories to Jabba.

There's a Separatist war tale featuring mad droids, a High Republic tale featuring characters I was expected to recognize and did not, and a dreary Wampa encounter on Hoth starring Han, Leia, and Chewie. The unique art styles were a selling point - the by-the-numbers plots were not. Better for kids, certainly.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute scary stories for a younger audience and dynamic art. The Tatooine stuff is just a framing device, though, so don’t expect another “Tales from Jabba’s Palace” here.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, really quick read, where a storyteller tries to stay off his execution in Jabba's Rancor pit, so he tells him three stories to stave it off, but gets killed anyway. Funny, but obviously for a younger audience.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick, run read, which is exactly what this was supposed to be. I enjoyed the second story the most, while the bookend stories were still fairly solid.

[The Spooky Jedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short comic series.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

This collection of short stories is set in the style of Arabian Nights: a hapless captive of Jabba's tries to save himself by telling stories - or at least delay the inevitable.

There are three tales in total:

First one from the Clone Wars era when a ghost battle droid haunts its leader who does not put value to life of droids.

Second from the High Republic era with a bounty hunting, gaming Jedi

Third one from Echo Base at Hoth, showing a different side to Wampas.

All the stories are decent though perhaps best taken as what they are portrayed to be - just stories told by the protagonist. They all have elements in them that would be confusing if they were intended to be canon - which as a long time fan I found a bit hard to get over.

The art is decent if nothing special. I rarely like the art for Star Wars comics - it's always too messy for my taste - but this does not delve into a completely artistic view either.

If you're a fan you won't be disappointed with this. Yet ultimately it's quite forgettable. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 ABY.
The pirate Vaclav tries to assuage the murderous displeasure of Jabba the Hutt by telling a series of stories of monstrous encounters, covering the Clone Wars, the High Republic and the Rebellion.

This is something of a continuation of the 'Tales from Vader's Castle' series of books, albeit under a different publisher (Dark Horse instead of IDW) and it doesn't really break any new ground as a result. However, I definitely feel that the flashback stories here are of better quality than some of the ones in the previously released IDW Star Wars anthology books.

Unfortunately this book's biggest problem is value for money. It's roughly the length of a single comic book but costs the same as a normal graphic novel (actually, a little bit more) and there's certainly nothing in the actual content that justifies being so expensive for being so short.

So, the stories are perfectly fine but I can in no way recommend actually paying the asking price for this book.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Gabriel Ramiro Cruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is simple to read with bright illustrated images to capture the eye of the reader. I feel this book is geared more towards children but any Star Wars Fan can read it. The book is about 56 pages long so one can read it in a day.

Basically it is 3 stories told within one bigger story. Jabba the Hutt’s hangs a victim above the rancor pit with only the collection of scary stories to can save him. Will Jabba be entertained for his life to be spared, or will the storyteller bore Jabba to his certain death?

[Royally Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, not my favorite Star Wars comic special. This is a collection of a few "creepy" stories for Halloween time. It centers on a character telling Jabba the Hutt some stories in the hopes of staying alive. I liked Tales from Vader's Castle better. I liked a story or two, but these just didn't entertain me as well as some other Star Wars specials have. Good for light reading, but not a must-read recommendation for Star Wars fans.

[Ahdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cavan Scott is always dependable for some fun in-world stories from interesting characters. This time they are being told through a character bargaining for his life by trying to convince Jabba that instead of being dropped in the pit, he could be Jabba's storyteller. The tales he tells are a blast and the artwork was great!

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fun scary tales, but they don't quite live up to the ones that came before in the Tales from Vader's Castle series. The price for the hardcover of this is also a rip-off. I did really like the story that had Ty Yorrick, and the connective tissue of the droid and Jabba that is similar to that of 1001 nights.

[Raul Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three short "Halloween-y" stories from Cavan Scott. One set during the Clone Wars, one set during the High Republic era, and one set during (or maybe just before?) the events of The Empire Strikes Back. All good fun.

My rating: 3.8 Stars

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing particularly great. The tales are not even about Jabba or his Rancor pit. These are 3 tales across different eras. From the Clone Wars, the High Republic and the Empire. They are going for a ghost story vibe but nothing great here.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good. A captured ne'er-do-well is hanging upside down over Jabba's Rancor Pit, trying to stave off the inevitable by telling our favorite Hutt some "scary" stories. Unfortunately, it does not work. The end.

[Zettifar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a good time reading a few short stories with each having their own spooky twist and perfect for those searching for a fun read during the Halloween time of year.

A prequel story , A high republic story and a OG trilogy story and all written by Cavan Scott so how could you go wrong

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection of stories. Really enjoyed the hardcover format and the return of Ty Yorrick !

[Will Plunkett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The three eras cover the Empire, High Republic, and Clone Wars. Somewhat scary (less so than some of Scott's other collections) and pretty good art.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bright and colorful graphic novel with a swift pace and non-stop action of the tales of adventure that the characters tell each other while held prisoner by Jabba the Hutt.

[Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty forgettable for me. The artwork is pretty but the stories were serviceable at best. Someone more immersed in the Star Wars universe might enjoy this more than I did.

[Sam Sciarrotta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cavan Scott is writing some of the most consistently good and sweet and funny Star Wars graphic novels out there

[Sam Nicholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, we all knew how this was gonna end, right? Basically Star Wars doing the One Thousand and One Nights thing.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could read so many stories like these. I love it! And I always more Ty Yorrick!

[Adam Sequoyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

MPA ratings: PG for fantasy violence

[Jordan Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids story what evs

[Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why was this made.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Fun to see Ty Yorrick again.