Book Review: “Skywalking Through My Fandom” Encourages Fans to Document Their Own Star Wars Journeys

For years, lifelong Star Wars fans (and friends of Laughing Place) Richard and Sarah Woloski have been entertaining and informing listeners via their podcast Skywalking Through Neverland.

And now, they’re inviting other fans of A Galaxy Far, Far Away to document their own Star Wars experiences via a new activity book entitled Skywalking Through My Fandom– a follow-up to last year’s self-published releases Today In Star Wars History Parts 1 & 2.

Skywalking Through My Fandom: Share Your Story of A Galaxy Far, Far Away encourages fans to pick up whatever writing implement happens to be handy at the moment and start scribbling away in its pages, many of which are intentionally left with big blank spaces just waiting to be filled in. Written by Richard and Sarah together and illustrated by the latter with fun, cartoonish illustrations of familiar Star Wars characters, vehicles, and locations, this book is a great way to start keeping track of exactly what you love about the world’s most famous space-opera franchise. After a moving personal intro from both contributors, the Woloskis kick off the interactivity by asking devotees to share stories of their fandom, from overall highlights to favorite cosplays to friends and family in the community and any celebrity encounters they may have experienced during their journeys. Owners of this book can also keep track of Star Wars filming locations they’ve visited and provide a month-to-month archive of how their year in fandom plays out. Plus there are crossword puzzles, word searches, and checklists to help them along the way.

And speaking of checklists, the inventory of Star Wars movies, television series, events, and other media near the end of Skywalking Through My Fandom would actually be a pretty good place to start for incoming fans who are new to the franchise, while more established fans will get a kick out of revisiting and recording their memories from Star Wars past. Then the book ends on a positive, forward-looking note, with the Woloskis asking readers what their long-term goals are for the future of their fandom and the direction they’d like to see Star Wars take as a whole. That positivity is something I’ve come to know and expect about Richard and Sarah (and yes, I do know them personally, but that had little to no influence on my enjoyment of this book, except for the fact that they sent it to me for free) and I think anyone who is exposed to their output in all its various forms will become accustomed to it as well. For just $12, Skywalking Through My Fandom is a great place to start keeping track of your own personal Star Wars story, and a wonderful way to be introduced to the enthusiastic world of Skywalking Through Neverland as well.

Skywalking Through My Fandom and Today In Star Wars History Parts 1 & 2 are all available now via the Skywalking Through Neverland website.

Mike Celestino
Mike serves as Laughing Place's lead Southern California reporter, Editorial Director for Star Wars content, and host of the weekly "Who's the Bossk?" Star Wars podcast. He's been fascinated by Disney theme parks and storytelling in general all his life and resides in Burbank, California with his beloved wife and cats.