" Star Wars after Lucas is a spirited and often convincing defense of the saga's 'complex and multifaceted' content. "-- Shepherd Express "Anyone fascinated by the post-George Lucas Star Wars universe will find Dan Golding's Critical Guide to the Future of the Galaxy an essential read. Focusing on The Force Awakens , Rogue One , The Last Jedi , and Star Wars Rebels , Golding crafts an insightful, smart analysis."-- The Film Stage "Feminist progressives see in the galaxy a courageous human rights defense that stands for inclusivity, community, and individuality. Star Wars after Lucas demonstrates thoroughly and importantly how the legacy franchise has maintained its reflective glow in the Disney era. "-- CHOICE "Golding is insightful on the politics of Star Wars . "Despite its political malleability," he writes, " Star Wars has, for better or worse, gained a general whiff of cultural conservatism." That stems, he suggests, from the fact that the retro escapism of the original trilogy seemed of a piece with the political winds that gave two White House terms to a former actor who struck a genial, paternal mien while enacting brutally regressive policies.
"-- The Tangential "Golding has managed to provide a book that is clear in its intentions of examining the Star Wars franchise in the years since it made the transition to a giant media conglomerate. The significance of nostalgia is interwoven throughout and provides a detailed yet broad exploration into how it has both impacted and been implemented into the long-running franchise."-- Leonardo Reviews "When Golding surrounds the new Star Wars media with the pop culture, political, and digital factors that shaped it, it's clear to readers that Star Wars is not a fluke, nor an outlier in modern American media: it's the center of it. Scholars of contemporary film and media studies or any fan of the iconic franchise will enjoy this look into how a down and out narrative circled back to win the hearts of America once again."-- CBQ: Communication Booknotes Quarterly "Golding's book both succeeds as an investigation of Star Wars in the Disney era and performs the limitations such investigations necessarily entail, it provides a useful and necessary account of contemporary, popular entertainment."-- SFRA Review.