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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
http://dvdwebz.es/blog/2013/01/17/star-wars-shadows-of-the-empire-steve-perr/
Sorta poor writing in the early chapters but once the story gets going it burns pretty quickly. Easy to read like junk food.
A nicely written tale that spans the year between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. This is the search for Han Solo, as well an introduction to the inner-workings of Black Sun. I was rooting for Prince Xizor from the moment he was introduced, and for once my usual views of the Rebellion and the Empire were displaced to the point in which I wanted them both to lose this one.
This was a really good one in my opinion. I've been reading SW books in chronological order for a number of years now and I've just recently gotten into the era of the films. This book, along with the video game, really helped reignite people's love for Star Wars and soon the sequels were made.
This book centers on the time between episodes 5 and 6. The leader of Black Sun, Xizor, has a plot to kill Luke Skywalker to get back at the Empire for killing his family, but he is also doing it to replace Vader as the emperor's right hand man. The book has a great use of the characters and lots of great situations the crew cleverly gets themselves into and out of. I would recommend this to SW book readers.
This book centers on the time between episodes 5 and 6. The leader of Black Sun, Xizor, has a plot to kill Luke Skywalker to get back at the Empire for killing his family, but he is also doing it to replace Vader as the emperor's right hand man. The book has a great use of the characters and lots of great situations the crew cleverly gets themselves into and out of. I would recommend this to SW book readers.
Star Wars Legends Project #286
Background: Shadows of the Empire was written by [a:Steve Perry|6262|Steve Perry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1463048818p2/6262.jpg] and published in May of 1996. Perry also co-wrote 3 Star Wars novels with Michael Reaves. This novel is the central pillar of a wide-ranging Star Wars multimedia blitz, envisioned as a "movie project without the movie." George Lucas had originally planned to release the Special Editions of the original trilogy in 1996, followed by the launch of his prequel trilogy the following year, but when that was delayed, this was the project that stepped in to fill that gap, along with the narrative gap between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
This story takes place in the weeks leading up to the beginning of, 3-4 years after the battle of Yavin. The main characters are Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, R2-D2, C-3PO, etc. There are also major roles for Prince Xizor, Emperor Palpatine, Boba Fett, Dash Rendar, Wedge Antilles, etc. The story takes place on Tatooine, Bothawui, Coruscant, and various other planets and points in space.
Summary: The Rebellion's greatest heroes race to intercept Boba Fett before he can deliver Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt, all unknowing that a noose is slowly tightening around them. Prince Xizor, ruthless Falleen leader of the infamous Black Sun criminal organization, has learned that Darth Vader seeks to capture Luke Skywalker alive at the Emperor's request. As Vader's chief rival for the Emperor's favor, Xizor senses a golden opportunity. If he can somehow ensure Vader's failure by killing Skywalker, without any links leading back to him, he might just supplant the Dark Lord of the Sith as the Emperor's most trusted confidante. And the one person Luke won't hesitate to come for is seeking an audience with him . . .
Review: There are any number of reasons why this novel should not work; or, rather, reasons why it might not work. Because it takes place right before Return of the Jedi, we already know the outcome of the major dramatic threads: We know the plans to rescue Han Solo before he reaches Jabba will fail. We know Luke Skywalker will not be assassinated. And that's without even mentioning the difficulty of retroactively setting up a story that's already been told without it feeling contrived. Additionally, the main villain, Prince Xizor, is a brand-new character that we've never heard of before this, but who thinks he's on a level with Darth frickin' Vader. Finally, Dash Rendar is flagrantly a Han Solo knockoff character, intended to fill the same role in the story but without any of Han's character growth from the first 2 films, or (frankly) his charisma.
But somehow, none of that actually manages to derail it all. This actually kind of feels of a piece with the original trilogy, in that it feels like a fun adventure with all of the characters we love (well, at least the ones who are around) in the midst of the time when we know them best. Luke is still honing his Jedi powers (and this has some of my favorite descriptions of a Jedi experiencing the Force). Leia is still grappling with the realization that she loves Han while dealing with his loss. Lando is struggling to redeem the choices he made that helped land them where they are. And Xizor is actually a good villain because they don't try to make him another Vader, or even someone who could stand up to Vader in a fight. He's a different kind of villain, a different kind of evil, and a great complement to our main antagonists from the movies.
The one thing that's never made any sense to me about Xizor is that he's always described as very attractive, but I've never seen one piece of art that even tries to make him look anything other than off-putting to the point of being creepy. Which, speaking of . . . Maybe this is just the sort of thing that hasn't aged well, but I feel like it was a very questionable choice to give him the ability to exude the date rape drug into the air around him. Like, yeah he's the bad guy, but . . . too far. I don't love that the big tension in Leia's storyline isn't whether she's in physical danger, but whether she'll "sully her virtue" or whatever by boning Xizor under the effects of mind control. Pretty gross. There's a similar sensibility in Xizor's chief lieutenant being a Human replica droid who can murder anyone easily with her bare hands . . . and who also happens to be a very particular type of blonde bombshell mega-hottie. (Replica droids, incidentally, are not a piece of technology that's ever referred to in any of the films, and only rarely in any other novel or comic because it's so out-of-step with the Star Wars universe. It's not an idea that plays nicely with others in this particular sandbox.)
Still, a few icky details aside, I really like this, both as a story and in the way it fills the gap between the movies. It's definitely worthwhile.
A-
Background: Shadows of the Empire was written by [a:Steve Perry|6262|Steve Perry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1463048818p2/6262.jpg] and published in May of 1996. Perry also co-wrote 3 Star Wars novels with Michael Reaves. This novel is the central pillar of a wide-ranging Star Wars multimedia blitz, envisioned as a "movie project without the movie." George Lucas had originally planned to release the Special Editions of the original trilogy in 1996, followed by the launch of his prequel trilogy the following year, but when that was delayed, this was the project that stepped in to fill that gap, along with the narrative gap between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
This story takes place in the weeks leading up to the beginning of
Summary: The Rebellion's greatest heroes race to intercept Boba Fett before he can deliver Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt, all unknowing that a noose is slowly tightening around them. Prince Xizor, ruthless Falleen leader of the infamous Black Sun criminal organization, has learned that Darth Vader seeks to capture Luke Skywalker alive at the Emperor's request. As Vader's chief rival for the Emperor's favor, Xizor senses a golden opportunity. If he can somehow ensure Vader's failure by killing Skywalker, without any links leading back to him, he might just supplant the Dark Lord of the Sith as the Emperor's most trusted confidante. And the one person Luke won't hesitate to come for is seeking an audience with him . . .
Review: There are any number of reasons why this novel should not work; or, rather, reasons why it might not work. Because it takes place right before Return of the Jedi, we already know the outcome of the major dramatic threads: We know the plans to rescue Han Solo before he reaches Jabba will fail. We know Luke Skywalker will not be assassinated. And that's without even mentioning the difficulty of retroactively setting up a story that's already been told without it feeling contrived. Additionally, the main villain, Prince Xizor, is a brand-new character that we've never heard of before this, but who thinks he's on a level with Darth frickin' Vader. Finally, Dash Rendar is flagrantly a Han Solo knockoff character, intended to fill the same role in the story but without any of Han's character growth from the first 2 films, or (frankly) his charisma.
But somehow, none of that actually manages to derail it all. This actually kind of feels of a piece with the original trilogy, in that it feels like a fun adventure with all of the characters we love (well, at least the ones who are around) in the midst of the time when we know them best. Luke is still honing his Jedi powers (and this has some of my favorite descriptions of a Jedi experiencing the Force). Leia is still grappling with the realization that she loves Han while dealing with his loss. Lando is struggling to redeem the choices he made that helped land them where they are. And Xizor is actually a good villain because they don't try to make him another Vader, or even someone who could stand up to Vader in a fight. He's a different kind of villain, a different kind of evil, and a great complement to our main antagonists from the movies.
The one thing that's never made any sense to me about Xizor is that he's always described as very attractive, but I've never seen one piece of art that even tries to make him look anything other than off-putting to the point of being creepy. Which, speaking of . . . Maybe this is just the sort of thing that hasn't aged well, but I feel like it was a very questionable choice to give him the ability to exude the date rape drug into the air around him. Like, yeah he's the bad guy, but . . . too far. I don't love that the big tension in Leia's storyline isn't whether she's in physical danger, but whether she'll "sully her virtue" or whatever by boning Xizor under the effects of mind control. Pretty gross. There's a similar sensibility in Xizor's chief lieutenant being a Human replica droid who can murder anyone easily with her bare hands . . . and who also happens to be a very particular type of blonde bombshell mega-hottie. (Replica droids, incidentally, are not a piece of technology that's ever referred to in any of the films, and only rarely in any other novel or comic because it's so out-of-step with the Star Wars universe. It's not an idea that plays nicely with others in this particular sandbox.)
Still, a few icky details aside, I really like this, both as a story and in the way it fills the gap between the movies. It's definitely worthwhile.
A-
Star Wars Legends Project #307
Background: Shadows of the Empire: Evolution, released in February 2000, collects issues #1-5 originally published Feb-June 1998. The series was written by [a:Steve Perry|6262|Steve Perry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1463048818p2/6262.jpg] and drawn by [a:Ron Randall|94372|Ron Randall|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Perry, of course, is the author of the original Shadows of the Empire novel, along with a few others, but this is Randall's only Star Wars credit.
Shadows of the Empire: Evolution takes place during the months following Return of the Jedi, about 4.5 years after the Battle of Yavin (and a year or so after the events of Shadows of the Empire). The main character is Guri. Most of the cast of Shadows of the Empire appear at some point in flashbacks, and there are major in-story roles for Luke, Han, and Leia. Most of the story takes place on Coruscant, Hurd's Moon, and Murninkam.
Summary: Guri, a state-of-the-art Human Replica Droid, and once the highly-skilled personal assassin to Prince Xizor, the feared and ruthless leader of Black Sun, doesn't know quite what to do with herself in the wake of Xizor's death. She only knows she doesn't want it to be anything like what she did before. Hoping to purge her memory and her skillset of everything that makes her such an effective killer, she begins a search for the brilliant inventor who created her. But her search brings with it a lot of unwanted attention. In the right hands (or the very, very wrong ones), Guri is one of the most valuable assets in the galaxy, and a lot of beings will stop at nothing to pull her right back in just as she thinks she's gotten out.
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect from this story, but it wasn't anything particularly good. I like Shadows of the Empire, but it didn't exactly demand a sequel, least of all one focused on this particular character, who was part plot-device and (seemingly) part self-indulgent author fantasy. Realizing a sequel within the more visual medium seemed like a recipe for making the latter problem worse, not better . . . but my fears on that score were largely unfounded.
Evolution manages to generate a pretty fun little rogues gallery of characters to backstab and clamber over each other in pursuit of Guri, who could have just ended up feeling like a MacGuffin amidst all of the action that surrounds her. Instead, her quest for self-actualization feels meaningful and gave the story a dramatic and emotional weight that is often lacking in these tales of bounty hunters and other underworld types murdering their way across the galaxy in pursuit of the same goal.
The result is no masterpiece, but it's enjoyable and it does its job well. It's definitely worth checking out.
B+
Background: Shadows of the Empire: Evolution, released in February 2000, collects issues #1-5 originally published Feb-June 1998. The series was written by [a:Steve Perry|6262|Steve Perry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1463048818p2/6262.jpg] and drawn by [a:Ron Randall|94372|Ron Randall|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Perry, of course, is the author of the original Shadows of the Empire novel, along with a few others, but this is Randall's only Star Wars credit.
Shadows of the Empire: Evolution takes place during the months following Return of the Jedi, about 4.5 years after the Battle of Yavin (and a year or so after the events of Shadows of the Empire). The main character is Guri. Most of the cast of Shadows of the Empire appear at some point in flashbacks, and there are major in-story roles for Luke, Han, and Leia. Most of the story takes place on Coruscant, Hurd's Moon, and Murninkam.
Summary: Guri, a state-of-the-art Human Replica Droid, and once the highly-skilled personal assassin to Prince Xizor, the feared and ruthless leader of Black Sun, doesn't know quite what to do with herself in the wake of Xizor's death. She only knows she doesn't want it to be anything like what she did before. Hoping to purge her memory and her skillset of everything that makes her such an effective killer, she begins a search for the brilliant inventor who created her. But her search brings with it a lot of unwanted attention. In the right hands (or the very, very wrong ones), Guri is one of the most valuable assets in the galaxy, and a lot of beings will stop at nothing to pull her right back in just as she thinks she's gotten out.
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect from this story, but it wasn't anything particularly good. I like Shadows of the Empire, but it didn't exactly demand a sequel, least of all one focused on this particular character, who was part plot-device and (seemingly) part self-indulgent author fantasy. Realizing a sequel within the more visual medium seemed like a recipe for making the latter problem worse, not better . . . but my fears on that score were largely unfounded.
Evolution manages to generate a pretty fun little rogues gallery of characters to backstab and clamber over each other in pursuit of Guri, who could have just ended up feeling like a MacGuffin amidst all of the action that surrounds her. Instead, her quest for self-actualization feels meaningful and gave the story a dramatic and emotional weight that is often lacking in these tales of bounty hunters and other underworld types murdering their way across the galaxy in pursuit of the same goal.
The result is no masterpiece, but it's enjoyable and it does its job well. It's definitely worth checking out.
B+
Shadows of the Empire was the biggest novel in the series to date, debuting in 1996 as the focus of a massive advertising campaign to pull people back into the property ahead of Lucas's film remasters in 1997. It is, unsurprisingly, a novel built to be a blockbuster; lots of action, a dash of sex, and a couple of new characters perfect for selling some toys and other assorted merchandise.
But whereas the book was a media sensation, the story itself isn't all that great. True, Perry gives us a convincing new villain in Prince Xizor and brings back Darth Vader for the first novel in about a dozen years, but his dialogue is often clumsy, his plotting uneven, and his transitions from scene to scene whiplash-inducing. The book isn't all bad, but its seams show fairly obviously, and the book serves as too convenient an effort to narrativize Luke's transition from fledgling Jedi to Jedi Knight.
In many ways, the book is just a little too convenient, a bit too unfocused, and it stands about 80 pages too long, filled with explanatory prose that falls far too wholly on the diegetic. The story is fairly repetitive, especially as it pertains to the bits explaining Xizor's point of view. The new villain, Prince Xizor, is an interesting antagonist, but he exists only to lose, and the fact that he's only present mostly in this novel and so quickly disposed of undercuts any significance he could have had to the series as a whole.
The book is also oddly horny for a Star Wars novel, and I counted that Perry uses the word "lube" at least six times in this book, which is approximately six times too many. As much as I think Star Wars could stand to be a bit more romantic at times, I do think the bits between Leia and Xizor were just a bit overcooked, and it's pretty clear Perry intended for their interaction to go pretty well beyond a kick to the nuts.
All in all, Shadows of the Empire isn't the worst of Star Wars, but it is Star Wars in one of its most commercialized forms. It's not nearly as philosophically complex as some of the other novels in the series, its focus more on action and adventure in the swashbuckling fashion of old serials, and in this it gets the spirit of Star Wars kind of right; where it fails is in convincing a readership that these books are anything but quick cash-grab novels. To be fair, that is kind of what Shadows of the Empire is, but I do want it to aspire to be more than that--especially when the other books published in 1996 proves that Star Wars can aspire to more.
But whereas the book was a media sensation, the story itself isn't all that great. True, Perry gives us a convincing new villain in Prince Xizor and brings back Darth Vader for the first novel in about a dozen years, but his dialogue is often clumsy, his plotting uneven, and his transitions from scene to scene whiplash-inducing. The book isn't all bad, but its seams show fairly obviously, and the book serves as too convenient an effort to narrativize Luke's transition from fledgling Jedi to Jedi Knight.
In many ways, the book is just a little too convenient, a bit too unfocused, and it stands about 80 pages too long, filled with explanatory prose that falls far too wholly on the diegetic. The story is fairly repetitive, especially as it pertains to the bits explaining Xizor's point of view. The new villain, Prince Xizor, is an interesting antagonist, but he exists only to lose, and the fact that he's only present mostly in this novel and so quickly disposed of undercuts any significance he could have had to the series as a whole.
The book is also oddly horny for a Star Wars novel, and I counted that Perry uses the word "lube" at least six times in this book, which is approximately six times too many. As much as I think Star Wars could stand to be a bit more romantic at times, I do think the bits between Leia and Xizor were just a bit overcooked, and it's pretty clear Perry intended for their interaction to go pretty well beyond a kick to the nuts.
All in all, Shadows of the Empire isn't the worst of Star Wars, but it is Star Wars in one of its most commercialized forms. It's not nearly as philosophically complex as some of the other novels in the series, its focus more on action and adventure in the swashbuckling fashion of old serials, and in this it gets the spirit of Star Wars kind of right; where it fails is in convincing a readership that these books are anything but quick cash-grab novels. To be fair, that is kind of what Shadows of the Empire is, but I do want it to aspire to be more than that--especially when the other books published in 1996 proves that Star Wars can aspire to more.