Scan barcode
plasm4_4's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
galacticvampire's review against another edition
3.0
This book is several "how many The Rise of Skywalker loose threads can we explain" under a trenchcoat.
Some of them work. We have a clear reasoning as to why and how Rey is Palpatine's granddaughter. How a sith dagger with the location of a wayfinder ended up in Pasaana. Why Lando was there. But none of that matters when many of those decisions were wack to begin with, and there's only so much an author could do.
Having both Rey's parents and Lando/Luke looking for them felt like a desperate attempt to patch up two unrelated stories, and Lando's missing daughter is the biggest example of that.
We don't know who her mother is, how she was kidnapped, how Lando felt facing fatherhood. The only reason for that was to explain his involvement on the plot and a throwaway line in a deleted scene of the movie. This is a whole new level of fridging.
All that aside, the book isn't bad at all. We have some quite cool action scenes, and everything that expanded on the dark side was very interesting. But the wobbly reasoning for the whole set up made the entire thing fall flat.
The audiobook narration and production are great though. Absolutely carried the story.
Some of them work. We have a clear reasoning as to why and how Rey is Palpatine's granddaughter. How a sith dagger with the location of a wayfinder ended up in Pasaana. Why Lando was there. But none of that matters when many of those decisions were wack to begin with, and there's only so much an author could do.
Having both Rey's parents and Lando/Luke looking for them felt like a desperate attempt to patch up two unrelated stories, and Lando's missing daughter is the biggest example of that.
We don't know who her mother is, how she was kidnapped, how Lando felt facing fatherhood. The only reason for that was to explain his involvement on the plot and a throwaway line in a deleted scene of the movie. This is a whole new level of fridging.
All that aside, the book isn't bad at all. We have some quite cool action scenes, and everything that expanded on the dark side was very interesting. But the wobbly reasoning for the whole set up made the entire thing fall flat.
The audiobook narration and production are great though. Absolutely carried the story.
abigail_reads06's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bradland's review against another edition
3.0
So here I am reviewing a Star Wars book after quite a few years away from the EU or whatever they call it these days. I used to eat these things up like a religion but these days haven’t felt compelled to go back outside of the odd Timothy Zahn. This one did appeal to me though, being a Luke and Lando adventure during the era of the New Republic… just like old times. I had to check the last time I read a Luke or Lando New Republic adventure and its… 15 years for Luke and over 20 for Lando! Damn, how time flies…
I noticed the author Adam Christopher is on Goodreads so did a comparison of the books he’s read against mine and discovered that he rates Heir to the Empire 2 stars out of 5…. Huh… that’s interesting… yet he loves Michael Stakepole which I never considered mutually exclusive between he and Zahn but … everyone’s entitled to their opinion and all that. Even more interesting is that there is a reference to Luke and Lando’s mutual love for the mysterious hot brew called “Hot Chocolate” which everyone who has read Heir to the Empire knows…
Anyway, without spoiling much, this novel is basically trying to fill in the gaps the Sequel Trilogy left wide open. Similar to Luceno’s Cloak of Deception for The Phantom Menace, it tries to shed more light on what the hell was going on in the film Rise of Skywalker. While Luceno did a brilliant job of weaving an origin political thriller into the wider Phantom Menace, Christopher had the unenvious task of producing a winning novel out of the horrible dumb narrative that was the Sequel Trilogy.
The good:
- Christopher does a great job with Luke and Lando, particularly Lando’s plight with his kidnapped daughter, and confirms something about Rise of Skywalker.
- Luke exploring Sith!
-The Rey parts were interesting but not wholly satisfying. The story with her father would have been more interesting had his background been explored further than it was.
-The overall story starts off quite well and the adventure was enjoyable for most of the book.
The bad:
-There are some subplots here that make me think I’m missing a story here either in another book or comic.
- Ochi of Bestoon comes across as the sort of bumbling villain you’d find in the old He-Man cartoon of the 80s, so can’t help but think him being labelled a Jedi Assassin as something on par with Inspector Clouseau being labelled a police detective.
- The ending of the whole story is somewhat convoluted as it needs to end in the situation set up in the Sequel Trilogy which was lousy to begin with.
- Some chapters can be needlessly wordy.
Overall, its solid but like most of the Disney books these exist to fill holes for the films and TV series, and not as an individual story to be enjoyed on its own. Go read with that in mind.
I noticed the author Adam Christopher is on Goodreads so did a comparison of the books he’s read against mine and discovered that he rates Heir to the Empire 2 stars out of 5…. Huh… that’s interesting… yet he loves Michael Stakepole which I never considered mutually exclusive between he and Zahn but … everyone’s entitled to their opinion and all that. Even more interesting is that there is a reference to Luke and Lando’s mutual love for the mysterious hot brew called “Hot Chocolate” which everyone who has read Heir to the Empire knows…
Anyway, without spoiling much, this novel is basically trying to fill in the gaps the Sequel Trilogy left wide open. Similar to Luceno’s Cloak of Deception for The Phantom Menace, it tries to shed more light on what the hell was going on in the film Rise of Skywalker. While Luceno did a brilliant job of weaving an origin political thriller into the wider Phantom Menace, Christopher had the unenvious task of producing a winning novel out of the horrible dumb narrative that was the Sequel Trilogy.
The good:
- Christopher does a great job with Luke and Lando, particularly Lando’s plight with his kidnapped daughter, and confirms something about Rise of Skywalker.
- Luke exploring Sith!
-The Rey parts were interesting but not wholly satisfying. The story with her father would have been more interesting had his background been explored further than it was.
-The overall story starts off quite well and the adventure was enjoyable for most of the book.
The bad:
-There are some subplots here that make me think I’m missing a story here either in another book or comic.
- Ochi of Bestoon comes across as the sort of bumbling villain you’d find in the old He-Man cartoon of the 80s, so can’t help but think him being labelled a Jedi Assassin as something on par with Inspector Clouseau being labelled a police detective.
- The ending of the whole story is somewhat convoluted as it needs to end in the situation set up in the Sequel Trilogy which was lousy to begin with.
- Some chapters can be needlessly wordy.
Overall, its solid but like most of the Disney books these exist to fill holes for the films and TV series, and not as an individual story to be enjoyed on its own. Go read with that in mind.
kogami87's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
cosmicrays's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
ladymab's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It was in all honesty a solidly mid book, but I like the narrator a lot so that was it's saving grace for me. It leaves more questions than it gives answers and it did feel like two separate books that sometimes came together in the narrative, especially since the thing that would have made it coherent just never actually happens.
Some decent world building for things that overall aren't important, and good fight scenes and a dash of cosmic horror to tide me over, but Luke made me want to chew glass any time he talked about Ben ("weh i gotta distance myself any emotions got a Jedi are bad weh" like no wonder that kid got sith pilled), and Lando's kidnapped daughter being his motivation was like on the same level as a fridged wife trope except that there is even LESS resolution.
Thank you William DeMeritt for making this feel not as corny as it could have, and engaging in all the right places.
Some decent world building for things that overall aren't important, and good fight scenes and a dash of cosmic horror to tide me over, but Luke made me want to chew glass any time he talked about Ben ("weh i gotta distance myself any emotions got a Jedi are bad weh" like no wonder that kid got sith pilled), and Lando's kidnapped daughter being his motivation was like on the same level as a fridged wife trope except that there is even LESS resolution.
Thank you William DeMeritt for making this feel not as corny as it could have, and engaging in all the right places.
brentevs's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
isethia's review
Don't like this version of the Star Wars EU. The old Legends books are much better.
ilikemandos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75