Scan barcode
A review by verkisto
Death Star by Steve Perry, Michael Reaves
3.0
I'll give you two guesses at this book's subject, and that's only if you even need the second one. On the one hand, the book has a dull title that evokes nothing other than its subject; on the other hand, at least it's not as riduculous as The Starcave of ThonBoka. Even the one-word titles -- Kenobi, Tarkin, and Thrawn -- suggest more than this book's title does.
The book is better than its title suggests. Reaves and Perry create a wide, diverse cast of characters, all of whom are involved with the construction of the Death Star. We begin a good way into its construction, and since the book was written after the end of Revenge of the Sith, the story follows from what was established in the prequels, while also tapping into the events from Star Wars. The authors do a good job of placing the story firmly in between, bridging the gap between the two stories.
Because the story butts up against Star Wars, we have a few characters who are already familiar to us -- Darth Vader and Wilhuff Tarkin being the biggest. It's impossible to escape having them be a part of the story, and the authors do a good job of characterizing them appropriately (Tarkin comes across as even more ruthless), but there seemed to be a strong vein of fan service, too.
I was all set to give the book four stars, because the book succeeds in telling a decent story while giving us additional background into the Expanded Universe, but then the authors had to go and make the ending melodramatic and pat at the same time. There were also moments in the story where you could have put money on who wasn't going to make it out alive. I've started to notice that when an author creates a character who has so much to lose, there's a good chance they're goners.
Death Star is a good read. If the authors had handled the ending differently, I would recommend it as one of the stronger EU novels, but as it is, it merely rises to the top of the mediocre books.
The book is better than its title suggests. Reaves and Perry create a wide, diverse cast of characters, all of whom are involved with the construction of the Death Star. We begin a good way into its construction, and since the book was written after the end of Revenge of the Sith, the story follows from what was established in the prequels, while also tapping into the events from Star Wars. The authors do a good job of placing the story firmly in between, bridging the gap between the two stories.
Because the story butts up against Star Wars, we have a few characters who are already familiar to us -- Darth Vader and Wilhuff Tarkin being the biggest. It's impossible to escape having them be a part of the story, and the authors do a good job of characterizing them appropriately (Tarkin comes across as even more ruthless), but there seemed to be a strong vein of fan service, too.
I was all set to give the book four stars, because the book succeeds in telling a decent story while giving us additional background into the Expanded Universe, but then the authors had to go and make the ending melodramatic and pat at the same time. There were also moments in the story where you could have put money on who wasn't going to make it out alive. I've started to notice that when an author creates a character who has so much to lose, there's a good chance they're goners.
Death Star is a good read. If the authors had handled the ending differently, I would recommend it as one of the stronger EU novels, but as it is, it merely rises to the top of the mediocre books.