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A review by blancwene
Tales from the Empire by Peter Schweighofer
2.0
For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.
This week’s focus: the fourth Tales collection, Tales from the Empire, edited by Peter Schweighofer.
SOME HISTORY:
If you are expecting stories about famous Imperial characters, turn away now. You have come to the wrong place. Tales from the Empire features ten stories that originally appeared in the Star Wars Adventure Journal, which was published by West End Games between 1994 and 1997. Most of the stories focus on original characters, and the authors run the gambit from established Star Wars regulars like Timothy Zahn, Michael A. Stackpole, and Kathy Tyers to a number of fan writers. (I was disappointed to find that Erin Endom doesn’t seem to have written anything else!)
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I don’t believe I ever read this book! I’m not a big Boba Fett fan, so I probably saw Fett and Slave I on the cover and noped out. (And Fett doesn’t even appear in this collection! It’s complicated. If this is truly “Tales from the Empire,” why doesn’t the cover art depict stormtroopers or something?)
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
If you’ve never read an issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, this collection serves as a glimpse into what it was like: a combination of pro and fan writers, writing about aspects of the GFFA that are sometimes off the beaten path. And the endcap for the collection is a collaborative four-part story written by Zahn and Stackpole set before The Empire Strikes Back.
THE STORIES:
"First Contact" by Timothy Zahn
Oh no, Karrde’s puns are seriously dad-level bad. Hart and Seoul? Uwana Buyer? It was nice to see his first encounter with Mara Jade, and I was sad to see the last of Tapper, but it felt generally lacking in substance. It also felt weird that Karrde and Tapper never commented on Mara’s pseudonym; “Celina Marniss” is awfully similar to Melina Carniss, Karrde’s former employee who was spying for Isard in [b:The Bacta War|513201|The Bacta War (Star Wars X-Wing, #4)|Michael A. Stackpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327941683l/513201._SY75_.jpg|501178].
"Tinian on Trial" by Kathy Tyers
Apparently Tyers wrote “The Prize Pelt: The Tale of Bossk” first, but this story was both set earlier chronologically and released sooner: Issue 4 of Star Wars Adventure Journal was published in November 1994, while [b:Tales of the Bounty Hunters|131776|Tales of the Bounty Hunters (Star Wars)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411172275l/131776._SY75_.jpg|2599174] wasn’t published until December 1996. I felt like this was an origin story but nothing more. It set the stage for future adventures with Tinian; I just wish that we had gotten some of those future adventures.
"The Final Exit" by Patricia A. Jackson
I rarely criticize writing style in Star Wars stories, because the writing is usually serviceable. But this story by Jackson was a difficult read. Her writing style is overwritten and overwrought, and there are way too many adjectives and additions. There were also multiple instances of POV jumping without a scene change delineated; since the story isn’t written in omniscient third person, it tended to get confusing whose viewpoint we were in. I also found the character of Brandl A LOT to process: he was an actor cum Jedi Knight cum Imperial Inquisitor?
"Missed Chance" by Michael A. Stackpole
The one features Corran right before he joins Rogue Squadron in the first X-Wing book, and contains the impetus behind him joining the New Republic. I loved how Whistler (his astromech) was formenting rebellion among college students on Garqi, but Corran seemed overly involved in the plot. How long has he been posing as the Moff’s aide? How long has he even been on Garqi? Fun, but the details were a little fuzzy.
"Retreat from Coruscant" by Laurie Burns
I really liked this one! We follow a mail courier stuck on Coruscant during the Imperial attack in Dark Empire. It featured short cameos from Zahn characters like General Bel Iblis, Colonel Bremen, and Mara Jade, and I enjoyed having a main character who wasn’t a military person, but just a civilian drawn into a perilous situation.
"A Certain Point of View" by Charlene Newcomb
Newcomb was asked to write a story based on the cover illustration for West End Games’ “Riders of the Maelstrom”, so we learn the redheaded woman on the cover is Celia, the navigator on the Kuari Princess. Set during A New Hope, the story ends with the death of her friend and her defection to the side of the Rebels. I wondered, though, whether this was part of a sequence or just a stand-alone, because while we got a sufficient amount of backstory for Celia, it ended somewhat abruptly.
"Blaze of Glory" by Tony Russo
Set post-Thrawn trilogy (I guess), this story was about a group of mercenaries set to free some children from slavers. The Imperial threat (the Pentastar Alignment) was completely foreign to me, though, which made me wonder if they were a recurring element from Russo’s other stories in the Adventure Journal. We follow the team medic, who wants to find out what happened to her parents; she never does! A lot of action scenes, but I never really connected with the characters.
"Slaying Dragons" by Angela Phillips
This was another story that didn’t work for me, primarily because the main character is a nine-year-old child. Like Anakin Solo in the Corellian trilogy, she had a level of technical prowess far beyond what I think someone of that age could attain. I also wasn’t crazy about the ending. She leaves her parents and joins the Rebels! I know her parents weren’t sympathetic to the Rebel cause, but she was nine! That won’t end well!
"Do No Harm" by Erin Endom
Maybe my favorite story of the bunch! Set sometime after the Battle of Yavin, it follows Aurin, a Rebel doctor, who’s been sent along on an extraction mission. She has to reconcile her medical training (specifically, the imperative to Do No Harm), with her role in the mission and the threat she’ll have to face. She’s been included on this mission because the Rebel operative they’re trying to extract has a serious health condition, but if they can’t successfully rescue him then they’ll have to kill him. She struggles with that, and also with figuring out whether it’s ever right to resort to violence. And she has trouble accepting the decisions she had to make on that mission! Aurin’s dilemma felt realistic, and it was a unique take.
Side Trip by Timothy Zahn (Part One and Part Four) and Michael A. Stackpole (Part Two and Part Three)
Jodo Kast (but not really, it’s Grand Admiral Thrawn) uses a mixed group of traders and Rebels to take down Zekka Thyne and Black Sun on Corellia, and Hal and Corran Horn also get thrown into the mix. I liked Stackpole’s segments better than Zahn’s; not for any stylistic reasons, just because I preferred the developments in Parts 2 and 3 more than in the parts that bookended them. Corran and Hal were the most interesting characters to me; Corran is not very sympathetic to the Rebels at this point, and while he doesn’t like CorSec working with the Empire, he views it as the lesser of two evils.
Like in a lot of Thrawn’s later appearances, I found his schemes a bit over the top. He has a plan in place, and has to improvise on the fly, but it goes off really really well for him. It’s almost as though the more Zahn tries to flesh him out and make him sympathetic after [b:The Last Command|216422|The Last Command (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #3)|Timothy Zahn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451092026l/216422._SY75_.jpg|397139], the more unrealistic I find him. But I liked seeing how and why Thyne was sent to Kessel, and I enjoyed Corran’s interactions with his father.
ISSUES:
Tales from the Empire is all over the place timeline-wise. Some stories are set during the Original Trilogy; some are set post-Return of the Jedi. Stackpole and Zahn’s stories service as prequels to existing books—”First Contact” is set before [b:Heir to the Empire|40604754|Heir to the Empire (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #1)|Timothy Zahn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529605994l/40604754._SY75_.jpg|1133995], “Missed Chance” before [b:Rogue Squadron|513176|Rogue Squadron (Star Wars X-Wing, #1)|Michael A. Stackpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327860341l/513176._SY75_.jpg|987443], and Side Trip sets up Vader and Xizor’s feud in [b:Shadows of the Empire|9549|Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)|Steve Perry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361481442l/9549._SY75_.jpg|858558]--but the other stories featured more nebulous connections. There’s no theme, like with the previous three collections, so the beginning of each story could be disorienting as you’re trying to figure out what it’s about and when it’s set.
I also found that when you mix pro writers with fan writers, you can end up with variable quality. On the whole, I thought most of the stories were well-written; some of them didn’t work so well for me, and I’m not sure if that was due to their amateur nature or because I didn’t connect with the subject matter.
And actually, Tales from the Empire was probably the fan writer’s dream: the idea that there was an officially-sanctioned Star Wars magazine that accepted fan submissions, and those stories could in turn eventually be published in an actual mainstream book.
IN CONCLUSION:
Tales from the Empire offers a lot of glimpses into original characters by non-professional writers. Some of them were really good (I highly recommend “Do No Harm” by Erin Endom); some weren’t my favorites. But the nice thing about a short story collection is that if one story doesn’t work for you, just try another one.
I only wish that it was easier to access more of the stories from the Star Wars Adventure Journal, because some of them were clearly part one or a continuing story in a sequence (like Kathy Tyers’s Tinian story), and I would like to read some of those.
Next up: the first of Aaron Allston’s X-Wing books: [b:Wraith Squadron|773545|Wraith Squadron (Star Wars X-Wing, #5)|Aaron Allston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327941832l/773545._SY75_.jpg|352905].
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/y_wuaBUSbdk
This week’s focus: the fourth Tales collection, Tales from the Empire, edited by Peter Schweighofer.
SOME HISTORY:
If you are expecting stories about famous Imperial characters, turn away now. You have come to the wrong place. Tales from the Empire features ten stories that originally appeared in the Star Wars Adventure Journal, which was published by West End Games between 1994 and 1997. Most of the stories focus on original characters, and the authors run the gambit from established Star Wars regulars like Timothy Zahn, Michael A. Stackpole, and Kathy Tyers to a number of fan writers. (I was disappointed to find that Erin Endom doesn’t seem to have written anything else!)
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I don’t believe I ever read this book! I’m not a big Boba Fett fan, so I probably saw Fett and Slave I on the cover and noped out. (And Fett doesn’t even appear in this collection! It’s complicated. If this is truly “Tales from the Empire,” why doesn’t the cover art depict stormtroopers or something?)
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
If you’ve never read an issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, this collection serves as a glimpse into what it was like: a combination of pro and fan writers, writing about aspects of the GFFA that are sometimes off the beaten path. And the endcap for the collection is a collaborative four-part story written by Zahn and Stackpole set before The Empire Strikes Back.
THE STORIES:
"First Contact" by Timothy Zahn
Oh no, Karrde’s puns are seriously dad-level bad. Hart and Seoul? Uwana Buyer? It was nice to see his first encounter with Mara Jade, and I was sad to see the last of Tapper, but it felt generally lacking in substance. It also felt weird that Karrde and Tapper never commented on Mara’s pseudonym; “Celina Marniss” is awfully similar to Melina Carniss, Karrde’s former employee who was spying for Isard in [b:The Bacta War|513201|The Bacta War (Star Wars X-Wing, #4)|Michael A. Stackpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327941683l/513201._SY75_.jpg|501178].
"Tinian on Trial" by Kathy Tyers
Apparently Tyers wrote “The Prize Pelt: The Tale of Bossk” first, but this story was both set earlier chronologically and released sooner: Issue 4 of Star Wars Adventure Journal was published in November 1994, while [b:Tales of the Bounty Hunters|131776|Tales of the Bounty Hunters (Star Wars)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411172275l/131776._SY75_.jpg|2599174] wasn’t published until December 1996. I felt like this was an origin story but nothing more. It set the stage for future adventures with Tinian; I just wish that we had gotten some of those future adventures.
"The Final Exit" by Patricia A. Jackson
I rarely criticize writing style in Star Wars stories, because the writing is usually serviceable. But this story by Jackson was a difficult read. Her writing style is overwritten and overwrought, and there are way too many adjectives and additions. There were also multiple instances of POV jumping without a scene change delineated; since the story isn’t written in omniscient third person, it tended to get confusing whose viewpoint we were in. I also found the character of Brandl A LOT to process: he was an actor cum Jedi Knight cum Imperial Inquisitor?
"Missed Chance" by Michael A. Stackpole
The one features Corran right before he joins Rogue Squadron in the first X-Wing book, and contains the impetus behind him joining the New Republic. I loved how Whistler (his astromech) was formenting rebellion among college students on Garqi, but Corran seemed overly involved in the plot. How long has he been posing as the Moff’s aide? How long has he even been on Garqi? Fun, but the details were a little fuzzy.
"Retreat from Coruscant" by Laurie Burns
I really liked this one! We follow a mail courier stuck on Coruscant during the Imperial attack in Dark Empire. It featured short cameos from Zahn characters like General Bel Iblis, Colonel Bremen, and Mara Jade, and I enjoyed having a main character who wasn’t a military person, but just a civilian drawn into a perilous situation.
"A Certain Point of View" by Charlene Newcomb
Newcomb was asked to write a story based on the cover illustration for West End Games’ “Riders of the Maelstrom”, so we learn the redheaded woman on the cover is Celia, the navigator on the Kuari Princess. Set during A New Hope, the story ends with the death of her friend and her defection to the side of the Rebels. I wondered, though, whether this was part of a sequence or just a stand-alone, because while we got a sufficient amount of backstory for Celia, it ended somewhat abruptly.
"Blaze of Glory" by Tony Russo
Set post-Thrawn trilogy (I guess), this story was about a group of mercenaries set to free some children from slavers. The Imperial threat (the Pentastar Alignment) was completely foreign to me, though, which made me wonder if they were a recurring element from Russo’s other stories in the Adventure Journal. We follow the team medic, who wants to find out what happened to her parents; she never does! A lot of action scenes, but I never really connected with the characters.
"Slaying Dragons" by Angela Phillips
This was another story that didn’t work for me, primarily because the main character is a nine-year-old child. Like Anakin Solo in the Corellian trilogy, she had a level of technical prowess far beyond what I think someone of that age could attain. I also wasn’t crazy about the ending. She leaves her parents and joins the Rebels! I know her parents weren’t sympathetic to the Rebel cause, but she was nine! That won’t end well!
"Do No Harm" by Erin Endom
Maybe my favorite story of the bunch! Set sometime after the Battle of Yavin, it follows Aurin, a Rebel doctor, who’s been sent along on an extraction mission. She has to reconcile her medical training (specifically, the imperative to Do No Harm), with her role in the mission and the threat she’ll have to face. She’s been included on this mission because the Rebel operative they’re trying to extract has a serious health condition, but if they can’t successfully rescue him then they’ll have to kill him. She struggles with that, and also with figuring out whether it’s ever right to resort to violence. And she has trouble accepting the decisions she had to make on that mission! Aurin’s dilemma felt realistic, and it was a unique take.
Side Trip by Timothy Zahn (Part One and Part Four) and Michael A. Stackpole (Part Two and Part Three)
Jodo Kast (but not really, it’s Grand Admiral Thrawn) uses a mixed group of traders and Rebels to take down Zekka Thyne and Black Sun on Corellia, and Hal and Corran Horn also get thrown into the mix. I liked Stackpole’s segments better than Zahn’s; not for any stylistic reasons, just because I preferred the developments in Parts 2 and 3 more than in the parts that bookended them. Corran and Hal were the most interesting characters to me; Corran is not very sympathetic to the Rebels at this point, and while he doesn’t like CorSec working with the Empire, he views it as the lesser of two evils.
Like in a lot of Thrawn’s later appearances, I found his schemes a bit over the top. He has a plan in place, and has to improvise on the fly, but it goes off really really well for him. It’s almost as though the more Zahn tries to flesh him out and make him sympathetic after [b:The Last Command|216422|The Last Command (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #3)|Timothy Zahn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451092026l/216422._SY75_.jpg|397139], the more unrealistic I find him. But I liked seeing how and why Thyne was sent to Kessel, and I enjoyed Corran’s interactions with his father.
ISSUES:
Tales from the Empire is all over the place timeline-wise. Some stories are set during the Original Trilogy; some are set post-Return of the Jedi. Stackpole and Zahn’s stories service as prequels to existing books—”First Contact” is set before [b:Heir to the Empire|40604754|Heir to the Empire (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #1)|Timothy Zahn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529605994l/40604754._SY75_.jpg|1133995], “Missed Chance” before [b:Rogue Squadron|513176|Rogue Squadron (Star Wars X-Wing, #1)|Michael A. Stackpole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327860341l/513176._SY75_.jpg|987443], and Side Trip sets up Vader and Xizor’s feud in [b:Shadows of the Empire|9549|Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)|Steve Perry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361481442l/9549._SY75_.jpg|858558]--but the other stories featured more nebulous connections. There’s no theme, like with the previous three collections, so the beginning of each story could be disorienting as you’re trying to figure out what it’s about and when it’s set.
I also found that when you mix pro writers with fan writers, you can end up with variable quality. On the whole, I thought most of the stories were well-written; some of them didn’t work so well for me, and I’m not sure if that was due to their amateur nature or because I didn’t connect with the subject matter.
And actually, Tales from the Empire was probably the fan writer’s dream: the idea that there was an officially-sanctioned Star Wars magazine that accepted fan submissions, and those stories could in turn eventually be published in an actual mainstream book.
IN CONCLUSION:
Tales from the Empire offers a lot of glimpses into original characters by non-professional writers. Some of them were really good (I highly recommend “Do No Harm” by Erin Endom); some weren’t my favorites. But the nice thing about a short story collection is that if one story doesn’t work for you, just try another one.
I only wish that it was easier to access more of the stories from the Star Wars Adventure Journal, because some of them were clearly part one or a continuing story in a sequence (like Kathy Tyers’s Tinian story), and I would like to read some of those.
Next up: the first of Aaron Allston’s X-Wing books: [b:Wraith Squadron|773545|Wraith Squadron (Star Wars X-Wing, #5)|Aaron Allston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327941832l/773545._SY75_.jpg|352905].
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/y_wuaBUSbdk