Well do I remember how excited I was to see Star Wars novels produced. Though Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, licensed books weren't released until over 10 years later. Shadows of the Empire, a 1996 release, was in the first 'wave' of titles coming on the heels of Timothy Zahn's successful Thrawn trilogy. Shadows covers the time between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, following Luke, Leia, Lando and Chewie as they try to rescue a frozen Han Solo. While they search for him, Darth Vader becomes obsessed with finding young Skywalker, while a new menace- Prince Xizor, head of the Black Sun crime syndicate- makes his presence felt. Can our heroes overcome intense odds?
This was my second or third time reading this book, so you can guess that I liked it. Yes, it's campy in many ways . . . but so are the movies. The action is good and the book moves swiftly, introducing characters (like Xizor, Dash Rendar, and Guri) that would become fan favorites. The dialogue isn't great, there are some odd plot leaps, and character development is poor, but again . . . look at the movies. Despite pretty major flaws, I can't help but enjoy this, and it hasn't lost its luster 20 years later. It's such a fast read, I recommend it for Star Wars fans- even though Disney's new canon has relegated this to the "legends" pile.
Rating: A
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