Star Wars takes a different turn and goes back into the realm of the original trilogy. Taking place just after A New Hope, how does the first entry into the Empire and Rebellion series fit within the timeline?
From the Back: Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal.
But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: the fierce marauders come from Leia’s homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive—and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire . . . if they find out her true identity.
Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death—or embrace it—to keep the rebellion alive.
I’m a fan of Star Wars novels. I’m unapologetic about it, and even the ones that people are so critical of, I still enjoy them. I enjoyed this one as well. You have all the makings of a fantastic adventure within the universe.
My last statement though, presents the biggest problem within this book. You have the makings of a fantastic adventure. That’s it.
This book could have been so much more because this book is one of the ONLY books that feature Leia Organa. It is very much her novel, but the author did almost nothing to further her character development between the movies. You know from the movies that there are strong feelings between her and Han Solo, and of course they end up getting married. I really wanted this book to explore their relationship a bit more. They weren’t too sure of each other after A New Hope, and this book could have really capitalized on what was building between the movies. It however did none of that.
Not only that, I really felt that the end of the book, where the rest of the major players came in, overshadowed almost everything that Leia did. This to me seemed like the author, or the publisher, decided that Leia couldn’t hold a novel on her own merit without the support of Han or Luke or Chewbacca.
The other problem that comes in during this, and why I feel that character development needed a bigger role, is that the danger is entirely false danger. You know they are going to survive. No matter what happens in the book, Leia, Luke, Han, are all going to survive. Because of that major fact, you have to have good character development. You know where they end up, but sometimes you want the how to be told. This book missed the mark, and it could have been a huge statement in the universe dealing with the early relationship of Leia and Han.
I’m hoping that the next installation of this series plays a bit more into the characters emotions rather than some J.J. Abrahm’s all action no emotion style.
The Bottom Line: Like I said in the beginning, I enjoyed this book. It was a fun read. However, I felt that I could have skimmed it and gotten the same enjoyment. It was all flash and no substance. Maybe it was my fault for expecting something different than what was delivered, but I would wait for the price to drop. I got this from the publisher in exchange for a review, I would not pay $13.99 for this book…in any format.
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About the Author:
Martha Wells is the author of fourteen fantasy novels, including Wheel of the Infinite, City of Bones, The Element of Fire, and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer. Her most recent fantasy novels are The Cloud Roads (Night Shade Books, March 2011), The Serpent Sea (Night Shade Books, January 2012), and The Siren Depths, (Night Shade Books, December 2012).