The dean of Star Wars fiction returns with this exploration of events between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Luke Skywalker has perhaps the easiest time, as his studying of the Jedi way is mentored and monitored by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Prince Leia is dedicated to the Rebellion but aware of the price this can exact and ambiguous about her feelings toward Han Solo, who is ambiguous about the Rebellion, even though he knows he is a marked man after his role in the destruction of the Death Star. And we meet Mara Jade as a young Hand to the Emperor Palpatine, still developing her abilities as a troubleshooter. In this case, the trouble can shoot back--a band of renegade stormtroopers, half-vigilante and half-pirate. Mara finds good men and women in the service of the Empire, but over all looms the shadow of Darth Vader, who has a short way with both failure and rivals. The author paints a rather large canvas in a comparatively compact book, with his usual spare prose, swift pacing, and eye and ear for details in the world he is depicting. More exploration of the in-between periods in the saga will be heartily welcomed. Roland Green
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