Star Wars: Shadows of The Empire (Abbreviated as SOTE from here onwards) is a 1996 novel authored by Steve Perry. It follows the events taking place between the Star Wars films Empire Strikes Back, and Return of The Jedi.
As my first foray into the Star Wars novels in many years, I initially approached SOTE with skepticism; I came away having thoroughly enjoyed it. Perry's style of writing is flexible and makes for an easy-to-follow read, keeping his description of actions and movements short and snappy while describing the atmosphere of a scene with enough detail for the reader to feel as though they are there alongside the characters.
The introduction of new characters is welcome. Dash Rendar, a cocky gun-for-hire and an obvious stand in for Han Solo shows a nice touch of growth by the story's end, as well as Luke's relationship with him. Prince Xizor, a wealthy businessman and the story's antagonist, is brilliantly built up to be a threat to the heroes, and plays an important part in Perry's wonderful characterisation of Darth Vader. Vader's thoughts and emotions are constantly described to the reader, a complete contrast to the Star Wars films in which his emotions and humanity are hidden behind a literal mask until the very end. Perry makes great use of the medium in this regard, I don't think it possible for a film to pull off this exploration of Vader's mind without cheesy narration or internal monologuing. Vader's subservience to Emperor Palpatine is also really driven home in SOTE, it's almost heartwarming that he sticks his neck out for his own son. I absolutely found myself rooting for Vader against Xizor in SOTE, which is also a testament to Perry's ability to make Xizor a great antagonist. At times I did think to myself that Xizor was sort of overpowered, however this feeling only contributes to the greatness of the finale. In the same vein, I found myself asking "Just how many contacts does Lando Calrissian have?", but Perry at least shows some self awareness by having Luke make the same remark.
There is nothing really for me to criticise storywise, the reader is given appropriate tastes of action throughout the buildup to the awesome finale. I did find myself reading quite slowly at points though, some days I'd only read a chapter or so. I raced through the later half of the book, however.
A great read for any Star Wars fan, I highly recommend Shadows of The Empire.
My rating: 8/10
15/08/2024