I LOVE Star Wars. I grew up watching the movies, building the legos, playing the Video games but I never got into reading the books. I didn’t particularly like where the new movies went with the story but nevertheless I enjoyed a good portion of it. On May the Fourth, I saw on youtube someone talking about one book that came out of the original series called legends, and I thought, what better way to get into the book universe than start with a book that follows the original trilogy. So I bought it and thought nothing of it. Nine days later, I saw that the same guy that recommended the book say that the books were taken down from Amazon for one reason or another and saw that they are now going for a much bigger price than what I paid.

Needless to say I was excited to read this book. This is not considered part of the Star Wars canon now but I think It is interesting how much excitement there was over this book. I also found out that this book was suppose to come out in 1993 but for one reason or another it didn’t. A fan made some copies of it and changed a few things to follow the main story in the legend series and now we have this book. Just like all the rest of the books I review I will give some thoughts on some elements and then give my overall impressions at the end.

• I have a good feeling about this.

If I had one thing to say about this book, it is that the characters feel very much like the characters we left off in the movies. The dialogue, the decisions, the insecurities are all very much there. It is amazing how much thought was put into recreating the feeling of being back in the Star Wars universe.

The Rebels have now won and seek to bring back order and peace to the galaxy. Remnants of the Empire are still trying to pick up the pieces of the lost order and a new faction is vying for the position of ruler amongst the peace talks. This is a whole new position for our heroes since they’ve been at war for the past couple years and are now seeing the back end of it. They are now given the position of creating peace with the remnants of the empire instead of seeking to destroy it. Luke is not sure what to make of himself, now that the war is done, and has to deal with the aftermath of all that he has lost. His struggle brings him back to Obi-wan and a journey to the outer reaches of the galaxy to find the heart of the Jedi, and hopefully to the answers he is seeking.

• Plot

The plot of the story is somewhat convoluted. The new threat, Admiral Tharkus, desires to take control of the empire but in order to do that he needs to stop the peace negotiations that are underway between some Imperial representatives and Leia and her team which is comprised of Han and the crew and a new guy. The admiral seems to go through a lot of maneuvering in order to get his power players in position. Unfortunately, that makes the plot less engaging because the story becomes pretty predictable from there on until they disrupt the peace gathering. after that the plot gets a lot more interesting for the crew as they slowly piece together all the bread crumbs left by the Admiral. Luke’s adventure makes up the better part of the book since he is off trying to figure out who he is now that he is no longer part of the war.

• Characters

All of the original crew is back and as lovable as ever. Like I said, Lukes struggle is the main drive for the book and his adventure. Han is struggling now with his changing roll in the stakes of the war, which is now causing strain with his and Leia’s relationship. What adds to the drama is how threatened he feels over a new comer who is every bit his counter. They, by far, get the least growth compared to Luke.

• Conclusion

Despite its flaws, I liked it. It was no substantial leap from the films but it did add further depth to the characters and realistic struggles. The stakes weren’t high but not everything can be a Death Star, plus it seemed it was trying to build a bigger universe. There were also a few grammar and spelling mistakes that I found throughout the book. It was just another reminder that the book never got a final revision. This book does make me want to read more of the legends series and figure out what happened to all our beloved characters. It also makes me want to binge watch all the movies again, that’s for sure. With that I will end this blog! God bless