"Shadows of the Empire," by DHC, LucasArts, Bantam, Et. al. [Various, 1996]

8

This was a good book. A good filler book.
However it may have "filled in" a bit much. Did we really need to know how Leia got the bounty hunter outfit and the thermal detonator?

I also did not like how Xizor died. But the end of the book would need to be significantly re-written to change how he died.

 

10

I agree. The way Xizor died was disappointing since he had been such a kick butt throughout the entire book. But the rest was great! I really enjoyed this novel. I think this is what started me turning into an Imperial loyalist. Also the first time I realized the villains can be cooler than the heroes.

 

I think if it is a filler a novel, it HAS to be predictable.

 

I think this book works for the sole reason that Darth Vader as a character was expanded, and done so brilliantly. Yes the story may be predictable and Xizor isn`t the greatest villain, but the thre or four passages that give us insight into Vader and the way he thinks just adds to the myth. 8/10

 

I voted 6. The series was great in that it covered the storyline between TESB and ROTJ, however, I don't think it fully lived up to the potential of its promise.

 

I give it an 8.

For me, it was the thing that got me back into SW again back in 1997, after not really having followed it since I was a kid. I'd seen the Zahn trilogy in the bookstores at this point, but for my birthday that year, my girlfriend at the time got me SOTE after we went and saw the Special Editions that year.

I found that yes, Dash was a bit of a Han knock-off, but he had his own personality, probably what Han might of been had he not hooked up with Kenobi and Luke a few years before. I liked in particular the focus on Luke's Jedi transition, and in particular, the construction and use of his new lightsaber. It helped immmensely when I wanted answers on the bridging gaps between ESB and ROTJ.

The aspect of explaning things from Vader's perspective too, with his attempts at self-healing were good as well, as up until then we'd only seen things from a hero perspective. Didn't think much of Xizor, but there have been worse EU villans - Kueller springs to mind...

It's probably mostly nostalgia that makes me like it so much, because it was my last year in high school and the period when I really got back into SW.

 

I gave it a three. I was generous.
These are my questions about this book:
1: Who on Earth or any other planet would someone have a naked Darth Vader, and TWICE at that?
2: Why is the Emperor dumb enough to even consider replacing Vader with Xizor?
3: Why is the main villian a babe-magnet lizard?
4: Why is Vader so weak?
5: And WHY do they have Leia strip in front of Lizard Prince?

 

10 -- It was an excellent follow up to Empire and a stupendous lead-in to Jedi. It really gave us the evolution of the Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader characters. Luke went from Whiny Luke at the start to Jedi Luke at the end and Vader went from Darth Vader to Anakinesque Vader as he was in Jedi. Steve Perry took the parts of the story we knew must have happened and he made them flesh but better he made them feel like Star Wars.

There was never a moment when I was reading this novel that I didn't feel like it wasn't a part of the Star Wars universe.

The book should not have had the Dash Rendar character in it though, he was just a weak Han Solo stand-in and the book would have been better had it expanded Landos role.

 

I voted 9.

It could have been a little better.

 

I give it a 9.

 

I give it a 10 but it deserves MUCH higher!

 

This was an excellent book. I enjoyed it so much. I read it lie 3 years ago and I really feel that it tied up the events between Empire and Jedi.

 

Very much over-hyped book when it came out some years back. DHC clearly could not describe a decent scene even if someone was hanging a sausage-on-a-stick in front of his face. Every single scene is merely a brief glimpse (a page or two at most) at some badly written dialogue or action before the author realises that he is quite unable to give decent descriptions or build an atmosphere or characters and jumps onto the next underdeveloped scene.

Most of the plot points were utterly predictable and the characters acted as if they did not have their own minds at all - they were merely string-puppets serving the author's weak grasp of the concept of a plot...

Clearly one of the worst books in Bantam series. I gave it 1.

 

I gave it a 9. This is the first EU book that I have read. To be honest, its the first book that i've read since I was in elementary school and now im in college. The only reason why I chose to read this book was because I was a huge fan of the N64 game. I had one dissapointment but, I can understand it if I had read the book first and then played the game. In the game, we see that bounty hunter IG-88, I believe, and it wasn't mentioned in the book. I also didn't like how there was a small amount of Boba mentioned in the book also. But all in all, I was entertained enough to finish it and have a smile on my face once I finished it.

 

I gave it 7.
The title of the book and the content don't match.

 

SOTE was a dissapointment for me. I was very familiar with the video game storyline and when I read it I was hoping to get some good dialogues between Xizor and Vader. Instead it was just "I know what you're up to Xizor" and "You have no proof Vader" over and over. The relationship between Vader and the Emperor didn't seem portrayed well to me either.

Xizor's character was a dissapointment as well. I love the way his mind worked in a devellish kind of way but it seemed stupid to estabilish him as the "third most powerful person in the galaxy" and then he's dead by the end of the book. I also didn't like the notion that he was present when the Emperor spoke to Vader in TESB.

 

Gave it a 9 - it's leagues above the other EU books I've read, and yes that includes the Zahn Trilogy, I loved Vader and Luke's characterisations, really felt for Leia and was annoyed with the green lizard (and I think that was the point with him).

 

"Otherwise known as "The Zahn Factor." Tear down the established characters in an attempt to elevate one's own.

Would/Could anyone stand up to the Emperor? Nope. Not hardly. But, lo and behold, Thrawn stood up to the Emperor four times.

It's definitely a fair criticism of the EU. The Thrawn Trilogy brought in this standard by which the other Bantam novels would follow. And that's not a good thing with respect to this issue."

But thats what makes Zahn's writing so good! The whole while through, I was thinking: "Wow, this guy really is as bad as the Emporer and Vader." And thats something the EU has never done before. Anyways, I gave SOTE a 8/10. Nice novel and a good tie in to ESB and ROTJ, but Rendar was a complete copy of Han.

 

I love this book, but quick question:
is there any other book with Xizor in it?

 

I liked the book. Very entertaining. Did you know there was a soundtrack for the book? It was very interesting to listen to.

 

The bounty hunter trilogy.


They are awful crap.


Interesting, Xizor seems only to appear in crap.


Actually he has a very supporting role in the third book of the Han Solo trilogy. Which are good.

 

I gave it a 4. Sure they explained it away later, but what the hell happened to Piett? I mean that is a HUGE oversight.

I liked when Vader let the guy go, and Luke's transition, but other than that, this book was lacking and over-hyped.

 

I'm loving this book.

And the N64 video game is still awesome.

 

8

It is one of the better EU books I have read and I think it does well to tie ESB and ROTJ together. Dash Rendar is a good character as well as Prince Xizor. Some bits were too predictable though but I think that was my fault for playing the N64 game first before reading the book.