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

9!

The book was great. Dash Rendar sucked, but all other new EU characters were great! I wish they made it into a movie or something. Possibly one of the best SW books I have ever read.

 

I gave it a 9.

My first EU book, well my first good one. I was exposed to the GoDV series years before I picked this up...

I thought Prince Xizor was an interesting one, and I didn't think his death was so bad. Sure, he's made out to be the third most powerful being in the galaxy, but what ultimately led to his fall was screwing with the second most powerful being in the galaxy.

I like how Steve kept trying to hint at how Leia didn't love Luke like that, how she loved him in some other way. Yeah, whatever you say Perry!

Dialogue was really great and true to Star Wars, especially the Rouge Squadron parts. Great novel!

 

I gave an eight. It was a pretty good Book. It is great when you can see what happened between Episode 5 and Episode 6. Steve Perry is a good writer.

 

9/10

Perry is a genius by coming up with this huge plot. But the end left me unchanged. But it was cool how we didn't actually SEE Xizor or Guri die. The Virago was some hyped up ship, but in the book it had one scene. I still think Xizor lived though. The Coruscant vibe wasn't in the book at all. You didn't get the feel that this was the heart of the empire. Perry didn't describe his characters or places well either. But thats what the internet is for.

Good book, but overhyped. Still a must read though.

 

I give it a 9 but man do I love this book.

It has everthing a Star Wars book needs.

I just wish the Emperor did more then say "I sense a disturbance in the force" a billion times.

 

gave it an 8
the only thing i didn't like about it was Dash. he really got on my nerves but oh well.
xizor was ok but i doubt he had the emperor fooled as much as he thinks he did.
my fav scene was vader trying to beathe again, that really captured the character he really was.

 

This is one of my favorite Star Wars Books of all time. I think it's paced just like the films, so it flows, and holds interest. I also think the time is divided evenly between subplots, so you don't get bored while reading. Over all it's a great book, and it adds to the experience of watching the moives. I give it a 10

 

I give it a 9. By far the best EU novel I have ever read - it was just quite a nice political drama between Vader and Xizor... well I thought it was anyway. However some of the stuff between Leia and Xizor was quite disturbing

 

I felt it needed a better space battle between the Empire and Black Sun in the end. Xizor was an excellent character though.
8/10

 

With ROTS boosting my appetite for more SW, I finally got around to reading "Shadows of the Empire". I give it a 3. Corny book at best.

The only thing I enjoyed was when the book referenced the actual movie canon, i.e. Luke in Ben's home building the lightsaber, Vader still trying to convince himself that he wasn't Anakin.

I just didn't buy our heroes going off on an entirely different adventure, meeting major players along the way who are dead by the end of the book, in the middle of supposedly trying to resuce Han.

All the characters say well known lines from the movies that just took me right out of the story.

Chewie and 3PO play space chess for the first half of the book.

Lando 'knows' somebody on every planet they go to that owes him a favor, as does Leia on Coruscant.

They lose the Empire in an asteroid field. Again.

Xizor is the most powerful guy in the galaxy under, of course, Palps and DV. He just so happens to have the 'fastest' ship on the planet. He just so happens to have everything. Contacts everywhere. Can have any woman he wants. Such a supposedly important figure in the galaxy yet we've never heard of him in the entire SW story. I mean it's just weak weak weak.

Dash now has the fastest ship in the galaxy. No, he's not like Han. He feels like a 'filler' character.

The Emperor knows 'everything' at all times.

Darth Vader naked. I mean WT*!

All we get of Boba Fett is a glimpse of his ship getting away yet he's on the paperback cover.

If you're gonna bridge ESB with ROTJ, then make it 'relevant' to ROTJ. In hindsight, as I remember how often I groaned while reading this book, I have to say "Shadows of the Empire" was a huge let down. I'm probably just too old to really enjoy it.

I am looking forward to "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader", however.

 

I din't like this book. In fact it was my first read of a EU book and it was quite dissapointing to me.
First of all I tell you that I am spanish and therefore I read the book in spanish language, however, I guess there is no difference at all. (Also I apologize for any mistake in this text due to the fact that english is not my first language).
Well, I think this book, while interesting at some points, is not a great add to the saga. First, the concept from which it starts is absurd. ¿How would the Emperor be so stupid to allow the ambicious leader of the largest criminal organization to be whitness of the conversation in which he talks to Darth Vader about his son, the new powerful enemy of the Empire? When I read this I began to regret having spent my money.
Second, Dash Rendar is a clone of Han Solo, but less interesting. The author even declines to fully describe him and simply says he was like Han Solo. And the character of Xizor is too topical, too.
But the worst of all is the droid-karate-fighting, Guri. I wondered if I was reading a Jackie Chan novel.
And also, I expected to be whitness of the transformation of Luke from a farm-boy into a powerful Jedi, because it's not shown in the movies (he finishes episode 5 as a learner and begins episode 6 as a self-confident Jedi). On the contrary, during almost the entire novel he is just the same boy of episode 5, and then suddenly he realizes he only has to relax to feel the force and become a powerful Jedi in two minutes. Very poor, I must say.
However, after reading Shattered Point I'm beginning to consider Shadows of the Empire quite a good novel (if we compare).
I hope my next EU read will be more satisfying. Maybe Heir to the Empire...

 

Bring back Dash.

I like how this explains why Leia was skin and bone in ROTJ.

 

Definatly one of my all time favorate Star Wars books.A great read for any SW fan.Would've made an awesome movie!

 

8 - I was surprised this book spawned a video game! I was ok, but nothing compared to Zahn's trilogy. A decent read though.

 

I actually played the game version first (like some 7-8 years ago) and read the book some three years later. It was predictable because of my knowledge of the films and the game itself as well. But this didn't bother me so much. I thought it was an enjoyable read and it's the only book in addition to "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" where I've gotten to read about Luke when he's still not quite a Jedi. I was so used to reading books where he's already a Jedi Master that it was refreshing change.

I'll give it an 8.5 because it's one of the more adventorous SW books I've read and because I consider Prince Xisor the coolest bad guy after GA Thrawn in the SW universe.

 

One quirk that Steve Perry seems to have that nobody has mentined is his naration style. It reminds me not so much of Star Wars but of the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

"Oh no! How will our heroes get out of this one?"
Xizor's seduction of Leia isn't quite as creepy as that little voice inside Leia's head.
"You really just want his nuts, sister"
Far out! Leia's posessed!

Luke's inner voice isn't that much better. Every chapter has Luke's little thoughts on his current situation.
"Uh-oh!"
and
"Uh-oh!"
and of course
"Uh-oh!"

Not finished with the book, but the three-paragraph-at-a-time format and reading level is so easy I wouldn't mind finishing it. Sometimes though I have to wonder what the author is thinking... probably about the resulting action figures.

Fun at best. I haven't finished it (i'm on page 200 something) but so far I'd give it a 7.

 

I liked this book mostly for the Vader scenes. They all did really well.

Plus what happens to Xizor...absolutely beautiful. This is what happens to you if you screw with a Sith Lord, boyo!

 

I actually like Dash a bit better than Han. I see Dash as what Han would've been if Luke and Obi-Wan hadn't shown up.

 

3
Rated it below average because, though it was a nice idea the execution lacked a lot, in my opinion.
First: narration style. Made me go eeeeww on page one already. Everything is said a bit too explicitly for my taste, things sated rather than being shown. Things .like ?brave strong Han? or ?Good old Wedge? are ok for us to think, but no need to spell it out. That?s just trite. The whole Bespin scene was horror for me. I mean, I?ve been there already. I?ve SEEN it and there is no need to spoil the magic of the moment by magnet metaphors and descriptions of inner turmoil. I?ve SEEN it.
Second: characters: The movie characters are done ok. I know they are difficult to get right, I tried myself and their rendering is acceptable. Personally I like his version of Han best, followed by Chewie. *smirk* But the new characters are somewhat dull. Dash is, like his name indicates, too dashing in all respects. Too swash-buckling much here. Is he supposed to be some kind of Super-Han, or what? Xizor was Gen?Eric the villain, though rather well done. Hit me as strange that he needed to flood women with pheromones to get them though. That does not sound much better that having to drug them? I thought it said somewhere he was prince charming as well?

Still, the book is a nice read once you get accustomed to ignoring the way it is written. I recommend it to those who like an easy read and don?t want to have to think along. Really, you don?t have to, everything important is told you explicitly and probably more than once.

What I really LOVED was the way Leia took that thermal detonator close to the end. That was so in-character, great.

 

8


Dash was ok but I would have preferred a more orignal character. Xizor's death could have been better so that also lowered the rating for me.

 

I just finished this book and loved it, however, I was more interested in the Vader/Emperor/Xizor triangle than I was in the Luke/Lando/Dash rescue of Leia.

But, it did fill in some gaps and provided a nice segue into ROTJ, with the epilogue ending with Luke making the recording for Jabba. What made me smile was the introduction of the detonator ball which Leia (in disguse as a bounty hunter)uses to bribe Jabba with in ROTJ!

Someone mentioned on the last page that Vader appeared weak, but I saw vulnerability. As much as he exercised his importance and power on the outside as the Emperor's right hand, I also saw a man who saw his position possibly threatened by Xizor. I also saw a lot of 'human' in Vader, such as his inner thoughts regarding questioning the Emperor's orders, how he MUST obey and never give his opinion. Someone also mentioned the need for two 'naked Vader' scenes. While I don't think it was inserted to ick out the reader, I liked the scene because it gave us a glimpse of him in his healing chamber and his frustration with holding onto the Dark Side to enable him to breath with benefit of his ventilator and/or chamber. To me, having to depend upon those things to live meant depending upon the Emperor because he had mastered the Dark Side without question. Those two scenes showed me how desperate Vader was to master the Dark Side that consistently and fully. By doing so, not only would he be free of the life sustaining armor, but of the Emperor as well.

I do agree with the poster who was disappointed in how Xizor died. Very ho-hum. I wanted a show-down between him and Vader, seeing how I felt I was being set up for that with the scenes of Vader practicing with battle droids. Again, I felt Vader's drive to practice was egged on the Emperor who had made mention of Xizor's impressive marital arts skills.

Very enjoyable and caused me to watch ROTJ again right after.

 

8 above average and fills in the gaps.

 

The soundtrack: awsome stuff. Joel really hit the Star Wars "sound" dead on. (He also hit the Indy sound in the later TV movies). top marks.

The Video Game: I remember being wowed by the tech demo for the N-64. The game had some good bits (the assault on hoth before it got beat into the ground), but was overall a fair game.

The Comic: Wah-huh? Dreadful stuff. Bad art and a largly incomplete storyline that needed the book to be whole.

The Book: Meh - whatever. Better than some of the train wrecks we've had, but it was no Thrawn Trillogy.

 

There were things i liked and disliked about this book. What i didn't like is that Xizor seems like a pervert to me. He's always thinking about sex. Very un-Star Warsish.

I did like Luke's advancement of character throughout the book. This was nicely done and you can really get the change.

Not the best i've read, but it could be worse. 7/10

 

10/10

Great book. I was fascinated by the interaction between the Emperor, Vader & Xizor - but you just knew that Vader would smack Xizor down just as soon as possible. The all-important construction of Luke's saber was great, and the tie-in with ESB & RotJ made the whole book worthwhile for me. I also thought Guri was alot of fun, and even though the author had very little latitude for creativity in the timeframe, I still found the book an entertaining read.