Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: TATOOINE GHOST (TG spoilers)

I LOVED this one. But I also agree that it needed some kind of epilogue at the end.

The end action seqence was not only at an odd pacing, but it seems to be it was a miracle they even got out of there. Maybe that was the point but three things bugged me as a little too convienient.

1. The way the Walker went down that was blocking the smugglers cave. How did the Imps all the sudden find the smuggler's cave anyway.

2. It seemed far fetched that two whole squadrons of TIE fighters just crashed into each other just because Chewie was kicking up a sand storm on purpose . . oh well

3. The Bathas were apparently running at a slow enough speed for our heros to catch up to them and jump on, but they were too fast for the stormtroopers or even more sand-people to catch up? Huh?!

Oh well, 9/10 just cause I loved the way this book really helps put the two eras together.

 

It give TG a 10/10. Best SW book I've read in a long time. I would give Remnant a 7/10. Not as good as TG.

Chewie's char. was great, he actually had a characterization! He had opinions and thoughts, unlike in most where's he's just a "walking carpet."

Han and Leia were both very believable. Esp. their disagreements over how much time/energy Leia puts into her job, and Han's not wanting to help the NR because of the whole Hapes affair.

 

Yup, Denning has just about mastered the characterizations of both Han and Leia.

 

Counting 20 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of TG = 171.85/20 ~ 8.59/10

 

I gave TG a 8.5 out of 10. I felt it was a very well written book. It didnt reveal anything new, but it did a good job of connecting PT and OT. Denning is a true SW master.

 

My rating: 8.5/10
This book was unique among SW fiction and for that alone I give it a fairly high rating. The basis is intriguing and the way it was handled was nicely done. After reading New Jedi Order and prequel era stuff for the past couple years it was a much needed change of pace to get into the "Bantam Era." I would call this book Del Rey's 'Bantam Patch' in that it tries to tie up loose ends in Han and Leia's relationship left by previous books. Wolverton's CoPL is the only SW book I've ever started and not been able to finish because it was so far removed from any Star Wars feeling whatsoever. The New Jedi Order has marginally succeeded in warming me up to the Hapes Cluster (thank you Luceno) but that is beside the point. The point is I missed a lot of the plot points about Han and Leia because I've not read CoPL or Tyers's TAB which were referenced frequently.

That said, I loved this book (until the end). Han and Leia were AMAZING!!! It was also nice to have two of the main movie characters in every scene of the book instead of jumping all over through 17 different plot threads (as often happens now that the SW galaxy is so big). For those reasons alone I really enjoyed the book. Also, the scene from Chewie's viewpoint when he is going to get the Falcon from the smuggler's cave is cool. As I was reading I thought, wow, we are inside Chewie's head. I don't think any author has ever gone inside Chewie's head and told some of the story from his POV and that was neat. Someone speak up if I'm wrong!

Things keeping the book from getting a higher rating. Hasty conclusion in a convoluted, hard-to-follow action sequence. I had the same problem with SbS. It was difficult to picture who was where and doing what and why in the action scenes. I like the character interactions! A few spots where the book dragged. The visit to Obi-Wan's hut was gratuitous and some of the beginning exposition with Kitster's family was wasted by the quick wrap-up. Did Denning have a page limit? He certainly wasn't limited in SbS so why the abrupt halt around page 400? I think that overall the story would have been more fulfilling with a meatier conclusion.

Finally, there is no galaxy map in the front of the book. That's smart because the whole book takes place on Tatooine. But how about a Tatooine map? Maybe this is the Tolkien fan in me crossing genres but wouldn't the book have been a lot cooler if we had a map of Tatooine with all the locations on it. It would have heightened the suspense because you could see exactly where everybody was and how far they had to go to catch the painting or get to a town or whatever. In fact, I'd be interested in working with some fans of this book to make a map of Tatooine and plot out Han and Leia's journey as well as that of the secondary characters (if anyone's interested let me know). Does anyone know of a Tatooine map already published? Have I rambled long enough and bored everyone to tears? Is anyone still reading?

Sheesh. Sorry, just realized how long I typed and how far off on a tangent I traveled. Final rating: 8.5/10

 

Talz, Secrets of Tatooine has the map you are asking for, not extremely comprehensive but... well.

 

As I was reading I thought, wow, we are inside Chewie's head. I don't think any author has ever gone inside Chewie's head and told some of the story from his POV and that was neat. Someone speak up if I'm wrong!

Han Solo Trilogy, Black Fleet Crisis, Truce at Bakura(Didnt it?). Not many though.

 

Counting 22 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of TG = 188.85/22 ~ 8.58/10

 

I give Tatooine Ghost a 9/10.

First off, I took 0.5 away for the last chapter being rushed, and 0.5 because Denning didn't have Leia and Han follow up on Kenobi's datapad that said something about the Outbound Flight Project in the least, and that Leia actually let the Squibs keep the painting. Now, I understand she got rid of the Shadowcast code key, but you would think she would want to preserve a cultural piece of her former home planet, and leaving it on dry, arid Tatooine is definitely not the way to go. So that irked me.

Besides that, I think Tatooine Ghost was great. It was a good bridge novel, and showed how Leia came from hating her father to accepting him for what he was, for what he had been. I think this was something we definitely needed to see.

Also, Denning here proves that he has been able to do what many EU authors haven't: have a plot centralized around one set of characters, one planet, and one mission, while keeping the story suspenseful and fun to read. He also wrote very good characterizations, and I just loved the way the Squibs kept coming back. It was definitely worth the $40.

 

Wow, that Canadian rate of exchange must kill you guys over there. And I thought $28 was alot to spend on a hardback !

 

I am going to give it a 9/10.



It certainly added many things to the GFFA. I loved the Han and Leia scenes. I'm only giving it a 9 because (1) the end battle was somewhat confusing to read and (2) Threepio was a little off in some of the scenes.


All in all, an enjoyable book.

 

About that giving the painting to the squibs, was this done for continuity reasons? Does Thrawn have this painting in the Zahn Trilogy? I can't remember.

 

It's never mentioned if he does or doesn't.

 

I'm pretty sure it's not mentioned.

 

Well then, I guess there really was no reason to let the Empire have it then. Oh well.

 

9/10

I liked the author's grasp on the characters of Han and Leia and its great to see Han and Chewie interacting together again. Its one of the things I miss in the NJO. I felt that the ending could have been better, but thats a minor gripe.
A great read.

 

Counting 25 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of TG = 215.85/25 ~ 8.63/10

 

Ok my review of TG!

In a word: excellent, on a number of levels. The characerisation of the main trio of Han, Leia & Chewie worked very well, all characterizations were accurate and true to the films. And talking of the films...

TG does what Lucas has failed to do for me with TPM & AOTC, it makes Anakin Skywalker an understandable and even sympathetic character, as it becomes clear by the end that Anakin wasn't this blase, arrogant fool as shown in the films, rather he was a person whose greatst virtue and vice was his enthusiasm; it was both his bane and boon. In the environment of Tatooine, it was a gift and well suited to the situation he was in, but this excess of enthusiasm became perilous once he became a Jedi, for it is through the enthusuasm the dark side ensnares Anakin. Because he has never had reason to limit his drive and expectations of himself, Anakin aims for pefection as a Jedi that will always be beyond him despite his best effort. Yet at the same time he knew the impossible was possible for he escaped slavedom, thus he would draw on that to keep trying to attain the unattainable. What TG also establishes is that though Anakin made mistakes, he didn't become amoral, he knew he had done wrong and hoped to do better, to overcome his error, something went very badly wrong for him though.

Now onto Han & Leia. It will sound strange to some but in TG it is Han who comes across as a lot stronger than Leia on the issue of heritage. Unlike Leia, Han knows explanation is not always justification, that explanations for a person's acts are not always offered as a means of absolution. Nor is Leia inclined to see this for she will have to reignh in her desire to condemn Anakin Skywalker, that by understanding his actions she is unable to totally condemn him, indeed it is her fear of doing something similar that paralyses her and has her unable to look into and face the dark potential in her. Her fear is that the dark will overwhelm the light and this fear has much validity.

Han's interpretation of the painting Killik Twilight makes this point in a way. Leia sees it as a warning of the effects of surrenduring to darkness, Han sees it as a urge to action, to face the darkness and defeat it. this is something Leia has never done, trusting instead to her instincts of justified anger and conviction over knowledge and understanding. The one enables a person to resist and fight evil, but leves one vulnerable to the fact that darkness is in all of us. The other enables evil to be fought with greater strength and clarity, for by understanding and accepting the existence of and potential for evil, one can fight evil in a calm and measured way that in the end is more effective. Leia cannot keep running, cannot keep Anakin's fate in her head as a warning for she will run forever, she has to turn and accept her heritage and combine it with the fact she has not done what Anakin did, but temper that credit with the realisation that she could have.

In the end TG succeeds as a Han & Leia book, it ties together the OT & PT eras in a subtle and clever fashion, while also setting the ground for the Thrawn Trilogy, the inclusion of the chimaera works very well. THe portrait of Tatooine is also excellent and reminiscent of the films, the descriptions of the twin sunsets invoking ANH's classic moment with Luke on the farm. Talking of which:

Luke has only a couple of scenes, but both are excellent. In each he is supportive of Leia but he also hit her rihght to the core when he tells her if she does not resolve it her fear and anger will destroy her. Indeed it will, with Anakin dead, the only power he has over eia is what she grants him by fear. To understand and forgive is, in the end, to strip an enemy of all their power over you whether they be living or not.

But what of the fact Luke knew of Anakin? Nothing that major came out, nor was it clear exactly how much Luke knew on Tattooine and what he researched after his father's death. I suspect that he heard stories of an Anakin Skywalker and picked

 

Wow, that Canadian rate of exchange must kill you guys over there. And I thought $28 was alot to spend on a hardback !

Yeah, it does most of the time. For the NJO paperbacks, we pay $10.

Well then, I guess there really was no reason to let the Empire have it then. Oh well.

Exactly! And Leia just lets some Squibs walk off with a precious, one-of-a-kind, art masterpiece! To me, that's is highly unrealistic. Okay, I won't discuss this anymore...

 

I hear you jaya...$40 is hefty for this Canadian..AND I had to pick it up in a -40 snowstorm!

About the painting..I was disappointed Leia didn't get to keep it as well. I would have loved to see the kind of artistic debates she and Han would have over it However, I can see why Denning didn't have her keep it, since the painting is never mentioned again it might not fit continuity-wise. Something as emotionally significant as Killik Twilight would surely be hanging on Leia's bedroom wall!

Anyhow, we may see the painting appear again in Never Trust a Squib!

And speaking of that, how do you get Insider in Canada? Do they sell them in bookstores?

 

Tara,

Never Trust A Squib?

Jedi Ben

 

Jedi Ben,

A H/L short story coming out in Insider next month by none other than Denning!

It takes place between TG and HTTE, and here's what Chris Cerasi said about it:

It's a great story - very funny, humorous, romantic and action-packed. A classic (in the nostaligic old-school Han and Leia interaction kind of way) Star Wars adventure. In short, it's fun!

 

Imagine my surprise when I found this book at my local library. Saved myself $40 Canadian.

I give this book 9/10. Only because I wanted to see more Thrawn scenes.

 

Counting 27 reviews.

JC Lit Average Rating of TG = 234.35/27 ~ 8.68/10