Published: May 1996
Author: Steve Perry
Publisher: Bantam Press
Formats: Hardback, paperback, ebook (385 pages)
Cover artist: Drew Struzan
Timeline: 3-4 ABY
The synopsis;
It is a time of crisis. Han Solo, frozen in carbonite, is being taken to the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt. As Princess Leia mounts a rescue mission including Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, and a brilliant young pilot, Darth Vader pits himself against a cunning and ruthless rival. Xizor is the leader of a powerful crime syndicate who seeks to supplant Vader for the favor of their mutual master… the dreaded Emperor.
The review;
You possibly won’t be surprised to hear that reading Shadows of the Empire in recent weeks wasn’t the first time I had done so. Yes, I read it in the days directly after its release in 1996, and I haven’t been a stranger to it over the last 25 years either.
I must have read Shadows around ten times in that period and listened to the audiobook on countless occasions while driving to customer appointments around the UK motorway network. Like so many Star Wars fans, why does this book keep attracting me back?
Since the reset of canon literature back in 2015 Shadows is now consigned to the category of Legends. It is set in a period that is key to so many. Set in between the cinematic events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Shadows marries those stories almost perfectly.
The underworld plays a major part in the storyline and it looks at the relationship between the Empire and Black Sun. The Black Sun crime syndicate is well known to Star Wars fans that have not read Shadows as it has been seen in action during Rebels and The Clone Wars. It’s Falleen overlord, Prince Xizor is the last known survivor of his race after his planet was purged by Vader and the Empire. Playing his cards close to his chest his subterfuge and cunning allow him to become close to the Emperor as he tries to discredit Vader and take his place as the Emperors enforcer.
Guri is something we have never encountered in Star Wars before, she is a completely synthetic lifeform and not a droid like See-Threepio. She is more akin to the replicant we see in Blade Runner and could be described as beauty, brains, and brawn all in one package. Programmed to be an assassin and occasional courtesan to Xizor, she is all business and with attitude. A future project of Perry’s would see the release of a 5-part comic book series for Dark Horse Comics called Shadows of the Empire: Evolutions; this would see Guri redeemed for her past ventures with Black Sun.
Dash Rendar is a great new character and is not unlike Han Solo. A brash pilot and smuggler whose self-confidence is little on the high side, shall we say. He provides various roles for the Rebels, freelancing as a bodyguard to Luke, a forward scout to track Boba Fett and even flew a snowspeeder during the infamous Battle of Hoth. On one mission, Rendar seems to make a mistake in the heat of the battle which results in the loss of lives. Now this has a profound impact on him and knocks his confidence and ego. This inner turmoil shows a vulnerability to a character that is introduced as a hardnosed privateer. Rendar is also accompanied on board his ship, Outrider, by his droid companion Leebo (LE-BO2D9). Leebo does share a similar look to Elthree (L3-37) and her abilities as a co-pilot do mirror him somewhat, but he definitely doesn’t have her attitude!
As well as these exciting new characters, we are treated to the inclusion of all the mainstream characters of the Original Trilogy. Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, Lando, Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio are joined by Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron during the events of Shadows.
The development of Luke as a Jedi gains pace to cover the changes in his abilities between the events of the 2 movies. Using Obi-Wan Kenobi’s old homestead on Tatooine as his base, he hones his abilities and trains in the Jedi. His improvised training even includes a behind closed doors high wire walk in the first few chapters. The inner thoughts and fears that go through his mind are so well written by Perry. Luke also constructs his green bladed lightsaber. This rewrites the scene, which was filmed, but cut from final edit of Return of the Jedi and subsequent Special Editions, but it did make it into the original radio drama adaptation. Once completed, his lightsaber gets an earlier than expected test.
Now, I wanted to stay as far away from spoilers as I could. But there is one part of the book that I feel I have to dip my toe into spoiler territory, and this is around the relationship between Leia and Xizor. Although I do use the word relationship loosely. This incident is instigated by Xizor and his lustful intentions and attraction to the princess. He can secrete pheromones that attract a female of any known species when he exudes them. When Leia falls under his spell, she struggles to come to terms with her emotions. This is a scenario that investigates Leia’s inner most thoughts and sentiments for Han and Luke. She almost knows, without knowing that he is her brother, that Luke is off limits. But while under the influence of Xizor, she feels that she is betraying Han with her feelings. This sequence of events is so cleverly written by Perry and provokes a lot of thought for the reader about her dilemma.
We know that many Bothan’s died stealing the plans for the second Death Star, Mon Mothma tells us that, but in Shadows it is explained how the plans come to be in their possession. We know that it was the idea of the Emperor that made it possible for the capture of those plans and to make it believable that they have acquired them of their own volition. Perry also gives us the reason why so many Bothan’s died, and it is not quite in a way that you would automatically predict.
Shadows also sees many events, including the big finale on Coruscant, which was still known as Imperial Centre at this time in many books. We visit the underbelly of the planet, that we had never visited before and get to understand of its inner workings. It is interesting that Perry brings in some characters that effect the story that are just average people, but it is soon clear that even these beings have their own agendas and are willing to forego others for their own gain. We have since seen this part of Coruscant in the Prequel Trilogy and The Clone Wars since, and the ideas Perry has portrayed are there to be seen.
As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of its release, it is ironic that the Marvel Comics Star Wars titles of 2021 are all concentrating on this exact era. They are telling a new version of the events from that very same period. Charles Soule, Alyssa Wong, Greg Pak and Ethan Sacks are bringing us their vision of what happened at that time. There are many similarities, some of those may well be a nod to the original story by Perry, but they are still miles apart in so many ways!
Shadows is so well written, and it introduces us to some amazing new characters, events and locations that have now become iconic. Timothy Zahn’s Grand Admiral Thrawn is a character that has been successfully reintroduced to the new era canon material, so I live in hope that Guri, Dash Rendar, Leebo and Prince Xizor will one day return as well.
If you haven’t already, please take this opportunity to give Shadows of the Empire a read for the first time. But, if you have read it, why not pick it up and read it all over again? I am sure you will revel in it and find it a captivating and entertaining read.
Availability;
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry is available from all good high street bookstores and online retailers including Amazon UK and Amazon US.
