Star Wars: Heir To The Empire by Timothy Zahn

Heir to The Empire by Timothy Zahn was actually quite good. I was a little skeptical that anyone besides George Lucus would do the storyline justice, but I was surprised. It follows 5 years after the deaths of Darth Vader and the Emperor, and things are still looking a little dire. There is still an Imperial army (albeit a smaller army) and there is still the Rebels. However, it looks like the Rebels can begin to rebuild and now politics have begun. The time jump has allowed Han and Leia to get married and now they are expecting twins. Leia has started and continued her training of the Force with Luke, but her political education has been getting in the way more often than not. And Luke is considered a hero and the rekindling of the Jedi order.

Unfortunately for our protagonists, there is still 1 remaining leader of the Imperial Army, and he is more than he appears to be. He knows of two discoveries that the Emperor kept hidden away, and he is determined by any means necessary to utilize those discoveries, and destroy the Rebels in the process.  But how does he know about these discoveries, and how does he know about the Rebels? And who is this mysterious woman that shows up in another vision given to Luke?

My interpretation of the novel was that it was well done. I thought Timothy Zahn captured the Emperor's mind, and maneuvers brilliantly. I certainly wouldn't have put it past him to erase the history books (how often do we hear that they were written by the winners, anyway?), nor would I have had any doubts as to secret "employees" for lack of a better word. Thrawn was certainly the type of soldier that the Emperor would have kept hidden, possibly roaming the galaxy for any and all kinds of weapons. His attitude towards certain species was perfect. Not quite disdain, but a significant amount of detachment and indifference.

I have to say that the things I did not like about the novel weren't much but they did result in a loss of a star. When we last saw Luke on Endor, he seemed confident and ready to go forth as a Jedi. In Timothy Zahn's version, Luke seems less confident in himself, especially as Leia's teacher. Not only that but if he wasn't ready, I highly doubt Obi-wan would have abandoned him to "go to the other side". The whole point of the Force was that when they died, they became one with the Force so I was a little thrown when Oni-wan said his "final" good-bye.

I also felt that the Han, Leia, and Chewie plotlines were vague. There was a good but of following Han around with Lando, but we missed out with Leia and Chewie. I would have liked the time jump to be closer than 5 years because I feel that there are significant gaps between Endor and Leia becoming pregnant. I'm not saying that we should have sex scenes, but instead we miss the courtship. We miss Han changing, even a little for Leia, and vice versa. It feels incomplete in a way.

I rated this novel 4 out of 5 stars, because despite the things I did not like, I could see how this novel fit with George Lucas's version. I have already started the 2nd installment, and so will hopefully write soon.