A survey of the Expanded Universe
really ought to start with Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy.
Published in 1991 by Bantam Spectra, the first book, Heir to the
Empire, ushered in the Expanded
Universe proper after a long period of dormancy where the only new
Star Wars material
being released was for the roleplaying game by West End Games.
Zahn
was an established Sci-Fi author by this point, having won a Hugo
Award (back when that still meant something) and created a Space
Opera series of his own with the Cobra
trilogy. In the course of writing this trilogy, he worked closely
with West End Games, and incorporated a lot of supplemental material
into the books, establishing a cross-pollination between different
products. It would take more new stories to start forming the true
EU, but this was the keystone, and it was a huge success.
The
setup is this: Five years after Return of the Jedi,
the fledgling New Republic is struggling against a sudden surge of
Imperial resistance. Said resistance comes from Grand Admiral Thrawn,
an imposing blue-skinned, red-eyed near-human alien who has returned
from the Unknown Regions to find the Empire in tatters and he is
determined to right that ship.
Thrawn
has limited resources and manpower, so he resorts to brilliant
tactics and intel from a deep cover spy known only as “Delta
Source” to attack against “the Rebels,” until he discovers the
planet Wayland and one of the Emperor's hidden vaults guarded by a
powerful, but insane cloned Jedi.
Meanwhile,
Luke Skywalker has a final visit from Obi-Wan Kenobi's spirit urging
him stay vigilant against the Dark Side and promises that he will
find new allies. Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa Solo, now pregnant
with twins, are busy flying around the galaxy doing diplomatic work
when strange gray aliens repeatedly attack them, intent on capturing
Leia specifically. Leia also has to deal with intrigue in the
government as the stalwart Admiral Ackbar butts heads with the
slippery Bothan senator, Borsk Fey'lya. Han is trying to make
inroads into the smuggler scene to set up freelance supply lines that
the New Republic badly needs, which leads him to smuggler baron Talon
Karrde, a man who's risen to prominence in the wake of Jabba's death.
After
a disastrous encounter with an Interdictor cruiser, Luke comes into
an uneasy alliance with Karrde. Intelligent and urbane, Karrde's real
stock in trade is information, and he knows more about Thrawn than
he's willing to let the New Republic have for free. Karrde also has a
mysterious lieutenant, Mara Jade, who wants nothing more in the world
than to kill Luke Skywalker. Mara was the Emperor's Hand, a Force
sensitive assassin and spy that answered only to Palpatine. The
Emperor's death effectively destroyed her life. Naturally, she and
Luke have to survive a hostile forest together.
Meanwhile,
Lando Calrissian has a new business venture that is promptly raided
by Thrawn, and the mole miners stolen from Lando are used in a
climactic space battle where the Empire cleverly attempts to use the
miners to board and capture New Republic capital ships to steal them.
The New Republic repels them, but at significant cost to their own
drydocked fleet.
Meanwhile,
Leia and Chewie capture one of her would-be kidnappers and learn he's
a Noghri, a species of lethal hunters who were sworn to serve their
“savior” Darth Vader. Moreover, Khabarakh, the captured Noghri,
calls Leia the Mal'ary'ush, the Lady Vader, and agrees to the
dangerous prospect of negotiations with his race.
Heir to the Empire
is amazing. It captures the grand space opera themes and the
world-hopping pulp that the Star Wars Trilogy
was built on. The pace is rocket fast and never lingers too long on
mundane drudgery. The heroes are in character and growing as people.
Luke is maturing as a Jedi. Leia is swamped by matters of state and
imminent motherhood. Han is chafing with respectability but growing
into it. Lando is up to his old entrepreneurial tricks.
The
new characters are fine additions. Thrawn is the obvious standout,
since he's a deliberate contrast to Vader's rage and Palpatine's
gleeful tyranny. Thrawn isn't so much a “villain” as he is an
antagonist. He wants order in the galaxy and sees the Rebellion (he
refuses to acknowledge the New Republic by title) as rampant, violent
chaos that must be quelled. His effectiveness is based on an
analytical mind that would make Mycroft Holmes jealous, and he has
weaponized art history as a means of studying species to find their
weaknesses. Thrawn is, however, still an antagonist, and while
reasonable and intelligent, he is unbending and cold with regards to
his enemies. He has no interest in negotiating with the New Republic.
He wants them beaten down.
The
viewpoint character for Thrawn is his second-in-command, Captain
Pellaeon. Pellaeon is an old veteran who served back in the late
Republic and into the Empire. A competent commander, but lacking in
innovation, he was the one who took command at Endor after the
Emperor's death and sounded the retreat to cut the Navy's losses.
Pellaeon doesn't really get what Thrawn's doing all the time, but he
trusts him implicitly, and is another believer in re-establishing law
and order in the galaxy.
Joruus
C'Baoth, the mad Jedi clone, isn't evil in the direct sense, nor is
he related to the Sith in any way. He's clearly powerful and
possesses wild mood swings, but wishes to impose order as well,
though with him at the top deciding what that means. He's something
of a Jedi supremacist, where he sees those with the ability to use
the Force as the top of the food chain. He and Thrawn butt heads
frequently, but Thrawn has access to ysalmiri, little lizards that
create bubbles where the Force can't work, that can keep C'Baoth in
check.
Talon
Karrde is something of a combination of Han and Lando. Hands-on, but
with a very strong organization sense that makes his smuggler group
one of the most reputable out there. He's smart and has contingency
plans, and he doesn't like being caught between the Empire and the
New Republic, so he tries to play off both sides. Mara too, doesn't
like being caught between the two factions and simply wanted to find
a peaceful place for herself when Luke Skywalker comes walking into
her life and the romantic tension that follows.
The
characters are great. The action sequences are good, and the grand
sweeping scope is everything you could want in a Star Wars story that
builds on where Return of the Jedi
ended. There's a reason why people clamored for years to turn this
into a sequel movie trilogy.
Its
damn good, and an essential read for anyone looking at getting into
the Expanded Universe.
1 comment:
I'm gonna be rereading these books soon (which I don't know what I mean by soon as it depends on time). I'm excited to revisit them again.
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