recent read; Star Wars - Heir to the Empire

Heir to the Empire (Star Wars) by Timothy Zahn

I was in the mood for some space opera.  This was my first foray into a Star Wars novel.

I'll preface by saying that Star Wars was the blockbuster of my generation.  I enjoyed it at the time.  But by the time the novels were rolling out, I just wasn't enraptured of a wider Star Wars universe.   I had (and have) other fandoms - nothing against Star Wars at all.

This was written before the prequel movies arrived - it was the first novel after the Return of the Jedi movie.  So, even though sanctioned by Lucasfilm, some of the canonicity is shaky.  I've seen some readers complain, but that's not being fair to Zahn.  Like many of my generation, I don't care for the prequels, anyway.

Enough prefacing.

The story takes place five years after Return of the Jedi.  The New Republic is shakily holding its own, attempting to bring more worlds into the fold while battling their own internal political struggles.  Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Thrawn, a blue-skinned, red-eyed alien attempts to turn around the fading Empire's misfortunes.  In the middle of it all are the heroes of Star Wars - Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, Lando and the droids.

I didn't think this novel was bad, but neither did it excite me or rekindle any Star Wars flame.  While there are some decent action scenes, there was also a lot of talking and setup.  Early on in the story, it felt like Zahn wasn't sure what to do with the internal thoughts of these iconic characters.  He was feeling his way without violating any Star Wars rules but it also felt like he had to use his imagination without distinct rules and myths of Jedi being laid down for him.  And there was a ridiculous amount of squeezing - shoulders, hands, lightsaber hilts.  Reassurance, assuagement, frustration - everything was calmed with a squeeze.

By the time the action was finally holding my interest, the novel ended on a very minor key complete with "To Be Continued..."

I guess I am looking for a bit more blood & thunder.  Or at least, the derring-do Flash Gordon excitement of the first movie.  Sometime I will return to the trilogy because I own the other two books, too, and I'm slightly curious.  But I am more likely to read some classic Leigh Brackett, Henry Kuttner, or Edmond Hamilton space opera tales before I get back to the Thrawn trilogy.

Tempus Fugit

I finally read a Casca novel, The Warrior (#17). Casca is the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side with the spear. As a curse, he is destined to roam the Earth as a soldier until the Second Coming. He can be killed, but never truly dies (he can be resurrected) and his wounds heal quickly. The series features Casca in many historical periods, from ancient times right into Africa and Vietnam. (More data can be found via the link.)

While it probably wasn't the strongest entry in the line, it seemed a good place to start. Seeing as how the tale takes place in the 1860s/70s in the South Pacific, it lacked large, sweeping military action. But it made up for that with bloodthirsty cannibalism and study of culture clash. Good short read for action-adventure, historical fiction.

Don't let the near "romance-novel" cover fool you. It is nothing of the sort.

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When I was a kid, I had the Marvel comic adaptation of the original Star Wars movie. Before even The Empire Strikes Back had arrived, the Marvel Star Wars line had taken on a life of its own. I had a few issues past the movie timeline, but always wondered where the storylines went.

I recently learned that some years ago, Dark Horse reprinted the run in graphic novels. Fortunately for me, as I discovered a few months ago, it so happens that Dark Horse has re-(re)-issued the Marvel run in an omnibus. I picked up the omnibus and I'm eager to dig in. It will be interesting to see where the writers went without the (soon to be famous/infamous) heavy hand of George Lucas. (It will also be interesting to see how they eventually did tie-in with an adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back - that omnibus is due later this year.)