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Review: Shadows of the Empire
One of the few rules I have is that I don’t do Star Wars Extended Universe. Basically, it’s movie or bust for me – I might gleam a gem or two of inspiration from an interview with Lucas or from the novelisations, but if it wasn’t in the movies, it’s not canon. I also consider 99% of the EU to be mass-rpoduced drivel.
Shadows of the Empire, which![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fyrie made me read, is part of that 1%.
I’m not saying the book is perfect. But it’s highly enjoyable. All characterisations ring true, all interactions seem real, intra-movie introspection is plausible. And then there’s Vader.
Shadows takes place between TESB and ROTJ, so Vader is. And he’s written perfectly – impressive, impulsive, and just bratty (in a mature way) enough to make me believe this is both the villain I adored in the Original Trilogy and the rebel Jedi I grew surprisingly fond of in the prequels. Mind you, the book came out in 1996 – several years before we even got a look at Yippee Kid in TPM, never mind Hayden.
It’s not a dazzling intellectual endeavour – hello, Star Wars – but it’s certainly enjoyable. I would have preferred for Xizor to get his arse kicked worse, though: this was one fictional character that I was plotting how to assassinate fifty pages into the book. (I decided sabotaging his physical-training machine would have been the most elegant way.)
In other news, I’m still working on the Coldfire FST. I was listening to HIM’s version of Wicked Game yesterday and I realised it’s the perfect Gerald/Damien song:
The world was on fire, no one could save me but you
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do
I'd never dreamed that I'd need somebody like you
Yes, this FST is going to be highly on crack.
Shadows of the Empire, which
fyrie made me read, is part of that 1%.I’m not saying the book is perfect. But it’s highly enjoyable. All characterisations ring true, all interactions seem real, intra-movie introspection is plausible. And then there’s Vader.
Shadows takes place between TESB and ROTJ, so Vader is. And he’s written perfectly – impressive, impulsive, and just bratty (in a mature way) enough to make me believe this is both the villain I adored in the Original Trilogy and the rebel Jedi I grew surprisingly fond of in the prequels. Mind you, the book came out in 1996 – several years before we even got a look at Yippee Kid in TPM, never mind Hayden.
It’s not a dazzling intellectual endeavour – hello, Star Wars – but it’s certainly enjoyable. I would have preferred for Xizor to get his arse kicked worse, though: this was one fictional character that I was plotting how to assassinate fifty pages into the book. (I decided sabotaging his physical-training machine would have been the most elegant way.)
In other news, I’m still working on the Coldfire FST. I was listening to HIM’s version of Wicked Game yesterday and I realised it’s the perfect Gerald/Damien song:
The world was on fire, no one could save me but you
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do
I'd never dreamed that I'd need somebody like you
Yes, this FST is going to be highly on crack.
no subject
The poor old modern Maglor travelled the world, keeping to himself and occasionally, giving into his broody instincts and raising street urchins into smart, cunning kids, before wandering on. Alas that he was so noticeable that he was suspected of being some kind of witch/wizard thing in Ottoman Turkey and his 'family' at the time were slaughtered because they were doing 'unnatural' things. Made him a bit disillusioned, so he headed West, aiming for home and landing in America, where he was viewed as a spirit guide type thing by one of the native tribes, whom he tagged around with for 4 generations before white men arrived and lo, things went belly up again. Never had such a cynical, bitter git before. He's fabulous and has such a dry, ironic sense of humour.