On Heir to the Empire

I know that this book has a lot of criticism, mostly from those who argue that Lucasfilm sought to turn Star Wars in a cash cow through what would become the Expanded Universe. Maybe that’s true, but I can’t think of a better story to expand George Lucas’s world.

The only other Star Wars novel I have to compare this one to is Kenobi, and I have to say that I like Heir to the Empire far more. Although perspective shifts here, there’s not the same “omniscient” perspective that you get in Kenobi. Instead, you’re dealing with one character at a time. Moreover, Zahn’s novel fits the spirit of Star Wars in a way that Miller’s doesn’t. While Miller’s book is your run of the mill western with a Star Wars cast and setting, Zahn’s book feels very Star Wars.

The new characters and worlds here are so good—although Thrawn is technically the antagonist of the whole story, I felt myself rooting for him at times. While Darth Vader came off as wholly evil until The Return of the Jedi, Thrawn is multi-dimensional, albeit ruthless. Mara Jade and Talon Kardde are also great. The inclusion of two worlds that would appear in the prequel films, Kashyyyk and Coruscant, are so important, although Zahn’s vision of both worlds seems to differ markedly from what would eventually be pursued.

One last note—this book felt like it lacked any sort of ending until the climax in the penultimate chapter. I expected the last few chapters to be resolution, so I thought the “climax” was

Spoiler

Luke’s destroying Stormtroopers by cutting down the archway on Myrkyr

and was pleasantly surprised that it was something different, but the ending was rushed. I know that this is just one book in a trilogy, but it should also have an internal coherence and the lack of a strong ending made the book weaker than it could have been.

Anyways, I’m super excited to read the rest of the series and see where this goes.