Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #250294 in Books
• Published on: 1920-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

Synopsis
A novel set during the period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi follows Leia's preparations to rescue Han Solo and Luke's flight from both Darth Vader and an equally powerful dark lord, Xizor. Reprint.

From the Back Cover
This explosive new novel in the bestselling Star Wars saga reveals an untold story that takes place between the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi...

It is a time of crisis. Han Solo, frozen in carbonite, is being taken to the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt. As Princess Leia mounts a rescue mission and Darth Vader scours the galaxy for Luke Skywalker, another sinister figure emerges. His name is Xizor. Cunning and ruthless, leader of the powerful Black Sun criminal organisation, he will pit himself against Vader for the favour of their mutual master...the dreaded Emperor.

Luke, Leia, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian face betrayal and death at every turn and must use every weapon and resource at their disposal to confront the combined forces of Black Sun and the Empire. And, of course, Vader still lives - and faces a battle of his own - against a villian every bit as evil and powerful as the Dark Lord of the Sith himself.

Customer Reviews

One of the best Star Wars novels.
THE STORY:
Set between 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return Of The Jedi', Prince Xizor, head of the Black Sun criminal empire, is seeking to discredit his hated nemesis Darth Vader by assassinating Luke Skywalker, whom Vader has promised to turn to the dark side. Unable to recover Han Solo's carbon-frozen body, Princess Leia is further disturbed when Luke is almost killed and she seeks to root out the assassins with Xizor's help.

WHAT'S GOOD:
This book is the perfect bridge between the two movies, being both an interesting and original stand-alone story, but also linking into the films with such things as Xizor being with the Emperor when Vader speaks to him in 'Empire', Luke building his replacement lightsaber, and the story of "many Bothans died to bring us this information" revealed. The new characters are all of high quality; Xizor's cold patience being a good counterpoint to Vader's harsh temper and Dash Rendar bringing that element of cocky, honourable pirate that would otherwise have been Han. One of my favourite elements of the book, however, is that for the first time we get to read what Vader's thinking and understand what his motivations are.

WHAT'S BAD:
There's not much to complain about with this book, except perhaps the underuse of Boba Fett and the fact that Vader and Xizor never got to beat the hell out of each other (although I reckon Vader would've done most of the beating).

A Book That You'll Want To Read If You're A Star Wars Fan
Finally, someone had the brains to bridge the gap between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Shadows of the Empire tells of the struggle of Lando, Luke, Chewie, Leia and the droids to rescue Han Solo.
The powerful leader of the Black Sun, Prince Xizor, is trying to kick Vader out of power in order to be more powerful in the Empire. While Vader fights him and the Rebels, our heroes make several attemps to rescue Han, but fail. A new good guy, hot-headed Dash, also appears, much to Luke's annoyance. Prince Xizor also poses a problem as he almost seduces Leia... but I won't give that away.
It's a good book and I recommend it for any Star Wars fan.

So thats how they did it then!
At last, something to bridge the gap between ESB and ROTJ. I sat and watched SW, then ESB again before reading the book (not that I needed a refresher, I already know most of the words off by heart)The book tells of how Leia, Lando, Luke, Chewie and the droids prepare for the rescue of Han, frozen in carbonite and in the hands of Bobba Fett on the way to Jabba. We are shown Leias growing feelings for Han, and the strange feelings she has for Luke which she cannot yet explain. The grouo are only just starting to trust Lando after he sold them out to Vader in ESB and he sytematically helps tham with his numerous "contacts" scattered around the seedier parts of the galaxy. We are introduced to new characters - Dash, another arrogant bounty hunter/smuggler who in the absence of Han, remind you of his character in SW doing all for money, and Xizor, who although we are not likely to hear of him again, showed subtle weeknesses in the Grip of Vador and the Emperor. The stoy has many twists and turns and explains without listing, how things fell into the hands of, how Vader managed to keep up with, and where Leia got the bounty hunter disguise idea from.

In short, an excellent book especially for those of you who like me, just cant help going over the original trilogy again and again.