The Wrong Side of the War (Star Wars: Empire, Vol. 7) Review

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(More customer reviews)The seventh graphic novel collection of the Star Wars Empire comic series contains issues 35-40 and is titled The Wrong Side of the War. Like the sixth volume, this book starts off with a standalone issue. It tells the tale of Vader and a leading officer practicing a little deception on their own crew to root out a Rebel dissident within their ranks. Vader has the upper hand throughout and the ending has quite a wicked little twist. It's well-drawn and quite entertaining for such a short story.
The rest of the book focuses on one multi-issue arc. Conflicted Imperial officer Janek Sunbar is back and as confused as ever. He wants to honorably serve the Empire and have a fulfilling military career, but he is finding it harder and harder to turn a blind eye to the Empire's flaws. I thoroughly enjoyed Sunbar's earlier exploits trying to rally his troops against an invading force of Amamin on Maridun (the Amanaman design from Return of the Jedi is one of my very favorites in the saga, so I was predisposed to like that story anyway). The Wrong Side of the War adds a new twist to Sunbar's character, making him all the more interesting and tying him in with the more familiar movie characters.
The Rebels are sending a strike team to Kalist VI to infiltrate the Imperial facility and rescue Jorin Sol, who was captured in the prior arc set on Jabiim. As a side benefit, they also plan on stealing significant quantities of fuel from the Imps. The team, which includes Luke and R2-D2 along with an array of less familiar faces, is experiencing a smooth mission until the discovery of a large number of slaves complicates their planning. Ethically the Rebels can't leave the slaves behind, so their plans have a rapid adjustment and we sail into a terrifically exciting climax.
The additions to Sunbar's character are the most interesting part of this book. He is starting to see what he has refused to acknowledge for so long: the Empire he strives to serve is corrupt and unworthy of his devotion. Stories such as his add depth to the often faceless Imperial minions and present a more realistic view of what serving under Palpatine's tyrannical reign might really be like.
The Wrong Side of the War concludes the Empire series. However, a new series, Rebellion, has started up, and the first volume of that features Sunbar on the cover. It seems the story of Jorin Sol has more to come as well. This set of issues was a great read and I look forward to seeing where we go from here.

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Fresh from the killing fields of Jabiim, where the Empire has virtually wiped out the populace of that world, Imperial Lieutenant Janek Sunber is sent to the quiet prison base on Kalist VI. But, unbeknownst to the Empire, the Rebels have designs on Kalist Base both for its desirable fuel supplies and for the presence of a very important prisoner - one of their own who has already attracted the interest of Darth Vader.Sunber doesn't know it, but he's on a collision course with an old friend who is with the Rebels, and he finds himself wondering which of them is on the wrong side of the war.

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Star Wars: Dark Empire II 2nd Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)This second volume of the Dark Empire series is worse than the original. Far worse. And that's quite an accomplishment given how horrible the first one was.
The Emperor was killed in Return of the Jedi, revived and killed in Dark Empire, and returns yet again in Dark Empire II. As in previous incarnations, he's miraculously got another superweapon up his sleeve, this time a long-barreled ship that fires intelligently guided projectiles shaped like rifle ammunition, a weapon for which writer Tom Veitch could not come up with a better name that the Galaxy Gun. As the newly cloned Palpatine remarks, "Marvelous. It's a wonder we didn't think of it decades ago."
The Emperor also has a new elite force of Dark Jedi who bumble around and manage to get knocked off one by one. The Empire fires its Galaxy Gun and destroys the moon housing the Rebel Alliance - but not before everyone escapes. A new space-faring race is discovered, one that employs old but tested technology to power its ships - steam engines. Luke discovers ancient Jedi texts, along with a few lost Jedi, and begins the process of reorganizing the Jedi Knights. Leia has her third child, which she names after her father, Anakin. And once again there is a useless subplot involving Boba Fett.
But this time the ending is worse than you can possibly imagine. The Emperor escapes, leaving you with the sense of impending boredom in future volumes from Tom Veitch.
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One of the most influential tales in the history of Star Wars, Dark Empire II gets a brand new edition that includes Empire's End in the same volume for the first time!With the Empire in retreat, Luke Skywalker undertakes a quest to rebuild the Jedi. Yet, he has spent time as the Emperor's thrall, and the taint of the Dark Side still lurks in his mind. When Palpatine unveils an insidious plan to conquer the galaxy using Han and Leia's own children, will Luke be able to stop his one-time master?Luke and Lando, Han and Leia, Threepio and Boba Fett - the gang's all here in one of the most important stories of their lives!

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Star Wars: Tales from the New Republic (Star Wars (Random House Paperback)) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are like me when a new Star Wars book appears you buy it. There have been other "Tales From, Tales Of" all of which are better than this particular group of stories. The other collections dealt with characters that were either known to the Star Wars Fan, or could be placed in context once the story had begun. I believe this was very well done with "Tales From Jabba's Palace". Even if a specific character went barely noticed or even unnoticed, the events allowed you to re-experience familiar events from characters that were present at an event, although they played no known role in it from the point of view of the moviegoer. Previous short story collections gave you the ability to listen in through a variety of characters. And if you were not looking through another's eyes at a familiar event, the story was still tied to familiar places, known characters, and time frames. I read all of these books as they generally are quite good, and fill in bits of History that were never shown in the movies. After the book is read, the movie can again be viewed and there are a whole new group of characters you "know" from a story in their life. There is a teaser at the top of the cover that speaks of a short novel by Timothy Zahn and Michael A. Stackpole. However you only have to get to "The Foreword and Acknowledgements" to learn these stories, with the Zahn/Stackpole exception, were put together after, and primarily from contributions to "the now-defunct Official Star Wars Adventure Journal". To be fair, some stories are taken from the role-playing games, so those stories may appeal to the Role Playing Gamer. Yes there are some references to places and people that are familiar, but they are generally a few words that clue the reader as to when a particular story is happening, and in some stories, remind the reader where he/she is supposed to be. The exception to this is the short novel produced by the two mentioned Star Wars Authors. If you like to read about Star Wars and need a book to hold you over to the next full-length book, buy this with modest expectations. Actually most fans, will find something they like but will not come away thrilled. The Collection can be enjoyed, just moderate your expectations and do not let 2 familiar names guide you as to the quality of this particular collection.

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The Crystal Star (Star Wars) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Chrystal Star entralles the reader with a pretty cool cover, but that is about all it does. This book is absolutely terrible. Having read every other Star Wars book ever written, I can speak with some authority on the subject. The characterizations are weak and the behavior of the main characters erratic. Leia hates Chewie because he failed to save her children, even though he took a terrible wound attempting to help them? Doesn't make much sense. The Waru villain is simply [weak], it's a vampire blob, and Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, that Jedi who has fought pretty much every evil in the universe and won is tempted by the blob. Tempted to do what? and why? are two questions that the author never answers. The Empire Reborn angle is almost laughable in its ineptitude. The whole cutting off from the force idea is [weak], and speaking of erratic plotting, if Skywalker is so affected that he and the good Jedi almost die from the slow cutting off of the Force then why aren't the bad guys similarly affected? Yeah, Hethrir can't kill someone when he wants and he can't turn on his lightsaber but other than that he and his minions remain basically unaffected. Speaking of lightsabers, what's up with lightsabers that can only be turned on with the force? It's an impractical and ludicrous idea. The Han Solo/Luke Skywalker relationship is terribly handled, Luke and Han are more like uneasy allies than best friends. Han Solo is done decently well, but overall this story should never have been published. I have never read anything else of McIntyre's, she might be a very good writer, but her talent does not show here. If you wish to read about the Star Wars universe, read Tim Zahn or Michael Stackpole not The Crystal Star.

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Broken (Star Wars: Legacy, Vol. 1) (v. 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)Where have you seen this before?
The Sith hold the reigns of empire, the Jedi have been massacred and the few survivors are in hiding, and the only hope for peace in the galaxy lies with a young blond-haired lad named Skywalker.
From Dark Horse's veteran Star Wars creative team comes Legacy, a new series set approximately 135 years following the Battle of Endor. For the contemporary reader just coming in off Revenge of the Sith, the story picks up with right where Revenge ended, a century later, with the bad guys ascendant and the good guys on the lam. Luke Skywalker's republic has crumbled, and his descendant (perhaps grandson or great grandson) doesn't appear able or willing to ride to the rescue. The new Star Wars anti-hero, Cade Skywalker is a surly, drug-addicted bounty hunter with only the smallest scrap of concern for anything but himself.
For fans of Republic, Dark Horse's long-running series featuring writer John Ostrander and artist Jan Duursema's Quinlan Vos, Legacy will feel in many ways familiar. The plot is deliciously complex, motivations are conflicted, and the scripting is tight, with very few wasted words. Page layout and composition helps move the reader through the story, there are more than a few hyperkinetic splash panels of Jedi/Sith lightsaber duels, and the coloring is suitably dark and menacing. It's unfortunate, though, that Ostrander has Cade Skywalker teamed up with two bounty hunters (one male, one female), just as he had two opportunistic ne'er-do-wells (one male, one female) riding shotgun with Vos, and that Duursema has drawn one of them to look suspiciously like Quinlan. (See the attached image, Quin or Syn?, and judge for yourself.)
While cannibalizing elements from the films and from their own work, Ostrander and Duursema manage to make this series stand out from another comic book hatchet job by cleverly rearranging some of the traditional elements and by adding a few of their own.This time around the Sith have usurped the authority of the Imperial Remnant, but in failing to eliminate the Emperor leave behind an embittered enemy, one who forges an alliance with the Jedi. Now the red-robed Imperial Royal Guard are the force-using, lightsaber-wielding Imperial Knights, a unisex outfit clad in shiny red armor (at least one of whom, for unexplained reasons, speaks in pseudo Old English: "I am Ganner Krieg, Knight of the Empire. You have ... struck down she I have sworn my life to protect!"; "The Jedi are more skilled than we...."). Doing away with the Rule of Two, Ostrander has populated the Legacy universe with a cadre of Sith acolytes and assassins. They are ruled over by the mysterious Krayt, a hulking humanoid covered in bio armor, armor from New Jedi Order villains the Yuuzhan Vong, armor that may have kept Krayt alive for a century or more, armor that is slowly and painfully consuming him. Like Palpatine and other Sith Lords before him, Krayt seeks the means to thwart biological inevitability, a search that will lead him to Cade Skywalker.
While hardly original in overall conception, the attention to detail in both the story and the art makes this a book worth checking out.
Broken reprints issues #'s1,2,3,5,6,7 of the monthly Legacy comic magazine. Issue #4 was a one-off story that does not fit into the continuity of Broken and is likely to be reprinted in book form at a later date.
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The Jedi Temple is attacked, an Emperor is betrayed, and the Sith are born anew! A lot can happen in a hundred years, but that's just the beginning of the story! Not since Luke Skywalker first stepped aboard the Millennium Falcon has the galaxy seemed like such a vast, exciting, dangerous place!Readers will meet a host of new characters, see fleets of new spaceships, and visit scores of exotic locations - some new and some familiar. This is a perfect jumping-on point for any reader - an epic beginning to an untold chapter of the greatest adventure in the universe!

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Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura Review

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(More customer reviews)Truce at Bakura is a riveting action packed tale of the days directly after Return of the Jedi. Luke injured by the Emperor during the final battle aboard the Death Star II, is receiving treatment for those life threatening electrical convulsions you see him go through, when he receives a visitation from the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi bidding him to go to Bakura which is in great danger. So Luke in command of a task force with diplomats Han and Leia in tow heads out to Bakura. It was interesting to see Luke Skywalker in command of a military force, something not seen in any of the other Star Wars books. At Bakura our heroes find Imperial forces about to be destroyed by soul sucking aliens. In the interests of the innocents enemies join force and the fun begins. The battles both on land and in space are well written and the story is great. Love, death, betrayel, everything a Star Wars reader could possibly want is here. Han's gloating over the defeat of the Empire at Endor in front of Bakura's Imperial governor is classic, Leia's confrontation with the spirit of Anakin Skywalker is an imporatant aspect to the story, while Luke's romantic feelings for a lovely Bakuran senator are a humanizing influence on a character to often viewed as above human emotions. Overall Truce at Bakura is a great read, well written and I highly recommend it.

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