6.09.2012
Star Wars: Choices of One
Series: Star Wars
Overall Grade: A-
Premise: Set between 'ANH' and 'ESB', Luke, Han & Chewie set off to escort a Rebel diplomat to a backwater world where the Imperial governor has offered them a base, logistical support, shipyards - a deal so good it's impossible to believe. At the same time, the Emperor's Hand, Mara Jade, picks up a group of vigilante stormtroopers for support and heads to the same planet to investigate the governor for treason. There's also Pellaeon, a senior bridge officer on the Chimera which is tasked with chauffeuring a mysterious masked official about the far reaches of space. And perennial Zahn favorites Thrawn and Car'das show up occasionally as well.
Critique: I've pretty much given up reading Star Wars novels when they started the Yuuzhan Vong arc, which is when I dropped out of the fandom and went off to others. But that's fine because Zahn doesn't seem to write much for the later/newer arcs, and I can still happily read his wonderful novels because he really is the best Star Wars novelist. 'Choices of One' heavily features Mara Jade, who is/was one of my favorite expanded universe characters (right up until she marries whiny Luke but that's another rant). With both her and Luke running around, I was worried that Zahn would some how ruin his own canon by having Mara and Luke interact too much. Although they do eventually encounter each other close to the end, they remain far enough apart that given the situation, Luke would not have had a good look at the woman who would later try to assassinate him. (And amusingly through out the book, Mara's a more skillful Force-user than Luke).
I also like the little band of vigilante stormtroopers which is why I now need to read Zahn's 'Allegiance' where they are apparently introduced.
Overall, a good Star Wars adventure, as I've come to expect from Zahn.
Labels: genre: fiction, genre: scifi, media: book, series: Star Wars
