Alex James's Blog: AlexJamesNovels Blog - Posts Tagged "expanded-universe"

Heir to the Empire reintroduces us to our favourite classic Star Wars characters Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia in what is, in book terms, the trilogy that was to follow on from the original trilogy after the events of Return of the Jedi.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is a sinister admiral in charge of what remains of the Empire, and uses his intelligence and incredible insight to know what his targets are thinking at any given time. His humanoid form and glittering red eyes help add that menace that we need in a Star Wars villain. He even has a way of dealing with opponents who have the Force, which makes him an enemy to reckon with. In the aftermath of the Empire’s defeat, the New Republic is already being divided by ambitious politicians seeking power. Leia has suffered assassination attempts by strange aliens, Luke is being hunted by a fiery tempered bounty hunter, and Han is just the same old Han.

The author had the character expressions and voices spot on: ‘Threepio’s attempts to be simultaneously helpful, inquisitive, and polite never quite came off. Not without looking vaguely comical anyway.’ The action scenes were brief and thrilling without too much backstory or complex terms.

There were a few references to events in the original trilogy and some scenes were a little too reminiscent of events in the film, but at least it showed that the research had been done properly and it gave the book an authentic feeling of belonging to the original trilogy, which I can’t say for certain with the prequel trilogy following The Phantom Menace. In fact, I suspect some ideas in The Phantom Menace had been borrowed from Heir to the Empire, such as Leia giving birth to twins and a sentence spoken later in the story ‘to you and your Republic we owe a life debt’.

I would definitely read the sequel Dark Force Rising, and recommend others looking for Star Wars books to dive into this one. It’s authentic and very good.