Star Wars: Allegiance

Star Wars Legends: Novels

by Timothy Zahn

A Star Wars novel set between the events of Epsiode IV: A New Hope and Epsiode V: The Empire Strikes Back, it features a younger Han, Leia, and Luke, as well as Mara Jade.

Mara Jade, the Emperor's Hand, is looking into the illicit financial affairs of a planetary governor, hoping to find evidence that he might be funding the Rebellion. Luke, Han, and Chewbacca are sent on a mission to help some rebel supporters. Leia is busy being a diplomat, trying to drum up support for the Rebel Alliance. And a band of 5 stormtroopers, on the run after refusing a direct order, finds itself in the strange position of doing good deeds...and perhaps even aiding the Rebellion.

The paths of all of them will crisscross back and forth as they come closer and closer to meeting up with one another...but never quite managing to.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Adventure, Audiobook

434 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2007

About the author

Timothy Zahn attended Michigan State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1973. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and achieved an M.S. degree in physics in 1975. While he was pursuing a doctorate in physics, his adviser became ill and died. Zahn never completed the doctorate. In 1975 he had begun writing science fiction as a hobby, and he became a professional writer. He and his wife Anna live in Bandon, Oregon. They have a son, Corwin Zahn.

Reviews

[Rock Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As big a fan as I am of Star Wars, one thing I always had a problem with was the intentional dehumanization of the Imperial Troops. Most of course were nigh-faceless Stormtroopers, and many of the rank and file units were glossed over, leaving only the higher ranked officers who were portrayed as sniveling, overconfident, incompetent, and generally detached from any sense of "service" or "duty" (with the notable exceptions of Daine Jir, General Veers, and Captain/Admiral Piett). The Galactic Empire was often presented as having little function in the galaxy except for hunting the Rebel Alliance and allowing Vader to show how evil he was by killing his own men for any failure.

Allegiance however brings us a view of the galaxy and the ongoing struggle from the point of view of some of those same "faceless" Imperial Stormtroopers, who find themselves in an impossible situation, and are forced by circumstance and conscience to turn against the Empire they serve. These men are still the epitome of honorable soldiers though, and even when they are unable to continue in their assigned service, they continue on, seeking out the forces of chaos, lawlessness, and disorder, and bringing justice to the inhabitants that some in the Empire seem to have forgotten are under their care.

Timothy Zahn is consistently my favorite author in the Star Wars universe (though Karen Traviss is very close) and his previous works left me with high expectations for Allegiance, which does not disappoint in any way.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Good: Timothy Zahn is a great writer, and his usual talent is shown here. It's interesting to see Han, Leia, and Luke in between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, as well as an eighteen-year-old Mara. This one did have its moments, but...

The Bad: Overall, this novel was pretty dull; I struggled to finish it, and I'm a longtime fan of this franchise.

Conclusion: One of the problems with prequels is that you already know what's going to happen to the characters. When I saw Attack of the Clones in theaters, I saw Obi-Wan in danger, but knew he couldn't die; how would he make it to A New Hope and meet Luke and Han? That's kind of how I felt about this book: I already know the futures of these characters, so, that took away the page-turner, edge-of-your-seat aspect. Die-hard fans of Lucas' space opera may feel differently; however, I'll be glad to return this to the library today.

[CS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timothy Zahn is my absolute favorite author so when I saw this book about Mara Jade in the Empire era I jumped.

Plot:
There are three plots that intertwine towards the end. LaRone, a stormtrooper, accidentally kills an ISB agent. He and four other stormtroopers desert and run to the nearest planet where they begin an investigation into pirate activities.
Mara Jade was sent to investigate a Moff's possible embezzlement. This leads to a pirate consortium.
Han, Luke, and Leia are originally sent to investigate a possible way to win the war. With pirates threatening supply lines, Han and Luke (along with Chewie) are diverted to investigate and Leia is sent to accomplish the diplomatic mission by herself.

Good:
Timothy Zahn does amazing things with the characters. Han Solo in his books is Han Solo from the movie: cocky, independent, and self-absorbed. Luke Skywalker is the apprentice Jedi, experimenting with his talents, naive, and unsure of who he is. Leia Organa is absolutely perfect: the independent woman who is able to mediate between differing factions.
The stormtroopers reminded me of one of the best portrayers of them--or at least their clone compatriots, Karen Traviss. The stormtroopers are real men who face real consequences. It is refreshing to see plain men who only want to do what is right instead of officers who only want power and money (as you see in so many Bantam Star Wars novels).
And Mara Jade...it's nice to finally see her at work in a novel. I felt that, for the most part (see below), she was the perfect agent--naive about the Empire and not overly practiced in every agent technique, but knowledgeable enough to be convincing for this mission.
Lastly, although this is petty, it was fun to see Leia work as a waitress. This practical, pedestrian job is often overlooked or delegated to dispensible characters but it was so nice to see the Star Wars universe in a normal light (ie having the main characters eat, bathe, etc.).
The action is superb. I love the confrontation between Darth Vader and Mara, the battle of the AT-ST, and much, much more.

Bad:
I don't know what it is with Timothy Zahn, but recently, all his books seem to be mysteries (not bad) about one of the characters being duplicitous. Night Train to Rigel: the main character was working both sides. Outbound Flight: Doriana. The Green and the Gray had the boys that fought against them. This is a little boring after awhile.
And the plot was so convoluted that I had trouble following it. Who was Disra serving: the Empire, himself, pirates, or the governor? How did Mara conclude all the things she did about the pirates? What about Han and Luke? What did Caaldra want? And so on. All three (Mara, stormtroopers, Han/Luke) make some pretty hefty assumptions that turn out pretty conveniently right.
Also, although Zahn portrays Mara as a young woman fairly well, I still have trouble believing that an 18 year-old knows this much about espionage, spying, weapons, and the like. What was she, brainwashed as a child?

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Only dialogue is in the form of made up Star Wars references. Mara wears form fitting dresses and a man oggles her. Violence is typical Star Wars fare.

Overall:
A good book, but not the best that Timothy Zahn has ever delivered. I was rather disappointed, not only because it didn't have as much Mara as I thought, but also because the story was so hard to follow. I had to just forget who wanted what and who worked for who and just enjoy the action sequences and the characters. I hope that Timothy Zahn continues to write more about Mara's adventures, but not make his plots so confusing.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Allegiance" was a pleasure to read. I am a huge Star Wars fan and have been reading and watching for nearly 4 decades ( I don't count any of the newer Disney crap, save "Rogue One" and possibly "Andor", as having anything to do with the wonderful universe of Star Wars-it's a cheap knock off product created by hacks).

During that time, there has always been a prevalent theme of the sheer incompetence of Imperial Stormtroopers. It made little sense. The books, and comics, tended to be more realistic. The simple logic being if the Stormtroopers were absolute garbage, then how bad would the normal Imperial Army be? If they were truly that bad how could they even manage to be a threat or have an Empire? It didn't make sense and cheapened the true efforts of Luke and the Rebel Alliance.

This book has none of those problems. It is a Stormtrooper story. A squad of Stormtroopers, witnessing a massacre, decide to question their loyalty to the New Order. A series of events leads them to kill a senior officer of the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) and they go rogue. Yet, they still adhere to their oaths to the Empire and try to help Imperial citizens by fighting against pirates and corrupt Imperial officials.

This strange path leads them to places where they cross paths with both the forces of the Rebellion (Han and Chewie) to the Empire (Mara Jade, the Emperor's Hand, and Vader). Without being spoilery this nexus of shared interests has to do with an Imperial Governor's corruption, coordination with a Pirate group, and an ISB cover-up. These varied events cause the Stormtroopers to make some interesting choices and highlight their loyalty to the Empire.

I appreciated the skill of these troopers, as well as describing how they were viewed by Imperial citizens. Far from blundering idiots, they were a military elite. This is also a great book as it looks into the machinations of the ISB and the Emperor's Hand. Mara Jade is an awesome character and her interactions with Vader were a pleasure to read.

Timothy Zahn writes some great Star Wars stories and he doesn't miss with this one.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Good to see more of what happened in the Star Wars Legends universe. Like the introduction of Mara Jade, Emperor's Hand. Also glad to see Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie again.

Can't wait to read more Star Wars Legends books!!!!

[Markus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The parts with Mara Jade and the portrayal of Imperial stormtroopers were good. The rest was unnecessary. Couldn't Zahn just have written a book with Mara as the sole main character during her time as Emperor's Hand?

But this will probably be my last Star Wars book for a time. What's the point in reading them when Disney has already ruined the universe before even making a single movie?

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most everyone, I am hoping that J.J. Abrams Episode VII will return some of the joy and wonder to the Star Wars Galaxy, but I am afraid the hope is more -less than -ful. I think, though, that my hopelessness is connected to my sadness over the loss of Timothy Zahn's fantastic work in the Star Wars milieu.

While George Lucas was kicking me in the balls with Jar Jar Binks and pissy Anakin, Timothy Zahn was rubbing and tugging me with Grand Admiral Thrawn and the marvelous Mara Jade. I much preferred the latter treatment, and I am terribly sad to see Zahn's work de-canonized by Star Wars-Disney.

Allegiance is a fun little side trip into Zahn's Star Wars backwater, and it was a nice reminder of what it is I am going to be missing when the movie machine takes over the Galaxy again.

Allegiance is smack in between Star Wars (you may call it "New Hope." I will not) and Empire Strikes Back, with a group of Stormtroopers (who are suddenly as talented with their blasters as Obi-Wan led us to believe all those years ago) who go rogue -- though not rebellious -- when they witness a massacre led by the Empire's nasty intelligence services.

Meanwhile, Han and Leia and Luke and Chewie are busy doing a bunch of Rebellious stuff.

While elsewhere, Mara Jade, the Emperor's Hand (and Luke's-future-wife-who-will-now-never-be) gets herself mixed up with the Rogue Stormtroopers, and they get busy doing a bunch of justice seeking for the Emperor kind of stuff. Corrupt officials and all that.

The meanwhile and the elsewhere come together, as they must, and the adventure is pure Timothy Zahn, Star Wars fun. Allegiance is nowhere near Zahn's best Star Wars work -- the Heir to the Empire trilogy is that -- but it is good, and plenty of guilty fun. At least for me.

I sure am going to miss Mara Jade, though. Damn she was a great character, and such a wonderful match for Luke. All I can hope for now is a glorious Easter Egg with red hair somewhere in the background. But I'm guessing that is going to be a parsec too far.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I think that Timothy Zahn is done with the Star Wars Universe, he surprises me by coming back. Zahn was conspicuously absent from the New Jedi Order series (an 18 book epic that pitted the cast of the original trilogy against a race of bio-tech wielding aliens), and his Hand of Thrawn duology seemed to wrap up most major lingering questions raised by Zahn’s original Heir to the Empire trilogy that re-launched the Star Wars novels. With the rise of the New Jedi Order, and the sudden explosion of prequel novels that followed in the wake of Episode One, it seemed like Zahn was done with the Star Wars universe for good.

But he came back; first with Survivor’s Quest, a novel that served to bridge the New Republic Era that Zahn had launched with the New Jedi Order era, and also expanded on the Outbound Flight that had been mentioned in Zahn’s previous works. The final remaining questions about that mission were answered in Outbound Flight, Zahn’s lone foray into prequel-era storytelling.

Outbound Flight also brought something interesting about Zahn’s writing to the fore; Zahn has a very well-crafted personal vision of the Star Wars universe that neither relies on, nor requires the presence of, the main characters from the movies. In Outbound Flight, the inclusion of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi seemed incredibly forced, and ultimately took away from the far more interesting main plot of the novel. While I ultimately still enjoyed the book, it wasn’t Zahn’s strongest offering to the Star Wars universe. IN addition, Zahn’s gritty, military action focused writing style seemed much better to suited to the dirt and grime of the Original Trilogy than to the CGI and spit polish of the prequels.

In Allegiance, Zahn returns to the Rebellion Era with a story that takes place shortly after the battle of Yavin. Unlike Shadows of the Empire, which ostensibly served as a bridge story between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Allegiance is a self-contained story that seems more in the spirit of the old Marvel Star Wars comics. This is a story set in the Star Wars universe, with no particularly overarching consequences, unless there are references in here to parts of the Expanded Universe that I’m not aware of. Which is possible. At this point, I won’t read a Star Wars novel if it’s not written by Zahn.

Not surprisingly, Allegiance features Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca, along with a few cameos by the Emperor, Darth Vader, and even Mon Mothma. They split the screen time with Zahn’s personal creation, Mara Jade, who is still serving as the Emperor’s Hand, and a new group of characters that form the core of his story.

The new arrivals are a team of five stormtroopers who, after one of them kills an Imperial Security Bureau officer, desert their post aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Reprisal (commanded by Captain Ozzel, later famous for being choked to death by Vader). The stormtroopers steal an ISB freighter, and set out to find their place in the galaxy. Unwilling to put aside their oath to defend the Empire’s citizens, they end up defending the poor and downtrodden in an A-Team like fashion, and quickly become embroiled in a system-wide conspiracy involving pirates, swoop gangs, a system governor, and the Rebel Alliance.

Naturally, Jade, Vader, Luke, Han, and Leia all get dragged into these events as well, and Zahn does an admirable job of balancing the various characters. Luke and Han end up seeming like their a little bit along for the ride, but Leia ends up in fairly central role as both character and plot point. I have the impression that Zahn could have written this novel without involving any of the movie characters at all, but I think he uses them much more skillfully than he used Anakin and Obi-Wan in Outbound Flight. Zahn also does a fantastic job of keeping various characters apart, thereby avoiding awkward questions like “why doesn’t Vader ever recognize C3-PO?”.

The plot is self is good Zahn plot; military conspiracy mixed with fast-paced action. There is very little wasted movement, lots of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing, and rarely a dull moment. Zahn captures the cinematic feel of the Star Wars universe perfectly, and there are a number of scenes that feel like they were taken right off of a movie screen.

The renegade stormtroopers are interesting, but I wish Zahn had spent a little more time fleshing them out. While they each have some distinguishing characteristics, they aren’t as strongly separated as they could be; I never lost track of who was who, but I would have liked a bit more granularity in the characters and their motivations.

In the end, Allegiance is a good, fun, romp back through the Star Wars universe. Fans of Zahn will likely enjoy it, as will most Star Wars fans in general. It has the added bonus of being a stand-alone novel, so a reader can pick it up without worrying about being sucked into a trilogy or an eighteen book epic. If you want a fun, exciting trip back to a galaxy far, far, away, this a great place to get it.

[Michael Galdamez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zahn pulls off yet another good Star Wars story, with a few writing blunders (which is the biggest reason for only 4 stars).

Zahn's stories and characterizations are obviously his strong points, which is perfect for Star Wars because the series is so character driven. To summarize the plot a little, the book takes place right after A New Hope, the main characters are five accidentally renegade stormtroopers, Mara Jade (yup), and of lesser importance are the gang themselves: Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie. As I said, the main characters are a group of stormtroopers who are questioning the Empire's credibility after Alderaan's destruction; meanwhile Mara Jade does a little snooping around some important local officials who just might not be all too loyal to the Empire. And the gang gets into their usual hijinks with the Empire behind the scenes.

There was plenty to like about this book, a great cast of characters (new and old), interesting twists, and some sweet lightsaber and blaster fights. Really the only things I didn't like about this book was Zahn's seemingly constant use of certain phrases over and over and over and over again. The particular culprit being, "[so and so] reached out to the Force," or, "stretching out to the Force," shows up sometimes two or three times on one page. I'm not sure what could be written to replace those repetitive statements, but he obviously didn't try very hard.

For the sake of an interesting side story happening before The Empire Strikes Back, new characters, and the earliest appearance (chronologically) of Mara Jade, I would recommend this to any Star Wars fan looking for a good novel!

[rey · Rating 4 out of 5]

mara jade could slash me in the half with her lightsaber and i’d thank her

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

For 2024, I decided to pick up where I left off after 2022 and reread books published between 2004 and 2011—a hodgepodge of Clone Wars, inter-trilogy, and Original Trilogy stories, plus a smattering of Old Republic Sith. This shakes out to twenty-one novels and four short stories, mainly consisting of the Republic Commando series, the Darth Bane trilogy, the Coruscant Nights trilogy, five Clone Wars books written by the Karens, and four standalone novels.

This week’s focus: a standalone novel set in-between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Allegiance by Timothy Zahn.

SOME HISTORY:

Allegiance is set not long after the Battle of Yavin, and features the earliest chronological appearance thus far of Mara Jade. Zahn said that he found writing Allegiance relatively easy because it was set in between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back: he had a definitive starting point for characters like Luke and Han and Leia, as well as knowing where they needed to end up by the beginning of TESB. He was able to extrapolate how far Luke is on his Jedi journey, how much Han wants to commit to the Rebel cause, and how far Han and Leia's relationship has progressed. Allegiance by Timothy Zahn made it to number ten on the New York Times bestseller list for the week of February 18, 2007, and was on the NYT list for two weeks.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

I preordered Allegiance when it was released in 2007, and I remember enjoying it but also not really retaining anything from it afterwards.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

The destruction of the Death Star by the Rebel Alliance was a decisive blow against the Empire, but Palpatine and the monstrous Darth Vader still remain a looming threat. When Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker are dispatched to the Shelsha Sector to try and incorporate different Rebel groups into the burgeoning Rebel Alliance, little do they know that the sector is also teeming with Mara Jade, the Emperor's personal agent; five rogue stormtroopers; pirates; and eventually even Vader himself…

VIEWPOINTS:

Allegiance is a fast-paced read, even for a Zahn novel. It's just barely over 300 pages, and keeps the story focused on the original trio of Luke, Han, and Leia; Mara Jade, the Emperor’s Hand; Daric LaRone and the other four renegade stormtroopers; and various bad guys, including Vilim Disra of Hand of Thrawn duology fame, Captain Ozzel (not yet an admiral), a bunch of pirates, and eventually even Vader himself. Viewpoint-wise, we obviously get Han, Luke, Leia, and Mara Jade, but for the stormtroopers we only get LaRone’s POV. Disra is the main baddie that we follow and the key part of deciphering what’s going on with all these feuding co-conspirators, although we also learn about the other baddies through the viewpoints of characters like Mara Jade and LaRone.

THE PLOT:

Mara Jade uncovers evidence against a Moff, and tracing stolen artwork leads her to the Shelsha Sector, where she starts tracking some sneaky pirates who are expanding their presence there. Meanwhile, three Rebel groups in (you guessed it!) the Shelsha sector reach out to the Rebel Alliance about differing plans, so Leia is sent to negotiate with them while Luke and Han are dispatched to investigate all the pirate activity in the sector.

Meanwhile Captain Ozzel and the ISB personnel aboard the Reprisal order the straight-up massacre of a town on the world of Teardrop, and Trooper Daric LaRone and his buddies privately question this action. When an ISB officer confronts LaRone, he shoots him in self-defense and the five troopers flee with an ISB ship stockpiled with goodies. They end up taking vigilante action across the sector, and also stumble onto all the pirate activity. Finally, the bad guys are ostensibly directed by Disra, stealing stuff so that the Shelsha sector can declare its independence from the Empire…but it’s a lot more complicated than that.

CHARACTERS:

Luke is definitely a fledgling Jedi here; he's got a lightsaber and nebulous “feelings” about situations and people, but that's pretty much it. Obi-Wan talks to him at times, like he did during the Battle of Yavin, giving Luke little bits of advice or prompting him in the right decision. According to an interview on the Star Wars website from 2007, Zahn originally had Obi-Wan interfering even more but the editing made him scale that guidance back. Zahn then tried to keep it closer to what we see in the film: Obi-Wan doesn’t tell Luke “you need to do this and that,” but instead prods him towards certain things. When Luke and Han run into the Hand of Judgment troopers, Luke’s perception of them in the Force is primarily what convinces Han to work with them.

I really like how Zahn writes Han in all his books, so I loved his portrayal here as well. Han intervened at the Battle of Yavin to save Luke, but he’s not officially a member of the Rebel Alliance—and paradoxically, people pointing that fact out really rubs him the wrong way. Chewie would side with the Rebel Alliance in an instance after how the Empire treated the Wookiees, but Han’s not quite there yet. Compared to The Empire Strikes Back, Han isn’t concerned about paying Jabba off since they haven’t run into the bounty hunter(s) from Ord Mantell, so while he wishes he could take a paying job in the midst of all this Rebel stuff it’s honestly not a priority for him.

Han is definitely interested in Leia, even if he’s not willing to admit it, and their interactions feel in that antagonistic/tension-filled TESB mode where Han is being difficult (purposefully or otherwise) and it culminates in Leia storming off in a huff. I also liked that Luke and Han’s interactions with the Hand of Judgment troopers tied into Han’s Imperial past. He was a good officer and pilot (he received the Corellian bloodstripes, after all), and he left the Empire because of how they treated nonhumans (specifically, enslaved Wookiees). The Hand of Judgment are on a similar trajectory, but whereas Han became a smuggler and is only now moving to the Rebel cause, the troopers are on a different path.

Leia is still mourning the loss of Alderaan, but she’s sidestepping her grief a bit by focusing on her duties for the Rebellion. Her negotiations in the Shelsha sector show how good she is at the key aspects of diplomacy: truly listening to people, consulting others, maintaining a polite poker face, and coming to immediate decisions when need be. When Disra outs her identity and she’s forced to hide, she’s willing to step in and do something new (working as a server), and even when she’s not good at it, her respect and concern for the people around her means that others respect her likewise.

But moreso than the OT trio, the book is really focused on Mara Jade and the Hand of Judgment stormtroopers. Mara is only eighteen, a fervent believer in everything the Emperor says and everything the Empire stands for. She’s not an assassin like later books portray her (*cough* Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice *cough*), more like the Emperor’s personal investigative agent. If Palpatine says “I suspect this person of treason,” Mara will collect her evidence and present her findings. She’s killed people, but she also tries to intervene for the people she thinks are loyal Imperials—she speaks up in defense of a general who helped her in a potentially unsafe situation, and she doesn’t report the Hand of Judgment guys because she recognizes that they’re trying to do good. But Mara is also extremely naive: she sees that there’s corruption and rot in the Empire, but she can’t trace it back to its true source. Despite Mara’s competence, there’s an innocence to her character that she’s lost by the Thrawn trilogy.

Mara's Force skills did feel a little overdeveloped, though, especially when we compare her to Luke. Luke can’t do much of anything besides sensing things, but Mara is flying her lightsaber alongside the speeder into the pirate stronghold and jumping up three story buildings. Obviously Mara’s skills regressed after the Emperor’s death, but I wasn’t expecting her to be quite so proficient in the Force—I had thought that the Emperor had handicapped her to a certain extent, but apparently not.

The Hand of Judgment troopers were perhaps my favorite part of the whole book. They’re just five regular dudes, and they think the Rebels are bad and unlawful but they’re also disturbed by the destruction of Alderaan, a peaceful planet of billions. When they’re ordered by the ISB to fire on civilians on Teardrop who are obviously not Rebels, Daric LaRone and his buddies ultimately run away rather than keep following their orders.They recognize where the Empire has gone wrong, but they think that they can fix things themselves. They’d be prime Rebel candidates if it weren’t for the fact that they still believe in the Empire’s mission statement and believe that you should work within the system rather than overthrow it entirely.

On the bad guy front, Captain Ozzel is an ambitious idiot who’s willing to kill the Emperor’s Hand (at the prompting of the ISB) to keep the secret of his deserting stormtroopers from leaking. Mara Jade is very cautious around Vader. He views her as a threat who will interfere with his search for Luke Skywalker, while Mara has no idea why he’s so obsessed and doesn’t even think she’s in the same wheelhouse as Vader. The pirate scheme involves Disra using Caaldra as an intermediary to order the pirate gang around; we never learn Caaldra’s backstory as he’s killed by Mara, and the pirate leader is an absolute nut job who’s killed in Ozzel’s pirate base attack. The entire Shelsha independence plot was ultimately orchestrated by Disra, who in typical fashion only set this plot up so he could turn in his superiors and move a little higher up in the Imperial hierarchy.

ISSUES:

Allegiance is slight. It’s not a major Zahn novel that has huge impacts on the galaxy at large, so I think you need to temper your expectations when starting it. When it was released in 2007, I was slightly disappointed by Allegiance because I was expecting it to cover a lot. But really, it’s a snapshot of the state of the galaxy—or more specifically, the state of the Shelsha Sector—a few months after A New Hope. Luke makes a little progress on his Jedi journey, Han is a little closer to mentally aligning himself with the Rebels, and we see Mara at the height of her competency, before she became bitter and jaded and regretful about her past. It’s not essential reading like the Thrawn trilogy, though, and I think that’s due to its slot in the timeline. Allegiance just can’t have huge consequences for the Star Wars galaxy, because we already know the beginning and the end of these characters’ arcs from the films and from other books.

That ties into my second issue with the book, where I was never truly concerned about the main characters here (Luke, Han, Leia, and Mara Jade) because I already know what happens to them. Leia is not going to be captured by the Empire when she’s outed because we know she’s not; Han is not going to outright side with the Rebellion because he’s still wavering on the issue in The Empire Strikes Back. Luke won’t display any truly amazing Force skills because he hasn’t trained with Yoda yet, and Mara is not going to figure anything out about the nature of the Empire because the Emperor doesn’t die for another three years. I didn’t even think that Disra would be caught in his deceits, because he’s alive and scheming in the Hand of Thrawn duology! There’s little urgency here, because I ultimately know the characters’ fates. But then again, I have read many Star Wars books, and maybe Allegiance is geared more towards people who haven’t.

Finally, there are a lot of coincidences in Allegiance. Similar to the Clone Wars multimedia project, where Anakin can never encounter Grievous because of one line in Revenge of the Sith, there’s a lot of maneuvering to keep Mara from encountering the OT trio even though they’re in the same sector (and by the end, on the same planet!) at the same time. Mara can’t see Luke until Return of the Jedi, and Han/Luke/Leia have no idea about Mara’s existence until the Thrawn trilogy, so the Hand of Judgment troopers almost become a buffer between the two groups. Zahn has to work overtime to keep certain people away from others, and I think that’s one of Allegiance’s weaker points. There are all these interesting characters thrown into the mix, but because of timeline issues they cannot interact. It almost becomes farcical at times how much Mara has to be kept separate from the trio, and is an issue that I remember growing stronger in Choices of One—so I am interested to re-evaluate when I reread that book.

IN CONCLUSION:

Allegiance is a fast-paced standalone adventure, set pretty soon after A New Hope. We see Luke beginning his Jedi journey, Han struggling with his nonexistent position within the Rebel Alliance, and Mara at her peak as the Emperor’s Hand. My favorite part here was the Hand of Judgment guys, because they see what's wrong with the Empire but are fixated on trying to tackle all these problems themselves. Allegiance can’t do too much because of its post-ANH/pre-TESB time slot, so the stakes are low and the contrivances build up towards the end. But I still found it a fun read, and I enjoyed revisiting it after all these years.


Next up: a short story that appeared in Star Wars Insider magazine, Odds by Karen Traviss.

YouTube review: https://youtu.be/nBVBcif1Vyc

“Timothy Zahn: Pledge of Allegiance” (January 2007): https://web.archive.org/web/200702020...

[Joshua Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was probably the most challenging Timothy Zahn book I’ve read - and that’s not a bad thing. It took a while to get into but once the book took off, it didn’t look back. It was very interesting to read about Mara Jade pre-Heir to the Empire as well as the Hand of Judgement.

I think part of the clunkiness is in part due to Luke/Han/Leia being key characters in the same book as Mara when they don’t meet for another, what, 5-10 years? It’s like having Grevious and Anakin in TCW series and making sure they never interact.

[A lireza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book is beyond slow paced, everything had a point to it and almost everything felt so natural and not forced

4.25/5

[Eric Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG! Another Timothy Zahn Star Wars book I've never even heard of before? WTF self?

I've been ignoring the Star Wars books so hard since Fate of the Jedi crashed and burned that I didn't even notice that the only Star Wars author worth half a damn had put this one out a few years back, before his new Thrawn books.

12% done:

Okay, I've not really had much time to read this last week. Work has been kind of ridiculous, and I also set aside a certain amount of time every day for exercise so I don't get pudgy, and to work on my own writing. I considered grabbing the audiobook off audible to listen to at work, but I already bought the e-book, and it seems like a bit of a waste to buy the same book again.

Anyway, I'm really liking what I've read so far. There's been a small chapter with Luke and Han at the beginning, that had the feeling of, look, it's Star Wars, see, Star Wars characters doing Star Wars things, now let's get on with the real story. The bulk of the story I've read so far is about disillusioned average Joe stormtroopers winding up on the wrong side of the Space Nazi SS brigade, and jumping ship, and about Mara Jade being the Emperor's Hand. Both of these storylines I find very interesting. The first raises some very interesting questions that have never really been delved into before in the Epxanded Universe. What did the average Joe in the military think about the horrific things that the Empire was doing? How would they react, and what would they do about it? And I've always though the fact that there were no books about Mara Jade's past as the Emperor's private assassin was a bit of a crime against awesomeness. Again, this is the sort of Star Wars story that is becoming more appealing to me these days. The stories about characters that are not the main cast of the Star Wars universe. Average Joe Stormtrooper looking at what the Empire has become, and noping right the hell out of there. Mara Jade getting some more love and attention from her creator. That sort of thing. The stories that show that there are, in fact, more sides of the story than what you get in the movies, or in other Star Wars books. Unfortunately, over the last 20 years or so, stories about Luke, Han, Leia, etc, have gotten really stale, because none of the authors writing about them have done anything new with them. They never throw them into situations where they need to grow as characters, or can ever be defeated. One of the reasons I love The Empire Strikes Back so much is that is shows how vulnerable and fragile these characters are. They're not all-powerful. They can lose. Their worlds can be shaken to the core. They can still learn and grow as people, because they're not perfect, and make mistakes. A lot of Star Wars writers put them on a pedastal, perfect, ultimate badasses that can never lose or make a mistake. And you know what, perfect characters are BORING characters. A character that doesn't have room to learn and grow; a character that never fails at anything, is a character that's not really worth reading about. Which is why I've really liked what I've read so far of this book. It's not about them. It's about new characters whow have made interesting choices that have brought up interesting questions. It's still Star Wars, but it's NEW, and FRESH, and SOMETHING I HAVEN'T READ SEVENTY-THREE TIMES ALREADY. Frankly, we need more Star Wars books like this one, and like Thrawn. Stories that take place in the Star Wars universe, but that are about different characters with different goals and allegiances. They give the universe a more faceted and rounded feel to it, knowing that hey, there are people here that aren't the black and white that are shown to us in the movies. There's people in between that are just trying to ride out the storm.

70% done:

So, I really like how the ex-stormtroopers and Mara Jade's storylines are indirectly weaving together. It's kind of cool to see them play out and begin converging. I do admit that though the majority of the book is about these two storylines, the interruptions from them back to Luke, Han and Leia are kind of annoying me. This book really doesn't need them. These two interweaving storylines are strong enough on their own without them. It kind of has the feeling of the author just popping up now and then and yelling "STAR WARS!!!! GET IT!!!" It feels kind of weird saying this. I used to live for more books about these characters, and now I'm annoyed that they keep popping up in a story about mainly about side characters and characters that wouldn't even have names in any other Star Wars story. My annoyance about the interruptions aside, it's still a pretty good book. I am really liking Star Wars books/movies lately that focus on other things than the main Star Wars cast, and this one mostly does that.

100% done:

Everything comes together in a pretty awesome climax, though I did still feel that Luke, Han, and Leia were kind of really superfluous to the plot, and didn't really need to be there. The book was strong enough without them, and it kind of has the feel of someone from above stepping in and saying, you have to put these characters in, or else. Their being included in the book actually kind of takes away from it a bit. But still, it was a pretty exciting end to a fun story. Definitely recommend to any Star Wars Expanded Universe (a.k.a. Legends) fans out there that haven't read it yet.

[Em Voll · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was incredible and then the ending felt really flat, still worth a read though if you’re into Star Wars! This books takes place after the original SW movie and provides interesting insight into the empire, I just wish they made the ending a little stronger.

[Alyson Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book: Star Wars: Allegiance
Author: Timothy Zahn
Rating: 2 Out of 5 Stars

I really had a difficult time with this one. I know a lot of people have enjoyed this book and enjoyed the extended universe, but I just had a really difficult time getting through this one. The bones of an amazing story were there, but I just felt like there was something missing in order to fully drive the point home. I needed something a little bit more to make me fully invested in the story.

Let’s start there….There was just something missing that would have made the story great for me. We had this build up, but there was just something missing from it that would have allowed me to form a deep bond and connection with the story. I needed something more. It just felt like everything was just there for the sake of being there. When the stakes are high, I need to feel that high. I need to feel the uncertainly that comes along with high stakes.

I also felt that the characters were lacking in certain parts. We do have a huge cast of characters. It really felt like all of them were trying to have their moment in the spotlight. They weren’t as developed as they could have been. Now, a lot of them are from the movies-so I think the author was relying on that fact for character development. The extended universe characters just felt flat to me. I really didn’t get a chance to form any kind of bond with them. If I’m being completely honest, I just didn’t care. I also felt like that even some of the movie characters just didn’t fit with what we know. The way that some of them were presented just didn’t make any sense to me.

The writing also felt kind of flat to me too. I know that George Lucas wasn’t the best, in terms of writing. However, he still gave us a reason to be fully invested in both the story and the world. I did not get that same kind of investment here. It just felt like everything was just going through the motions without really seeing the end goal in mind. Everything just felt very sequence by sequence without any really growth and development. It just felt like we were trying to have something big and something great, but failed to bring it out.

I guess that this was just clearly a miss for me.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #235

Background: Allegiance was written by Timothy Zahn and published in January of 2007. Zahn is the author of a dozen-plus Star Wars novels from both continuities. Most of them, like this one, feature characters he created for his popular Thrawn Trilogy.

Allegiance takes place about 6 months after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters include Mara Jade, Han, Luke, and Leia. There are also significant appearances by Darth Vader, the Emperor, and Captain Ozzel, plus Mon Mothma and General Rieekan. Most of the story takes place on various planets of the Shelsha sector, most notably Drunost and Shelkonwa.

Summary: When their loyalty to the Empire comes into conflict with their loyalty to what the Empire stands for, five stormtroopers end up on the run from the dreaded Imperial Security Bureau, but find themselves fulfilling an unexpected role. Meanwhile, Mara Jade, investigating an Imperial Moff's embezzlement scheme on one of her first missions as the Emperor's Hand, and Han and Luke, tracking a group of pirates who have been hitting Rebel supply lines, stumble upon the edges of a much larger conspiracy whose ramifications could send shockwaves through both the Empire and the Rebellion.

Review: This is the Timothy Zahn content I showed up to read. A rip-roaring, densely-plotted feast of rich characters and intriguing mysteries suffused with that pure Star Wars atmosphere he writes so well. He does such an amazing job of juggling several different story lines, each a ton of fun on its own, and then deftly weaving them all together, often in ways you never saw coming. I never get tired of this kind of thing. On that level alone, this is a fantastic read from start to finish.

What I loved about it even more, though, is the way it lives up to the title. "Allegiance" truly is the guiding theme that ties the whole story together, and Zahn uses it, in particular, to explore the motivations of Imperial characters in ways we rarely see. The rogue stormtroopers who adorn the cover are, of course, the most obvious illustrations of this, as they try to navigate what it actually means to follow the oath of loyalty they all took. Do they owe that allegiance to the Empire itself, right or wrong, or to the ideals they believed the Empire represented when they swore? At the same time, Mara Jade, owing her allegiance to the Emperor alone, moves throughout the Empire at will enacting the Emperor's justice as she sees fit, independent of the corruption that festers among many of its leaders. Or is she? And, of course, Han Solo, mere months after his surprising return to help Luke save the day in the fight against the Death Star, is still very much questioning what allegiance, if any, he wants to give to the Rebel Alliance, even as his allegiance to his friends keeps him around, albeit reluctantly.

When I pick up a Star Wars book, I want to read about characters I love. I want space battles. I want Jedi mysticism. I want action and intrigue and good vs evil. And I often get those things. But when a Star Wars book can deliver all that, and also be about something, that's pretty special. And that's what this novel is.

A

[Matt town · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars Allegiance takes place between A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back.

This is such a Timothy Zahn story. I'm surprised Thrawn didn't get a shout out!

Multiple previous Zahn characters get time to shine, including Mara Jade and Disra. Also, as always, Zahn writes the main trinity of characters excellently, with Marc Thompson providing voices for the audiobook and doing an amazing job, as always.

The main stormtroopers were decent characters, and it is certainly and intriguing premise to have deserting stormtroopers as protagonists, but most of them didn't stand out to me as memorable characters.

I would recommend this book to fans of Zahn, Mara Jade and fun Han/Leia/Luke stories.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kicks butt

[Mauri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

1. I don't like stormtroopers.

2. I don't like books that go back in to fill in the spots between movies or other books.

Obviously best to leave some things on the library shelf.

While this was an entertaining caper with lots of interlacing threads, it leaned too heavily on two things - the reader being invested in the characters already and being to accept stormtroopers as "heroes".

The problem with the first bit is that this book is set shortly after A New Hope, so yeah, Leia, Luke, Han, Chewbacca and fan-favorite (my favorite, too) Mara Jade are present...but it's them without any of the development of the later two movies, and of course, without of the development of the EU books. (And I'm pretty sure that most people reading this probably have a good grounding in the EU, or at least have read Zahn's previous contributions.) It's a little fun seeing Zahn's idea of what Mara was doing as a brand-new baby Emperor's Hand, Han wrestle with joining the Rebellion, and Luke's continuing Jedi education, but I've never been a big fan of flashback scenes unless they can substantively contribute to the narrative without messing with continuity.

All of the above was washed out by the other half of the plot - the Heroic Stormtroopers, who are Wrestling with their Consciences and feeling Uneasy over things they have recently been asked to do.

Frankly, I have a strong anti-Stormtrooper/Empire/Darth Vader bias. When I was originally into Star Wars (ca. 1995-2005), I was a fandom of one. Yeah, I argued with my brother over which movie was the best, but I didn't read fan fiction and the only other fan at my school introduced me to the concepts of what I would later recognize as "fake geek girl accusations", "bullying", and "gate-keeping". Anyway, I was also a tiny WWII buff and the Stormtroopers = Nazis symbolism came in loud and clear. The redemption of Anakin Skywalker went out the window with the massacre of the Jedi children in the third movie. (Even MORE reasons to hate the updated original trilogy! ::shakes fist at Lucas::) Going to my first convention in high school and seeing masses of people dressed as Stormtroopers was baffling and honestly made me kind of uneasy.

So while I appreciate the idea - things look different from the inside, control of information, the common footsoldier, etc., I spent a lot of the book uncomfortable with the characters I was supposed to empathize with. Yes, the people at the bottom of a military foodchain don't get to see the whole picture and have to buy what they're told - but the innocent people they slaughter (and the main characters in the book do participate in this sort of slaughter) are still pretty fucking dead.

(Final note: I'm still thrown by the inclusion of X-wing pilot "Stacy". Stacy. I don't why "Luke" or "Ben" or "Gavin" or "Mara" are perfectly fine, but "Stacy" throws me right back into the 80s.)

[Jean-Luc · Rating 4 out of 5]

As stated in a previous review, I had no idea Timothy Zahn had continued writing Star Wars books, and I'm trying to go through them in "chronological" order.

Mara Jade, the Emperor's Hand, is a fan favorite, so it's no surprise he finally got around to writing more of her.

Even better, we get some great new characters: 5 stormtroopers who desert their post after accidently murdering an overbearing intelligence agent. They steal a shuttle loaded with weapons and cash and decide to use both to uphold their oaths to protect the Empire's citizens.

So Mara's in the area investigating corruption, the stormtroopers are shooting anyone who needs shooting, and into this mess blunder Han, Luke, Chewbacca and Leia.

There are 3 main sources of tension: We readers know from the Thrawn trilogy that Mara hadn't met the rebels before, so how can they be in the same area (and work together?!) without actually meeting? How can stormtroops work side-by-side with rebels without shooting each other? Will anyone make it out alive when Darth Vader shows up to kill everyone?

Zahn is an absolute master of resolving convoluted plots, but he waits for the last possible minute. Until then, it's non-stop action. So very, very awesome and perfect for any Star Wars fan.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pacing and the plot are solid with the number of narrative details I've come to expect from Zahn. Overall it was an enjoyable read. The stormtroopers have a ridiculous notion of charging into things when they're trying to keep a low profile - something I find difficult to justify given their situation - and the plot thread with Leia was a bit lacking. Maybe she'll be featured more in the next installment.

[Darryl Bennett]

fills in a lot of the blanks from the movies and other books.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stars: 3
Reread: Leaning towards no. Maybe if Choice of One is good.
Recommend to: It's probably worth it to fans of Timothy Zahn. It has some carry over characters to some of his other works.

Careful reading other reviews on this book because there are huge spoilers for the entire EU that people didn't hide.


This book was fine. For pretty much every aspect of the book, things were generally moderately interesting without being bad. The story was far too convoluted and completely relied on coincidence. The plot would've been greatly improved if the OT characters weren't involved at all. It seems likely that Zahn was told to include them, because their actions and circumstances seemed totally separate from the main story and are only there so that the book can say it has Han, Luke, and Leia. Leia goes to meet with some rebel groups to see if they can come up with a plan to keep them all involved in the alliance because one group wants to do an operation and the other two don't. They show up and the plan is immediately blown up. Then Leia becomes a waitress while she hides out waiting to be rescued. Han and Luke randomly happen to have interactions with the deserting stormtroopers, which leads to them reluctantly teaming up and travelling around together. Then eventually they use the stormtroopers to sneak into the sector where Leia is hiding and rescue her. The events have absolutely nothing to do or contribute to the main plot.
The main characters are essentially just there. They also may be in the book because it pads the page count significantly.

The plot had two good points (Mara Jade and pirate groups) and two points that were bad or missed opportunities (the OT characters and the stormtrooper squad). I'm a little conflicted on Mara Jade in the book, because she seems way too naïve about the empire and the Emperor.
She is a complete believer in the Empire (fine) and is very disbelieving about any news she gets that the Empire does bad things (ridiculous). It makes sense that she would be brainwashed, but she is an assassin directly trained by the Emperor. She hasn't seen some atrocities? She clearly has had a decent amount of contact with Darth Vader. Is Vader really on his best behavior every time she is around? He's just like, "Well Emperor, I'm off to destroy a planet and commit genocide...um, I mean distribute food to the homeless." He casually murders his own officers when they disappoint him. She wouldn't be surprised that the Empire murders civilians. I just would've really liked to see her as a more conflicted character who isn't psychotically evil, but doesn't hesitate to do some borderline evil things. Have her be totally on board with killing the civilians on Teardrop because she completely buys in to the idea that they are rebels. This book has her behave almost like a Jedi in her outlook and actions with the exception of being willing to execute a traitor. It's been years since I've read the later books with Jade in them, so I can't remember if this fits well with how her past was represented.

The other aspect of the book that was interesting was the various pirate groups that were aligning under the Commodore to help a major sector declare independence from the Empire. This plotline was interesting and introduced the majority of the good characters in the book like Caaldra and the Commodore.

Besides the OT characters, I also didn't care for the stormtrooper group. The idea is really cool. The stormtroopers basically have to desert after defending themselves from an ISB agent. Then all of the coincidences begin. They just get super lucky and steal a ship on a star destroyer that happens to have all kinds of armor, material to let them create fake id's and stuff like that, and insane amounts of money. Then all of the coincidences with them in the plot. They more or less wander around the sector at random and just so happen to continuously witness and be intricately involved in actions taken by pirate groups that are controlled by the Commodore. They are always able to get just enough information to keep following the path up the ladder. I could forgive all of this if Zahn would've had a little more restraint in their abilities. These five stormtroopers, who are not described as special forces or something elite like that, are able to pretty easily destroy anyone in their path. More egregiously, they are able to bluff their way past any situation. At one point, they go into a police station that is corrupt that has 300 police in it. The five troopers go in and the troopers obviously all just assume that there is an entire legion of troopers outside. One or two fight back and are shot, so the other 298 immediately surrender. They are also constantly able to get away with not identifying themselves to superior officers, which would've ended the book, due to dumb contrivances. It would've been way more interesting if the stormtroopers were more or less guys with regular abilities and resources finding a way to succeed instead of them having unlimited resources and being way overpowered. It also would've been better if they eventually decided to leave the Empire, instead of being forced to leave when LaRone killed the ISB agent while defending himself. It kind of gave them a get of jail free card for the internal conflict they were feeling.

There was one perplexing decision Zahn made in that Obi-Wan wasn't a Force ghost that very occasionally shows up to say a line or two to Luke (like trust in the Force or telling him to go to Dagobah to train under Yoda), but was instead a near constant presence in his mind for select portions of the story. There are times when Obi-Wan is just like, "Luke, look for the switch over there. Type in this code to unlock the safe. The first number is seven. Don't open the door yet. Open your awareness for danger behind you." Worst of all, at one points he says, "In Makrin City on Shelkonwa. The governor's chief administrator has closed down the spaceport and alerted the Empire to her presence." It's like Obi-Wan is a ghost haunting Luke and constantly following him around. It raises a lot of questions about why Force ghosts aren't helping out a whole lot more. I mean, Obi-Wan was able to tell what the combination code for a lock was, so he'd obviously be incredibly useful and powerful. Gone are the days when a Force ghost was only occasionally able to show up. It seems like Obi-Wan should've been saying something like, "Luke, the Emperor is building a second Death Star. Here are the coordinates. I'll guide you through as you infiltrate it and destroy it from the inside."

I'm always annoyed when authors use sayings that reference things unique to our world, but they'll make strange and absurd changes to the saying so that it "makes sense" in the Star Wars universe. The one that stuck out for me in this book was how Zahn described the Empire as going "scorched-ground" instead of scorched-Earth. I don't get why they don't just find a different way of getting their point across.

The book would've been far better if Zahn made these changes: 1. Get rid of the OT characters. They are an unimportant side-plot that isn't important to the story and isn't all that interesting. 2. Take the pages dedicated to the OT characters and spend it with the stormtroopers.
Instead of having them kill the ISB agent and have no choice but to run, show them struggling with the decision over time as they recognize the Empire they swore to defend is evil and can't be saved. 3. Also use more time showing Mara Jade planning out missions and executing them.
Her best part of the book was when she was infiltrating a government party so she could steal information. That was much more interesting and impressive that her stumbling around in ignorance chancing upon information that will get her to the next plot point. 4. Have the pirate gangs actually mean something. They move the plot forward in the beginning until they are no longer useful. Then, this group of pirates that was seriously going to contend with the might of the Imperial Navy are suddenly wiped out by a single star destroyer and barely put up a fight.
I suppose there must be huge numbers of pirates still out there, but it is conveyed as the threat being neutralized.

So this book was alright but was bogged down by major problems with the plot and characters. I'll probably only read this again if I feel it is necessary foundation for characters used in other books.

A final note with a minor spoiler for a book Zahn wrote after this one, Scoundrels. In that book, there is a guy named Eanjer who has 168 million credits stolen from him. In spite of that impressive sounding amount of money, he is mostly unknown in his society and isn't noteworthy in any way. But in this book, having 630 million credits or something along those lines gives you a realistic shot at acquiring the military forces necessary to stand up to the Imperial Navy in straight up and repeated battles. This isn't like the Rebellion doing hit and run tactics. This is a stand and fight war. Apparently, all the Rebellion had to do was get a couple of guys like Eanjer to donate their wealth to the cause and they could've taken down the Empire so much easier.

First Read: 4 stars (2010)
Pretty good story, although the character of Mara Jade didn't fit to me. At the time of this story she is still evil and it seems like just because she eventually switches sides that the author didn't want her to do anything too bad.

[Miss Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Wonderful concept and a fun adventure with a likable cast, especially the renegade Stormtoopers.

"My duty is to protect and preserve the Empire and the New Order," he said, forcing his voice to stay calm.

"Your duty is to obey orders," Drelfin countered.

"They were unarmed and nonthreatening civilians," LaRone said. "If there were charges or suspicions concerning them, they should have been arrested and brought to trial."

LaRone, Quiller, Marcross, Brightwater, and Grave were all members of the same Stormtrooper squad ordered to fire on innocent civilians. LaRone disobeyed orders and when the ISB officer who ordered the massacre comes to punish him, LaRone defies him and ends up shooting him in self-defense. He knows he has to run and out of loyalty and disillusionment, his teammates leave with him.

"Besides, you're the one who refused to fire on unresisting civilians. That gives you the high moral ground, one of the most important assets a leader can have."

"The rest of you would have done the same."

"Maybe," Marcross said. "Maybe not. Grave and Brightwater were in positions where they didn't have to make that decision. I don't know about Quiller."

"And you?"

Marcross looked him straight in the eye. "I obeyed my orders."

This is a fascinating dynamic to explore. Marcross, who followed his orders whatever his private misgivings, is also the first to support LaRone and push him to be their leader.

Brightwater looked at Quiller and Grave, a stunned look on his face. "You're kidding," he said, looking back at Marcross. You, of all people, want to do this?"

"You do remember we're on the run, right?" Grave asked.

"And we're on the run ultimately because we didn't like being ordered to abuse our authority," Marcross countered. "Are we going to be selective as to which abuses we stand up to and which we turn our backs on?"

Mara was an interesting mix of slavishly devoted acolyte to Palpatine and genuinely decent agent of justice who cared about the people she encountered and did not want to cause harm to those undeserving of it.

Han, Luke, and Leia were honestly the weakest aspect of the book for me. I don't know if Zahn's characterization of them improves, but I certainly hope so.

There is a sequel to this! With the Hand of Judgement in it again!

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refreshing and well-written story, although it does have some problems.

Most of the time, Zahn is true to everyone’s character, and the people are easy to empathize with, although there’s some exceptions to it here. There are some good references to the movies; one part of the book explains why Admiral Ozil was killed, and provides a sort of justification for Vader’s methods. Zahn does a great job following the stories of different characters and then tying them back together. The action is fine, if not particularly tense.

The plot is somewhat predictable but also a little convoluted: there’s four separate subplots, with none of them being the main story, and they all happen pretty quickly; at the end you might not be able to remember who the bad guys were supposed to be, or what any of it had to with our protagonists. Mara Jade is in the story. She’s only 18 here, and she seems pretty experienced and a little too sure of herself for someone that age. Also, Luke often converses with Obi-Wan’s ghost in the story. Usually Obi-Wan’s ghost provides some brief, cryptic advice and leaves, but here Luke asks questions and argues with him, which felt pretty odd. In this story Luke has Obi-Wan on some kind of speed dial, and Ben is always there to hold Luke’s hand (he even gives Luke a passcode at one point) A lot of characters are introduced and then abandoned, making the plot a little choppy; some of these characters are introduced and then killed in the same chapter. Sometimes it feels like you could cut some characters out and it wouldn’t affect the story very much. Zahn also seems to enjoy winking at the reader, which might be annoying for some.

Other parts of the book are baffling. Darth Vader is in the story, but he feels ridiculous and is often ignorant or incompetent; at one point he tries to kill Mara over a misunderstanding, one that it seems he could have avoided simply by asking some questions. In one silly scene Vader basically Googles for Luke. It often feels like Darth Vader is missing a moustache to twirl while he laughs maniacally. Elsewhere Leia is on the run from the Empire and, hilariously, tries to hide by disguising herself as a waitress. Luke comes off as clueless and often seems to wait around for everyone else’s direction or advice. Also, the rogue stormtroopers’ “moment of truth” is barely believable.

An enjoyable story, but it does have its issues.

[Graff Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars: Legends: Allegiance by Timothy Zahn

4.0 Stars

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense

Medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters are a main focus: Yes

I loved the main characters in this novel...and there are a few.

The five stormtroopers, yes them. I really liked their story arc. They were trying their hardest to serve the Empire and its citizens. From that standpoint...you really cannot fault them. Yes, it was messy. It wasn't sanctioned, but deeds do hold weight to certain people who are still in the Empire.

If you had been raised in this galaxy, and the Emperor claimed ultimate rule, creating the Empire (from the Republic)...it would take time to see the right, and do right.

I believe they (these five stormtroopers) are trying to hold to their oath.

Also, it was good to spend time with Mara Jade. Her desire to be the best that she can be...is similar to the five stormtroopers, though she's not to the point of switching allegiances (and actually, neither are the five stormtroopers).

Her antipathy for Darth Vader is interesting, but she also knows that she's not competent enough to go "toe to toe" with him (at least for now).

It was also fun to be with Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie.

We also were with the enemies of the Empire and the Rebellion. Those that were in it for themselves, and for neither the good guys or the bad guys...and they really had to go, or at least be watched...from now on.

This was a LOT of fun to read. I will be picking up Star Wars: Extended Universe/Legends: Choice of One by Timothy Zahn (sequel to Allegiances).

[wing · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty compelling read, especially given the fact that it takes place but one year after the battle of Yavin. It features a character we've read about in the Thrawn atrilogy. Unsurprisingly, given the fact that it's written by Timothy Zahn.

No doubt about it, this really has the OT feeling to it, but in book form this time. You also get Han, Luke, Leia, and of course Chewie. The title, being as it is, "allegiance" could be explained pretty easily, and I can summarize it thus, and with a single word. Stormtroopers!

A bunch of stormtroopers learn about the way the empire really is and decide to desert. Well, I'll let you see what happens. Do they join the rebelion? Will they be executed? RAFO.
You also get a few conspiracies, involving some local gangs of space pirates. And frankly, I quite enjoyed the scenes where the pirate conspiracy got untanggled. This is, after all, half of the book.
I've appreciated the fact that, we got to see that stormtroopers are not the evil white bucketheads, which follow orders without questions or complaints, no matter how cruel or unjust those orders are. In fact, there are some stormtroopers who think and believe, or rather believed in what the empire was supposed to be, " Freedom, justice and security." As the saying goes.

The rest will be for you to find out.

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a lot of thoughts swirling around after rereading this book. Zahn really delves into the other side here with the focus on characters that would be considered the bad guys and I see Allegiance as the precursor to what he would do later with new canon Thrawn.

There's been a lot of discussions recently regarding WWII fiction focusing on the regular German infantrymen and I think those discussions are pretty black and white with no nuances ever brought up. Zahn's protagonist being a stormtrooper deserter, does bring another side. Do you root for LaRone, Brightwater, and all the rest? Do you root for Mara Jade in her role as the Emperor's servant? Mara's whole schtik starts here and it is interesting to see the shades of grey she works through on her way to being Luke's antagonist after the fall of the Empire. She's more idealistic at 18 and sees her role as upholding the Imperial values of truth and justice. The fact that she sees LaRone's argument that desertion and distrust of ISB as valid makes for compelling character growth and I wish we could have seen Mara more in this role before Disney canon relegated her to Legends status.

[Natalie K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this! When I first read Heir to the Empire, I couldn't understand why Mara Jade was such a fan favorite because I didn't care for her. This book has helped me understand why. Timothy Zahn has definitely grown as a writer and I really enjoyed his depiction of Mara in this one. Her interactions with Darth Vader are priceless—seriously, read the book for those alone because they're amazing. I enjoyed seeing them verbally spar and Zahn's Vader is spot on. Seriously, I could hear his voice in my head saying everything Zahn had him say in this novel.

Other than Mara, I really enjoyed the Stormtrooper characters. They were all individuals and fleshed out quite well. The best thing is if you enjoyed them, there's another book featuring these fabulous characters: Choices of One, which I read before this book (oops̉—I think Choices of One is supposed to come AFTER Allegiance, but whatever).