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Star Wars: The Mask of Fear (Reign of the Empire)
Del Rey Star Wars The Mask of Fear (Star Wars Reign of the Empire) ABISBOOK Del Rey.
496 pages, Paperback
Published December 2, 2025
4 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Freed
94 books373 followersAlexander M. Freed is the author of Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns, as well as many short stories, comic books, and videogames. Born near Philadelphia, he endeavors to bring the city’s dour charm with him to his current home of Austin, Texas.
His first novel, Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company was included on BuzzFeed’s “Best Science Fiction Books Of 2015” list.
His first novel, Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company was included on BuzzFeed’s “Best Science Fiction Books Of 2015” list.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 8, 2025
Reading this straight off Andor either helped or hindered, but I cant tell what yet. Parts of it were captivating but it didn’t really grab me the way I wanted it to. The Chemish/Haki stuff bored me, but Eyo-Dajuritz was fascinating. Solid stuff.
June 8, 2025
The war has been won. The Empire has ascended and with it an Emperor. But it is early days and perhaps there is still a chance to reveal atrocities, compromise, or fight back. Mon Mothma seeks to hinder Palpatine with a bill, Bail Organa seeks to prove that the evidence damning the Jedi is false, and for Saw Gerrera the war never actually ended. But is it too late to do anything? Anything at all?
It's always frustrating to read a story in which none of the characters know they are doomed to failure in particular quests. Because we know. I really had hoped to be won over by Freed, whose writing has become elevated to excellence over the years and whose video game background is evident in his (I'm assuming) creation of Eyo-Dajuritz - which is now one of my favourite locations in Disney canon. Unfortunately, I wasn't completely impressed by this book.
Bail Organa did not act like the Bail I know. Maybe I've been overly influenced by the Legends canon or my own headcanon. But it... just wasn't him. Other characters did sound like themselves, but then there were the OCs who didn't feel necessary or relevant (even Soujen, I'm afraid to say). So many pages and so little said!
This is presented as a political thriller, but its inferiority to Andor is glaringly obvious. And how can we not make comparisons between them? This book was obviously meant to cash in on the show's popularity.
A difficult book to rate, but I think 3 stars suits because there were some genuinely good bits.
It's always frustrating to read a story in which none of the characters know they are doomed to failure in particular quests. Because we know. I really had hoped to be won over by Freed, whose writing has become elevated to excellence over the years and whose video game background is evident in his (I'm assuming) creation of Eyo-Dajuritz - which is now one of my favourite locations in Disney canon. Unfortunately, I wasn't completely impressed by this book.
Bail Organa did not act like the Bail I know. Maybe I've been overly influenced by the Legends canon or my own headcanon. But it... just wasn't him. Other characters did sound like themselves, but then there were the OCs who didn't feel necessary or relevant (even Soujen, I'm afraid to say). So many pages and so little said!
This is presented as a political thriller, but its inferiority to Andor is glaringly obvious. And how can we not make comparisons between them? This book was obviously meant to cash in on the show's popularity.
A difficult book to rate, but I think 3 stars suits because there were some genuinely good bits.
May 3, 2025
A decent political thriller in a galaxy far far away…
Star Wars: The Mask of Fear by Alex Freed is the first part in the Reign of the Empire trilogy…from the author of the really good alphabet Squadron trilogy…
Despite the prequels being very political, there’s not a lot of political stories in Star Wars literature…as those tend to focus on warfare and action and Jedi and stuff…
Thankfully this is a sign that these kind of stories do work in print…just as Andor has introduced spy stories into Star Wars…
Set shortly after episode III, this book is an important chapter as it deals with various politicians adapting to the new changes from republic to empire…
It also addresss just what happened to many of the confederacy politicians that weren’t killed by Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar…as well as the activities of rank and file soldiers to give you a battlefield idea of folks that weren’t clones or droids and chose to fight for one of the sides…
As many any good Star Wars book, it does a good job of reintroducing some old expanded universe lore, cameos by various figures form the prequels, and introducing a bunch of new stuff…
I suspect a lot is gonna play out over the next two books especially with the passage of time, but even as a solo book it’s decent…
Star Wars: The Mask of Fear by Alex Freed is the first part in the Reign of the Empire trilogy…from the author of the really good alphabet Squadron trilogy…
Despite the prequels being very political, there’s not a lot of political stories in Star Wars literature…as those tend to focus on warfare and action and Jedi and stuff…
Thankfully this is a sign that these kind of stories do work in print…just as Andor has introduced spy stories into Star Wars…
Set shortly after episode III, this book is an important chapter as it deals with various politicians adapting to the new changes from republic to empire…
It also addresss just what happened to many of the confederacy politicians that weren’t killed by Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar…as well as the activities of rank and file soldiers to give you a battlefield idea of folks that weren’t clones or droids and chose to fight for one of the sides…
As many any good Star Wars book, it does a good job of reintroducing some old expanded universe lore, cameos by various figures form the prequels, and introducing a bunch of new stuff…
I suspect a lot is gonna play out over the next two books especially with the passage of time, but even as a solo book it’s decent…
July 2, 2025
LOVED this. So so so so so good. Political thriller taking place in the aftermath of Palpatine's declaration of Empire? It works so well. Mon Mothma and Bail Organa are such compelling characters, especially since Andor S2 (which I haven't even finished yet), and Alexander Freed writes them beautifully. Saw Gerrera felt a little underserved in this book, but the way his band of rebels is tied into the plot is fantastic, and I suspect he'll have a bigger role to play in the rest of the trilogy (which I can't believe we have to wait so long for).
Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give this book is how important it felt. No Jedi, no Vader, no Force, just politics and normal people. And yet the stakes felt so high, and I got literal chills towards the end. This was truly a story that was worth telling, bridging the gap between the political situation in Episode 3 and what we see in Andor and Rebels - truly effective in highlighting the vast power of the Empire, and planting the first seeds of the Rebel Alliance we know and love.
I very much look forward to reading more of Freed's work.
Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give this book is how important it felt. No Jedi, no Vader, no Force, just politics and normal people. And yet the stakes felt so high, and I got literal chills towards the end. This was truly a story that was worth telling, bridging the gap between the political situation in Episode 3 and what we see in Andor and Rebels - truly effective in highlighting the vast power of the Empire, and planting the first seeds of the Rebel Alliance we know and love.
I very much look forward to reading more of Freed's work.
July 27, 2025
Where do I even begin? The first part of "Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear" was fairly well paced and told a consistent story for the three main characters, but after that I feel like the pace really slows down and there isn't alot of insight into anything and just tends to repeat itself. I also found it misleading how this book advertised that it would be three stories about Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Saw Gerra, but Saw isn't even a main character. His chapters are just about the writer's own original character.
As the book goes on, it becomes very clear that the true main character is Bail Organa and that the other main characters get pushed aside and don't have alot of depth.
I did like how this book goes into further detail about how the Empire got everyone to believe that the Jedi were bad people and how it kind of says that the citizens of the Republic were so tired with the war to the point where they just wanted to stick the blame on someone and let their anger out on them.
As the book goes on, it becomes very clear that the true main character is Bail Organa and that the other main characters get pushed aside and don't have alot of depth.
I did like how this book goes into further detail about how the Empire got everyone to believe that the Jedi were bad people and how it kind of says that the citizens of the Republic were so tired with the war to the point where they just wanted to stick the blame on someone and let their anger out on them.
November 22, 2025
If this is supposed to be a Season 0 of Andor, then it shows. Andor took a while to get started and it groaned under the weight of intersecting secrecies.
Most of this is an exercise in frustration. The political intrigue doesn't really go anywhere. It ends in a circular conclusion that is less than satisfying.
The military aspects seem like one of those classic problems that could be solved with a conversation instead of a shootout. By the time the characters realize this, they've already annoyed me and each other.
The spycraft wasn't as interesting as it should be, partly because it relied upon new characters who were interesting, but predictable.
Not exactly making me race ahead for whatever mid-grade prose is churned out next to pad Disney's books.
Star Wars can be bold. This wasn't.
Most of this is an exercise in frustration. The political intrigue doesn't really go anywhere. It ends in a circular conclusion that is less than satisfying.
The military aspects seem like one of those classic problems that could be solved with a conversation instead of a shootout. By the time the characters realize this, they've already annoyed me and each other.
The spycraft wasn't as interesting as it should be, partly because it relied upon new characters who were interesting, but predictable.
Not exactly making me race ahead for whatever mid-grade prose is churned out next to pad Disney's books.
Star Wars can be bold. This wasn't.
December 8, 2025
Starts off ok but quickly becomes boring and repetitive. I tapped out after 250 pages.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews