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Star Wars Disney Canon Junior Novel
Imperial Justice
As a new student at Lothal's Imperial Academy, Zare Leonis does everything it takes to pass as a model cadet. But he is a hidden enemy among Imperial loyalists, determined to discover the truth about his missing sister and to bring down the Empire. Luckily, he has his tech-savvy girlfriend, Merei, by his side, willing to help him however she can--even if it means dealing with criminals in the shadiest parts of Capital City. In the meantime, Zare must face down a dangerous foe of his own: Captain Roddance, who seems bent on pushing Zare to his breaking point. Join these rebellious cadets as they risk everything to take on the fearsome Empire.
164 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2015
51 people are currently reading
572 people want to read
About the author
Jason Fry
122 books296 followersI am the author of The Jupiter Pirates series published by HarperCollins -- visit the official site at http://jupiterpirates.com.
In addition to Jupiter Pirates, I've written or co-written more than 30 novels and short stories set in the Star Wars galaxy, including The Essential Atlas, The Essential Guide to Warfare, The Weapon of a Jedi, and the Servants of the Empire quartet.
I spent more than 12 years at The Wall Street Journal Online, where I wrote or co-wrote the Real Time and Daily Fix columns. My non-fiction work has appeared on ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, Poynter.org, Deadspin and Baseball Prospectus. I blog about the New York Mets at Faith and Fear in Flushing and live in Brooklyn with my wife and son.
In addition to Jupiter Pirates, I've written or co-written more than 30 novels and short stories set in the Star Wars galaxy, including The Essential Atlas, The Essential Guide to Warfare, The Weapon of a Jedi, and the Servants of the Empire quartet.
I spent more than 12 years at The Wall Street Journal Online, where I wrote or co-wrote the Real Time and Daily Fix columns. My non-fiction work has appeared on ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, Poynter.org, Deadspin and Baseball Prospectus. I blog about the New York Mets at Faith and Fear in Flushing and live in Brooklyn with my wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
September 7, 2021
Well, now that we've really gotten to the meat of the story this one took off! Zare and the Empire are still at odds, each showing their hand with less showmanship now that there are established sides and end goals. Merei was most annoying and while I understand this is intended for middle grade readers, I found her obvious screw ups still irritating and juvenile. I am very interested to see how this story wraps in the final volume, however as it left at a fairly pivotal moment.
March 31, 2016
As I have stated before, when it comes to Star Wars novels, Jason Fry gets it. Without a doubt, when it comes with all of the books released since the "canon reset" forced by The Force Awakens, Jason Fry has been consistently the best author writing these books. Even though the Servants of the Empire series has been marketed toward tween and teen readers, the story itself would likely work as a novel in and of itself if the four volumes were combined (although to be fair, I haven't read volume four yet.) Even though he is "limited" by the format, he is able to deliver a pretty sophisticated story about the minor character Zare Leonis from Star Wars: Rebels and it's a pretty good read.
As I've said before, maybe it's time to let Fry write one of the "big boy" novels, since it appears he's the best guy Star Wars editorial has on retainer and they could use a novel that doesn't suck.
As I've said before, maybe it's time to let Fry write one of the "big boy" novels, since it appears he's the best guy Star Wars editorial has on retainer and they could use a novel that doesn't suck.
April 22, 2021
*4.25
Ooh, this was honestly such a stressful one! Geez, given that Rebels has three of my favorite SW ships of all time, I was surprised by how invested I was in Zare and Merei. But yeah, this whole book was really great - there's a direct tie-in with Rebels near the end, but the characters also reference a "terrorist attack" on Empire Day, so that was neat.
I think the last book brought up Zare's dilemma of playing the part of an Imperial cadet so well he was worried he would become one, and this one really delivered on that. I feel like Zare's character fell a little prey to the "Middle-grade MC becomes a bit of a jerk for no real reason" in this book, but, to be fair, he did have a lot going on. I'm just hoping things with him and Merei get smoothed out by series' end.
4.25/5 stars. I think the slight drop here is because Merei's parts in this book didn't hold my interest as much, but I still really had a time with this. I can't wait to get into the final book here. Ah, so good.
Ooh, this was honestly such a stressful one! Geez, given that Rebels has three of my favorite SW ships of all time, I was surprised by how invested I was in Zare and Merei. But yeah, this whole book was really great - there's a direct tie-in with Rebels near the end, but the characters also reference a "terrorist attack" on Empire Day, so that was neat.
I think the last book brought up Zare's dilemma of playing the part of an Imperial cadet so well he was worried he would become one, and this one really delivered on that. I feel like Zare's character fell a little prey to the "Middle-grade MC becomes a bit of a jerk for no real reason" in this book, but, to be fair, he did have a lot going on. I'm just hoping things with him and Merei get smoothed out by series' end.
4.25/5 stars. I think the slight drop here is because Merei's parts in this book didn't hold my interest as much, but I still really had a time with this. I can't wait to get into the final book here. Ah, so good.
July 20, 2015
This is the third adventure of Imperial cadet Zare Leonis. I really have enjoyed this series and how the action gets revved up every volume!
This book is all about the repercussions of Zare and Merei's actions from the previous books. Zare is under constant surveillance from his superiors and the visiting Inquisitor . Merei finds herself working for a local crime boss due to his help with a hack on Imperial systems. The strain to both threatens their fledgling romance, especially when Zare gets the transfer he has been hoping for. A very good read, I'm so excited that a fourth volume is coming!!
This book is all about the repercussions of Zare and Merei's actions from the previous books. Zare is under constant surveillance from his superiors and the visiting Inquisitor . Merei finds herself working for a local crime boss due to his help with a hack on Imperial systems. The strain to both threatens their fledgling romance, especially when Zare gets the transfer he has been hoping for. A very good read, I'm so excited that a fourth volume is coming!!
March 3, 2022
The stakes just keep getting higher with each passing book. This time, Zare and Merei struggle to balance their undercover lives in the search for Dhara while doing their best not to lose themselves or worse.
I love seeing a variety within the Empire as represented by the likes of Chiron in comparison to Currahee, Oleg, Roddance, and the Inquisitor. I also enjoyed getting a glimpse into Lothal underworld through Merei's experience, the chase that Jessa gave to hunt her down, and the grave consequence of her actions. I feel scared for them and while I know this is set as a children's novel, as an adult, I cannot help my awareness for just how terrible and violent and iron-clad the Empire's rule is. I admire these children for being brave and bold in fighting the good fight, and brings me even just the teensiest bit of hope, as any good Star Wars story does in fashion. A flicker of hope in the darkest of times. Can't wait to sink my teeth onto the final chapter!
I love seeing a variety within the Empire as represented by the likes of Chiron in comparison to Currahee, Oleg, Roddance, and the Inquisitor. I also enjoyed getting a glimpse into Lothal underworld through Merei's experience, the chase that Jessa gave to hunt her down, and the grave consequence of her actions. I feel scared for them and while I know this is set as a children's novel, as an adult, I cannot help my awareness for just how terrible and violent and iron-clad the Empire's rule is. I admire these children for being brave and bold in fighting the good fight, and brings me even just the teensiest bit of hope, as any good Star Wars story does in fashion. A flicker of hope in the darkest of times. Can't wait to sink my teeth onto the final chapter!
June 14, 2024
The series gets better and more self-assured as it goes; also, darker. Merei's plotline here is tense; Zare's somewhat less so, honestly, but the book makes up for it by digging into the psychology of being a double agent. The way Zare is torn between wanting to be a good team member and receive praise from the adults around him while simultaneously knowing that his classmates would turn on him the moment they uncovered him and the adults around him are at best deeply compromised and at worse actively evil is portrayed really well, as is his increasing stress over what actions might be required of him to maintain his cover.
January 1, 2022
I liked this one better than the second, probably about as much as the first. Exciting upper middle grade/junior high novels, this one with both Zane inside the Academy and Merei outside the Academy in danger and doing risky things as they try to figure out what happened to Zane’s sister and Zane struggles with increasingly conflicting feelings about what he’s being made to do at the Academy on Lothal as he continues pretending to be a loyal Imperial cadet.
January 27, 2023
Boring plot with cartoonish characters. Avoid.
June 6, 2025
3.5 stars
This is a darker, more serious series than I expected.
This is a darker, more serious series than I expected.
August 19, 2015
Zare and Merei wrangle with some pretty serious stuff. Zare is trying to be the perfect Imperial cadet in an effort to find his sister. But that means making unpleasant choices and the very real possibility of losing himself to the very thing he's fighting. Merei goes to dangerous lengths to stay ahead of her mom's investigation, and then has to deal with the consequences. The book ends with victories, but both our heroes find themselves in dark places.
July 28, 2015
Quick read. Like the stories in this series. Good companion to 'Rebels'.
August 10, 2020
Definitely check out my review for the first two books in this series because they largely capture my feelings as a whole. However, with regards to this novel in particular I have a few more things I’d like to say. First, the good: again, this is a natural progression and all four books could have been edited together as one novel and marketed towards adults... it’s that good and that cohesive. Each books follows a rough three arc structure individually, but you can tell that they are meant to act as a whole arc— similar to arcs of four episodes Clone Wars was so fond of. It’s easy to jump in and immediately get lost into the characters; Zare is every bit an intriguing character as Ezra, and following him while learning about how the Empire treats new cadets and force sensitive children who don’t know better is an amazing point of view.
The last book was nearly a five out of five like the first novel, but I had mentioned one of the main factors that brought it to a four was that the pacing felt off and I became board once it transitioned to a recount of a Rebels episode I just watched. That’s barely an issue here, the Rebels recount didn’t even happen until the last 20 pages or so and it went by pretty fast in comparison. That was easier to forgive. Personally, for me, the only real hiccup was the relationship between Zare and Merei. I’m not a big fan of reading about cheating or relationships drifting apart when it was totally easy to avoid it. I get it happens in real life, but it makes me uncomfortable and really frustrated. Especially when Merei openly flirts with Jax. I won’t get into spoiler town, but all I’ll say is what happens towards the end effectively made it impossible for me to give this book anything beyond a four. And let it be clear that it has nothing to do with the writing per-say; Jason Fry is easily one of the best creative forces writing Star Wars today. My reservations come from disappointment in characters— not disappointment in writing of characters. Otherwise it was a solid and brilliant addition to the Star Wars canon that could have easily been animated as Rebels specials and be just as engaging as the show itself.
The last book was nearly a five out of five like the first novel, but I had mentioned one of the main factors that brought it to a four was that the pacing felt off and I became board once it transitioned to a recount of a Rebels episode I just watched. That’s barely an issue here, the Rebels recount didn’t even happen until the last 20 pages or so and it went by pretty fast in comparison. That was easier to forgive. Personally, for me, the only real hiccup was the relationship between Zare and Merei. I’m not a big fan of reading about cheating or relationships drifting apart when it was totally easy to avoid it. I get it happens in real life, but it makes me uncomfortable and really frustrated. Especially when Merei openly flirts with Jax. I won’t get into spoiler town, but all I’ll say is what happens towards the end effectively made it impossible for me to give this book anything beyond a four. And let it be clear that it has nothing to do with the writing per-say; Jason Fry is easily one of the best creative forces writing Star Wars today. My reservations come from disappointment in characters— not disappointment in writing of characters. Otherwise it was a solid and brilliant addition to the Star Wars canon that could have easily been animated as Rebels specials and be just as engaging as the show itself.
June 4, 2020
Imperial Justice continues the story of the Servants of the Empire series, following the adventures of Zare Leonis and Merei Spanjaf. Zare continues to pose as a model Imperial cadet as he works to discover what happened to his sister. Meanwhile, in helping Zare, Merei has gotten herself in over her head with a crime syndicate and finds herself the subject of an Imperial investigation.
The stakes keep getting higher, and the stress and tension are starting to get to our protagonists as the Empire cracks down on Lothal. The story definitely went in some directions I wasn't expecting and made things get really intense, especially for a book targeted at younger audiences. I appreciated the twists and started caring about the characters that much more as they faced more and more adversity.
This is definitely a solid addition to the Star Wars universe and gives some nice context to the events of the Rebels TV show. I'm looking forward to reading the final book to see how things go for the characters I've come to know and invest in.
The stakes keep getting higher, and the stress and tension are starting to get to our protagonists as the Empire cracks down on Lothal. The story definitely went in some directions I wasn't expecting and made things get really intense, especially for a book targeted at younger audiences. I appreciated the twists and started caring about the characters that much more as they faced more and more adversity.
This is definitely a solid addition to the Star Wars universe and gives some nice context to the events of the Rebels TV show. I'm looking forward to reading the final book to see how things go for the characters I've come to know and invest in.
August 25, 2019
Another great book in this series by Jason Fry. Again, I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. It left off right where book 2 ended and I was super excited and happy to learn what happened to the 2 main characters in this book series. I enjoyed how it went back and forth between Zare in the Imperial Academy for Cadets and his girlfriend, Merei who was on a mission herself to try and help Zare. I loved seeing all the returning characters, along with the very brief, but very exciting scenes that included the Grand Inquisitor and Ezra Bridger (Dev Morgan). While reading this book, I got the feeling of extended Rebels through the eyes of Zare and Merei. It was so nice being in the world of Lothal in book version through different characters eyes. I did read this book in one sitting, as it was a very fast and easy read. I am so excited for book 4, the final book in this series! :D
May 7, 2025
As a story for young readers, Servants of the Empire is very good.
The focus on the promises of the Empire, the ones about security, progress and order, are more sinister than the Inquisitors, the Deathtroopers and other clearly evil extensions. Here the enemy is not a brute force with weapons of mass destruction, evil wizards and crazy cyborgs. This is the kind of evil of the vampires who you let inside. The dictator you support because "he is a necessary evil for this times and he will not hurt me and my family".
As readers, we know that it is too late for the characters, the people of Lothal, but these books can be give to children as a warning for other dangers.
The focus on the promises of the Empire, the ones about security, progress and order, are more sinister than the Inquisitors, the Deathtroopers and other clearly evil extensions. Here the enemy is not a brute force with weapons of mass destruction, evil wizards and crazy cyborgs. This is the kind of evil of the vampires who you let inside. The dictator you support because "he is a necessary evil for this times and he will not hurt me and my family".
As readers, we know that it is too late for the characters, the people of Lothal, but these books can be give to children as a warning for other dangers.
June 1, 2017
El libro se está haciendo cada vez más obscuro. No en gran medida pero hay varias características que destacan para que este no sea un universo feliz y hermoso. Los autores de Star Wars están haciendo un gran trabajo describiendo porque trabajar con el imperio es tan cómodo y atractivo pero nunca nos hacen olvidar porque el Imperio no es bueno para la sociedad, ni para los individuos.
Lista para la última parte y una apropiada reseña de esta saga.
Lista para la última parte y una apropiada reseña de esta saga.
April 12, 2020
Wow this one really kicked it up a notch. These have been kind of mediocre stories thus far, but this one is a true spy novel for kids. It was intriguing and kept my attention, which the first two did not. These are the kind of stories that kids deserve in the Star Wars universe. I'm terrified for Zare and sad for Merei. I love the casual way this story intersects with the Rebels characters. What a wonderful story, I can't wait to read the last book.
November 27, 2017
Wow. What a read. This has to be the best new series since the new canon began.
The writing is so good and the characters so developed (probably more so than the Ghost crew) that I almost read this in one sitting.
So please don’t judge a book by its cover and give this series a read, if you’re a Star Wars fan, you are guaranteed to love it.
The writing is so good and the characters so developed (probably more so than the Ghost crew) that I almost read this in one sitting.
So please don’t judge a book by its cover and give this series a read, if you’re a Star Wars fan, you are guaranteed to love it.
July 26, 2023
I am reading through some missed books in the Rebels era of Star Wars in preparation for Ahsoka. I doubt that Zare's story will have much to do with the series, but I am a completionist and I want to fill some of the gaps. This was a fun read that is geared for a younger audience. I think this is a great way for kids to break in to Star Wars.
June 6, 2025
Better than the others in the series but still felt like a slog to get through even though it’s very short. Supposed to be a young reader but a youngster would probably lose interest because it is not written that well. This series has dragged for me and is not very exciting. There were some cool parts that highlighted the theme of imperial fascism.
July 31, 2017
The third book in the Servants of the Empire series is a powerful one. Merei and Zare continue their separate roads into rescuing Dhara, but their obstacles are numerous and perilous, and in the end they will succeed only by taking choices that will regret later.
Extremely recommended!
Extremely recommended!
April 19, 2018
Very enjoyable read. More substance and urgency than the first two in the series, and definitely more « Star Wars ». It felt like what it was supposed to be: an extension of the TV series in its own right.
August 25, 2021
A good continuation to the series, the plot continues to progress and the characters continue to develop. My biggest complaint is the lack of chapters, with the book being divided half and half, with no clearly marked stopping/navigation points. A wonderful addition to the canon.
September 24, 2020
Penultimate book in an amazing series by Jason Fry. Really enjoyed all of these so far.
My rating: 3.8 Stars
My rating: 3.8 Stars
January 24, 2021
I still really like the series, it's a fast read and I enjoy reading about Zare & Merei! I'm very curious to see how their story concludes in the next book.
February 7, 2021
actually gets pretty intense for as far as this series has gone so far. very quick and enjoyable
March 30, 2021
Follows Rebel in the Ranks very well. I found the narrative very gripping and didn't want to put it down.
June 8, 2021
7 out of 10
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July 1, 2021
What the HECK just happened and why didn’t they do a Rebels arc about this?!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews