What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Wars: Hour of Judgement
A year has passed since the Emperor's death. Ysanne Isard struggles to hold the Empire together and the New Republic is hunting her elite Grand Admirals. Meanwhile, Imperial fighter ace Baron Soontir Fel has defected to Wedge Antilles'Rogue Squadron. The former enenmies are drawn together by the need to save one woman from Isard's vengeance: Syal Antilles, Fel's wife and Wedge's sister. Fel, Wedge, and Isard all search for Syal, but another party is closest to finding her: the rogue stormtrooper unit called the Hand of Judgment, acting on orders of the enigmatic Thrawn. Before this epic tale of war, politics, and espionage is over, the Republic will be forced to reckon with three legendary Grand Admirals, and soldiers on both sides will make the final judgment of where their loyalties lie.
- GenresStar Wars
ebook
Published January 1, 2018
16 people want to read
About the author
Gregory O. Scott
13 books16 followersOn FanFiction [dot] net the name is "HandofThrawn45".
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 1, 2024
Here’s a Star Wars story I didn’t know existed/planned on reading. But after reading Timothy Zahn’s Hand of Judgment books last year and Michael Stackpole’s X-Wing books this year, the description for “Hour of Judgement” did catch my eye. I wasn’t sure if it was worth reading any Star Wars fan fic but as Zahn never got to follow up on the Hand of Judgement and my Star Wars reading doesn’t really differentiate between Canon status anyway (good Star Wars literature is good Star Wars literature regardless of continuity), I did check this out.
Hour of Judgement acts as an extension of the Hand of Judgement’s story, and a lead-up to Stackpole’s X-Wing series. In addition to several additional storylines (the Empire ripping itself apart through infighting, the fate of other Grand Admirals besides Thrawn, the New Republic’s attempts to become a legitimate superpower, etc.), the “main” link between these stories is the search for Wynssa Starflare, Wedge Antilles’ long lost sister and wife of ace pilot Baron Soontir Fel. The idea is that by finding the pregnant Starflare the various Star Wars factions would secure the loyalty of Fel. It is an interesting way to explain how Fel would ultimately join Thrawn’s Imperial faction in the Unknown Empire (and his descendants ultimately ruling the Empire a century later in the Legacy comic series).
Admittedly the Hand of Judgement aren’t in this as much as I hoped they’d be, although I did enjoy the scenes where they were “on page”. Most of the story was focused on Fel and Rogue Squadron and the two Grand Admirals (Grant and Makati). Ultimately the story was populated by a lot of Star Wars Legends content and it’s got a little bit of everything including Mandalorians. The thing is, it did make it all feel overly stuffed as a result and I think some of the storylines I think could have been dropped (Pirate Captain Tavira for instance). I do say that as someone who hadn’t read or experienced too many projects from this in-universe era of Star Wars Legends and the real world time they were coming out (mid to late 90s) as much as the author and other readers probably. As such, those more familiar with these Legends projects and characters will probably enjoy this a lot and be able to follow more easily than I did.
Regardless though, I was enjoying myself while reading the Hour of Judgement. I did like the Hand of Judgement and Wedge Antilles scenes a lot as I was already a fan of these characters. I also appreciated the characterization of Grant and Makati. The big character win I’d say is getting me to really care for Wynssa and Fel, Fel in particular. I liked the internal debate that Fel endured between his former loyalty to the Empire and his respect for the Rogues. It felt like one of those great character arcs from official Lucasfilm projects like “Andor” or the “Alphabet Squadron” trilogy. In general I think the story did a good job replicating the feel of a 2000s era Star Wars novel. Other than feeling a bit too stuffed I did enjoy the overall conflicts, the characters that were involved in them and how it built on Zahn’s and Stackpole’s works.
Speaking as someone that really is picky about fanfic, “Hour of Judgement” ended up being on the good side of fan fics. It felt like a quality Star Wars Legends story and gave me the closest resolution to a storyline(s) that Lucasfilm had to abandon. I recommend it for anyone like me that likes Thrawn, the Hand of Judgement, the X-Wing novels, and Legends content in general.
Hour of Judgement acts as an extension of the Hand of Judgement’s story, and a lead-up to Stackpole’s X-Wing series. In addition to several additional storylines (the Empire ripping itself apart through infighting, the fate of other Grand Admirals besides Thrawn, the New Republic’s attempts to become a legitimate superpower, etc.), the “main” link between these stories is the search for Wynssa Starflare, Wedge Antilles’ long lost sister and wife of ace pilot Baron Soontir Fel. The idea is that by finding the pregnant Starflare the various Star Wars factions would secure the loyalty of Fel. It is an interesting way to explain how Fel would ultimately join Thrawn’s Imperial faction in the Unknown Empire (and his descendants ultimately ruling the Empire a century later in the Legacy comic series).
Admittedly the Hand of Judgement aren’t in this as much as I hoped they’d be, although I did enjoy the scenes where they were “on page”. Most of the story was focused on Fel and Rogue Squadron and the two Grand Admirals (Grant and Makati). Ultimately the story was populated by a lot of Star Wars Legends content and it’s got a little bit of everything including Mandalorians. The thing is, it did make it all feel overly stuffed as a result and I think some of the storylines I think could have been dropped (Pirate Captain Tavira for instance). I do say that as someone who hadn’t read or experienced too many projects from this in-universe era of Star Wars Legends and the real world time they were coming out (mid to late 90s) as much as the author and other readers probably. As such, those more familiar with these Legends projects and characters will probably enjoy this a lot and be able to follow more easily than I did.
Regardless though, I was enjoying myself while reading the Hour of Judgement. I did like the Hand of Judgement and Wedge Antilles scenes a lot as I was already a fan of these characters. I also appreciated the characterization of Grant and Makati. The big character win I’d say is getting me to really care for Wynssa and Fel, Fel in particular. I liked the internal debate that Fel endured between his former loyalty to the Empire and his respect for the Rogues. It felt like one of those great character arcs from official Lucasfilm projects like “Andor” or the “Alphabet Squadron” trilogy. In general I think the story did a good job replicating the feel of a 2000s era Star Wars novel. Other than feeling a bit too stuffed I did enjoy the overall conflicts, the characters that were involved in them and how it built on Zahn’s and Stackpole’s works.
Speaking as someone that really is picky about fanfic, “Hour of Judgement” ended up being on the good side of fan fics. It felt like a quality Star Wars Legends story and gave me the closest resolution to a storyline(s) that Lucasfilm had to abandon. I recommend it for anyone like me that likes Thrawn, the Hand of Judgement, the X-Wing novels, and Legends content in general.
August 9, 2022
As of writing this review I have not finished every novel that Gregory O Scott has produced, but so far this has been my favorite of his work yet. It is an impressive feat of story telling that he constructed, pulling so many plot threads and story beats from both his own mind and the existing EU to craft an extremely impressive story. The story mainly works to bridge the gap between Stackpole’s X-wing comic and book series, mainly following Wedge and Rouge Squadron. Surprisingly enough though we get to see Thrawn along with Zahn’s other creation, the Hand of Judgment, as they orchestrate the coming campaign in the original thrawn trilogy. Most important of all being the story that finally explains how Baron Soontir Fel gets involved in the grand Admrial’s mission.
Overall this novel is a master craft of story telling and lore building that is perfect for anyone like me who is a huge Star Wars lore nerd and a fan of the post RotJ story.
Overall this novel is a master craft of story telling and lore building that is perfect for anyone like me who is a huge Star Wars lore nerd and a fan of the post RotJ story.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews