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![[The New Republic]](images/banner.gif) |
| Events that occur between 5 and 25
years after the Battle of Yavin. |
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| Luke Skywalker and the
Shadows of Mindor |
| BOOK STORY |
| Matthew Stover |
| Del Rey [US]; Arrow
Books [UK] |
Published as:
Hardback Novel (2008)
Paperback Novel (2010) |
| Average review
score: 2 / 5 |
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Synopsis:
Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader are dead. The Empire
has been toppled by the triumphant Rebel Alliance, and
the New Republic is ascendant. But the struggle against
the dark side and the Sith order is not over. Luke
Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian,
and their faithful comrades have had little time to
savour victory before being called on to defend the
newly liberated galaxy.
Powerful remnants of the vanquished Empire, hungry for
retaliation, are still at large, committing acts of
piracy, terrorism, and wholesale slaughter against the
worlds of the fledgling Republic. The most deadly of
these, a ruthless legion of black-armoured
stormtroopers, do the brutal bidding of the newly risen
warlord Shadowspawn. Striking from a strategically
advantageous base at the planet Mindor, they are waging
campaigns of plunder and destruction, demolishing order
and security across the galaxy and breeding fears of an
Imperial resurgence. And another reign of darkness
beneath the boot-heel of Sith despotism is something
General Luke Skywalker cannot and will not risk.
Mobilizing the ace fighters of Rogue Squadron, along
with the trusty Chewbacca, Threepio, and Artoo-Detoo;
Luke, Han, and Leia set out to take the battle to the
enemy at the site of its stronghold, and neutralize the
threat before it's too late. But their imminent
onslaught against Mindor will be playing directly into
the hands of their cunning new adversary. Lord
Shadowspawn is no freshly anointed Sith Chieftain, but
in fact a vicious former Imperial Intelligence officer
and Prophet of the Dark Side. The Emperor's death has
paved the way for Shadowspawn's return from exile in the
Outer Rim; and mastery of ancient Sith knowledge and
modern technology has given him the capability to mount
the ultimate power play for galaxy-wide dominion. Dark
prophecy has foretold that only one obstacle stands in
his way, and he is ready, even eager for the
confrontation.
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Chronology:
This story occurs approximately 5 years after the Battle
of Yavin. |
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Related Stories (in
chronological order):
- Shatterpoint
by Matthew Stover
- Revenge of the Sith
- A New Hope
- Gambler's
World by Russ Manning
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Return of the Jedi
- Luke Skywalker
and the Shadows of Mindor
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| Behind the story: |
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![[Matthew Stover]](../images/authors/mstover-sm.jpg)
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An interview
with the author.
Read Star Wars Books interview with
this book's author, Matthew Stover here.
(Interview originally posted 20th December 2008).
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| Story Reviews: |
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Review
by Ewan, Star Wars Books, 2009:
"Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor was a
disappointing read when compared to Stover's two previous original
stories (Traitor and Shatterpoint),
as it lacks the passion, power and edge that is Stover's
storytelling signature. Instead what we have here is a somewhat
stale, purposeless and rather bland story. The thought-provoking
dichotomy that is so apparent in Traitor
and Shatterpoint just
isn't here.
"However, Stover has created some great fantastical elements
that were so prevalent in earlier Star Wars comic and book stories,
those of the late Seventies to mid-Eighties from Marvel and Del Rey.
However, since the story's antagonist is a character created during
the height of the Seventies comic story popularity, originally
created by no less than Russ Manning, it is difficult to credit
Stover with all of the fantasy elements. But his creation of the
meltmassif and its native inhabitants invoke memories of the many
fantastical creatures created by the late Brian Daley and the space
phenomenon envisaged by L. Neil Smith.
"However Stover's overuse of characters, especially the major
ones from the films, is incongruous considering that this story is
titled Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, it felt more
like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando
Calrissian, R2-D2, C-3PO and the Shadows of Mindor. While Stover
has previously shown how stories featuring two or three principal
characters can be developed, this story lacked that sense of
character journey as it suffers from just too many big name
characters. It does little to develop Han and Leia's relationship
beyond the "I love you", "I know"
of Empire. While Stover's previous two original stories had
on occasions produced a good punch to gut as the reader followed the
Jedi Knights' Jacen Solo and Mace Windu's journeys through their
understandings and discoveries of the Force, there is no such
journey for Luke in this story. For Luke there is no indecision, no
questioning of his abilities within the Force and of his rather
fixed understanding of it. His knowledge, limited to the teachings
and interpretations of Obi-Wan and Yoda, is apparently enough to
overcome his adversary's use of "The Dark".
"Instead Stover concentrates on trying to introduce the
characters he created in one of his previous novels into this time
period of the Star Wars galaxy, and it is in this character
regurgitation that this story falls down. These characters
originally appeared in Stover's second Star Wars story, Shatterpoint,
where they fulfilled important roles in the story, but in Shadows
of Mindor they are out of place in a Star Wars galaxy that has
moved on by more than two-and-a-half decades since their appearance
in Shatterpoint. Nick
Rostu's role is to supply non-stop exposition, continually reminding
us how good the Jedi are and that you shouldn't argue with a Jedi,
rather than to help make the story move forward; while Kar Vastor,
as the henchman, makes it look like Stover could not imagine a new
character. Even Vastor's surprise appearance was not much of a
surprise, especially if you are familiar with Shatterpoint.
"Ultimately Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor is
a throw-away story that fills a gap in the Star Wars timeline, but
offers no new insights into the development of the galaxy's greatest
hero, the same hero of this book's title. Instead we are left with a
story that attempts to re-introduce Stover's own character creations
into a time period where they previously didn't exist."
Rating: 2
/ 5 |
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