Goodreads really needs to change from out of 5 stars to 10, because I feel like this deserves 2.5(or like a 4 on a 10 star scale). Anyways a friend of mine rated this 2 stars and I was shocked considering this is such a classic of the Legends continuity. Well turns out he was pretty accurate. It's not that this book is BAD it's just not amazing. Xizor is annoying, creepy and doesn't really do it for me at all, and that really drags the plot down because he's at the center. On top of that the short paragraphs, sections and jumps from character to character are extremely annoying. It's not a chapter cliffhanger when two paragraphs later it's back to that character. It's just an annoyance.

Good solid airplane fun reading. The usual Star Wars cliches and weaknesses apply, but what were you expecting from a Star Wars novel, existential philosophy? It's fun seeing Luke, Leia et. al. during their original series prime, and Luke as a Jedi in training is more entertaining than his omnipotent later incarnations. The characters are a bit more vulnerable and human than in other books (this book has more "adult situations" than all the others combined, but that isn't saying much), so it's certainly worthwhile if you're a Star Wars fan.

The emotional exploration of the attraction between and Luke and Leia just didn’t do it for me and was actually distracting. Otherwise, this book follows the known and comfortable exploration of light vs dark. You get a surprise hero that pulls at your heart strings throughout. I did get to look up new races and learn more alien customs than in many other books and that brought me joy.

The villain had a machine that worked his body to give him muscles - the most 90s thing I've ever read.
Not huge into this universe but this was a fun book.

What happened between ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, and the Original Trilogy conclusion, ‘Return of the Jedi’? In 1996, a special publishing event meant to fill the gap between those two films with a mega-event that’ll consist on a three-complementary part-installments. ‘Shadows of the Empire’ is the title that was promoted in the same way a release of an episodic film in the Star Wars franchise would’ve been, except, the event had everything, except for an actual feature film.
Divided between a 499 pages novel, written by Steve Perry, a 6-issue comic book mini-series written by John Wagner, and illustrated by artists, Kilian Plunkett and John Nadeau, and of course, the highly popular videogame, ‘Shadows of the Empire’, developed by LucasArts, and released for the ‘Nintendo 64’ console. All these three separate media products meant to complement each other, in order to release a full cinematic experience for Star Wars fans, and with the upcoming re-release of the Original Trilogy in the “remastered format”, there wasn’t a better time to do so.
The former “Expanded Universe”, formally known among fans as “Legends”, is a fascinating collection of titles, just like this one, delivered in several different media. Videogames, novels, comic books published by ‘Dark Horse’ before ‘Marvel Comics’ took in. These titles meant to continue the legacy of the Star Wars franchise, initially created by George Lucas, but with the help from authors who first handedly experienced the saga when it first came out, as a sort of passionate follow up from truthfully creative fans.
‘Shadows…’ was the first of its kind, at least talking about the initially created “Legends” universe, and while not everyone seemed to be fascinated by its experience, the general consensus from fans of the saga was-overall-a positive one, and in all honesty, it’s not hard to see why. Speaking solely about the novel, it actually stands on its own, and it could be the definitive ‘Shadows…’ experience without the complementary addition of the videogame, or the comic book. That so, those other media properties are a little inconsistent with one another, at least when it comes to check them along the book, so ultimately, it is the novel the one I personally recommend, being the comic book an optional companion, since it delivers a few missing links of the events depicted by Perry.
As for the story, as I said, this takes place between Episodes 5 & 6, and almost in an immediate way, so the overall plot gives us a sensation that these events are happening in a spam of days, instead of months, as plenty of fans believed. What impresses me the most is the level of detail Perry gives not only to the references of the main episodes, but also, events that are meant to be approached years later by Lucas himself, through his prequels. I’m assuming Perry was assisted by the people at Skywalker Ranch, but again, this level of dedication is not often seeing, even with the newer canon held by Disney. As for his prose, it is easy to read, and in fact, while closing the 500 pages’ mark, this is a fast reading, mostly due to how smoothly Perry wrote these characters, as well as how respectful of the essentials of each one he was. Everyone feels in character with what was stablished prior and post of this particular story in the Trilogy, and no-one felt out of place; from Luke’s eagerness to face his fate as an upcoming Jedi Knight, to Lando’s sassiness and humorous persona, Leia’s wit and tough personality, and even Vader’s imposing presence every time he’s on a scene, which thankfully, is quite constant, since his POV is part of the main narrative. In fact, I’d give it to Steve Perry: the guy is a natural at the moment of writing Vader. From the way he expresses his thoughts, to the way he speaks, one can almost hear James Earl Jones delivering those dialogues with such a facility, no wonder why those moments within each chapter are basically the show stealers of the book. They fulfill the conflict approached in ‘Return of the Jedi’, while at the same time delivering the rampaging fearful villain he was on ‘Empire…’, so yeah, Vader easily was the best part out of the novel.
As for the new additions to the franchise, Dash Rendar is the allied that also appears as the protagonist in the videogame, while Prince Xizor, the leader of the criminal ‘Black Sun’ organization, has the main antagonist role, and as a randomly stablished character in the franchise, his addition is more than welcomed, especially after seeing how he blends amongst the most known and familiar faces, such as Vader himself, as well as the evil Emperor Palpatine.
Xizor’s character could turn a fascinating element on the darkest aspect of the franchise, back in the day when it was allowed to be actually dark, gritty and edgier, without losing focus on how to maintain the core essence that the Original Trilogy had, even before the prequels arrived. There was something about the ‘Legends’ entries back in the 90s that mixed perfectly with the type of atmosphere, pace and style of the original movies, mostly due to how dedicated and respectful these new wave of writers was: they didn’t have to force or impose their own styles and ideologies onto the saga, where they weren’t really needed, instead, there was a certain urgency on continuing the franchise, but moving forward with ideas that ideally combined with what was stablished before. Something like ‘Shadows…’ was practically a pioneer regarding complementing an already cemented property, with a clear and fresher vision on pair with the plot of the movies, and the result is a quality story, narrated with inspiration, style, and even familiarity towards the franchise, with elements that successfully blend in with the mythos, the characters, personalities, scenarios and plot-points that gives us an idea on why this story, in particular, ends up in the direction it goes. I loved that Perry wasn’t only forcing his narrative from point A to point B, in order to end the plot where the next movie should begin, but instead, giving us smalls glimpses of the advancing details regarding these characters’ motivations; the main plot is that the group of heroes (Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewie, Threepio and R2) are looking for Han, but eventually they’ll encounter a new threat on Prince Xizor, who wants to hunt and kill Luke Skywalker, only to take revenge upon Vader due to a conflict that goes a decade back. It’s an idea that exponentially grows within each chapter, but Perry is able to make it feel natural as it flows.
Not everything is perfect, though. As I said, each media-entry feels detached in an inconsistent level, and not everything matches properly, particularly the videogame, which takes plenty of liberties compared to both, the comic book and the novel. The character of Dash Rendar feels more like a replacement of the archetype of the character of Han Solo, who for obvious reasons is the biggest absent in this story. While not a boring or bad character, his presence feels obviously disposable, and he seems to be a balanced addition of the new wave of characters presented in here, but definitely, it is Xizor’s presentation the one that makes the story take certain rhythm, as well as his droid-protector, Guri, who I cannot help but to feel it as a sort of homage from Perry to the ‘Blade Runner’ replicants.
The final result is a consistently dedicated piece of Star Wars literature, ideal for a complimentary narrative expansion, in a specific point in time between the best installments of the franchise. Steve Perry nails these characters, and delivers worthy new additions to the saga that helps to expand the potential of the story he’s handling. While certain moments, and chapters are better than others, the story feels ideal and proper along the already known material, and it fits perfectly in the main scenario that the Original Trilogy provides. It is unfortunate that this is no longer considered “canon” in the newest selection of “Disney-stories”, but having seen how Lucasfilms remains as inconsistent with the newest material, as it was with the “Legends” trademark, one can only be as selective as to “what to consider canon” in a personal matter. For any Star Wars fans, this is an obliged reading, not necessarily the best in the former “Legends” canon, but it is definitely one of the better entries, and one that still feels superior and the most satisfying literary experience compared to most of the newer products.

2/17/21 - I loved this as a kid, but then hadn't touched it until whenever it was the last time I read it as it says here, but that was the abridged book. So now, I listened to it unabridged now, and well, since there have been far more books out there in the Empire realm or just with the Empire/Vader, yeah, not a favorite anymore. But still good with Xizor as being a pretty interesting guy, but not a favorite... favorite bad guy that isn't Vader for me is totally Thrawn nowadays! :)

It may have been good if I'd read it when I was 10.

A must read for the avid star wars fan, even in light of the nullification of the Expanded Universe's canon status. However, The book, though very well conceptualized, is a very dull read. The inner monologues and back-and-forth conversations are at times contrived and uninteresting, feeling much like glorified fan fiction. In spite of this, there are moments of great excitement for the true Star Wars geek and this makes it worth the read. I would recommend only to the diehards. Everyone else, just play the video game or read a summary. Those are much better uses of your time.

Vad hände mellan Rymdimperiet slår tillbaka (episod V) och Jedins återkomst (episod VI)? Läs denna bok! En bra äventyrsroman, fast i rymden.

4/5 stjärnor.

Rated by my SO, who likes it because Xizor makes a pretty awesome villain, and  Dash Rendar is all kinds of awesome. It answers some questions, fills up some lost time between Empire and Return, and features most of the SW movie cast.

Adds texture to the Star Wars universe between episodes Five and Six, but adds no essential knowledge

It was good and entertaining until the third to last page when that author did something that had no relevance to the plot because the book was basically over, I think the only reason he put it in there was to make the book more “adult” but instead it just showed the authors weakness. But besides that it was a fun read and felt a lot like the original trilogy.