Brilliant. A fun little jaunt for our heroes in between Empire and Return of the Jedi which introduces an interesting villain in Prince Xizor. Perry also makes the reader root for Vader as he tries to outmanoeuvre Xizor which is quite enjoyable.

This is pretty much a must for any fan of Star Wars. It fits in nicely between Empire and Return. I loved Xizor and was pretty sad that I won't be seeing him in anymore books but he was an awesome character.

Long before I had an interest in reading the Star Wars EU books, I was always keen to get my hands on this one due to its Nintendo 64 adaptation. A classic game in the Star Wars canon I always found eerily nostalgic. Both game and book capture the seedy underbelly of the galaxy far away quite well - something in fact I thought the unfairly-treated Solo does. Some levels in the videogame - those like abandoned Echo Base, the hellish junkyard of Ord Mantell, the haunting canyons of Gall and the dingy sewers of Xizor's castle - have always stayed with me.

While this book was, all things considered, a decent Star Wars book, I was disappointed to find how different it was to the game. The book Dash Rendar was mostly a dick. I also found the Luke and Leia stuff mostly subpar. Easily the best the book has to offer is that of the Dark Prince, Prince Xizor. This villain competes with Darth Vader for the Emperor's favour and I always find these explorations of Vader's vulnerabilities (written before the prequels) to be highly interesting. It really is quite amazing all the future instalments to Star Wars cannon add depth to these older stories.

I am hardly in the mood for reviewing this properly. I am just writing what comes to mind. There were many flaws, of course. The writing was conventionally adequate at best. The voices of its iconic characters, the author at times does not pull off. I hated the way Leia called herself "sister" in her mind. While I liked the moral integrity of Luke Skywalker - he often refuses to dispatch even stormtroopers fatally - it certainly was inconsistent. He is stated as enjoying an escape from the Bothan planet (called something) during which he hacks down countless enemies with his saber; next he is putting his friends at risk when infiltrating a lair of gangsters because he insists they merely disable them. But I can't complain really. Morality in an action story like this is important, even if lacking consistency.

Like in the films, there were a few throwaway nods to Star Wars pop culture I found were overly ham-fisted. Though, to jump subjects completely, this was probably the most violent Star Wars book after the novelty-horror Death Troopers and the Return of the Jedi quasi-sequel, Aftermath. Characters get strangled, have their necks broken, shot in cold blood, shredded by sharp rocks etc.

I can tell by the random nature of this half-assed review that my feelings for this book are very mixed. Overall, these are always something of a guilty pleasure for me. I am yet to read an excellent Star Wars book - even Aftermath, my favourite, was weighed down by its share of lame elements. Shadows of the Empire offers something different to those familiar with Star Wars novels - at least, I think it does. But at the end of the day, it really doesn't offer anything that special. Average but generally enjoyable.

I remember reading this in middle school and enjoying the story. Reading it twenty years later I have come to realize how poorly written this novel is. Dialogue is flat, Perry's version of our beloved Star Wars characters are boring, and the main villian, Prince Xizor, is loser compared to the bad-ass mofo that is Lord Vader. The only semi interesting character, Dash Rendar (A Han Solo rip off) barely makes an impact in the narrative.

If you are a die hard Star Wars fan, and would like to know what happens in between episodes V and VI, go ahead and read this novel. You can finish it in a few days.

Also, Steve Perry's view on female characters is a bit too sexualized. This seems to be an issue with many male writers in the sci fi/fantasy genre.