Content warning: sexual assault

​Han Solo has been frozen in carbonite and is the prisoner of Boba Fett. His Rebel friends won't let that stand - but this won't be an easy rescue. Darth Vader wants Luke Skywalker alive. Therefore, Prince Xizor, current head of the criminal organisation Black Sun, wants him dead. Only one of them will prevail. Fortunately, Luke has friends - and a new companion by the name of Dash Rendar.

How do I review this? Just as a book - or the entire multimedia campaign? Well, I suppose this isn't the place to exalt about the accompanying soundtrack (go find it on Spotify!) - or to lament my inability to progress through the game without cheats. But it's worth mentioning the sheer excitement I had for Shadows of the Empire at the time, which ramped up a LOT after I saw the ads on TV.

I remember this book being muuuuch better when I was a kid. But in 1996, I only had the junior novelisation (I was restricted by my meagre pocket money and the meagre offerings at the local K-Mart) and that was a tight story. As an adult novel, which I think I've only read a handful of times, it's not tight enough and wanders all over the place. I now understand the general complaints about Dash Rendar - and have just realised that the version of this character I loved only existed in the adventures I created with his action figure (yes, there were action figures!). Perhaps Perry's over-reliance on cringeworthy comedy was also more palatable when I was younger.

Xizor could have been a really interesting villain. Unfortunately, in order to make him Totally Super Bad We Swear, he was written as a sexual predator who sexually assaults (and no doubt rapes) his conquests. There's no discussion about consent...I mean, this was a different time, but it's reaaaaally not great to read in 2025. The junior novelisation was the best option for me as a child, so I'm thankful I happened upon that first. I wish I still owned a copy.​

Also, why was Leia given nothing to do? Arrghhhh. And don't get me started on the almost complete absence of the actual Rebel Alliance in the storyline.

In short, I no longer love this book. But it did evoke some pleasant childhood memories.

Princess Leia is on her way to a conference vital to the Rebellion's efforts, accompanied by Luke Skywalker (and, of course, two particular droids). But then a technical malfunction strands them on Mimban - a supposedly uninhabited world on which the Empire has set up an energy mine. Luke and Leia are soon on the hunt for the Kaiburr crystal. Too bad Darth Vader might also want it!

The first ever Legends novel! Published long before Legends was even known as the Expanded Universe. Obviously, there are some inconsistencies with canon (particularly with characterisations and oh God the inkling of incest) but this is a serviceable 1970s sci-fi novel. Foster wrote a story that was typical of the day and doesn't stand out among its peers - that's not to say that it's not entertaining because it is. Unintentionally entertaining, at times; Darth Vader disappears like a Saturday cartoon villain and that was kind of funny.

There are some issues directly due to the book's age. Sexism, of course, though it's the standard stuff from that era. But then there's the racism. I cringed when the indigenous inhabitants of Mimban were depicted as alcoholics. There's a loaded history in that stereotype. And a word that's a slur in my country also made an appearance. I suppose if one was generous, they could argue it's a clumsy attempt to depict the Empire as villainous colonialists.

But I digress... this is an average tale. It's dated. It's limited by the fact that Foster was told to write a sequel that would be cheap to film, in case things went terribly wrong at the box office (spoiler alert: things went very right). But it does the job - and it contains a pulpy spirit that would've made the Flannelled One happy.