Princess Firebird Meets Luke Skywalker

The Truce at Bakura (Star Wars Legends)
by Kathy Tyers

Right after the Battle of Endor, the discovery of a message pod intended for the Emperor sends Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie and the droids to far-flung Bakura, an Imperial territory that is under siege by aliens who use human souls to run their tech. Leia hopes that a truce with the Empire will be the first step towards something greater. But if they all end up dead, it'll be for naught.

Back in 2023, I - for some reason - took it upon myself to read every novel Kathy Tyers released in the 1980s and 1990s, so I have become well versed in her style from that period. I found myself noticing the usual elements she favoured back then, which frankly became repetitive in her original work, but here she does a decent job of adapting them to the nascent Expanded Universe (this book was published in 1994, just as the EU kicked into overdrive). The only exception is Gaeriel, who is not unique to Tyers' writing or particularly interesting. Ignoring that issue, I'd say the weakest element of this book was the battle sequence at the end. It felt a bit muddled.

As a kid, who hadn't yet discovered Firebird et al, I adored this book. The corners on the cover of my copy have fairly worn away. Even now I have to admit that Tyers' style does make it stand out among the others of its era. It's memorable. Interestingly, her use of an invading alien force is revisited later in Legends, while the concept of a religion where using the Force is seen to harm the galaxy has cropped up in Disney's High Republic project.

She was either ahead of the curve or extremely influential. That kind of wins my respect, regardless of the quality of this book.

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