Shadows of the Empire

Laser fire and swashbuckling abound in this new addition to the Star Wars saga, though other things are sadly lacking. Covering the time between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Perry gives us a failed attempt to rescue Han Solo from his carbonite block, a convoluted plot to leak plans for the new Death Star to the Alliance and a major new villain, Xizor, Underlord of the Black Sun, who pretends loyalty to the Empire while plotting Darth Vader's death. Perry, the author of dozens of SF adventure novels, including Spindoc (1994), is not at his best here. His style is often clumsy and his characterization is, if anything, less complex than that of the films. The novel is full of the standard Star Wars cliches, but the action scenes lack the ususal punch. This book should appeal only to confirmed Star Wars fans. Major ad/promo; simultaneous BDD Audio release. (Apr.)