Rachael's Book Review: STAR WARS: SHADOW GAMES

There are few better things to spend the holidays with than a well thought out novel and Star Wars. And when I can get both in one place it's al the better. Star Wars: Shadow Games satisfied every craving for scoundrels and the pleasure of a paperback spine stretched across my palm.

Star Wars: Shadow Games introduces new friends to the franchise's expanded universe and revisits old ones in a time before Alderaan was blown from the stars. Dash Rendar takes a security gig to the hottest star in the galaxy at a moment of monetary need only to discover his charge has managed to get a target tattooed on her back by more than just the stalker fanboy he was hired to scare off. Her enemies seem to number mob bosses from entry level to Emperor, and when Han Solo joins the team as wary pilot racing them towards the ill-fated Alderaan with cargo rebellious droids and humans have died to protect, the stakes seem high on more levels than one.

It’s been a long time since I sat down with a Star Wars book and read it cover-to-cover. Writers Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff drew me in with characters I liked, a native’s comfort with the galaxy and universe and the occasional wink-wink, nudge-nudge to A New Hope & Empire Strikes Back that had the fangirl in me giggling maniacally from time to time.

Shadow Games earned its title from the votes of fans in late 2010 and I have to say it fits the plot, characters and world much better than the novel’s original working title Holostar (despite that name’s direct correlation to the lovely female pop star Rendar is hired to protect). Feel no fear jumping into this engaging maze of political and pop intrigue, assassins and spies. You will find yourself folding their stories in alongside Princess Leia, Han & Luke as much as I did.