Sometimes you can’t help but to put the old uniform on again.
What They Say:
Kir Kanos, the last surviving member of Emperor Palpatine’s Royal Guards, has been ‘invited’ to join a cadre of Imperial officers intent on returning the Empire to its former glory. Meanwhile, the rising New Republic comes under fire when assassins put Kanos’s adversary (and occasional romantic interest) Mirith Sinn in the crosshairs!
The Review:
Getting back into the post-movies Star Wars universe has been awkward to say the least since there is so much history here. While I read some of the books way, way back when, it’s been years and not a lot of it really stuck with me when you get down to it. Crimson Empire did, though more from the visuals and the nature of those books when the first arrived. This third incarnation of the series does a lot more politcking than I expected, but that has a good sense of fun about it as they’re tackling things a little more realistically. But the downside is that since there is so much shared history, they can go easily without really naming someone and for a new reader that feels like you’re being kept out of the loop. Even worse, the ostensible lead of the book, Kir Kanos, is only in a handful of pages here.
With Kanos having been brought back to where the new empire is holding out at the moment, there’s a good bit of intrigue as they want him there and to simply wait a bit before meeting his host. The dialogue about the state of the Empire out here is thin but has enough to hold your interest with what they may be up to. But when you get down to it in that what they want may just be a symbol as his old guard uniform is there, you have to wonder what’s in store for Kanos and how he’ll actually handle it when push comes to shove. I like seeing the way these elements of the Empire operate, much as I like the bit of inciting to violence occurring on another world about the state of the galaxy under the New Republic. Branding it as just more of the same and no better, and under the leadership of Vader’s daughter no less, well, that’s just raising the rabble in the right way if you’re going to try and incite something.
A good chunk of the book is given over to Coruscant though which feels like too much. The attempt on Leia’s life is one that makes sense though to try and shake things up a bit and alter the dynamic of the New Republic. What it really focuses on though is Sinn, who discovers the downed Noghri guards and does what she can to stop the attempt. It’s a work designed to focus on how she’s figuring herself out, but I have to admit that I have very little clue as to who she is so focusing on what makes her tick doesn’t exactly fascinate me at the moment. We get a little nod or two about it and it does a good job of showing the bond she shares with Leia when you get down to it. It’s also the main action component of the book outside of a bit of thievery at the start that doesn’t make sense until later, and both of those work decently but like a lot of action in the Star Wars universe, it just doesn’t click completely.
In Summary:
The third Crimson Empire book has some good ideas rolling around in it and I especially liked the idea of the Empire and the New Republic making a peace treaty of some sort in order to end overt hostilities. A ‘cold war” style change to where things go could be fascinating to watch since it could change a lot of things in how various worlds within each are handled. The politics of the Star Wars universe could be endlessly fascinating, but unfortunately it’s kept to pretty basic levels at best so it’s not given its due. I like a lot of pieces of Crimson Empire, but I’m looking forward to and hoping that it hits more of a fully formed story sooner rather than later to tie things together so that it can be compelling.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
