Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire” is solid meal with lack of flavor. The main plot surrounds a power struggle between Xizor of the Black Sun and Vader, all while Palpatine is overseeing it and being like, “Yeah, this is great. Why don’t you guys fight over Skywalker?”

Unfortunately, a lot of the book leans into Xizor fawning over Leia. It’s written in a way that felt unnecessary and distracting. Now, he’s the head of Black Sun, so maybe it tracks with his character but it didn’t land for me.

That said, there are still some strong parts. Luke is finding himself and growing into his powers. Vader is at the heart of Vader, separated from Skywalker, and I’m here for that all day. And anytime Palpatine and Vader are on the page together, it’s fascinating. Vader is fully aware he’s being manipulated, but there’s nothing he can do about it and that struggle never gets old.

Where this book falls short is pacing. It feels disjointed, like the focus is in the wrong places. Take away Xizor and Leia’s plotline and you lose about a quarter of the book and honestly, that wasn’t the strongest part anyway. You end up wishing you could spend more time on the edges of the story, in the places the book never really lets us linger.

So, while Shadows of the Empire has a cool premise and some solid character beats, it didn’t hold up for me overall. It’s part of Legends, so check it out if you’re curious but you can probably skip it without missing much. 3/5

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