Matthew Woodring Stover

A couple weeks ago, TheForce.Net had its first-ever Aluminum Falcon awards for excellence in Star Wars fiction. Looking over the candidates for Best Novel, I was pretty underwhelmed, between the dreadful concluding novels of Legacy of the Force and the lackluster installments in the Coruscant Nights series. (I ended up picking Jedi Twilight because it was not terrible.) I wish voting hadn't ended before I read this, because not only is Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor the best Star show more Wars novel of 2008, it's probably one of the best ever published. Why is this? Because, quite simply, Stover gets Star Wars. The book's real glory is its characterizations: I've never seen so many of the original trilogy cast done right in one book probably ever. Luke is awesome, Leia is feisty, Han is roguish, the Rogues are all perfect. Even R2-D2 and C-3P0 get their moments. Even Lando Calrissian is done right. Do you know rare it is that he's in a book, much less written correctly? The book is heavily dependent on obscure continuity but pulls everything together effortlessly; the plot is both a fun action/adventure and your more nuanced Stover rumination. The book might be full of the Dark, but unlike so much modern Star Wars literature, it tells us not to be afraid of it. My only complaint is that there's really no point to a couple of the peripheral characters being there, but it's so much fun to see one of them again that I can't really complain about it that much.

added September 2012:
So, having three books (this one, The Courtship of Princess Leia, and The Thrawn Trilogy) on my to-be-read list that all took place in the years following Return of the Jedi, I decided to read all three in a row, plugging in some old books I had to fill the gaps (X-Wing: Solo Command and Tatooine Ghost). This one was first, and like almost all the books on that list, it was actually a reread; I borrowed the book from the library in hardcover before I bought the paperback.

Last time I read it, I thought that The Shadows of Mindor was one of the best Star Wars books ever published; now I know it to be true. This book has everything a Star Wars fan should want: tense battles, cool Force powers, witty banter, Lando Calrissian. All the heroes of the classic trilogy are here, down to Wedge, and they all get together and do their thing with no infighting or despair or whatnot; they're just heroes in the most idealistic sense of the word. Seriously, this book is just a delight to read from start to finish, and if you only ever read one Star Wars novel, this one ought to be it.

That said, if you read many Star Wars novels... and comics... and sourcebooks... and technical guides, The Shadows of Mindor is a different sort of achievement. The whole book is built out of a passing reference in The Courtship of Princess Leia to Han and Leia having a picnic on Mindor surrounded by dead stormtroopers, and over the years, various Expanded Universe releases added tiny tidbits to the Battle of Mindor. What makes The Shadows of Mindor impressive is that you can read it and not know this: the continuity, despite its sheer bulk, still exists to serve the story and not the other way around. Every little reference is accounted for in some way. After suffering through Darth Plagueis, I actually kinda needed a reminder that continuity can indeed be a force for good. show less

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...... there was a casting director who made a very bad choice.

Some say that Hayden Christensen ruined the second two prequels of the Star Wars saga with his whining disposition and poor portrayal of the man who would one day be one of the greatest villains in the history of American cinema. And they might be right. For those that love the franchise and the story, but perhaps disliked the actors, this is the book to read.
Matthew Stover did an amazing show more job of not making this just another novelization of a movie. His intricate detail of fight sequences, landscape and scenery descriptions, and witty dialogue make this a book to spark the interest of any science fiction fan. But it is his characterization that will truly appeal to those devout lovers of Star Wars lore.
Stover begins every chapter with a thought-provoking quote, this alone endears him to my heart. Better still, he stops the action at momentous occasions to tell you exactly what it is like to be that character at that moment in time. This is more than an omniscient narrator detailing characters' inner thoughts; this is an examination of a character to the point where even I cried for Darth Vader at the end.
This is not a book to pass by on the bookstore shelves and sneer because you may or may not have liked the film. I promise you that you will hear the brilliant strains of John Williams music as Owen and Beru Lars watch a Tattooine sunset holding baby Luke Skywalker in their arms. I did. And I cried, again. show less

Oh, Kratos, what have they done to you? After all the hours I have spent playing your video games, and replaying your video games, and eagerly anticipating future video games, I feel as though I know you. While your methods were questionable, your pursuits were always honorable ones, your entreaty reasonable. Plus your blind fury, unquenchable blood thirst, uncontrollable rage, and your blatant disregard for anything barring your path made for very satisfying gameplay.

So what happened? What show more did they do? They created this haphazard novelization of your quest to slay the god of war, Ares; which stiffly recounts the events of the first video game. The major events are there; the battle with the hydra, the ruin of Athens, the search for Cronos, the Temple of Pandora, all that. They even added some extra goings on, Athena's reasoning for favoring you, why various gods decide to bless you with their powers, and other explanations for the events in the game. That's all fine and good, but...but it's not YOU.

You do not whisper prayers to the gods before a battle, you defy them. You do not rescue Greek soldiers, you're a Spartan. You're a machine, an uncaring one with only one goal, one reason for existing. That is you, and the Kratos found in these pages is not the Kratos I know. Where is the anger? Where is the defiant, insolent, bullheaded Spartan I know and love? He is not here.

What purpose, then, does this book serve? It would be an atrocity for someone to experience the God of War story for the first time through it, and those who have played the game will surely be disappointed. So why? It is nothing but a ruse, a way to cash in on the name of our favorite tragic hero, and a poor one at that. I heartily recommend avoiding the book unless you are desperate for a fresh dose of Kratos...and even then, I'd encourage resisting the craving. show less

This is one of the most emotionally intense Star Wars books I have read so far. Mace Windu is placed against an entire planet at war with it self; a senseless, bloody, and endless war. The book shows how even a Jedi can fail, suffer, hurt, and be left ragged. No other book that I've read made the Jedi seem so human, so fallible, and so imperfect. The story really made me respect Mace as a Jedi, from his fighting prowess to his strategic mind he is an opponent to be feared.

Maces struggle show more throughout his adventure made me want to fight and be more steadfast in every difficult aspect of my own life. When he feels pain and loss you feel it with him. When he exudes power it was as if I felt that power. The job the author did with the conveying emotions was amazing, even the minor characters have lives, hopes and fears of their own and they all seem so realistic that you empathize with their ups and downs.

Even though the events of the book are of course fictional, in a very real way it highlights the fact that war in itself is a pointless and futile action under any circumstance and that no matter who wins everyone looses in the end. This is in the simplest terms a very good read and one I would very much hope the average reader would not pass over just because it says Star Wars on the front, you don't need to be a dungeons and dragons playing geek to appreciate this book, if you have have some time I urge you to give it a try. show less