Star Wars: Death Star

The novel is not bad, but it's not great, either. The new characters are -- with a decent exception or two -- largely forgettable tropes (the ace fighter pilot, the attractive bartender, the conscripted surgeon, etc.), and the established ones ring slightly off to me. Particularly Tarkin is not quite as I know him from the films and cartoons -- though in fairness, this might be due to established EU personality traits I'm not aware of. Vader is better, though his sections suffer from the bending over backwards to make sense of his actions and dialogue in light of both the prequel films and the vast EU continuity largely grown before those films were made.

I was hoping for a political thriller about the creation of the galaxy's most show more horrific invention, and instead I got a street-level-view of said invention's launch and demise. But it's decent, and once the novel hit the halfway point, it picked up a lot of steam carrying through to the end, which I enjoy as a reader. show less

The novel has an ensemble cast of cosmically unimportant characters who find themselves on the Death Star, realize all too late what a horrific thing it is, and then conspire to get out. The authors struggle mightily to juggle so many characters, some of whom sacrifice their lives for the sake of the group, but since their presence was so minimal it does not really register. The novel probably would have been better with a greater laser focus on one or two characters.

I enjoy seeing stories from different view-points so this was a fun read. What I liked most about the book was the aftermath of the destruction of Alderaan. In the movies there isn't much time (obviously) spent on grieving for the planet and its inhabitants. In this book there were some poignant scenes of grief and shock. All the more meaningful because they took place on the Death Star. Like the best fiction, this served to point out that people end up on the wrong end of things all the time, not because they support evil, but just get in the way of those who do.

Finally finished it. It is a pretty quick read. It is also pretty well written. The book is basically the story of the construction of the Death Star. It is divided in two parts: the construction and then the shakedown cruise, which leads to the events in the first Star Wars film most people have seen by now. I usually dislike books where I know the ending beforehand, but this book was actually interesting and engaging. The first part where the station is constructed and the characters are introduced is actually pretty good. Different people from diverse backgrounds come together in constructing the Death Star. In the second part, we see some cameos from characters we knew in the film, but we get a different point of view, and that show more makes the book a good read as well.

The book features the character of Doctor Divini, which regular readers of Star Wars novels may recognize from the Medstar Duology (by the way, I read those two book, and they are on my list). Another character is a librarian, which for a librarian as me, was kind of cool too. Overall, this was a good and pleasant read. show less

A painless, mostly entertaining read that stitches together the first-released Star Wars movie (once called simply Star Wars but now titled, more cumbersomely, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) and some of the previously published novels (particularly those featuring Admiral Daala, the retconned lover of Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin), Death Star manages to shoehorn in some allusions to the outgoing administration of "Bush 43" a bit less clumsily than George Lucas did with his most recent trilogy of films (particularly in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith) as well as fill in enough of the Death Star's back-story as an object and a habitat as to make it seem more than the MacGuffin it served as in Episode IV. If the show more characters and situations aren't developed as fully as one might wish, well, this is the Star Wars sandbox we're playing in, and one should remember how tight and arbitrary Lucas's control is over any piece of fiction set in it. Reaves and Perry had a thankless task in straddling a purely Saturday matinee/comic book modality with a slightly more adult viewpoint (the architect and political prisoner Teela Kaarz, plucked off of the prison planet of Despayre [and oh, what a Kirbyesque, New Gods-ish name that is...] to work on modifying the non-military interiors of the Death Star, gives herself several justifications for aiding the Empire that "almost" convince her; p. 63), and it is to their credit that they succeeded as much as they did. That said, Death Star is apt to at least faintly disappoint hardcore Star Wars geeks as much as it does the more casual fans, albeit for different reasons. show less

I enjoyed this book more than I have any Star Wars novel for quite some time. Actually, once I got into it, I had a hard time putting it down.

Generally speaking, the story tracks a wide range of characters who play roles, however minor, in the development and construction of the Death Star. The characters are pretty interesting, and they're likable even when it seems like maybe they shouldn't be.

I also think the book does a pretty good job of conveying the sheer scale of the project, both in terms of the logistics involved and the effect it would have on the galaxy and the individuals involved in the day-to-day operations.

Oh, and there's a pretty solid dose of Darth Vader, too, which is never a bad thing. All in all, this is just a fun show more read. show less

Death Star was an enjoyable tale that was sort of prequel, but also ran concurrently to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The novel centers around the construction of the original Death Star. Grand Moff Tarkin shares the stage along with Darth Vader as the main villains in the novel. Vader is involved periferally at first before taking the main stage.

The book starts with the introduction of an eclectic group of characters including the owner of a cantina, an escaped prisoner, and a fighter pilot. Their lives run concurrently, and for a time, it didn't readily appear how they were going to figure in the outcome, but eventually their story lines melded. I enjoyed the weaving in of these new characters and a new storyline into the existing show more plot of A New Hope. It was pretty seamless and the backstory added depth to the story. On top of that, I found the writing to be very professional and competent. If you enjoy sci-fi and Star Wars, then this is something that you will want to read.

Carl Alves - author of Blood Street show less