Timothy Zahn has been one of the better and most consistant authors to have graced that Star Wars universe, in my opinion at least. He has created many of my personal favorite characters from inside the expanded universe, including but not limited to, Mara Jade (both hero and villian) and Grand Admiral Thrawn ( one of the best villians ever in a book). Though over the course of the books he has written, it always appears that the books are part of a larger story arc that has not yet come to fruition. I always keep expecting Thrawn to rise from the ashes to make a glorious come back in the name of the empire. Sadly, that has not happened yet, but I am very glad that Zahn and those who sign the writers, have not left these characters whose still got so much backstory to delve into, to rot and leave in obscurity.
In Allegiance, Timothy Zahn goes back to prior to even the Empire Strikes Back movie, to delve into the past of the character Mara Jade, who is by far, my favorite female character from not just the expanded universe, but in general out of the entire Star Wars realm of history. No other character has both that strength and fragility about them but yet is still managed to be believable. This time though, we get a taste of what it was like for her to work for the man, The Emperor himself, as the Emperors Hand. Through out the other books, we have gotten tid bits of what it was like for her, to kill without thought, just because it was her mission, but never before have we gotten a chance to read it first hand.
The story starts you out with the first of three sets of sub-stories going on here. In one corner you got Mara Jade who starts off going after a Governor of a star system thought to be committing treason against the empire. Searching through his merchandise she finds the information needed to accuse him of his excess, which could only be on account of him embezzeling, but she discovers some paintings as well, which leads her to the bigger story at large her. In the next corner, we got the five imperial stormtroopers, who, after refusing to follow orders to shoot all citizens in a supposed rebel village (most at least didn’t follow the order), they are accused of possible treason by an elite officer from the ISB. (Think of it as being the nazi SS, or the futuristic equivelent). After a minor scuffle, they are forced to run or else be brought on trial for the murder of the ISB officer.Then in the last corner, we have our ever so lovely rebels. We got the still farmboyish Luke Skywalker, the scruffy looking Han Solo, Chewbacca, the droids as well as her royal highness Leia. Now I must say, while they seem to play one of the three major parts of the book, they are sort of in here I think to just get the story rolling, as they really play a overall minor roll. The main focus of the story here is Mara and the stormtrooper squad.
The stories of all three of these come together when a pirate group has been consolidating power in the Shelsha sector of the outer rim. Through a group of events which nearly has all three of them cascading into each other at almost any point of the story, for the most part, none of them ever meet up more so till the end of the story. I was worried about this myself, as I know Mara was not supposed to meet skywalker till she played her part as Arica on Jabba’s palace in Return of the Jedi, but the inter weaving stories was handled expertly by Zahn and at no point did the stories converge exactly.
The one thing I really loved about this story was the going back to learn more about the Emperors Hand. As always in other books, Mara has always described herself as a merciless killer. Which, coming from someone who was personally trained by the Emperor himself (I mean look at Vader, who was also Trained mostly by the Emperor, perhaps not so much trained but for sure twisted). In this book Mara is around the age of 18 or so, still a child in all respects, but she relates to the Emperor as a “wise and good man”, as one would probably see their own father. You figure though, she has probably been trained for years before this, as such, he has been with her most of her life, as such, she would see the “good” in him. In this story, she don’t come across as a ruthless cold blooded killer, she is ruthless in her persuit, but she seems to not kill without reason. A soldier in that respect. I see someone that believes they are doing the right thing, someone that anyone could place themselves if the circumstances put you in her shoes. Which is why I love Zahns characters, they are down to earth and fallible. They are and could be anyone of us.
The only problem I had with the story, is it took a few chapters to really get going. A minor problem to begin with and one that’s really not worth the words here. All around this is a great read in every aspect. If you have read some of Zahns other works in the Star Wars fiction you will love this. If you have not read them, please, leave me your address so I might come to your house and beat you over the head with a stick, as these books are not to be missed by anyone!
Rating: 10/10
Also, to those who are interested, it appears that there is another book coming out portraying the events of Mara Jade as the Emperors Hand, as well as the Stormtrooper unit calling themselves the Hand of Judgement. The book releases July 12th, you can preorder it here through amazon.
Tsuki's Ramblings 