Luke Skywalker And The Shadows Of Mindor (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
It's tough to be Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars expanded universe. Most authors have no idea what to do with him or even have any idea who he really is. You get the sense that he's just there because, damn it, he's the main character of the original trilogy, so he HAS to be included even though there are many other, more interesting characters.This leads to depictions of Luke that are downright abominations of the original character; you've got the Luke from Legacy of the Force THAT ORDERS A WOMAN TO HUNT AND KILL HER TWIN BROTHER. Sure, that brother fell to the dark side . . . but how the hell is that the same guy who believed in the good left in Darth Vader, even though Darth Vader is likely even more evil than Hitler if we're measuring in "total number of people killed."So, yeah, a lot of authors don't get Luke. Matt Stover does, though.This is a Star Wars story that's about the power of stories. It's about heroes and myths and the power of what you believe. Most importantly, it's a book that perfectly captures the Luke Skywalker from Return of the Jedi. I think in the pop culture mindset, the caricature of Luke is "the whiny farmboy." We think of wanting to go to Tosche Station. We forget the person Luke grows into, the guy who walks into Jabba's palace without even wearing a lightsaber, the guy who believes in the good in people so much that it's what allows him to redeem Darth Vader.Matt Stover reminded me why Luke Skywalker is awesome. That's a high achievement for a Star Wars book.The other thing that Stover does is draw strong comparisons between Luke and Anakin, if you read his novelization for Revenge of the Sith (and you should, because it's very good). Luke is NOTHING like Anakin when it comes to being a Jedi. Luke is kinder, more humble, more protective (but not possessive). Yeah, they both save people . . . but for Anakin, he does it because that's just what he is supposed to do. Luke never even thinks about that; it just shows in every action he takes. He does the right thing. Luke's a good person in all the ways his father wasn't.That all makes for a good book. It feels like classic Star Wars. It has some great twists and turns. Most of all, it reminds me that there's a version of Luke Skywalker out there that is awesome. He might have started as a whiny kid . . . but he matures into an excellent hero. It was something that I'd forgotten somewhere along the way. I'm glad Stover's book helped me remember. This goes down in history as the first book I could not finish even though I am an avid reader of the EU. Dialogue was stilted, I don't think the characters acted like they normally would, and there must have been some kind of quota for the number of prequal trilogy tie-in bits. (Just because we know what happened back then, doesn't mean the big 3 have to now go and learn it all in minute detail.) There's this scene in it where Luke is being dragged down into dark side despair or something and I started to feel the same way, fearing that there were never going to be any more good SW books. Intellectually I know (or are at least pretty sure) I'm wrong, but this book was really depressing.
What do You think about Luke Skywalker And The Shadows Of Mindor (2008)?
A very fun read with a lot of fast paste action all the way through.
—armstead
OK, but I wanted more stuff with the force.
—CC_123
A decent book for Skywalker fans.
—o0Cloaked_Schemer0o
