Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost was written by bestselling author Troy Denning. This tale takes place during the New Republic Era on the Expanded Universe novel timeline, eight years ABY.
SUMMARY
The Killik Twilight is one of the last known famous Alderaanian moss pieces, is on its way to auction. The Killik Twilight, isn’t just a unique and magnificent piece of art, but it serves an important role to the New Republic. It contains a hidden spy communications device!
Han and Leia disguise themselves to attend the auction being held on Tatooine, to get the Killik Twilight back in Republic hands. Imperial Star Destroy Chimaera shows up, sending a squad of Imperials to the auction to get the artwork for their Admiral (the name isn’t mentioned, but the man sure loves art).
The auction gets explosive when the art-piece is taken by a familiar name in Star Wars history, Kitster Banai! Now, Leia and Han race against the Empire to recover the art. Along their journey on Tatooine, Leia discovers much about her family history. This story brings in characters from across the timeline in a unique way, teaching Leia many lessons.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
This is a story with many ups and downs, liking and disliking the story throughout. Yet, for me, in the end, the positive outweighed the negative. I can see though how some folks would dislike this story as It leans heavily on The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. The plot was pretty straight forward – get the painting. However, events unfold in a way that relied on Leia’s viewing of the vid-journal that belonged to Shmi.
Troy Denning did a good job stirring up the emotions of Leia, as well as the reader on some occasions. I liked that we got to witness Leia discover a piece of her history, watching her Grandmother on the vid-journal. She experienced conflicting emotions as Shmi spoke of such love for her son – Anakin. Leia, only knowing Anakin as the Darth Vader, the dark lord of the Sith, a torturer, a murder, a destroyer of worlds.
I believe this story feels like a classic adventure with Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and C-3PO. It’s got some really cheesy moments, it’s got wonderful character interaction and references to other things that took place in the expanded universe. One of my favorite mentions is that of Outbound Flight! I think the flashbacks or journal scenes were my favorite parts of the story. There is a pretty wide section that felt very repetitive.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, like I said earlier, I can see why some readers would not like this story and wouldn’t think they were crazy for disliking it. When a book gets me to sit up straight and bring a smile to my face, I’d call it a good book.
Do I recommend you read Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost? Yes, I think this would be a fun one to read immediatly after watching the prequels.
RATING
I give this expanded universe novel a B.