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    Star Wars: Tarkin
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    Star Wars: Tarkin
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    Star Wars: Tarkin
    Audiobook9 hours

    Star Wars: Tarkin

    Written by James Luceno

    Narrated by Euan Morton

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . .

    Bestselling Star Wars veteran James Luceno gives Grand Moff Tarkin the Star Wars: Darth Plagueis treatment, bringing the legendary character from A New Hope to full, fascinating life.

    He's the scion of an honorable and revered family. A dedicated soldier and distinguished legislator. Loyal proponent of the Republic and trusted ally of the Jedi Order. Groomed by the ruthless politician and Sith Lord who would be Emperor, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin rises through the Imperial ranks, enforcing his authority ever more mercilessly . . . and zealously pursuing his destiny as the architect of absolute dominion.

    Rule through the fear of force rather than force itself, he advises his Emperor. Under Tarkin's guidance, an ultimate weapon of unparalleled destruction moves ever closer to becoming a terrifying reality. When the so-called Death Star is completed, Tarkin is confident that the galaxy's lingering pockets of Separatist rebellion will be brought to heel-by intimidation . . . or annihilation.

    Until then, however, insurgency remains a genuine threat. Escalating guerrilla attacks by resistance forces and newfound evidence of a growing Separatist conspiracy are an immediate danger the Empire must meet with swift and brutal action. And to bring down a band of elusive freedom fighters, the Emperor turns to his most formidable agents: Darth Vader, the fearsome new Sith enforcer as remorseless as he is mysterious; and Tarkin-whose tactical cunning and cold-blooded efficiency will pave the way for the Empire's supremacy . . . and its enemies' extinction.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateNov 4, 2014
    ISBN9781101888308
    Unavailable
    Star Wars: Tarkin

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    Reviews for Star Wars

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    • 4/5
      The characterisations and individual scenes are up to Luceno's usual standards, but even my strong interest in the Tarkin character doesn't quite manage to convey proper interest in the rather insignificant rebel mystery plot that is the book's main plot engine. That said, the asides and dives into Tarkin's past and personailty are great and make the read well worth it, as do the scenes with Vader and the Emperor, which provides interesting hints of the inner workings of both of them.
    • 5/5
      Tarkin was always an interesting character to me and this book does a fantastic job of shining a light on what makes him tick. The other thing I appreciated about this story is the connection to Vader / Anakin that references events during the Clone Wars. A worthwhile read for any Star Wars fan.
    • 3/5
      Tarkin is a decent book. It tells the rough-and-tumble backstory of the man who controlled the Death Star, basically in two different time periods. The main time is a mission he is conducting at the Emperor's behest with the assistance of Darth Vader. The second is his childhood, in which he was raised partially in the wild, hunting and killing to stay alive. This leads up, perhaps conveniently, to Tarkin being able to use his past to help with the present situation. This book isn't a very action-packed adventure, and the buildup is extremely slow. However, this book, more than any other source, gives the reader an idea of who Wilhuff Tarkin is.
    • 4/5
      The book about Tarkin set in between the two trilogies and it's about how he became Grand Moff. Unfortunately the story itself- a cat and mouse chase after a stolen ship - isn't too interesting or exciting. We have Lord Vader as well, but his figure is strangely weightless through the story. A shame really because this character deserves much better....
    • 3/5
      I've always thought of Grand Moff Tarkin was one of the underappreciated villains of the Star Wars saga. He was a powerful commander close to the Emperor, called Darth Vader an "old friend," and did not hesitate to destroy the planet Alderaan. And yet, for all his power, he survives no further in the original trilogy than the Rebel assault on the first Death Star, dying when a young, inexperienced pilot named Luke Skywalker blows up the space station. If Vader's management style was brute force, Tarkin's was manipulation and fear.

      "Fear will keep the local systems in line," he told his gathered commanders aboard the Death Star on news that the Senate had been disbanded. "Fear of this battle station."

      And so, with fear as his theme, James Luceno's Tarkin builds a life for Wilhuff Tarkin, creating a character, not from whole cloth, but from the hints and clues George Lucas left in A New Hope as to who Grand Moff Tarkin might be if he had had a more full biography. Born the son of a powerful family, he is raised and trained to build their honor. He shows an aptitude for clever and strategic planning, developed over years of training in the wilds of his home planet. He becomes a loyal soldier of the Republic, an ally of the Jedi, and yet, easily makes the transition to the Empire.

      Luceno's Tarkin is a fun, quick read. Not too deep, but not shallow, either. But then, he doesn't have much to go on. With what he does have, Luceno carves out a cold, but sympathetic, Grand Moff Tarkin.
    • 5/5
      Tarkin by James LucenoSecond book I have read for the "new canon" (or simply canon, since Expanded Universe has been rebranded as Legends). Was excited to know that Luceno was assigned this book after reading previous Star Wars most notably Darth Plagueis, it was good that some of the personaly traits were explored specially why is ruthless and calculating after being trained in the wilderness by a family member.The action is not fast pace and at times it reads a little more like a mystery. Will be interesting to see if more is planned around Tarkin's history
    • 1/5
      Godawful piece of crap.
    • 4/5
      Nice (but somewhat short) addition to the new EU. If you liked Luceno's work in the old EU then definitely check this out - it has all his trademark detail re: politics, continuity, etc.
    • 3/5
      "Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station."
      -Grand Moff Tarkin, A New Hope

      Tarkin by James Luceno explores the rise of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, a minor but not insignificant character who first appeared A New Hope and spoke the words above. While Luceno does a good job of fleshing out Tarkin's past and the formation of his doctrine of rule by fear, but unfortunately it feels a bit hampered by too many side stories and hand waving from the Lucasfilm Story Group in attempt to convince you that this is still Star Wars for disgruntled EU "Legends" fans.

      Luceno starts off his story a few years after the conclusion of Revenge of the Sith. Moff Wilhuff Tarkin has been in command of the remote Sentinel Base for a few years where a secret imperial construction project is underway. While it is not a bad post, Moff Tarkin has higher ideas and greater ambitions that he wishes to share with the Emperor. Through a series of flashbacks we get to see the formation of Tarkin's philosophy of dominance and rule by fear. We see his development into a man in the wilderness of Eriadu, the pressures of family expectations and the building of a relationship with Senator, now Emperor, Palpatine. These vignettes from the past are sprinkled through the book with refernces to the 'Carrion Spike' as some defining moment in his life that keeps us curious to find out more.

      After a well-coordinated attack on the base by an unknown group, Tarkin is called back to Coruscant to meet with the Emperor and his advisors. We get a glimpse into how Coruscant has changed in just the few years since the Clone Wars ended. Luceno describes much of this through the architectural changes and how it reflects the tone of the new Empire which I found interesting.

      We get to meet a few familiar faces along the way from the prequels and Clone Wars TV show. I am only somewhat familiar with the Clone Wars so I appreciated the little bit of context that was given for these references. While its nice to see and hear some familiar people and places, I do feel some of the references were a bit forced. Names like 'Isard' or 'Obroa-Skai' were often mentioned for little reason. It often felt like the Lucasfilm Story Group wants to repopulate the new Star Wars canon with as many familiar words as possible to win back some of the fanbase they lost when they said all past EU material is no longer canon. I understand that and appreciate it, but it seems like this material could be incorporated in a more meaningful way than what feels more like a product placement or checklist.

      On Coruscant we get a view of Imperial politics at the beginning of its rise. The political climate is still in settling down and people are vying for a position of influence. It was interesting to see the Emperor's perspective on this and how little he cared for the details of the politics. We get a glimpse into his motivations for his public rise to power and what his actual plans are. There was a surprising amount of detail on the Emperor which contributes to a larger issue in the book of not enough focus on the title character. Sometimes you forget the book's title.

      Another interesting storyline is following a band of dissidents who do there best to subvert both the Empire and Tarkin. They are 'Rebels' but each character has conflicting motivations behind their rebellion. Their actions are morally nuanced and sometimes you forget that the Empire is the bad guy. Its interesting to look at the rebels from the Empire's perspective.

      One last interesting point of the book is the relationship of Vader and Tarkin. Does Tarkin know who is behind the mask? Why do they speak on such familiar terms in A New Hope? This book starts to explore those ideas. Vader has to be one of the most difficult characters to write for. He is so detached and doesn't say much. And we don't really know him between Episodes III and IV. At first I found some of his dialogue awkward, but after reviewing it seems like Luceno did a decent job at giving a voice to early Vader.

      Overall Tarkin was not as strong of a book as A New Dawn was in the new canon but it was still a fun read. If you are interested in exploring the new Star Wars canon or learning about Tarkin, Emperor Palpatine or the formation of the Empire, then I would recommend this book. If you are only mildly interested in reading a Star Wars book or only want to spend time reading the best of the best then I might recommend reading something else. I certainly wouldn't start with this one.
    • 4/5
      Taking on one of the most intriguing characters in the Star Wars universe, James Luceno does an admirable job fleshing out the persona of Wilhuff Tarkin. Played perfectly by Peter Cushing in 1977, Tarkin has always been an enigma. How did this man become the commander of the Death Star and an equal to, or sometimes seemingly a superior of, Darth Vader himself? Luceno weaves a story filled with action surrounding a joint Tarkin-Vader mission for the Emperor and flashbacks to Tarkin's childhood and adolescence.Set five years after the events in Revenge of the Sith, we are treated to a triple threat here: the growth of Tarkin into the man we see in Star Wars: A New Hope, the continued development of Darth Vader as he grows in the Dark Side, and the seeds of the Rebellion that will reach its pinnacle 15 years into the future.The action opens on the mysterious Sentinel Base where the newly promoted Moff Tarkin is overseeing a project of epic proportion for the Emperor. The base is attacked by remnants of the Separatist Movement from the Clone Wars. While he is able to deflect the ambush, Tarkin is recalled to Coruscant where he faces the Emperor and is tasked to lead a joint mission with Darth Vader to root out the Separatists and eliminate them completely. While on this mission, the Moff's cruiser, Carrion Spike, is hijacked and after being used by the Separatists to attack Imperial installations it is up to Tarkin and Vader to track the ship down before more damage can be done, all the while unraveling plots and conspiracies over two years in the making.To say I had high hopes and expectations for thie book would be an understatement As a life long Star Wars fan, I have always been intrigued by Grand Moff Tarkin ever since seeing him on the big screen. What made this ruthless Imperial tick? How did he get to such a prominent position in the Imperial pantheon, especially command of the Death Star? When I saw that James Luceno was taking the reins and fleshing out this story, I was even more excited, and was not let down!Tarkin reads more like an espionage thriller and psychological case study than a science fiction adventure, as with most other Star Wars Expanded Universe novels. The pacing was deliberate and methodical, giving you a true sense not only of the way in which the main investigation in the story is handled, but also a look at the personality of Tarkin himself. Luceno never lacks on the details, but the story does not get bogged down in them either. By weaving in stories of Tarkin's childhood and adolescence, as well as the trials he endured to shape him, we are treated to a wonderful character study that slowly reveals more complexity and layers to Wilhuff Tarkin than you would ever imagine existed. Couple that with the asides and glimpses into characters such as Vader and the Emperor while interacting with Tarkin, and the entire triumvirate truly comes alive.There are some points where the action seems to drag, but, much like Tarkin himself, the story is well metered, calculated, and focused on its desired end. Readers looking for lots of action will be disappointed, but hopefully not for long as they get to know and understand the personality of one of the most calculating and fearless leaders of the Galactic Empire.Many thanks to LucasBooks, NetGalley, and James Luceno for the opportunity to read and review Tarkin early in exchange for an honest review. The final version will be released on November 4, 2014.Four out of five stars.
    • 3/5
      Del Rey has marketed this book as James Luceno giving Tarkin the Darth Plagueis treatment. In that respect this book was a failure. With Plagueis in mind I was expecting Luceno to expertly weave together his previous novels featuring Tarkin, Tarkin's appearances in The Clone Wars animated TV show, Tarkin as we know him in A New Hope, and new original material. We get bits and pieces of all these elements, but it is in a very sporadic fashion.

      The setting of the main plot line is a short time after the creation of the Empire (5 years?) on an outpost in the outer rim. Moff Tarkin encounters a new threat that the Emperor tasks him and Darth Vader to unravel together. This conspiracy they work to uncover throughout the book is interesting enough, but is not something that really pulled me in. Part of the problem is the main plot intertwines with various flashbacks, one of them focusing on Tarkin's final trial on his home planet Eriadu. His trial on Eriadu is actually more intriguing than the main plot, but it isn't wrapped up until the end of the book. I think I would have preferred Tarkin told chronologically.

      There were also some more specific issues I had. The trial in the wilderness of Eriadu was a very compelling back story that helped inform who Tarkin is. Through this experience Tarkin learned how to tame and control nature. Luceno poses the idea that Tarkin applies these same principles to everything else he does in his life. This is what allows him to climb to the top of the food chain. While these principles clearly help Tarkin advance through the military ranks, among other things, I have a hard time buying they are ultimately responsible for him achieving everything he does. The ability to tame nature is not the same as being politically savvy, nor does it make you a military mastermind.

      Probably due to Plagueis I have always been interested in seeing things from the Emperor's point of view. For this novel I wish the Emperor was only included to show what his relationship with Tarkin was. I did not enjoy the Emperor's internal monologues, nor did they add much to the story. I felt it even served to weaken the character. The Emperor was portrayed as being caught unaware of the escalating conflict. For someone who was able to put a 1,000 year plan for galactic domination into motion I feel like he should be a little more clued in to something that is so trivial.
      Decent story, but I was expecting much more.
    • 5/5
      I thought it was outstanding. A view from the other side that for the most part justifies the Empires iron rule to keep peace no restrictions on eliminating terrorists.
    • 4/5
      In-depth look in to Tarkin’s mind and end goals. Exciting!!
    • 5/5
      Fantastic, a really good audiobook. Short compared to other Star Wars ones over listened to but nonetheless I enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book. James Luceno takes one of the most mysterious and fascinating characters in Tarkin and makes him slightly less mysterious and all the more fascinating. We even get a rare glimpse into the mind and psyche of the Emperor himself! One of my favourite Star Wars reads. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      I admit to being a serious Star Wars fanboy, and I have read a ton of the books that have gone along with the Extended Universe and I always want them to be good. I root for them. Unfortunately I can't say that Star Wars: Tarkin is a good book.Part of this is not the author's fault. SW:T is saddled with two handicaps before it even gets out of the gate. The first one is the same one that afflicts the movie prequels: there is little real dramatic tension when you know the protagonists' futures going in. We know that Tarkin is successful, we know he keeps the Emperor's favor and becomes commander of the Death Star. We know the exact moment and cause of his death. So basically we know how it's going to end, the only question being how he is going to solve this problem on his way to greatness. The second handicap is one maybe more people will disagree with me about. I think that it is very difficult to write a story where the protagonist is a villain. There is a narrow space between treating such a protagonist with too much or too little sympathy. How can someone who has seen Star Wars root for Tarkin? How can they root against his antagonists? This is not a question of an anti-hero, Tarkin is a villain, he's not a tortured soul who does wrong things for the right reasons. Luceno unfortunately did not really solve this dilemma in any way.On to specifics about the book and yes there will be some spoilers. There is far too much exposition at the expense of plot. We hear about Tarkin's youth from the perspective of his adulthood. We hear about his past meetings with the Emperor/Senator Palpatine. We hear about all of this without any immediacy or any drama, even his 'trials' on his home planet of Eriadu. The end result is to drag at the pacing of the storyline set in the present.What's worse is that I couldn't buy what Luceno did with his main character. Tarkin is an iconic villain in the Star Wars Universe. But he's a cold-blooded, strategic thinking intellectual villain. You never get the impression that he would slice you open to watch your giblets spill out, or cut loose with a maniacal laugh. That's what he has Vader for in the movie. Vader is very much Tarkin's blunt instrument, the physical manifestation of the Grand Moff's chilly menace. So why in the world does Luceno turn him into a blood-drinking savage, a hunter who eats the warm raw liver he's pulled out of his kill? It's ridiculous. He's not that kind of villain. The upper crust families (including Tarkin's) from a planet out in the sticks of the galaxy are resentful of those from the Core because those sophisticates look down their noses at their Outer Rim country cousins, and the solution is to behave like a primitive warrior society? It doesn't ring true and I found myself rolling my eyes frequently throughout the narrative. It didn't ring true to have Tarkin suit up and fly a starfighter in a space battle. Again, not that kind of guy. The crucible that formed Tarkin's persona would be much more believable if it had been of a more intellectual bent.Finally, most of the first chapter and part of the last dealt with uniform fitting and selection. Seriously.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is my first Star Wars novel I've listened to and never really look at Tarkin as much of a character. But after this, I have a new found respect for the man. Loved his conversations with Vader and the Emperor. I'm looking for my next star wars novel now..

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Tarkin ranks, for me, as one of the worst Star Wars novels written. It just was not very exciting. I usually read through SW novels very quickly; this one took me much longer. I feel what may have been the biggest problem is that Luceno started off writing one story and was then told that he had to include another one. The story starts off with very little happening in the “present,” 14 years before the battle of Yavin (BBY)/ 5 years after Revenge of the Sith, with most of what’s happening being flashbacks to Tarkin’s youth. Which kind of goes all over the place, from an austere, wealthy upbringing shot through with time spent surviving in a primal nature preserve owned by his family, to time spent in military school, fighting pirates, to a little bit of political involvement. Then, his ship, a custom built, advanced corvette, gets stolen out from under him and Darth Vader, and the story suddenly shifts, quickly introducing a whole new, throw away cast of rebels, who seem to have an insider somewhere in Emperor Palpatine’s inner circle feeding them instructions and information. The rest of the story is this group of rebels doing minor raids on minor Imperial targets while two very high ranking individuals, Darth Vader and Moff Tarkin, rather ineptly attempt to catch them. To add to the incredulity, the whole Imperial navy goes through a complete reorganization across the galaxy just because one powerful, stealthy corvette attacked one military depot. That depot is even far away from the Core, and the first sentence of the book is about how the further you are from the Core, the less important you are!There are a large amount of references to other Star Wars properties; some major ones to the Clone Wars tv show and some minor ones to older novels. Most of these felt thrown in and unresolved, almost as if Luceno was trying his best to fit things from the Clone Wars tv show and the Prequel movies in with the now “non-canon” Expanded Universe books.I ended up very disappointed in the book. I have really liked some of Luceno’s other Star Wars novels, but this one was a complete drag, full of stuff I was never compelled to care about. Darth Vader often felt very out of character; he talked way too much! Takin’s background was uninspiring, the main “protagonists” of the book are abruptly introduced halfway through the book and have very little impact on anything in the larger Star Wars universe, and we get a really tiny look into the construction of the Death Star.
    • 4/5
      Grand Moff Tarkin has never been a character I put very much interest in but when I heard that Luceno was helming this book I had to check it out. “Tarkin” is as much an origin story as it is a ship chase. We get glimpses of pivotal moments in Tarkin's youth that helped shape him into the, let's be honest, heartless creep that he is in both TCW and ANH. These are told through what amount to flashback sequences that mirror events as the Governor (and Vader) chase troublemaking shipjackers across the galaxy. The problem is that throughout the entire novel there's really very little dialogue compared to how much exposition and walls o' text there are. Luceno handles these wonderfully, but at times they were a bit of a struggle to get through simply because there was so much in one part of the story.Tarkin's relationship with both Darth Vader and Palpatine is given a little more substance and complexity than we've seen on-screen, so that's a big plus (honestly, if there were a book that was nothing but Tarkin and Vader sassing each other I'd tear through it in a heartbeat). The links and foreshadowing to the Death Star, Tarkin's own fiery demise, and even the change in Imperial uniforms are also pleasant nods that I quite enjoyed catching.
    • 4/5
      Pretty good audiobook. The story was interesting, plus the voice for Tarkin did a really good job. There's only one voice for Darth Vader and that's James Earl Jones. However, the Vader voice in this story was good enough. Give it a read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      “Star Wars: Tarkin” – Fear Keeps Them in LineLike some other recent Star Wars releases from Del Rey, I did not get what I expected from this novel. The hype I’d heard leading up to this release was basically – “Wilhuff Tarkin gets the Darth Plagueis treatment.” I assumed this was more than simply because they had the same author. I was braced for a decades-spanning biographic narrative - similar to Plagueis & Sidious - telling Tarkin’s story from his backwater birth to his meteoric rise within a fledgling Galactic Empire. I did not get that. And, in truth, I got something far better. Wilhuff Tarkin has made enough appearances (in and out of Canon) in the past that there are just too many things to fit in and too many things to exclude. Luceno takes an excellent approach and tells a very narrow tale that spans only a week or two in the span of galactic history. Through that tale, though, he has woven smartly-placed flashbacks showing us Tarkin’s most formative years as an early teen and young adult. He doesn’t spend unnecessary pages on this – just enough to give you an idea, and then it’s back to the story. I found this approach to be very effective and enjoyable. This particular story shows us the mind of Tarkin in sharp detail – his cunning, his analytical process, and his ruthless pursuit of order. Much like in Darth Plagueis, the reader simply can’t help but root for the bad guys. The plight of the “dissidents” in this story doesn’t particularly engender any sympathy in the reader as we might expect. I found myself actually wanting Tarkin and Vader to squash these guys like bugs. Speaking of Vader, he plays a supporting role in this story but an important one. Like in “Lords of the Sith,” we see hints of the humanity that still lurks inside that helmet and armor – not to be confused with sympathy or empathy, but at least the raw emotion that fuels him. There is recognition of his past experiences before the epic duel on Mustafar that claimed his former identity. Make no mistake, this is NOT Anakin Skywalker, but you can see that he once was Anakin, and his memories are carefully dealt with by Luceno. I found some of my favorite moments to be the personal discussions between he and Tarkin – two unlikely partners in the shaping of galactic events. One would never mistake them for friends, but this novel does an excellent job of painting their relationship as one of mutual (if grudging) respect – perhaps even admiration. Ultimately they both want to serve the Emperor, the Empire, and (perhaps most crucially for Tarkin) the establishment of order.This book was a quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were accurately portrayed and my brain couldn’t help but play out the dialogue in my head in the voices of James Earl Jones and Peter Cushing. The Emperor appears slightly more fallible here than we saw him in “Lords of the Sith” but a powerful presence none-the-less. The would-be rebels in the tale are largely forgettable (as perhaps was intended) but the ending leaves open the possibility of at least one of them appearing again – perhaps in the “Rebels” series? Time will tell.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Per usual, fanfiction explorations of the Dark Side profit better reading than any offered by rouge squadron or other jedi tales. Tarkin rivals Plageus in quality, offering intersecting views of vader, the emperor and tarkin himself at a time when the rebellion is only a glimmer on the horizon.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Holy crap, this book was good. I felt dirty rooting for Tarkin and the Empire, but that's exactly what happened. The interaction between Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader was very well done. Luceno did a fabulous job flushing out Tarkin's history and moments of his childhood at such moments that were relevant to the ongoing story. I would absolutely listen to this again and have already recommended it to all of my friends, whether they're as into Star Wars or not. Anyone who likes Sci-Fi can appreciate this book in written or audio format.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Interesting, but boring and lifeless.
    • 5/5
      Loved it! It really captured and explained the dangerous genius that was Willhuff Tarkin. A good Star Wars book, but a bit more heady than your standard fare. Well worth the read for any fan of Star Wars or Science fiction in general.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      A fascinating exploration of a character often written as a fairly one-dimensional villain.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This novel, set in the Star War’s Extended Universe, delves into the history of the man who will become Grand Moff Tarkin . It also provides Empire worldbuilding from a perspective rarely seen in Star Wars fiction. Moving between defining portions of Wilhuff Tarkin’s history and his current project, the completion of a mobile battle station that has been years in the making, the tale moves from Erudia and Geonosis on the Outer Rim to Coruscant and goes on to visit a number of planets in between. The military strategy at times made me think back to The Lost Fleet, though admittedly space warfare in the Star Wars universe is significantly different. As the novel opens, Tarkin soon finds himself summoned to the capital and then sent on a mission with Lord Vader which may be as much about getting two of the emperor’s protégés acclimated to working together as it is about tracking down a group of violent dissidents whose actions soon strike at the Empire broadly and Tarkin particularly.
    • 3/5
      I’ve been a great admirer of James Luceno’s Star Wars work in the past, especially his book Darth Plagueis about the eponymous Sith Lord who was the master of Darth Sidious. Having experienced Luceno’s approach to writing Star Wars villains and the credit he does them, I didn’t hesitate to add Tarkin to my reading list with high hopes for the author’s insight into the formidable Grand Moff.Even if you’re only passing familiar with the films, you’ve probably heard of the name Tarkin. Introduced as the primary antagonist in the first original Star Wars movie, you may recall he’s the evil bastard who threatens Princess Leia with the destruction of her home planet Alderaan if she doesn’t give up the location of the rebel base, and then turns around and blows it up anyway when she gives him a name. But he’s also a soldier and a politician. A scion of a great house. A former Republic proponent and friend of the Jedi. This novel explores all this and more as we delve deeper into this notorious character’s background and history.In the wake of Palpatine’s rise to power, rebels and freedom fighters continue to be a bane to the empire. As a trusted advisor to his emperor, Tarkin is tasked along with the fearsome and mysterious Darth Vader to squirrel out pockets of the insurgency and extinguish the spark of rebellion before it has a chance to catch. As expected, Luceno’s work here is solid. If I have any criticisms at all with this novel – and I do have a few – it would have absolutely nothing to do with his writing or storytelling. Quite simply, the author does a thoroughly impressive job pulling together the past and present in order to paint a comprehensive picture of Wilhuff Tarkin. The story is deftly told using a combination of flashbacks and memories woven into the narrative that tells us what’s currently happening. Considering the way we go back and forth throughout the course of the story, I’m somewhat surprised that the pacing did not suffer. Instead, most of my problems with this book lies with the character. Let’s face it, despite being one of the most ruthless and cold-blooded villains in Star Wars history who even holds “Darth Vader’s leash”, you’re just not as sexy or high on the popularity food chain if you aren’t swinging a lightsaber or wielding the force. Luceno had his work cut out for him making Tarkin a more interesting and appealing character, and I don’t know if he quite manages. We all know Tarkin’s an evil bastard. And after this book, he’s still an evil bastard. Sure, there are some great insights into his past here, such as how his experience playing “Survivor” in the Carrion honed his future skills as a cunning soldier and military strategist. But what does that tell me about the man inside? Everything we learn about him merely scratches the surface while the core of his personality remains aloof. There’s scant little dynamic in his character and I felt like an observer kept at arm’s length.However, we do gain more understanding into Tarkin’s relationship with both the Emperor and Darth Vader. These were the three who controlled the galaxy by sowing fear after the Clone Wars, and long has it been speculated that Palpatine partnered up the other two on purpose so that they could benefit from each other’s skills. The story in this book showed how that plan ultimately created one of the most fearsome teams that ever existed. In a way, the plot here played out almost like a twisted buddy movie, with the added irony that Tarkin and the Jedi Anakin Skywalker used to be friendly and worked quite closely together. It’s the little moments, like when Tarkin regards Darth Vader and starts surmising his true identity that are probably more rewarding than anything else.This book was actually quite enjoyable, even if it probably won’t rank up there with my favorite Star Wars novels. It doesn’t stand out, though not for want of trying. Luceno did a great job on the writing front, and was probably only held back by the limitations that are inherent in Tarkin’s character himself.
    • 5/5
      I liked it, but it gets a little long winded in parts
    • 5/5
      As a tribute to an unknown but fascinating back story, James Luceno brings one of Star Wars most compelling villains to the forefront of Star Wars canon in the most fascinating way.