Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)

SUMMARY: Luke, Leia, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian face danger at every turn and must use every weapon and resource at their disposal to confront the combined forces of Black Sun and the Empire. Vadar faces a battle of his own, against a villain every bit as evil as the Dark Lord of the Sith himself. His name is Xizor, Underlord of a galaxywide criminal organization called Black Sun. He seeks to displace Darth Vader as Emperor Palpatine's right hand. To do so, he will hatch a brilliantly evil plan to discredit Vader in the Emperor's eyes. But in the meantime he will join the Dark Lord in an unholy alliance whose common target is the young Rebel hero, Luke Skywalker. While Vader and Xizor bait their trap for Luke, Han Solo is being held captive, flash-frozen in a carbonite slab. Mourning the loss of the man she loves, Princess Leia mounts a rescue mission to free Han. She enlists the aid of Luke, who is sharpening his skill in the Force at Ben Kenobi's home on the edge of Tatooine's Western Dune Sea. Skywalker organizes a crack fighting force, including Wedge Antilles and his famous X-wing squadron; Lando Calrissian; and the mercenary Dash Rendar. Yet the fierce battle that ensues to rescue Han will not go according to plan. For the Empire's spies are everywhere.

Shadows of the Empire illuminates the shadowy outlines of a criminal conspiracy that exists in the background of the events in the movies, ruled by a character new to us. Prince Xizor is a mastermind of evil who dares to oppose one of the best-known fictional villains of all time: Darth Vader. The story involves all the featured Star Wars movie characters, plus Emperor Palpatine and, of course, Lord Vader himself.

Here is the untold story of the events that took place between the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It is a novel in which Darth Vader still lives--and battles a villain as powerful and evil as himself. Ads in Locus. Online promo. HC: Bantam. (Science Fiction)