Allegiance, by Timothy Zahn.
Just started it two nights ago, but absolutely loving it. It seems to be taking place just after Star Wars, so it very much has a 1977 feel. Han is who he was in Star Wars and Luke is still somewhat of a thorn in his side. Han and Chewie feel like they did in the Daley novels. They still see themselves as smugglers with a ship for hire, even if they are struggling a bit with being respectable and having unofficially chosen a side. I'm really enjoying reconnecting with a few friends from 35 years ago.
Updates as they occur.
*update*
The story takes place six months after Star Wars. So far it's three stories. One is our heroes dealing with their differing personalities and whether or not to even stay together as a team. Second is a group of stormtroopers who get themselves into very serious trouble. Third is Mara Jade in her early years serving the Empire.
One scene - not a spoiler - Mara runs into Vader while they are both in the Emperor's personal library doing some research. She's sitting at a computer near him and tries to make small talk. He dismisses her and goes about his research.
She thinks to herself about how the few times she's ever been around him, he's always been unpleasant - for no reason in particular. It's a short meeting, lasts no more than a page or so, and has nothing to do with the story. However, I really like how it gives the people and the story some depth. Zahn is a master at fully realizing characters that way. It was so well written that I could see it as though I were watching it on a screen.
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**Completed. Review. Possible spoilers, which I'll mark.
As Zahn has said before, Allegience is about "three different people and groups with allegiance issues". For me, the best part of the novel is the story of the stormtroopers. That story is so interesting and so well-written that I'm sorry it wasn't a full novel on it's own. Fortunately though, it's a huge portion of this one.
Very interesting idea to have a group of stormtroopers be the center of a story where you see what's under the armor, see them as people with internal conflicts. Well done from start to finish. I'd put their story up against anything Zahn has done. Yeah, that's what I said.
The second storyline deals with our heroes a few months after Star Wars. I thought this one was handled very well also. It was nice to be around the characters the way they originally were. As I mentioned earlier, Han and Chewie feel very Daley-esque, which I'm a huge fan of. Leia is her original feisty self and Luke is still a gung-ho kid. It's what I wish we have been given as the sequel to Star Wars. Good stuff.
The third storyline is Mara in her very early years with the Empire. She's a tough 18-year-old on a mission. I've never made an secret of the fact that I think she's the strongest part of the Thrawn Trilogy and the Hand Of Thrawn duology. In those five novels, she and Luke are fantastically handled. They became my canon for that very reason. In Allegience, I didn't find her nearly as interesting.
*Spoiler*
I didn't find her interesting because everything about her is just a little too perfect. Physical ability, mental ability, combat ability, force-use ability, etc. She passes through the story flawlessly. It was her flaws and mistakes in the Thrawn novels that made her so interesting, particularly the Hand duology.
In this novel she's almost Catwoman-like in her skin tight jumpsuit and acrobatic combat style. I would have found her much more interesting if she had failed occasionally or struggled a bit. Her years with Karrde in the earlier novels (later in her life) made for a much deeper character.
However, at eighteen years of age, life hasn't usually taught people any hard lessons yet. They tend to be naive, cocky and overly confident. So in that regard, she's written correctly. Her naivete' is pointed out and discussed by other characters during the course of the story and that part was refreshing. She has flaws, she just doesn't know it. Yet.
*End Spoiler*
Overall, I enjoyed this novel a great deal.
I'll start reading Choices Of One tonight.