Specter Of The Past

Finished last night. To quote Newman, from Seinfeld - eexxxceeleent. I thought the separate stories were handled really well. You spend a fair amount of time on each, really giving them time to breathe. More than the previous novels, I enjoyed the lengthy government stories.

An aside; I never had strong feelings about Lando one way or the other. Liked him in Empire, but gave him little thought after that. In the Zahn novels, he's become one of my favorite characters. Well written and with substance. For me, his chapters are right up there with Skywalker and Mara.

[Mild spoiler].
This book felt more cerebral in it's handling of how the New Republic struggles with all its planetary arguing and posturing. When I think about how we live on a planet where 196 countries can barely get along on a good day (some not even remotely amicable), it makes the New Republic stories even more realistic. It's us on a much larger scale, but it feels very familiar. Like us, there aren't always easy answers or fixes when cultures have such fundamental differences. Interesting stuff for sure.
[/Mild spoiler].

This novel has a sort of cliff-hanger ending which I really found intriguing. I started Vision Of The Future just moments after I finished it . Review to come.