Tatooine Ghost (Star Wars) (Paperback)

The best thing about Tatooine Ghost is that it is a bridge between the old movies and the new trilogy. I really loved the concepts of the new movies but really disliked how Lucas handled them. This book takes those concepts and runs with them, showing us exactly what those stories should have been as they reach across the years and touch Anakin's daughter. Leia finds a journal left behind by Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother, as she records entries that she hopes one day Anakin will read. Leia sees her grandmother and finds another side of Anakin, a side showcased by a mother's love. Elements of Episodes 1 and 2 are woven through the narrative as Han & Leia meet up with some of Anakin's old friends. Some of them don't believe what they've heard about how Anakin became an evil monster. Others accept it but don't let it soil their memories of him. All of this comes at a time where Leia is going through a crisis. She refuses to even think of having children with the possibility that they could turn out to be like their grandfather. She has refused to forgive him or understand what made him who he ultimately was. Through the events in this novel, she slowly comes to terms with it.

The characterization is beautiful. The characters in this novel are not older like they are in the new series, and their sense of adventure is palpable. The book is full of the swashbuckling action, narrow escapes, and banter between the regulars that the original movies showcased. Stormtroopers wander around in their white armour, Jawas hungrily scrounge for droids and other machinery, and Tusken Raiders try to kill everybody who invades their desert domain. It showcases everything I loved about the originals, and makes the new series pale in comparison. I'd forgotten how cool the Empire was as an enemy. This is the Han and Leia that we grew up with, and I didn't realize how much I had missed them until I saw them in action again. Han's still a scoundrel and a smuggler-at-heart while Leia's the tough but sophisticated woman who will do what is necessary for the New Republic, despite not really liking it.

The book also serves as a bridge in the novel series as well. It references all the books around it, from The Truce at Bakura to The Courtship of Princess Leia, as well as Stackpole & Allston's X-Wing series. It connects Leia's reticence toward having children to the fact that they end up having three. It clarifies why Han is helping the New Republic after he grows to loathe the government in Courtship. Anybody who has read my Star Trek reviews knows how I hate unnecessary continuity references. You'd think I would hate this book because it is full of it. But I didn't. I luxuriated in all of the stuff I used to love but thought was gone. I loved how it clarified and examined things, and how it brought all of the movies together. It could not have been written before The Phantom Menace and The Attack of the Clones was produced, but it filled a need that had clearly been there since the beginning of the Star Wars book franchise way back with Zahn's Heir to the Empire.

Enough gushing. I do have to say that Tatooine's Ghost dragged in the middle a little bit. The endless treks through the wasteland, the description of needing water and how they were trying to keep from collapsing started to get old after a while. There were also a few too many in-jokes about how stupid stormtroopers acted in the original movies. The exchanges between the troop commander and his squad as he tries to show them the new, intelligent way to do things was a bit over the top.

You know what? I didn't care. My heroes were back. They weren't older, more seasoned, and slightly boring. The Empire was back. I don't care how dumb they could be. Stormtroopers would kick the Yuuzhan Vong rears. Denning's writing made me so awash in nostalgia, I would have forgiven him anything. So it's a good thing that he made a wonderful book as well. If you're a Star Wars fan, check Tatooine Ghost out. You'll be glad you did.