Kim (Mistry) -
I always look forward to a new SW novel by Matthew Stover. He writes with a style that is refreshing and brings you back to the feelings and the place you want to be when reading about the SW universe. Not so much this time.
The Shadows of Mindor takes place about a year after Endor, and opens with Luke asking for an investigation into what happened when his task force went after a villain named Shadowspawn, because he believes that he was responsible for the deaths of thousands of beings.
The story was a plausible one, but from the get-go, Stover went so far into battlespeak and the tech talk got so heavy handed that I skimmed over most of it. Basically, the entire strike force was doomed (it's Star Wars, they are always doomed!) and it took page after page in each chapter to explain and just dragged the story down.
The philosophical aspects of Luke's plot went so deep that I lost track of what was trying to be told. It was just...boring. The Dark, the Light, the Force....It felt cheap, and like Stover what trying to pull one over on the reader. There was little humor and lots of inside jokes but it just didn't feel like he was serious about the story he was trying to tell.
This is a book you can read and forget about. It doesn't line up with any of the other Expanded Universe novels and series so you don't have to worry about anyone mentioning Mindor in another book and wondering what it was all about...the story, and the adventure, are not worth remembering.
The Shadows of Mindor takes place about a year after Endor, and opens with Luke asking for an investigation into what happened when his task force went after a villain named Shadowspawn, because he believes that he was responsible for the deaths of thousands of beings.
The story was a plausible one, but from the get-go, Stover went so far into battlespeak and the tech talk got so heavy handed that I skimmed over most of it. Basically, the entire strike force was doomed (it's Star Wars, they are always doomed!) and it took page after page in each chapter to explain and just dragged the story down.
The philosophical aspects of Luke's plot went so deep that I lost track of what was trying to be told. It was just...boring. The Dark, the Light, the Force....It felt cheap, and like Stover what trying to pull one over on the reader. There was little humor and lots of inside jokes but it just didn't feel like he was serious about the story he was trying to tell.
This is a book you can read and forget about. It doesn't line up with any of the other Expanded Universe novels and series so you don't have to worry about anyone mentioning Mindor in another book and wondering what it was all about...the story, and the adventure, are not worth remembering.
Alyssa F. (joysweeper) reviewed Star Wars(r) Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (Star Wars) on
This is one of my favorite Star Wars books.
For full appreciation it helps if you've read two of Stover's other SW books, Shatterpoint and the Revenge of the Sith novelization. LSatSoM scatters references and callbacks to those throughout this book, and you get a good sense of how Luke is like, and not like, Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker.
This is a pretty dark book, just like either of those. Bad things happen to a lot of characters. It's darkly funny, and tragic, and suspenseful and smart and sad and scary in places. But all the same, there's a sense of hope in the end, an energy, that makes it worthwhile to me.
This book isn't for everyone. But it's just about perfect for me.
"None of the stories people tell about me can change who I really am."
For full appreciation it helps if you've read two of Stover's other SW books, Shatterpoint and the Revenge of the Sith novelization. LSatSoM scatters references and callbacks to those throughout this book, and you get a good sense of how Luke is like, and not like, Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker.
This is a pretty dark book, just like either of those. Bad things happen to a lot of characters. It's darkly funny, and tragic, and suspenseful and smart and sad and scary in places. But all the same, there's a sense of hope in the end, an energy, that makes it worthwhile to me.
This book isn't for everyone. But it's just about perfect for me.
"None of the stories people tell about me can change who I really am."
