Working my way through real Star Wars in the EU. Just finished this book and loved it! Really enjoyed how it showed some of the cracks continuing to form in Vader, with him unconsciously defending his son throughout. Chewbacca was great in this book too, with him having my 2 favorite moments.
Shadows of the Empire is amazing! I see it as canon still! Love how Luke made his lightsaber and the methodical triangle of backstabbing between The emperor, Vader and Prince Xizor
Cool how you see Kurt Russel as Dash, since Russel auditioned for Han Solo for the original star wars. Love your videos btw, finally getting into the EU. I consider it canon myself. I started with Heir to the Empire and decided to start reading Shadows after.
Just finished it and enjoyed it, just a heads up that Mike is mistaken about Boba Fett and IG-88...Boba Fett is only mentioned and IG-88 isn't in it at all, he's mixing up the comics for the book. Also, if you read it digitally, it ends around the 70% mark b/c there's so much post story material so don't let it caught you off guard like it caught me lol
Mike! I was about to say "How dare you not mention Timothy Zahn!" Until you mentioned Timothy Zahn. Now I have to look for your Thrawn video. I very much agree this is the only EU that matters.
Dude I love your EU videos. I hope to see more at some point. I know the rest of your year is booked up. The first EU book I read was Jedi Search and I actually enjoyed that trilogy a ton
Read it, loved it. It was one of my first books coming back to the EU after many years being absent from it. Now I'm hooked and can't quit. Great video!
Honestly I'd love to see Shadows of the Empire to be rereleased as part of the essential legends collection mainly because to me it'll actually be great to see a unabridged audiobook version of this
Awesome review! Thanks for not spoiling anything as I have this on my list of books to read after I finish the Thrawn Trilogy. Quick question, would you read the Tales of the Bounty Hunters before or after SotE? I look forward to watching more of your reviews as a new subscriber. Cheers!
I've read through most of the Old Republic era books through revenge of the Sith but I've never done original trilogy and forward EU books. It has always seemed like a daunting task. I do like that I just learned that they are somewhat connected. My TBR pile is growing longer. I personally don't care much for the new star wars trilogy. It's very beautiful to look at but the story hasn't gripped me.
It’s what kept Star Wars alive for me in the 90s when the prequels were still in question. This and the Thrawn trilogy took Star Wars from “that thing I liked when I was a kid” back to my favorite fictional universe. So there may be some nostalgia attached in my love for the EU.
I played both the N64 and PC port of Shadows Of The Empire and enjoyed it. Once I found about the book recently, I picked it up and just finished reading it. And I loved it. It fills in the gap between Empire and Jedi, with a whole new adventure that fits in well with the actual plot. It's a story that shows how much the author really cared about the source material. Something that Disney fails to acknowledge. The Expanded Universe will always be canon, in my heart.
When I was a kid I used to rent this book from the library and thought it was the greatest thing ever. Never did finish it and now I think I will. Fills the gap with the emporer, Vader and Luke quite nicely.
I encourage anyone that has never read the EU I agree with Mike! Yes there are some okay books in the series but it is so worth it. I had just started recently but have always supported the EU and now have the time to dive in.
You need to review more Star Wars EU books. Did you read Outward Bound? I have heard that was unique and really good. I want to read it. I'm also interested in the Dawn of the Jedi story about 25,000 BBY. More Reviews!
Yeah but the comic is more focused on the bounty hunter stuff iirc...like the events covered are the same, but the emphasis is different. But I haven't read either since I was a kid so I could be misremembering.
Shadows of the Empire was actually based on a rejected script for Star Wars 3, back when the series was imagined to be more episodic and before they decided to just wrap it up as a trilogy with Return of the Jedi. It also has a classic video game. The villains' name is pronounced "Sheezor" (although many readers, including myself, pronounced it "Eye-Zor" in their heads) and his race is called The Falleen.
@@chaz9808 Maybe. Could even have been both. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Lucas planned a film where they were searching for Han after he was frozen.
I’d always heard that was what Splinter of the Mind’s Eye in case New Hope flopped. But you could be right. I wish I had brought up the N64 game. Can’t believe I didn’t. That made that system a must own to me when it was released.
I’m with you! The EU IS STAR WARS! Disney can shove it! I don’t even consider the Disney Trilogy real Star Wars. Same with the JJ Adams Trek movies. Everything that man touches turns to sh!t!
This one has never been one of my favorites. I did not like Xixor and Guri. It was not one of the bad ones, but not one of the great ones either. Nonetheless it is part of my star wars canon. I loved reading the X-Wing novel. If you have not read them you have missed out.
For me, I don’t like the down ranking of Vader’s power level in this. Feels like anime. Missing part of the story without playing n64 game. Leia love triangle again. It’s middle of the pack. I think X Wing series is where you start. Action oriented, starts right after Jedi.
That’s fair. If the prequels proved anything it’s that demystifying your villain can be a bad thing. Writing things from Vader’s POV in this won’t click for everyone. As for the X-Wing books, I can neither confirm nor deny. For whatever reason they just never interested me and I’ve read 60+ EU novels.
This is the real story between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, not War of the Bounty Hunters (the current Disney comic series covering that time frame).
This was the first SW Eu book that I read. It's great. There is even a soundtrack album for the book. Everything before Disney is canon. Disney is all bad fan fiction. #disneysucks
If you enjoy the act of reading, I would stay away from this book. It is terribly written. The writing is unimaginative, repetitive, and immature. The story is badly developed too. It's 340 pages of mostly character meetings. The poor skill of the author does not help either to make the reading less boring. I never felt transported to the Star Wars universe. The only reason I finished reading it is because I loved the N64 game as a kid, but every couple of pages I wanted to put the book down.
Love the classic EU!
The REAL EU.
Working my way through real Star Wars in the EU. Just finished this book and loved it! Really enjoyed how it showed some of the cracks continuing to form in Vader, with him unconsciously defending his son throughout. Chewbacca was great in this book too, with him having my 2 favorite moments.
I need to go back and read this again for sure.
Shadows of the Empire is amazing! I see it as canon still! Love how Luke made his lightsaber and the methodical triangle of backstabbing between The emperor, Vader and Prince Xizor
Cool how you see Kurt Russel as Dash, since Russel auditioned for Han Solo for the original star wars. Love your videos btw, finally getting into the EU. I consider it canon myself. I started with Heir to the Empire and decided to start reading Shadows after.
Just finished it and enjoyed it, just a heads up that Mike is mistaken about Boba Fett and IG-88...Boba Fett is only mentioned and IG-88 isn't in it at all, he's mixing up the comics for the book. Also, if you read it digitally, it ends around the 70% mark b/c there's so much post story material so don't let it caught you off guard like it caught me lol
Mike!
I was about to say "How dare you not mention Timothy Zahn!" Until you mentioned Timothy Zahn. Now I have to look for your Thrawn video. I very much agree this is the only EU that matters.
Timothy Zahn and Dave Filoni should be the ones writing and creating all new Star Wars content for Disney.
Sold me on the book and also huge Russel fan!
Dude I love your EU videos. I hope to see more at some point. I know the rest of your year is booked up. The first EU book I read was Jedi Search and I actually enjoyed that trilogy a ton
I don’t imagine I’ll ever stop talking about the EU.
Played SOTE on N64 years ago, now I want to read the book.
I liked the PC version better (with the gamepad button mapping to make it easy)
I gotta get into the book as well
Read it, loved it. It was one of my first books coming back to the EU after many years being absent from it. Now I'm hooked and can't quit. Great video!
Honestly I'd love to see Shadows of the Empire to be rereleased as part of the essential legends collection mainly because to me it'll actually be great to see a unabridged audiobook version of this
Yeah I can see Kurt Russel as Dash Rendar that's a really good pick.
Awesome review! Thanks for not spoiling anything as I have this on my list of books to read after I finish the Thrawn Trilogy. Quick question, would you read the Tales of the Bounty Hunters before or after SotE? I look forward to watching more of your reviews as a new subscriber. Cheers!
Could you pls do more SW EU videos?
Great review. Love this book. I gave up after the solo trilogy
Man is the opening Star Wars Force Theme, a real soundtrack or edited? I have never heard that version before.
I've read through most of the Old Republic era books through revenge of the Sith but I've never done original trilogy and forward EU books. It has always seemed like a daunting task. I do like that I just learned that they are somewhat connected. My TBR pile is growing longer. I personally don't care much for the new star wars trilogy. It's very beautiful to look at but the story hasn't gripped me.
It’s what kept Star Wars alive for me in the 90s when the prequels were still in question. This and the Thrawn trilogy took Star Wars from “that thing I liked when I was a kid” back to my favorite fictional universe. So there may be some nostalgia attached in my love for the EU.
West End games made a shadows of the empire sourcebook for their star wars tabletop rgp back in the day
I played both the N64 and PC port of Shadows Of The Empire and enjoyed it. Once I found about the book recently, I picked it up and just finished reading it. And I loved it. It fills in the gap between Empire and Jedi, with a whole new adventure that fits in well with the actual plot. It's a story that shows how much the author really cared about the source material. Something that Disney fails to acknowledge. The Expanded Universe will always be canon, in my heart.
What about the Junior Novelization of this by Christopher Golden?
I really enjoyed Shadows of the Empire, it was my introduction to the EU.
When I was a kid I used to rent this book from the library and thought it was the greatest thing ever. Never did finish it and now I think I will. Fills the gap with the emporer, Vader and Luke quite nicely.
I encourage anyone that has never read the EU I agree with Mike! Yes there are some okay books in the series but it is so worth it. I had just started recently but have always supported the EU and now have the time to dive in.
You need to review more Star Wars EU books. Did you read Outward Bound? I have heard that was unique and really good. I want to read it. I'm also interested in the Dawn of the Jedi story about 25,000 BBY. More Reviews!
Do you mean Outbound Flight?
I remember reading Star Wars comics named Shadows of the Empire. Do the book and comics cover the same story?
Yeah but the comic is more focused on the bounty hunter stuff iirc...like the events covered are the same, but the emphasis is different. But I haven't read either since I was a kid so I could be misremembering.
Are their any more books like this
This was a great story love it
Shadows of the Empire was actually based on a rejected script for Star Wars 3, back when the series was imagined to be more episodic and before they decided to just wrap it up as a trilogy with Return of the Jedi. It also has a classic video game.
The villains' name is pronounced "Sheezor" (although many readers, including myself, pronounced it "Eye-Zor" in their heads) and his race is called The Falleen.
@@chaz9808 Maybe. Could even have been both. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Lucas planned a film where they were searching for Han after he was frozen.
I’d always heard that was what Splinter of the Mind’s Eye in case New Hope flopped. But you could be right. I wish I had brought up the N64 game. Can’t believe I didn’t. That made that system a must own to me when it was released.
@@mikesbookreviews I probably am confusing it with Solinter, though I do think there was going to be a film after Empire about rescuing Han Solo.
@@jonathancampbell5231 Chances are we're both right.
This is canon
Crazy Colin Absolutely.
It's still real to me damnit!😭😭😭
I’m with you! The EU IS STAR WARS! Disney can shove it! I don’t even consider the Disney Trilogy real Star Wars. Same with the JJ Adams Trek movies. Everything that man touches turns to sh!t!
Well said!!
This one has never been one of my favorites. I did not like Xixor and Guri. It was not one of the bad ones, but not one of the great ones either. Nonetheless it is part of my star wars canon. I loved reading the X-Wing novel. If you have not read them you have missed out.
I should have added in the video that I haven't read it in 20+ years, so it may be nostalgia talking.
For me, I don’t like the down ranking of Vader’s power level in this. Feels like anime. Missing part of the story without playing n64 game. Leia love triangle again. It’s middle of the pack. I think X Wing series is where you start. Action oriented, starts right after Jedi.
That’s fair. If the prequels proved anything it’s that demystifying your villain can be a bad thing. Writing things from Vader’s POV in this won’t click for everyone. As for the X-Wing books, I can neither confirm nor deny. For whatever reason they just never interested me and I’ve read 60+ EU novels.
Down ranking Vader ? You should see The Force Unleashed franchise...
Pablo Hidalgo and Kathleen Kennedy have made a mess.
This is the real story between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, not War of the Bounty Hunters (the current Disney comic series covering that time frame).
Have you read the new comic book series
This was the first SW Eu book that I read. It's great. There is even a soundtrack album for the book. Everything before Disney is canon. Disney is all bad fan fiction.
#disneysucks
i am about to read it!!!
If you enjoy the act of reading, I would stay away from this book. It is terribly written. The writing is unimaginative, repetitive, and immature. The story is badly developed too. It's 340 pages of mostly character meetings. The poor skill of the author does not help either to make the reading less boring. I never felt transported to the Star Wars universe. The only reason I finished reading it is because I loved the N64 game as a kid, but every couple of pages I wanted to put the book down.
It's more or less a beginner's EU book.