It’s been at least ten years since I’ve actively read novels in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.  I tried (quite succesfully for a while) to stick to a regimen of classic authors (Vonnegut, Greene, Steinbeck, Hemingway, etc.) and then I got the gig as head Star Wars Geek and I knew I’d have to get back in to some level of Star Wars novelizations in order to keep my title.

The folks at Del Rey were kind enough to point me in the right direction and got me started on the path with the Legacy of the Force series.  Legacy of the Force is an eleven book saga that kicks off with Betrayal.

Set 40 years or so after the Battle of Yavin (Episode IV of the films), Betrayal centers around a large cast of familiar characters, working their hardest as gears of war in a larger conflict.  With the Empire gone and something called the Yuuzhang Vong defeated, the new Galactic Alliance aims to keep peace in the galaxy, but Han Solo’s homeworld, Corellia, is causing trouble.  With Han’s new found sense of patriotism and Luke’s loyalty to the new Jedi Order he’s created, rifts are torn between the Skywalker and Solo families.

Perhaps the most interesting pair of characters in this book were Jacen Solo and his young cousin and apprentice, Ben Skywalker.  Fortunately, I’ve read enough Star Wars books to know of the existence of Jacen Solo (and his twin sister Jaina), though I was oblivious to Luke and Mara Jade’s son, Ben.

This first book in the series was penned by Aaron Allston (whose work with the Rogue and Wraith Squadron series I was familiar with) and he has a simple and easy style of prose that keeps you engaged while skating that thin line between keeping it lively and keeping it easy to understand for those of us who have been out of the expanded universe for an extended period of time.  I wouldn’t go so far as to call his prose florid, but it was certainly artistic and well-put together enough for its purpose.

As far as my verdict on this book, I’m rather dissapointed to report that I found it excellent.  The story sucked me in quite easily and I’m already half-way through the next book.

Perhaps the clincher for me was the inclusion of one of my favorite Star Wars characters from the old Marvel Comics run: Lumiya, Vader’s lightning whip-wielding apprentice.  Seeing her back in my Star Wars consciousness in any capacity makes me happy, but when Allston introduced her the way he did, I shivered in delight.

Sadly, it seems I’m going to have to give the literary classics a break and take a well deserved vacation to a galaxy far, far away.