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THINGS THAT Leia bumps into unmentionable creepies in this sequel to COTJ, but will Luke bump into Callista? |
Review by Jody Reeves
Star Wars: Planet of Twilight
by Barbara Hambly
published by Bantam Books
Planet of Twilight represents Barbara Hambly’s second book based on characters and situations from the Star Wars universe. Her first novel, Children of the Jedi, was a solidly good (albeit tedious) entry into the hallowed Star Wars canon. Thus, I had decent hopes for Planet of Twilight, but it turned out that my expectations may have been too high.
Twilight focuses mainly on Luke, Leia and the various situations the Skywalker twins face. The basic premise of the book is twofold, yet familiar: Leia tries to stop a plot to destroy the New Republic while Luke searches out a former Jedi. However, the New Republic is not threatened by remnants of the Empire and Luke is searching Callista, his former lover first introduced in COTJ.
Both missions lead Luke and Leia to the same world: Nam Chorios. Leia travels there in hopes of settling a dispute between two factions: one faction made up of new settlers on the world who wish to advance existing technology and the other faction made up of older residents who wish to leave things in their status quo. Conveniently, Luke is drawn to Nam Chorios by a note from Callista, who went on a galactice walkabout at the end of Darksaber, that sent a warning to Leia asking her to beware of coming to that very same planet.
Leia is promptly kidnaped by Seti Ashgad, the planet’s self-proclaimed leader. Ashgad and his associates release a deadly "Death Seed" virus that kills all of Leia’s crew and allows them to take the Chief-of-State hostage. Shortly thereafter, unaware of his sister's dilemma, Luke crash lands on Nam Chorios and begins to look for Callista. Meanwhile, R2-D2 and C-3PO hop around the galaxy, trying to find someone who would believe that they belong to Leia Organa Solo and that she’s been kidnaped. In addition, Han and Chewie set up their own rescue mission once Mon Mothma confides to Han that Leia has not been heard from.
The main problem with Planet of Twilight is that the story was... uninspiring. There is no compulsion to finish the book quickly, no desire to see how it all turns out. So much of it exhudes a “been there, done that” feel (Leia kidnapped - Luke's Force ability hobbled - the droids whining & Han to the rescue). Not until the climax, when Luke and Leia team up to defeat the enemy, does one get a sense of drama and excitement. Unfortunately, that sense quickly evaporates into befuddlement when encountering the random addition of a certain character. One finishes this book confused as to why this character was even added to the story.
There is no faulting Hambly’s characterizations; she does justice to all the main characters by keeping them as we have come to know them. Luke is still in the process of maturing, Leia is coming to terms with balancing the need to learn more about the Force and her fears of what that might do to her, and Han is still as impetuous and dashing as ever. But the story itself was weak and too much like a rerun of a show we’ve all seen before.
Overall, Planet of Twilight was good, but not
great; a fine story if you want to have something to read over a long period of time.
ECHO STATION Grade: B-
(When not serving her boss in the (Imperial) Senate, Jody Reeves discusses Star Wars and jealously guards her Harrison Ford collection.)
