David's Review of Death Star

5/5 Rancors - Death Star is an excellent book that I very much enjoyed. Our first exposure to the Death Star in the films is an extremely memorable moment that stays with the Star wars fan forever. That's no moon. The destruction of the Death Star is even more memorable and probably locked us all in as fans who wanted to see more. However, how many of us in those days actually thought about the Death Star as a space vehicle? How was it built? How many people worked on it? How was it possibly kept a secret? How big is it really? Well, help for these questions and many more is at hand with this book.

The Death Star's construction took years. The work was moved from place to place in response to intelligence leaks, and scattered attempts at sabotage were made. Not everyone was a believer in the project. Eventually Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin was placed in charge. He moved the construction to the Maw black-hole cluster near Kessel where he thought it could be tested safely. He brought in some of the best minds in the Empire to work on the project, and he created a workforce of thousands of Wookie slaves.

Many of the people associated with the Death Star are people I had never thought about. A high-level architect helping with the hugely detailed overall design, including such seemingly minor items as a secondary exhaust vent. The chief gunnery officer who actually fired the superlaser beam that destroyed Alderaan. Pub tenders. Bouncers. Surgeons. All of these characters are brought to life by the authors. In addition, the various types of living spaces on the vessel are introduced to the reader.

Death Star will help you understand the thoughts and the emotions of the people onboard from early construction through the moment Luke presses the trigger. An extremely enjoyable book.