Andrew's Review of Specter of the Past

5/5 Rancors - With Specter of the Past, Timothy Zahn returned to the Star Wars Expanded Universe and starting tying a neat little bow around the Bantam Spectra era of the publishing license. Bantam published a wide array of Star Wars stories in the 1990s starting with the superb Heir to the Empire. The majority of Bantam's novels were set in the post-Return of the Jedi era and took a wide variety of directions while still maintaining a reasonably cohesive overall storyline. Just as he kicked off the Star Wars literary renaissance with his Thrawn Trilogy, here Mr. Zahn is afforded the opportunity to provide some closure to this era and set the stage for the new (at the time) publisher Del Rey's gritty New Jedi Order saga.

Despite Grand Admiral Thrawn's apparent demise at the end of The Last Command, his persona haunts this story in a gripping and imaginative way. His mysterious reappearance frightens the New Republic deeply and breathes new life into the dwindling Empire. Beyond that, though, his mentorship of Admiral Pellaeon motivates the Admiral into making a necessary but humiliating decision regarding the future of the Empire's remnants. Pallaeon determines that making peace with the New Republic represents the Empire's only hope for the future. He bravely puts aside his own feelings and ego to lead the way down this bold path.

Concurrent with Pellaeon's plan to surrender is a fascinating storyline centered around the devastation of the planet Caamas decades earlier (an event brought to further light in the second Coruscant Nights book Street of Shadows). This plot could have been ripped from today's contentious and vindictive headlines, as the entire Bothan race takes heat for the actions of an unknown number of individuals years ago. Politicians scramble to benefit from the controversy and across the galaxy numerous petty grievances flare up, using the Caamas debate as an excuse to revisit ancient vendettas.

I relished the use of the Caamas document as a primary plot device. While I enjoy the scheming of evil Sith and Imperial warlords as much as anyone, this was an engaging change from the villain- and superweapon-of-the-week stories found fairly often in the Bantam era. Battle lines are drawn but good and evil are often not clearly delineated, a theme shown on a micro scale by the numerous local conflicts and on a macro one by the overall shift in the New Republic's leadership compared to the spark of benevolence found in Pallaeon's vision for the Empire. Of course, lest anyone think the entire Empire has suddenly changed character, we do get the evil Moff Disra, his co-conspirator Major Tierce, and the actor Flim trying to flare up the minor disagreements in the New Republic's constituencies into the downfall of the galactic government.

Mr. Zahn brings back several favorite/pivotal characters from throughout the Bantam books. Smuggler Talon Karrde returns along with Mara Jade, both still aiding and abetting the New Republic despite trying to keep their distance. Duplicitous-but-not-quite-evil Borsk Fey'lya is back and finds himself the center of an unwelcome spotlight with the resurgence of the Caamas holocaust. There are many minor nods to other stories and Zahn also lifts bits from Star Wars short stories he wrote for the Tales books and other sources.

Specter of the Past is an excellent start to the Hand of Thrawn duology. Strong and accurate characterizations, an intelligent plot, and a rapid pace set a rock-solid foundation for the sequel Vision of the Future.