Tales from the Empire: Star Wars Legends

This has about 10 stories in it, the last being of 4 parts, written by both master authors, Timothy Zahn(my personal favorite) and Michael A. Stackpole, a great author in his own right. This last tale takes up about 100 pages and is really good. In fact, Many of these tales are quite good. One is about a medic assisting a recue team at an Imperial prison, one describes how Mara Jade came into Talon Karrde's service, and the others are good too. I highly recommend this collection of tales.

Tales From the Empire is a collection of stories from the Star Wars adventure journal, a magazine that went out of print a few years back. Besides featuring games and rpg strategies, it let new authors write for the Star Wars expanded universe. Right off the bat, I'm going to list my ONLY real complaint: the title is misleading. The stories are not about the Empire, nor do all of them take place within the time of the Empire. However, that is my ONLY complaint.To explain why I love this novel, I have to explain what made me like the Star Wars universe. It wasn't the movies themselves; the movies are great, and they get better with each viewing, but it was after playing Rebel Assault and reading this book that I was taken in. That game and this novel bring Star Wars down to a human scale. Rebel Assault let players on an alternate version of the first movie. Tales From the Empire lets the reader experience the pain and suffering of characters throughout the universe. A lot of these characters aren't war heroes or Jedi Knights. Most of them are simple folk, pulled into a war they tried to stay out of. One story has a medical doctor who is faced with a task of killing others to save one. There is a civilian mail carrier who's freighter is commandered to help retreat from Courscant. A loyal Imperial who must watch her best friend get taken away as a rebel traitor. The stories make up the heart of the Star Wars universe, and while they're not tearjerkers (well maybe), they'll definitely touch you emotionally.What's also nice in these stories is seeing how the Star Wars universe has expanded. All the detail Lucas put into his classic trilogy has paid off. The book begins with a wonderful introduction which all Star Wars fans can relate to. All the stories feature little details that make them come alive; the Star Wars universe has its own name for paper, for the bathroom, for a switchblade, and almost anything else you can imagine. Heir to the Empire might be the classic Star Wars novel, but this book filled my imagination and put me right into the middle of the SW Universe. It allowed me to continue with new adventures in my mind long after I'd finished the book.With regards to the writing styles, while the stories aren't as finessed as mainstream authors, they are all excellent reads. I liked Zahn's backstory for Talon Karrde, and would've loved to read "Mist Encounter" or "Command Decision", two Thrawn stories alleuded to in the intro. Corran Horn fans also take note: this novel features a bit of Corran's backstory, as well as a four-part story featuring the father-son team of Hal and Corran and how they captured Zekka Thyne (from Stackpole's X-Wing novels). The bottom line: Get this novel. It is a true testament to the power of Star Wars fans and how they've kept the SW Universe alive for sixteen years.

First of all, I like short stories. I find that because they often focus on little known characters, they are more creative and interesting. This doesn't mean they are unimportant, as new characters that later become well known are introduced. (Mara Jade) As for the book as a whole, well, I won't spoil the stories for you, but I personally thought this book was really food for thought. The stories were not just about glory and adventure and let you see the little things, giving you time to concentrate on the fact that there was war going on, and things aren't always pretty. Do No Harm is a good example of this, and it manages to drive in a point despite that there are no well known characters and the story only focuses on one operation. Don't get me wrong, Corran Horn and Talon Karrde are in this book too, and with stories from both Stackpole and Zahn, this book is a prize for even an experience "EU" (expanded universe) reader. Another appealing aspect of this book as it does not concentrate just on the Empire. Many different points of view, from different sides, are brought into play, so you can really see the whole picture. That is, in war, everyone suffers. Without a doubt, Tales from the Empire is a good read, both for sci fi lovers and Star Wars fans.

While the title is a bit misleading, the stories in it are great. Some of these tell about the people caught in the middle and others fill in some of the information gaps that are created by other books. For example, I learned that the rebels were hurt at Derra IV and that they lost a convoy but untill I read "The Side Trip" I didn't know how the Empire found them. If you like knowing all you can about the Star Wars universe, than you should get this book.

I just recently started reading the Star Wars books and this was the first one I read. I enjoyed all the stories in it, especially the one's with Talon Karde and Corran Horn. The stories were taken from the Star Wars Journal published by West End Games and they are all pretty good. The only thing I didn't like was the lack of any time references showing where each story falls in relation to the movies and other novels.