Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zahn

Today, a new Star Wars story is as common as a blue M&M, and just as impactful. But picture a world in which the only Star Wars stories were the original three films (and some dumb Ewok nonsense). That was life when I was in middle school. And then, in the summer of 1991, the first new Star Wars book was released! The story continued! And I ate it up! 

Heir to the Empire was the first of a billion Star Wars books that expanded the universe with new characters mixing it up with old favorites. I remember liking this book, but decided to re-read it a few years ago to see what modern-day Dan would think. 

And modern-day Dan says, “I didn’t like it. Can I go now?” 

There are some interesting ideas here, and Admiral Thrawn is a fun addition to the Star Wars neighborhood, but the book is dull. Granted, this is book one of a trilogy (because of course it is), so maybe the second and third books ramp up the excitement. I’m not going to find out. 

The book isn’t bad, but it didn’t have any Star Wars magic to make me want to keep going with the story. Maybe the Star Wars magic is gone forever. Don’t tell younger me that I wrote this. And whatever you do, don’t tell younger me that there would one day be a Boba Fett show and it was terrible. Because he (I) will (did) cry.

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