Product Description

Culled from the pages of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, one of the most popular Star Wars magazines in the field today, comes this exciting new short-story collection.  Here are stories from such award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors as Timothy Zahn, Michael A. Stackpole and Kathy Tyers as well as exciting newcomers, including Erin Endom, Laurie Burns, and Patricia A. Jackson.  From the desperate flight of a civilian mail courier carrying vital Rebel intelligence through an Imperial blockade, to a suicidal commando raid on an impregnable Imperial prison, to a Corellian smuggler mysteriously hired by an actor turned Jedi Knight turned Imperial assassin for one final transformation, these tales capture all the high adventure, imaginative genius, and nonstop action that are the hallmarks of the Star Wars saga.

What's more, the centerpiece of this magnificent collection is the short novel Side Trip, the first-ever collaboration between Timothy Zahn and Michael A. Stackpole, in which a freighter smuggling arms for the Rebels is commandeered by an Imperial Star Destroyer led by a mysterious helmeted figure who claims to be the notorious bounty hunter Jodo Kast.  It is all part of a devious plan that includes Hal and Corran Horn, who are working undercover to nail the infamous Corellian warlord Zekka Thyne. But one slip-up can get them all killed.

Collected for the first time, Star Wars(r): Tales from the Empire is one book no fan will want to be without.

(r), TM and (c) 1997 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. Used under authorization.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165566 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-03
• Released on: 1997-11-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 368 pages

From Library Journal
This collection of 13 short stories by nine authors is an outgrowth from the Star Wars Adventure Journal and the Star Wars role-playing games. Timothy Zahn, Michael A. Stackpole, Kathy Tyers, Patricia A. Jackson, Laurie Burns, Charlene Newcomb, Tony Russo, Angela Phillips, and Erin Endom have written engaging tales about the peripheral characters?rather than the stars Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker?who add to the rich tapestry of George Lucas's space opera. Recommended where demand for Star Wars material is high.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ingram
The "Star Wars Adventure Journal" is one of the premier "Star Wars" magazines, with a legion of loyal readers. Now its editor, Peter Schweighofer, has personally collected the best of the best of his magazine's short fiction into this must-have collection. From the bestselling authors Timothy Zahn, Kathy Tyers and Michael A. Stackpole, to talented newcomers, this is a collection sure to delight "Star Wars" readers of all ages. Online promo (http: //www.bantam.com/starwars).

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
With a last sizzle of jittering repulsorlifts, the space yacht Uwana Buyer settled down into the landing field that had been hacked out of the Varonat jungle.  "What a fine, civilized-looking place this is," Quelev Tapper commented, peering out the cockpit canopy.  "You sure we didn't overshoot and land in someone's weed dump?"

Talon Karrde looked out at the pale yellow trees encircling the field and the thirty or so dilapidated buildings nestled in beneath them.  "No, this is it," he assured his lieutenant.  "The Great Jungle of Varonat.  Home of a handful of third-rate trading depots and a few thousand colonists who haven't the brains to pick up and go elsewhere."

"And an ugly Krish named Gamgalon," Tapper said.  "I don't know, Karrde.  I still think we should have brought in the Wild Karrde and Starry Ice and had some decent firepower behind us.  We're kind of like sitting mynocks here."

"We're here to observe, not make trouble," Karrde reminded him, popping his restraints and standing up.  "Gamgalon wouldn't be bothering with these private Morodin-hunting safaris if there wasn't some big profit involved.  I just want to know what he's up to, and whether we can carve a piece of it off for ourselves."

"All the more reason to have backup along," Tapper grumbled, checking the draw of his blaster as he followed Karrde to the hatchway aft.  "But you're the boss."

"How very true.  You ready?"

Tapper took a deep breath, exhaled it noisily.  "Let's do it."

Karrde punched the control and the hatchway slid up into the hull.  Sniffing at the exotic aromas, he and Tapper walked down the ramp and headed across the field toward a building with a faded Port Facilities sign hanging on it.

They were no more than halfway there when two men lounging beside another of the buildings peeled themselves away from their wall and moved casually to intercept the newcomers.  "Howdy," one of them said as they got within earshot.  "Welcome to Tropis-on-Varonat.  Here for the sights?"

"That's very amusing," Karrde complimented him.  "No, we're here for the hyperdrive mechanic we very much hope you have."

"Ah," the other said, glancing back at the Uwana Buyer. "Yeah, I'm not surprised.  The flashier the hull, the more crumbish the innards."

"Save the colorful language for the tourists," Tapper growled. "You have a hyperdrive mechanic here or don't you?"

The other eyed him a moment, then turned back to Karrde.  "Your friend's a little short on manners," he said.

"He makes up for it in ability," Karrde said, pulling a handful of high-denomination coins from his pocket and sorting ostentatiously through them.  "And in the understanding of schedules.  We have some highly important business waiting for us on Svivren."

"Sure, I understand," the other said.  "No offense, ah--?"

"Syndic Pandis Hart of the Sif-Uwana Council," Karrde identified himself.  "This is my pilot, Captain Seoul."  He chose one of the coins, held it up.  "And we're rather in a hurry."

"Hey, no problem," the man grinned, jerking a thumb toward the port facilities building as he deftly took the coin from Karrde's hand.  "Buzzy, go tell 'em they've got a customer.  Rush job."

His companion nodded silently and loped off toward the building. "Name's Fleck, Syndic," the man continued.  "Offhand, I'd say you're going to be stuck here for a few days.  Got any plans?"

Karrde glanced pointedly around.  "Would there be any plans worth having?"

"Matter of fact, there would," Fleck said.  "Fellow here runs a pretty neat safari out into the jungle--got a trip heading out first thing tomorrow morning, in fact.  Ever hear of Morodins?"

"I don't think so," Karrde said.  "Big game?"

"The biggest," Fleck assured him.  "Giant lizard-slug things, ten to twenty meters long.  Make great wall or hallway trophies." His lip twitched sardonically.  "They're not too fast or mean, either.  Good way for a beginner to start."

"That's comforting to hear." Karrde looked at Tapper.  "What do you think, Seoul?"

"Doesn't sound too dangerous, sir," Tapper said with just the right note of concern.  "I trust you wouldn't be going alone?"

"Naw, there's four other hunters signed up," Fleck said. "And the boss always takes a couple of escorts along as guards. Safe as in a snuggy."

"I'd still recommend I accompany you, sir," Tapper persisted. "I used to be pretty good with a BlasTech A280."

"Let's find out first how much it costs to be as safe as in a snuggy," Karrde said dryly.

"Hardly anything," Fleck sniffed.  "Not to a gentleman of your means.  Only twelve thousand each."

Karrde smiled.  "A man of means doesn't stay there by throwing money away.  Fifteen thousand for the both of us."

Fleck grinned.  "Hard bargainer, huh?  Make it twenty."

"Experienced businessman," Karrde corrected.  "Make it seventeen."

The other's forehead wrinkled, then cleared.  "All right. Seventeen it is."

"Very good," Karrde said.  "When do we leave?"

"Five-half tomorrow morning," Fleck said.  "Just be here--I'll tell the boss you're coming.  Don't forget to bring the seventeen."  He pointed across the field.  "You can get outfitted over at that building over there, and get a room for the night in the hotel next door.  It's, uh, nicer inside than it looks."

"One would hope so," Karrde agreed.  "I trust no one will be offended if we pass on the accommodations.  The outfitters will know what equipment we'll need?"

"Sure," Fleck nodded.  "Like I said, the boss runs these safaris all the time."

"Very good," Karrde said.  "Come, Seoul, let's go see what they have to offer."


Varonat's sun was beginning to settle down behind the jungle by the time Karrde and Tapper finally made it back to the Uwana Buyer with their purchases.  "I hope we gave them enough time," Tapper commented as they climbed up the ramp.

"I'm sure we did," Karrde said.  "It doesn't take long for a professional to search a ship this size.  And I'm not expecting Gamgalon to be employing amateurs."

Abruptly, Tapper touched Karrde's arm.  "Maybe he is," he said, dropping his voice.

Karrde frowned.  Then he heard it: a muffled clank from the aft section of the ship.  "Should we take a look?" Tapper murmured.

"It would look suspicious if we didn't," Karrde said, grimacing.  If this whole thing fell apart through the incompetence of Gamgalon's own people...  "Nice and easy."

Moving quietly, they headed down the central corridor to the engine room, hearing another clank as they reached the door. Karrde caught Tapper's eye, nodded.  The other nodded back, lowering his bundles to the deck and getting a grip on his blaster. Karrde touched the release, and the door slid open--

The woman sitting on the floor beside the open access panel was young and attractive, with a cascade of red-gold hair tied back out of the way behind her head.  Her face was calm and controlled as she looked up at their abrupt entrance; beneath her jumpsuit, her figure was slim and athletic and nicely formed.

And in her hands were a hydrospanner and one of the power flux connectors from the Uwana Buyer's hyperdrive.  "Can I help you?" she asked coolly.

"I think you already are," Karrde said, the brief moment of surprise passing into relief.  Gamgalon's searchers had not, in fact, fouled up.  "I take it you're the hyperdrive mechanic."

"Cleverly deduced," she said.  "Celina Marniss.  You have any problems?"

"Only with the hyperdrive," Karrde said.  "Why, were you expecting me to?"

Celina shrugged, returning her attention to the power flux connector.  "I've known some men in my day who didn't think a woman could be decorative and competent at the same time."

"Personally, that's my favorite combination," Karrde told her.

She favored him with a look that was slightly amused, slightly strained-patient.  "So you're Syndic Hart.  Buzzy was most impressed with you."

"I'm ever so pleased," Karrde said.  "I won't ask which way he was impressed."  He nodded at the access opening.  "Any idea yet what's wrong?"

"Well, for starters, your flux connectors are al...

Customer Reviews

The adventures continue in this fine Star Wars anthology....
Even though George Lucas' six-film Star Wars saga focuses intensely on a relatively small group of characters (the Skywalker family and the various Jedi and Sith Lords that tied their personal destiny to that of the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire), its setting ("a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....") was, and still is, a very huge canvas onto which many other stories can be easily included. Many fans, either by playing with their action figures as children or by writing fan fiction, created their own personal additions to the Star Wars universe and, at least in their own imagination, took part in the noble struggle between good and evil that's one of the building blocks of this modern day mythology.

Eventually, as Peter Schweighofer, editor of Tales From the Empire, writes in his introduction to this 1997 anthology of short stories, the action figures were put away and the fan fiction stories stashed away in drawers or file cabinets, but the fans' appetite for new Star Wars stories -- on film and on the printed page -- never really went away. And with the 1991 publication of Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, the fans received a cornucopia of "further adventures" featuring not only the beloved heroes from the movies but a whole new cast of allies and adversaries.

Tales From the Empire is a collection of nine short stories that first appeared in West End Games' Star Wars Adventure Journal, plus a short novel (Side Trip) co-written by two of the best writers of Star Wars fiction, Timothy Zahn and Michael A. Stackpole. Most of these brief excursions into Lucas' galaxy are set during the time of the Galactic Civil War and/or the first few years of the post-Endor New Republic era, with entirely original characters -- Darth Vader makes a cameo in the Zahn/Stackpole novel and events that took place in the films (the Death Star's destruction at Yavin) are mentioned in passing -- that inhabit the millions of star systems in the strife-torn vastness of space.

Although the stories by Kathy Tyers (The Truce at Bakura), Stackpole (the X-Wing series creator), and Zahn are as well-written as their published Star Wars novels, credit must also be given to lesser known writers as Tony Russo, Laurie Burns, and Angela Phillips, whose tale of a young hacker ("slicer" in Star Wars terminology) who joins the Rebellion in the face of her parents' opposition ("Slaying Dragons") is among the best pieces of short fiction I have read in a while.

So that's why they're the dark side...
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.

Star Wars
This is one of those collection of Star Wars short stories that mentions the main characters (Luke, Han, Leia, etc.) really only briefly, if at all. This book fills in some of the gaps in the stories of some of the less known characters. It is an interesting read though.