Review: Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno
Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I never thought I would call myself a Star Wars Novel reader a year ago! However, Tarkin is the second book I have read in the last twelve months and I have enjoyed both books. Darth Plagueis was the first book I read that James Luceno also wrote. I enjoyed Plagueis as it delved into particular characters of the Star Wars expanded universe and how they came about (Sidious and Plageuis in particular). The Tarkin novel focusses on Wilhuff Tarkin (aka Grand Moff Tarkin) who most would know from the movies Rogue One and Episode IV (A New Hope); who also takes control of the Death Star. This book is set prior to both movies.
The story takes you on a journey from Tarkin’s early stages of life through to present day into a situation that is instigated by others. Throughout the book Luceno delves back to relevant parts of Tarkin history thereby illustrating the hard and intelligent character that Tarkin has become. A large part of the story are the interactions between Darth Vader end Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious. Vader plays a larger role than the Emperor however you get some insight to the workings of republican politics post democracy yet pre-senate dissolution.
I enjoyed Plagueis a lot more than Tarkin however this was still a good read as I was able to get to learn more about Tarkin along with Vader and Palpatine / Sidious. This book to me dragged out the story a little bit longer than I would have liked. With that being said there are a few more on Luceno’s shelf which I may pick up at some stage.
