Survivor's Quest

December 22, 2003
Hugo winner Zahn, author of five previous Star Wars novels (Heir to the Empire
, etc.), serves up another G-rated crowd-pleaser in the bestselling franchise series. Regulars will recognize the cast, but newcomers may raise an eyebrow to learn that Luke Skywalker, whom they lovingly left as a youth on a screen in a galaxy far away, is now a married man. His wife, Mara Jade, is, however, no simple suburbanite clutching little Skywalkers. Having spent her early years innocently supporting a dictator, she now flies beside her husband, content to swap technological chitchat instead of romantic twaddle. She is, after all, a Jedi Knight, the equal of her Master Jedi husband and just as handy at wielding a blazing light saber. The alien Chiss, inadvertently or otherwise, have shot down Outbound Flight, the fabulous lost group of super dreadnoughts bearing more than 50,000 people into the most distant reaches of space, a scenario reminiscent of Robert A. Heinlein's classic Universe
, if without the cosmological wonder. Now, half a century later, many species have assembled to locate the wreckage. To their surprise, when they discover the remains, survivors uninterested in being saved inhabit them. To no one's surprise, Luke and Mara are up to the situation's needs. Full of action and more twists than a corkscrew, this stand-alone SF adventure novel is sure to satisfy its target teen audience. (Feb. 3)

Forecast:
More than four million copies of Zahn's Star Wars books are in print. With a five-city author tour and original e-book tie-in novella available in January, expect this one to soar up the lists.

February 15, 2004
When the mysterious race known as the Chiss decides to atone for its part in the destruction of the Outbound Flight Project, that people chooses to turn over the location of the stranded ship to none other than Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker. The Skywalkers are joined by an odd assortment of interested individuals, including members of the Chiss, an ambassador of the New Republic, a group of enigmatic aliens, and an elite unit of Stormtroopers-all of whom have their own reasons for seeking out the Outbound Flight. Set in the period before the New Jedi Order novels, Zahn's latest contribution to the growing body of Star WarsR-based literature features the fast-paced action, clever dialog, and intriguing characterizations of the films. This first-rate space opera belongs in most sf collections.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2003
Here again we have Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, the married Jedi, whose quest this time is for remnants of the Outward Bound expedition, launched 50 years before by the Old Republic and subsequently destroyed by pirates, with the help of the late Admiral Thrawn. Of course, the New Republic wants Luke and Mara to represent it on this outing, and Thrawn's people, the Chiss, want in, too. Moreover, half a dozen other individuals, factions, and polities all have personal or political reasons for finding the remains of the Outward Bounders. So already the situation is complicated, and the fact that, except for Luke and Mara, nobody is what they seem, and that some of the agendas they're hiding in dusty storage compartments and computer files are flat-out lethal, adds more complications. Everything gets rapidly worse when it turns out that there are survivors on derelict Outward Bound ships, and they are tough, determined, and totally hostile to the Jedi Knights and everything they ever did on behalf of the Old Republic. Finally, one of the not-what-they-seems reveals itself, teeing off half-a-novel's worth of fast, furious, detailed, and intelligent action, clearly setting up another book; and, oh yes, also developing Luke and Mara's relationship. Not for beginners with Star Wars fiction, perhaps, but in the hands of tie-in Master Zahn, a thoroughly absorbing story for the seasoned reader. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)