Allegiance: Star Wars Legends

Allegiance was clearly one of the best Star Wars books I have read in recent years. I was very interested to learn about Mara's early years working for Emperor Palpatine as the, still learning, Emperors Hand.
I was also very interested in seeing a different side of the Stormtroopers rather than just seeing them getting killed right in left. You learn that they aren't a bunch of moronic and inept troops like you surmise from watching the movies, rather they are a crack squad of troops who are intelligent and extremely skilled warriors. Just seeing the Stormtroopers from this point of view was in itself worth the read of Allegiance. A good Star Wars book by a great Star Wars Author, Timothy Zahn.

Timothy Zahn is the premiere writer in the Star Wars universe. Despite all the long series that have been written, overall it is Zahn whose works grab the most attention. He does it with style, adding in great characters in totally insane situations. Seeing Mara Jade & Luke Skywalker working together despite being on opposite sides and not knowing each other was great. No one writes Mara Jade as well as Zahn (since she is his character one would expect that) but he still captured the essance of a naive Skywalker, the cynical Solo and the regal Princess before they became heroes of the galaxy. I also liked how the story revolved around the squad of 5 stormtroopers who color what was once black and white into shades of grey. I really enjoyed this book, it was fun to revist these old characters when they were young before kids spoiled everything. Well done Mr. Zahn.

The following review has some vague references to what's in the book but no actual spoilers so it is safe to read. Overall I really liked this book. I stopped reading SW books mid way through the wretched New Jedi Order when things in the "Expanded Universe" went horribly wrong and this was the first SW book I've read in years. I'm really glad I picked this one up.

The story takes place just after the original movie, now called: "Star Wars A New Hope." Some SW books try to stuff ridiculously grand adventures into gaps left by movies or other books. Timothy Zahn describes an interesting and believable adventure without diminishing the landmark events of the Star Wars universe.

Most of the story is told from three points-of-view: Han, Luke & Leia; a group of five stormtroopers and Mara Jade.

Zahn really nailed the Han, Luke & Leia portions of this book, brief as they were. It was great to spend time with characters from the original movies being realistically portrayed in between-movie adventures. These scenes justified buying the book all by themselves.

The Mara portions of this book were a rare guilty pleasure for me. Mara haters with their clone-quality minds will absolutely detest this book but that just made me smile and enjoy it even more. There was one scene with Vader that was a touch over the top but it's a small criticism. Again, for fans of the Emperor's Hand, her scenes alone were worth the purchase price as well.

The book is not without some faults. The stormtrooper's portions were less than convincing, especially early on. I found these characters to be too idealistic and too quick to get involved in the business of others when they should have been watching out for themselves. I think the book could have used at least fifty more pages, with most of it fleshing out these new characters, their motives and justifying the decisions they made.

Also, the plot, though clever and skillfully crafted, was complicated and I had a hard time keeping the plots/theories and off-screen characters straight in my head. However, the patient reader is rewarded in in the end, all is made clear. What a welcome relief from the bowels that SW literature has been in lately.

For those who are easily chapped because Mr. Zahn focused less on the Main SW characters and more on some of his own creations, I believe William Shatner said it best on Saturday Night Live when speaking to a group of Trekkies at a convention: Get A Life. Zahn almost single-handedly reinvented the Star Wars literary universe when he was tapped to write 'Heir To The Empire' well over 13 years ago. In that original trilogy came some of THE greatest characters ever introduced in the Star Wars Universe -- including (IMHO) the Greatest Bad Guy: Grand Admiral Thrawn. For YEARS now, everywhere Mr. Zahn goes, he is pelted with the question of WHEN he is going to give the back-story of how Mara Jade became the Emperor's Hand (among other plot-lines) and his editors have been asking for it, too. With 'Allegiance' all he is doing is fulfilling the wishes of MANY of his fans. That some people who bought this novel were unaware of that I say: Get Over It.

While the exact details regarding the actual recruiting of Mara are not developed, it is clear that Mara's job, (among many others) is to inspire Darth Vader to overcome his recent failure to protect the Death Star. It is VERY interesting to see Vader reduced to a jealous Sith. We also see a small group of Stormtroopers who feel rather disillusioned with how the Empire is casually murdering it's inhabitants, and before long, they find themselves on the run from the very people they swore to kill for. Zahn has TOTAL control over the plot and all the events going in -- which are plentiful considering how thin this novel is. I must say that I was hoping the book was going to be much thicker, but I'll take a Zahn Star Wars book any way I can get it.

All things considered, I have yet to read ANY Star Wars novel written HALF as good as ANY of the works by Timothy Zahn. I have read the good (Steve Perry & Troy Denning) and the supremely bad (pretty much everything by Kevin J. Anderson) and they ALL pale when compared to this guy. I know not everyone agrees with me, but I haven't read any novelist who has so completely captured the *essence* of this universe created by George Lucas like Zahn has. Often I find myself reading simply an ordinary Sci-Fi story that happens to have characters with the names, Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie. With Timothy Zahn at the helm, we read his situations and think, "Dang, that is EXACTLY what C3PO would say" or you could substitute Han or ANY of them to be honest. While Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie are NOT the main focus of Allegiance, I for one do not care because the overall story is first-rate regardless. Personally I am hoping that Mr. Zahn will grace us with a multiple novel storyline featuring Thrawn and some of his escapades AFTER being appointed Grand Admiral by the Emperor (please??). Simply put: if you are already a fan of novels by Timothy Zahn buying this book is a given...if you tend to shy away from Star Wars books that do not feature the main characters in MAIN roles, you may think to buy something else...however, if you consider yourself a Star Wars fan and you haven't read Zahn yet, start with Heir To The Empire and move your way up and keep going until you have read them all. Not just good Sci Fi Drama but GREAT, enduring entertainment every bit as good as the best Star Wars movie (some would say better).

Timothy Zahn writes the very best Star Wars books, and now he has a new one, "Star Wars: Allegiance".

There are dozens of Star Wars books, expanding the universe of the six films. But none of them are as good as Timothy Zahn's. The genre really launched with Timothy Zahn's original sequels following on "Return of the Jedi": "Heir to the Empire", "Dark Force Rising", and "The Last Command".

In those books he expanded the Star Wars universe with characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn (who tried to lead a resurgent empire after the death of the Emperor), Mara Jade (who became Luke Skywalker's wife after a rocky decade), and Talon Karrde (master smuggler/information broker).

The same characters returned in the the follow-up "Hand of Thrawn" books, "Spectre of the Past" and "Vision of the Future".

Zahn later returned to the themes he had created in "Survivor's Quest" in which Luke and Mara travel to the crash site of an Old Republic mission intended to explore another galaxy, and "Outbound Flight" about the fate of that mission.

Originally George Lucas said he was going to make nine Star Wars films. He later revised it to six, with three prequels to the original three films. It may be that after Timothy Zahn mapped out the continuation from "Return of the Jedi", Lucas could no longer create his own future, and perhaps there are reasons why the initial Zahn trilogy can't be filmed.

The new book is placed in the period between the films "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back". When the former film ends, Han has barely aligned himself with the rebels and Luke is just starting to learn Jedi skills. By the beginning of the latter, Han has basically joined up (even if he has plans to leave), he and Luke are much more of a team, and Luke's skills have grown. The new book explores the transition. Han is asking himself about joining the rebels, he and Luke are starting to work together, preparing for the moment at the beginning of "The Empire Strikes Back" when Luke says "Han, old buddy".

We meet characters from the first film, obviously Leia and Darth Vader, as well as General Rieekan, from Hoth base in "The Empire Strikes Back". We have an early introduction to Mon Mothma, who otherwise first appears in "Return of the Jedi". We also meet a very young Mara Jade, just beginning her service as the Emperor's Hand, honing her skills and with a naive image of the empire is supposed to be.

Zahn also repeats his homage to the fans in "Survivor's Quest" and introduces us to the 501st legion, named after the fans who dress up in armor and drill as storm troopers. In the ultimate homage, he makes them Vader's personal troops. (Then again, the Acknowledgments thank the founder of the fan 501st for inspiring one of the best parts of the book, the five renegade do-gooder stormtroopers of the "Hand of Judgement".

We know from Zahn's previous books that Mara and Luke do not meet in this timeframe: Mara sees Luke in Jabba's Palace, and the two actually meet one another much later. One of the fun things about this book is the way the various characters almost meet, all in the same place at the same time, but just missing.

We also gain an insight into why Vader was so quick to kill Admiral Ozzel at the beginning of "The Empire Strikes Back". Ozzel's actions as a captain in this book set the stage, and Vader comes off less horrific. A nice touch now that we know it is Anakin inside that black suit.

Zahn also introduces us to one of the characters we will see in the "Hand of Thrawn" books, the corrupt imperial administrator Disra.

It would have been nice if Talon Karrde had wandered through, and where were the droids? C-3PO and R2-D2 are completely missing, which seems a bit strange, although I really didn't think about it until after I finished reading the book.

But the person I really would have liked to have had the Zahn fill-in treatment is Jorj Car'das. Zahn created this kingpin of crime and told us about his recent history in the "Hand of Thrawn" books, then gave us a glimpse into his very early life in "Outbound Flight", which was very satisfying. But this book would have been a nice opportunity to experience Car'das at the height of his criminal powers.

Zahn tends to space his creations out, so a direct sequel to "Allegiance" is probably not going to happen. But I would sure love to follow the adventures of those renegade stormtroopers.

Timothy Zahn here writes an entirely predictable adventure tale with three branching paths: one about a stormtrooper squadron who deserts the Empire, another about Mara Jade doing odd jobs for the Emperor, and the third about Han, Luke, and Leia on a diplomatic mission. The tales converge in a fashion only possible in novels and wrap up with no bearing on the movies.

The problem with this novel is that it is entirely predictable. The stormtrooper squad deserts the Empire quickly in an unlikely fashion. I knew a few pages after this had happened that they would doubtlessly join Han, Luke, and Leia by novel's end in Zahn's attempt to provide some entertainment for the readers. I flipped ahead to the end of the book at that time and my prediction turned out to be right.

Mara Jade's branch is exceptionally boring for the majority of the novel, as she chases after nameless thugs just to get some pricey statues back to her Emperor. She's written as an unbelievably mature and confident 18-year-old, and actually tells the Emperor what she is going to do instead of being ordered around. Zahn also writes Lord Vader as being childish toward her, while at the same time inserting a silly scene where Vader Googles for Luke.

Han, Luke, and Leia's branch is unremarkable. The characters act toward each other much like they did in Episode IV. However, Luke takes a back seat and isn't very confident about himself.

Timothy Zahn writes this novel in a very constrained space, which forces him to create new characters and just as quickly kill them or shuffle them away. Obviously in love with his own character of Mara Jade, he portrays her as overly powerful. The stormtrooper deserters were a good idea, but Zahn doesn't do enough to distinguish them effectively as memorable individual characters. For such a task, Aaron Allston would've been better. Han, Luke, and Leia's story is unremarkable. This novel is passably written and will provide some brief entertainment for literature fans, but is an awful choice for newbies to the novels.

(Reviewer's note: I've read all of the Star Wars novels of the 1990s and most of the ones from 2000-2003 that weren't prequel novels. Seeing that this was not a prequel novel, the influx of which put me off reading Star Wars novels a few years ago, I picked it up, remembering Timothy Zahn's earlier excellent work in the Star Wars universe. I was disappointed.)

Zahn has surpassed his already high standards for complexity and plot, but his characters, especially Mara Jade and Luke, are not especially well-developed, which is quite outside of the normal Zahn standard. The problems with this book are caused by the fact that we already know how these characters turn out, as the vast majority of Star Wars Fiction and two of the movies take place after this one. The author succumbed to the temptation of making Mara Jade what she becomes in the original Thrawn Trilogy, which is to say good. Mara Jade is not viewed as evil in the book although she has been raised by the most evil man the universe has ever seen. My favorite characters were the new ones, the five stormtrooper deserters. They were well-thought out and they fit in well with the story. All in all, an excellent book, but zahn has done better, and will do so again.

P.S. Did anyone notice how Zahn sneakily sneaked in Captain Abel Quiller from the Thrawn Trilogy into the book as one of the stormtrooper deserters? Or that he also sneaked in the execrable Disra from the Hand of Thrawn?

What happens when a member of the Empire realizes that they may not be fighting for the side that is right? This is the central issue at the heart of this novel. A group of four storm troopers desert their post once they are given orders to destroy an innocent village. I have always been fascinated by the idea of Imperial agents changing sides. As this group struggles with the idea of who they should give their allegiance, Mara Jade (another popular Zahn character) has to decide who she is allegiant to. Is it to the Emperor, Vader, or the citizens of the Empire. Wrapped up in all this are the big three: Han, Luke, and Leia, whose own bonds and relationships are tested. Altogether, this novel is an extremely well written addition to Timothy Zahn's collection of Star Wars books.

The action doesn't stop in the Expanded Universe--not after "Return of The Jedi," and not even between the films. Thus we have Zahn's "Allegiance," an examination of at least three disparate groups within the galaxy and where they stand on the pervasive and perceived tyranny of Palpatine's Empire (especially in a galaxy recently bereft of Alderaan).

Of course, our Rebel and Imperial familiars are still running across the galaxy pursuing their own ends, mutually exclusive of each other--all the while operating under their own loyalties and allegiances. There are, however, other, more intricate plots at work, and it may take a scrupulous eye to discern all of them. Thanks be that Zahn's style seems crisper here--easier to follow, lacking some of the more complex elements of the Thrawn trilogy and thus hearkening back to a simpler time in the Empire when men were men and a single one of them (not a bunch of squabbling warlords) ran the show.

There is, first, Mara Jade. At this point in her life she's still utterly in thrall to the Emperor and the Empire; certainly she questions his motives and "ability to see Rebellion where there is none" to a very limited extent, but by and large Zahn gives us a Mara Jade sans the sardonic disposition of the later Thrawn Trilogy; if she doesn't crack wise per se in the middle of a battle, she nonetheless takes control of the many situations of which she's in the middle--and comes out on top (if a little worse for the wear). Her loyalty here is to perceived good men--and though she may look at Palpatine askance once in a blue moon, Zahn presents Mara as someone who nonetheless believes in Palpatine's goals; Palpatine in return seems to grant her more latitude in doubting his orders than he would with even Vader (though that's another story).

Then there are our cover characters, the Hand of Judgement: rogue stormtroopers stationed aboard the ISD "Reprisal," who suddenly desert when their de facto leader, Daric LaRone, kills an Imperial Security Bureau officer in self defence. From their desertion, they amble about Selsha sector, doing random acts of kindness (such as can be done when one's wearing the gleamy white of Imperial Stormtroopers) and inadvertently crossing paths with Rebellion peacemakers in the area. LaRone gives the reader an important look at the concept of a Stormtrooper gone rogue--and it is something worth examining. The trend lately has been to personify Stormtroopers as the Empire's (and Vader's) faceless enforcers who rush headlong into any situation with little thought in their head except Imperial Loyalty. Zahn, however, goes ever further and shows us that these faceless enforcers have names, and lives, and values, and sometimes they don't always mesh with Palpatine's designs on the New Order. In LaRone, one of Zahn's one-off characters who hopefully gets further treatment, we see the Empire at war with itself, personified in this highly decorated and dutiful trooper. Torn between personal convictions (though Zahn thankfully stays away from protracted internal monologues when discussing LaRone's loyalties) and military convictions--Door 1 or Door 2, as it were. LaRone instead cannibalizes his options. He breaks free of institutionalized Imperial Doctrine, and in the process becomes an exercise in contradictions.

After all, how can a Stormtrooper--one of the Empire's finest--suddenly and simply desert? How can he cast off the gorier parts of the New Order and instead adhere to straight-up service to the people? By doing what made LaRone great in the first place: straight-up soldiering without the politics (though those come in later, too).

Zahn shows us, without being preachy, that Stormtroopers don't always hold with Company Policy, and that's not really a bad thing. After all, as old Obi-Wan's ghost instructs Luke, "not all strangers are enemies"--and neither are all Stormtroopers. Our heroes get a lesson in relativism, and while that doesn't necessarily jive with Lucas' idea of a stark good-and-evil universe, Zahn packages it in such a way that the reader is entertained nonetheless. Happy Reading!

The Star Wars movie stories incorporates a lot of cliches and common myths. This book bypasses the two-dimensionality of the original stories by letting the reader get a better understanding of how good people can partner with and support movements and groups thought-of as bad or evil (please excuse the two-dimensional terms) along with the choices they are confronted with and make. While this could easily lead to a boring or moralizing book, it was actually a very good read. I believe it to be one of the better books in the Star Wars series - not as action packed or as exciting as some - but a little more insightful in terms of human nature. People can evolve from simple ideologues to those who grapple with life's greater moral complexities. Five stormtroopers go through this awakening process to a limited extent and shift from stereotypes to multi-dimensional characters. If there was more action and if the major Star Wars characters were equally multi-dimensional then the book would have been five stars but it is still a good and recommended read.

I finished Allegiance and its a fine novel though it goes very fast. If you like Star Wars, and you like Zahn, you'll likely enjoy this book. I don't need to convince you to read it if you're anything like me. It's Zahn. It must be read.

But I found one thing /very strange/ about this novel. Even though Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie are all very active characters in this book, C-3PO and R2-D2 are not once even mentioned. Seriously. It's like Han Solo's bizarre absence in Splinter of the Mind's Eye. You have no clue where the droids are or what they're up to. But wait, there's more.

Not only do C-3PO and R2-D2 make no appearance, but the entire book has NO DROIDS AT ALL. Read it again if you don't believe me. There is I recall one /reference/ to droids but never does a droid appear at any point in the story. Was this some kind of bet Zahn made with a friend on whether or not he could write an entire star wars novel without droids? (Though technically, I think he already did that with Outbound Flight).

Just an odd trivial note. If you read it, enjoy it. The stormtroopers are appealing characters and I wouldn't mind seeing more about them following the events of this book.

Nobody does Star Wars like Zahn - this was a very nice installment, taking a trip back to just after the original Star Wars movie, later retitled Episode 4, A new Hope.

All the base characters from that era are there in limited form, as well as some early era Mara Jade, and a group of dissatisfied Storm Troopers.

If you like Star Wars, READ IT!

Nobody does Star Wars like Zahn - this was a very nice installment, taking a trip back to just after the original Star Wars movie, later retitled Episode 4, A new Hope.

All the base characters from that era are there in limited form, as well as some early era Mara Jade, and a group of dissatisfied Storm Troopers.

If you like Star Wars, READ IT!

First off, I usually like Timothy Zahn's star wars novels. This is the eighth one I've read, and unfortunately it's been the only novel of his that has made me feel mildly disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I believed a better story with all these character's could've been told. All of the new character's that are introduced in this novel haven't made an impact on me. While the stormtrooper perspective is an intriguing ideal for a novel, the five character's were rather flat for the length they were given. I couldn't tell the difference between some of them (and if that's the point, I feel it a rather poor one). Seeing the empire through the eyes of a stormtrooper, and the mixed reactions they have after technically no longer serving, might've worked best as a short story/novella (tales from the empire type perhaps?).

I think Zahn did a great job at nailing the dialogue/chemistry with the classic character's of Luke, Han, Leia, Mara, Vader, and so on. I had mixed reactions with Ben Kenobi's tutorial of Luke, but overall I think that worked okay. It would've been interesting to see more emotions from Mara, or perhaps a closer third person narrative to her, especially since she's a teenager/ young adult. Since this might be the only novel (and I'm certainly hoping not) that deals with the possibility of Jade and Vader together, or her with the emperor for that matter, as a reader I really felt short changed. Yes, I think it's good to leave a reader wanting more, but not to the point where we're given only a handful of pages in a 320 some page novel.

The book is well paced, easily readable, and it bounces back and forth with the events. Overall I wonder if Zahn should've taken a little more time to think about spending so many pages on trooper's and pirates - especially since this takes place in that special four year period between ANH and ESB.

So, yes, I was disappointed. But the novel, for what it is, is average to good. I hope a lot of people who read it liked it better than I did. The classic trilogy is incredibly special to me as it is to many (if not all) star wars fans, and perhaps my expectations were too great on this one.

A stormtrooper unit led by Daric LaRone refuse orders and will not fireon civilians. They steal a shuttle and flee, vowing to seek out and destroy corruption they find inside the Imperial ranks--even if it means coming to the aid of the Rebels!

The novel never truly reached the apex I was hoping for. The story focused too much on the deserting storm troopers and Mara Jade. Though Mara Jade is welcome, I was hoping for an ultimate confrontation between Luke and Mara. But it never happens. Maybe that was impossible given the other novels, I don't know. But, Luke doesn't do much of anything in this story and that was hugely disappointing. In addition, I don't feel it was written all that well either. The plot was way too convoluted to follow. That was the chief problem. Even the best of writers can create a dude now and then. This was a dude.

The five imperial storm troopers are tired of the endless war in which the innocent die, but no one at least on their side seems to care. Their leader Daric LaRone believes the enemy Rebel Alliance is no different though they cloak their efforts as freedom fighters. Still when a superior officer orders Daric and his four followers to commit an atrocity, they kill their leader instead forcing them to go AWOL where they meet rebel leaders Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca.

Meanwhile Emperor Palpatine decides he needs a new apprentice as his previous one Darth Vader may need some competition to keep him sharp after a recent unacceptable failure. He chooses amoral teenage beauty Countess Mara Jade Claria to become his "Emperor's Hand", angering the Sith though Vader takes out his rage on others and not his mentor or the new rival.

Allegiance takes place between the events of A New Hope (the original 1977 movie) and the Empire Strikes Back as Timothy Zahn seamlessly fills the gap by humanizing the storm troopers. The story line is action-packed but character driven by Daric and his men, and the renowned heroic four; but especially fascinating is the triangle between Vader, Mara Jade and Palpatine. Star War fans will enjoy this well written interlude.

Harriet Klausner

Timothy Zhan is perhaps the absolute best Star Wars author currently writing for the series. His writing is polished and flows very smoothly and he doesn't turn every book into a history lesson. In this book, we are introduced to a squadron of rogue stormtroopers having trouble with their conflict between their loyalty to the Empire and their loyalty to its citizens. The book reads with the same high intensity pace of Zhan's previous work in the Star Wars Universe and the tale weaves together with a story of my favorite Zhan character, Mara Jade. If you enjoyed his other six star wars novels you will love this one.

Timothy Zahn does a great job getting the reader interested in his newly created stormtrooper characters early in the story. As I finished the book I was emotionally tied to the stormtroopers in the sense that I wanted more. I do hope he writes further stories on these guys since their relationships with each other are very dynamic and just enjoyable to read.

The book can become some what confusing as the story shifts to multiple points of view throughout, but Zahn does a wonderful job of tying up everything towards the end and making everything make sense without it becoming too hokey. If you want a great story that does not rely fully on Han, Luke and Leia then give this book a read as its refreshing and just plain fun to get into.

A horrible book and certainly the worst Zahn has ever written. Not only is he ripping off scene's from his previous books and simply copy and pasting them in here, Leia gets a job as a waitress, Luke acts like a shallow fool with Obi-wan on ghost speed dial, before being left locked in a cupboard by Han and Darth Vader web-surfs on Google and pretty much acts out of character and get's pawned by an 18 year old girl. Yes all those things actually happened and are as bad I make them sound.

As for his own character well Mara despite being the best-est Imperial agent ever still seems just only go after pirates and for some reason have other Imperial officers try to kill her for absolutely no reason, except the author feeling he needs to try and introduce some excitement in an otherwise boring book. Long gone are the days when Zahn made this character really interesting with great development, now she is nothing more than a computer game cut out.

As for the Storm-trooper A-Team (who are wanted for a crime they did not commit !), well they do not act like Storm-troopers but then these are Zahn-troopers since they seem to be able to shoot straight and are able to survive multiple blaster shots. They also incredibly generic and you could switch the names around and still not tell the difference between any of them as characters.

As for the plot its a big mystery that starts off with pirates and leads too.... more pirates seriously that's it, all in all it's a terrible book and I am struggling to see how anyone could rate it so high especially when compared too Zahn's original trilogy which was great that great

I had trouble staying engaged, and in fact put the book down for a few weeks after which I had lost major parts of the plot.

The 4 stormtroopers besides LaRone kind of blended together without any discerning personality traits, and the Luke/Han/Leia subplot seemed bolted on just to give the fans a taste of the main characters.

Overall it was okay and it was interesting to get a glimpse of the story between ANH and ESB, but I'd say it's Zahn's worst novel to date.

Zahn is definitely one of the best Star Wars authors out there. (He delivered the only readable prequel-ere novel in Outbound Flight.) With him behind the story, I was hoping for a good classic-trilogy-era novel showing Luke struggling to be a jedi without a teacher and Han and Chewie being the rogues of old. Unfortunately, there is too little of our favorite characters. Most of the book follows a group of weak-minded stormtroopers, whose simple logic and motivation grew tiresome quickly. The few shining moments in Allegiance, in my opinion, were the interactions between Mara Jade and Darth Vader. If we're going to get any more of the young Mara during the Rebellion, I hope to see more on the tense relationship between her and Vader.

This book was awesome, I loved the storyline and the overall flow of it. I enjoyed watching what happened to LaRone and his fellow Stormtroopers. And there were just so many thing I did not expect, twist and turns but I never really got confused. One point I lost track but it was shorter than a page. The second Star Wars book Ive read, I dont really remember the other, but Im deffinitly buying more. I would recomend this to Every star wars fan...

I enjoyed the various threads spun in this book. A bit predictable, but it is Star Wars. The story provided some background for future events and some of the main SW characters, such as Mara and her bad self, and it also gave the stormies a warm fuzzy lovable side. I picked this up during a flight delay and found it hard to put down. Definately a good read.

Timothy Zahn is my favorite author, but this story really never seems to get going. It's fun to see Mara Jade as a young Emporer's Hand, but too little time is spent with our other heroes. The real stars of the book are a group of rouge storm troopers and they just aren't that interesting. The plot is a little too conviluted also. Mr. Zahn can do much better. If you want Zahn, check out "Night Train To Rigel" instead.

Timothy Zahn's eighth book in the Star Wars expanded universe and, unfortunately, possibly his weakest yet.

The story itself reads as though it were written for a very specific group of fans, and is at oft times childish. For the more adult die hard fans of Star Wars the continuity changes will draw frowns, with characters from previous books acting with greater skill than they appear to have later on in life.

Though, for these difficulties the simplicity of the story, and the ease of the writing will appeal to younger fans, and those looking for a simple and quick read with nothing challenging. Though these are not the trademarks of the intrigue and atmosphere that Timothy Zahn's other work has.

Not great, stormtrooper fans especially will love the Hand of Judgment and this story, so if you are; consider it recommended. But certainly this is not close to his best work, and it simply doesn't feel like it was written for the wider audience.

The first 40 pages of Allegiance show some glimmer of thought, effort and promise. The rest is little more than a novel-by-numbers - shallow characters shuffled through a convoluted plot that adds nothing to the Star Wars universe.

Set in the days between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Allegiance opens with the story of five stormtroopers deserting their posts after taking part in a retributory slaughter of innocent civilians. When the story then shifts focus, it turns into a slow, uneventful, and for the SW universe pointless story about an Imperial governor using a criminal syndicate to skim funds to finance secession. There are three separate threads, one each with Mara, the stormtroopers, and Han, Luke, and Chewie following the criminals, another with Leia meeting with rebels who want to bring the secessionists over to the Alliance, a thread on the criminals, and yet another on Captain Ozzel. The five stormtroopers manage to stumble across most of these, teaming up with Han and Luke to get to the scene of the crime and then aiding Mara in putting the conspiracy to rest. As with much of Zahn's work, keeping up with the various threads is a tiresome and unrewarding endeavor. He doesn't write about people so much as he does build complex plots and would be better suited to writing video games.

His characters are flat, two-dimensional stand-ups, puppets that he moves about in very carefully choreographed sequences. You never really feel anything for any of them because you never get to know them. Allegiance is built around five new characters, stormtroopers that except for their names and specializations are indistinguishable. There's not a funny guy, a philosophical guy, a serious guy, a sentimental guy, a guy with kids, a guy with girlfriends, a guy who wanted to be a painter, a rich guy, a poor guy, a guy who wants to travel, a guy who likes flying, a guy with sisters, a guy who wants a big family - just five guys in white armor who call themselves the Hand of Judgment and who in moments of great decision regurgitate platitudes, the ideals that motivated them to first enlist, such as protecting the weak and preserving order (as well, presumably, as mom, apple pie, baseball, and puppies).

These five socktroopers (lead by former Quebec pro-wrestler Daric LaRone) decide to chuck their careers as casually as you might decide to throw out some old clothes. Their moment of truth is about as believable as Anakin's conversion in Revenge of the Sith. When was the last time you heard of elite soldiers (of any country's service) deserting because they were asked to carry out ethically questionable orders?

The socktroopers aren't the only characters that strain credibility. Mara Jade is far more competent in the use of weapons, her ability to pilot ships, and her knowledge of espionage than any 18 year could ever be. What's more she never makes a mistake (one that matters, that is), and she sasses both the Emperor and Vader - and gets away without a Force slap or shove.

Whatever happened to the Bad Guys, anyway? Mara, Vader and the Stormtroopers are supposed to be evil. But in Allegiance (as in many EU novels and comics of recent vintage) the Good Guys are good and the Bad Guys, well, they're Bad, but only if they're minor characters. The characters fans know by name and reputation (and the ones they dress up as because they have cool costumes) - Mara Jade, Darth Vader, Admiral Ozzel, Stormtroopers - they aren't really bad. They don't kill people without just cause. They're not sadistic. They're just trying to do their jobs. They're the lovable bad guys, the lower case bad guys. The deserting troopers, for example, seem more concerned with protecting civilians, and with their oaths to do so, than with their own lives; Mara goes out of her way to try and save a pirate she captured in battle and who acted as an informant; Admiral Ozzel is shocked by a plan proposed by an Imperial spy to kill a few low-ranking troopers to cover up his mistake. So who is it the reader is supposed to identify with?

If a meandering story and wooden characters weren't bad enough, Zahn's style shows a complete lack of variety or wit. Nearly every direct quote has to be attributed with a reporting verb. His characters repeatedly shiver, wince, groan, and growl. Vader broods and strides, and his cloak swirls and billows. The good guys (which are also the bad guys, not to be confused with the really Bad Guys) are painfully earnest, trotting out cliches on duty, honor, responsibility, order and freedom that are meant to fortify their resolve (while helping the reader feel good, in the case of the Hand of Judgment, about supporting what are supposed to be the fantasy equivalent of Nazi soldiers).

If fan response is positive, we have the unfortunate possibility of future volumes featuring the Hand of Judgment. It's hardly giving anything anyway to let you know that all the major characters survive, as do the five socktroopers, who by end the book are adopted by Mara Jade as her private security force. I can't think of anything worse than a Hand of Judgment series except perhaps another chapter of Dark Empire, or another Thrawn novel.

Del Rey, please do us all a favor and put Zahn out to pasture.

If you'd care to read a well written novel about the ethical dilemmas of soldiers, that just also happens to be a Star Wars novel, try True Colors

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In his usual form, Zahn focuses on elements of his own creation as opposed to George Lucas's. In areas this is a strength; in others, a weakness. Mara Jade has always been an enigmatic character, so this is a welcome development. Unwelcome, however, is the inclusion of non-clone stormtroopers. To my knowledge, Zahn was the first Star Wars author to explicitly state stormtroopers were not clones in the late 1990s. To Zahn's credit, Lucas didn't officially clarify the stormtroopers' true nature until 2002 with "Attack of the Clones," so Zahn couldn't have known his error.

Here in 2007 matters are different. Lucas has shown the world stormtroopers are clones by revealing their origins as created by the Jedi then coopted by the Sith in the prequels and "Labyrinth of Evil" (one could argue the point, but at least on-screen, this is the overwhelming suggestion). Zahn had the opportunity to smooth over his early blunder with a great story about clones turning against their conditioning to battle an oppressive autocrat, perhaps in the spirit of the noble Jedi who arranged for their kind's creation so many years ago. He could have even made it compatible with the Spaarti cloning thread from "The Last Command." Instead he told a tired tale of conscripts. As usual, Zahn sticks tenaciously to his version of Star Wars, despite revelations in a few inconvenient film releases. This is a shame because Zahn is an otherwise excellent story teller. See "Outbound Flight."

If you're one of those Star Wars fans who likes the idea of conscripted soldiers and can't let go of that overwritten notion, you'll probably like this story. If you prefer Lucas's Star Wars, in which cloning plays a vital thematic role throughout all the films, you might leave this book alone.

In the books surrounding Kyp Durron and the Academy at Carida, it is apparent that not all stormtroopers were clones. I emailed Lucas about this and he replied, saying "You're right. They weren't."

Ok, that last bit was a lie. But the point stands.

The characters were not emotional and the story had no large effect on the Star Wars universe. I would not recommend that Zahn fans(such as myself) read this or else their faith in this writer will be shattered.