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“The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.” –Grand Moff Tarkin, Star Wars: A New Hope.
Star Wars: Tarkin is about Wilhuff Tarkin’s rise from Moff to Grand Moff as he embarks on a mission with Darth Vader to bring down a crew of freedom fighters.
Written by: Jame Luceno (author of Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel)
Published: November 4, 2014
When does Tarkin take place?
Between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
Or more specifically: 14 BBY which is five years after the events of Revenge of the Sith.
Synopsis:
Moff Tarkin has been a prominent leader of the Imperial Empire for five years now and he rules with fear, not force. Now he is in charge of the Emperor’s super weapon, the dreaded Death Star. His place in the Empire, and possibly even the Empire itself, is threatened with the small bands of freedom fighters and rebellion groups appearing around the galaxy. One such group has the boldness to steal Moff Tarkin’s ship right out from under him. Now he teams up with Darth Vader to put an end to this rebellion once and for all.
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I wasn’t really surprised I would struggle with this book after struggling so much to get into Catalyst. The saving grace with Tarkin though is that it is a much shorter book. Similar to Catalyst, there just seems to be a lot of unnecessary detail; reading it reminded me of that Friends episode where Joey writes a recommendation letter and goes overboard using a thesaurus. Why are there so many sentences using twenty words when ten would do just fine?
Tarkin is actually quite similar to Lords of the Sith, though instead of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine fighting against a group of freedom fighters, it is Darth Vader and Tarkin. I was surprised that Palpatine literally sends Vader and Tarkin off on a mission together to bond—making friends doesn’t really seem like a priority of a Sith lord. Tarkin does provide quite a bit of background on Governor Tarkin with some flashback chapters to his childhood and teenage years which are interesting.
Overall, not my favourite. I know there are many fans of James Luceno’s writing style, but it isn’t for me. However, Tarkin is a must read though if you are a big fan of the lead character.
Have you read Star Wars: Tarkin? What do you think of Tarkin and Vader’s relationship?
Next week: Most Wanted
Complete list of Star Wars Canon novels
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