Specter of the Past heralded Timothy Zahn's return to the Star Wars universe, and I have to say it was a welcome return. Like his original trilogy, this book had plenty of action and exciting characters to make a person want to keep reading.
The major focus of the plot is the Caamasi affair. Although this came out before I, Jedi, I'd read that book first and was really excited to see this question being addressed. The Caamasi themselves play only a small role but are talked about constantly. I know they told Leia their whole position on the situation, but I'm surprised that none of them got in front of the Senate and made their views known. Do they not have a representative in the Senate at this time? Couldn't Leia get them an audience? I realize that this probably would not have stopped the fighting and hard feelings that hid behind the Caamas affair, but it could have helped head off at least a couple of those disputes.
On the other hand, it was fun to see Borsk brought down a few notches. No, the Bothan people as a whole do not deserve what they're getting from the people in the galaxy, and from this book I am led to believe that Borsk himself really was not one of the perpetrators of the Caamas affair, but it was fun to see him not be able to act like he normally would. Even so, I think he's the biggest reason Han and Leia had so many problems getting in to see the financial records on Bothawui.
The other major plot line centered on the impending Imperial surrender, and those who do not agree with this decision. Although it may have been a little more suspenseful had we not found out right away that Thrawn was an imposter, I still didn't have a problem with finding out right away, either. There was enough stuff going on to keep a person in suspense that it was nice not having to worry about Thrawn's takeover of the galaxy.
Admiral Pelleaon came into his own in this book. Out from Thrawn's shadow, we see both just how much he learned from Thrawn, but just how cool he can be. This is the first time I found myself cheering on an Imp, and it was both weird and enjoyable. I found the times he discussed his reasons for surrendering with his compatriots very enlightening, giving us a fascinating look into the Empire. And, for the first time to my knowledge, someone actually acknowledges that the Empire may be better off without the Emperor, expressing regret that someone hadn't killed him sooner. I can picture many in the Empire who like the ideals that the Empire represents, like maintaining order and stability in the galaxy, having this sentiment but being afraid to speak it.
Another great thing about this book is that a lot of characters are back in character for the first time in awhile. I won't spend my time ripping on certain other authors, whose books I don't think I'll be reviewing because I'd rather not reread them, but many will agree that the characters were just doing lots of stupid things that they normally would not do. Luke, who has been using the Force in such a way it makes him look like an omnipotent superhero, is starting to cut back on its use. This is a good thing, as can be evidenced by the description of people who are now starting to mistrust the Jedi because of their superhero status, from the Diamala, who are afraid of them all going to the dark side, to Han, who appeared uncomfortable with the thought that Luke would read his thoughts without his permission.
One thing that did annoy me, however, came in a scene with Leia. I don't remember what the exact conversation was about, but she was talking to Han, and all of a sudden she had a "Jedi look" on her face. As she continued talking to Han, this "Jedi look" became more intense. What, pray tell, is a "Jedi look?" I know what he's getting at, but it just sounds stupid. Zahn's an author. Describe the look instead of expecting everyone to get it from the movies. Ok, minor nitpick, I know, but this phrase just really irked me. Personal preference, if you will.
While I'm on minor nitpicks, I did catch a slight blooper while reading. This can be found towards the beginning, when Lando, Wedge, Tycho, and Janson are first talking, then they fly up to intercept what ends up being Vermel's ship. At one point, Wedge calls them Rogue Five and Seven, but up in the air they are Two and Five. Tycho's number switches at will? In many of the books he is Rogue Two, so at this point I would venture to say that Rogue Seven is a typo.
And now, on to the second part of this review. Everyone should've seen this part coming. After all, Corran's in the book. How could I review a book with him in it and not address him? 8)
First off, I love watching he and Booster interact. Even after all these years, they still appear not to like each other very much. But yet, there are quite a few indications that Booster loves putting on a good show for everybody, especially for Corran himself. The biggest landmark is that not once in this book does he call Corran "CorSec." In other books, he only called Corran by his first name on various occasions, but now it is a consistent thing.
I also love how they can be tossing barbs back and forth at each other, but when a true emergency happens, Booster's true feelings come through. When that ship buzzed the Errant Venture and they thought they were going to be attacked, Booster pulls Corran down to the deck with him. If he truly didn't like him, he would've left him to his own devices.
As I said earlier, I'd read I, Jedi before reading this book. Therefore, I read Corran's thoughts and discussions on fatherhood, and was left knowing that there'd be a little Horn running around sooner or later. So, yes, I was excited to see Valin in this book. I also kicked myself for not realizing that Corran would want to name his son this name.
There were a couple of things that kind of annoyed me. I admit, this could be because Corran was written differently than I expected he would be for this time period. My tendency is to want to blame Zahn for not nailing him right, except I know he keeps in close contact with Stackpole and probably had this stuff approved by him.
One, I don't understand what the big deal is with keeping his Jedi abilities so secret. He practically freaks when Karrde lets on to him he knows about it. Ok, so it could be some sort of an advantage in battle if the enemy has no clue that a Jedi-trained Force-sensitive is taking part, but he's almost acting like he'll be executed if the wrong person finds out, like in the old days.
The other thing comes up towards the end, when Rogue Squadron tries to prevent the Leresai from killing some of the Di'tai'ni. Wedge tells them to lock S-foils, but Corran countermands that order. When Wedge asks Corran if he said that because of his Jedi abilities, Corran's answer is, "I think so, yes." Excuse me, shouldn't he know? The impressions with which I left I, Jedi is that he'd learned enough to be able to tell when his danger sense was trying to warn him of something. He could almost tell the difference when he was ignorant of his heritage, for Pete's sake! So what gives? Does he doubt his own abilities for some reason? Is it harder for him to justify it because there's no evident threat? Although that last shouldn't be a factor, since that's the purpose of that sense. Because the danger was not originating from a person, but from an object? I do have a pet theory that could explain both of these nitpicks, but this isn't the place for going into it. Perhaps I'll post it in my editorials page one of these days.
I'd also like to note that, when Wedge asks Corran about the origin of his feeling that something was wrong, he did this over Corran's private channel, not the squadron channel. Is Corran so secretive about his heritage that the newer members of the squadron don't even know about it? Or was this simply because it was a more secure channel? Maybe it could even be because, if Corran didn't have a good reason, he wanted to reprimand him in private. I just thought it was worth pointing out.
All in all, a book that is guaranteed to keep a person reading, as well as a few cliffhanger elements that will make people want to read the next book. And people originally had to wait a year to do that! How did they ever do it?
Reviewed July 13, 2000 by Kelly M. Grosskreutz.
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