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Star Wars: Razor's Edge (Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion #1)

Martha Wells

Start date: January 1, 2014

Finish date: January 31, 2014

Discussion: Holocronies Reading Room

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* REVAN - February 2014 Holocronies Book Club
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STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS
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Apr 02, 2019 Scott Rhee rated it liked it

Shelves: star-wars, old-canon-legends

“Razor’s Edge” by Martha Wells is one of the many books in the Star Wars Legends line, which is technically part of the Old Canon, the series of books which has been negated by the New Canon. Although, since the book is set in the years between “Episode IV: A New Hope” and “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”, nothing in it is necessarily disruptive to the continuity and new timeline of the New Canon, the series of books that follows the “official” new timeline set by J.J. Abrams’s film “Episode “Razor’s Edge” by Martha Wells is one of the many books in the Star Wars Legends line, which is technically part of the Old Canon, the series of books which has been negated by the New Canon. Although, since the book is set in the years between “Episode IV: A New Hope” and “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”, nothing in it is necessarily disruptive to the continuity and new timeline of the New Canon, the series of books that follows the “official” new timeline set by J.J. Abrams’s film “Episode VII: The Force Awakens”.

(If you’re not a “Star Wars” fan, that preceding paragraph is probably confounding. It is, however, a ridiculous new reality for those of us who are “Star Wars” fans. C’est la vie...)

Remember Echo Base, the Rebel Alliance’s new base of operations on the planet Hoth after the Battle of Yavin? Well, if not, Echo Base was where the Rebels fled to after the Empire tried to destroy their last base on Yavin 4 with the Death Star, only to be thwarted by the wiliness of a farmboy-turned-pilot named Luke Skywalker. The destruction of the Death Star was a serious blow to the Empire, but the Emperor and his right hand man, Darth Vader, lived to see another day.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin, Rebel forces needed to regroup. More and more planets and star systems were joining in the fight against the Empire, but the Alliance now lacked a central base of operations. Planet Hoth offered everything they needed, except, of course, necessary supplies such as food, medicine, and weapons. The planet was basically a frozen tundra, so the Alliance sent out delegates to other star systems for opportunities for trade.

Princess Leia and Han Solo are assigned a mission in the Mid Rim, but after an attack on their ship, the group is forced into an area run by pirates. It is there that Leia makes the horrifying discovery that many of the pirates are fellow Alderaanians. After the destruction of their homeworld, many of them felt that they had no choice but to resort to piracy to survive.

Leia must now use her diplomatic skills to convince her fellow Alderaanians to leave the life of piracy and join the Alliance, while also working a deal with the leader of the pirates, a Lorrdian named Viest. The catch? Lorrdians are known for having a highly developed instinct for detecting duplicity.

There is, of course, plenty of action and space battles in “Razor’s Edge” to satisfy the hard-core “Star Wars” fan. Overall, a fun albeit extraneous “Star Wars” adventure. ...more

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Nov 10, 2013 Joe Hempel rated it liked it

This review is courtesy of topoftheheapreviews(dot)com

Star Wars takes a different turn and goes back into the realm of the original trilogy. Taking place just after A New Hope, how does the first entry into the Empire and Rebellion series fit within the timeline?

I’m a fan of Star Wars novels. I’m unapologetic about it, and even the ones that people are so critical of, I still enjoy them. I enjoyed this one as well. You have all the makings of a fantastic adventure within the universe.

My last st This review is courtesy of topoftheheapreviews(dot)com

Star Wars takes a different turn and goes back into the realm of the original trilogy. Taking place just after A New Hope, how does the first entry into the Empire and Rebellion series fit within the timeline?

I’m a fan of Star Wars novels. I’m unapologetic about it, and even the ones that people are so critical of, I still enjoy them. I enjoyed this one as well. You have all the makings of a fantastic adventure within the universe.

My last statement though, presents the biggest problem within this book. You have the makings of a fantastic adventure. That’s it.

This book could have been so much more because this book is one of the ONLY books that feature Leia Organa. It is very much her novel, but the author did almost nothing to further her character development between the movies. You know from the movies that there are strong feelings between her and Han Solo, and of course they end up getting married. I really wanted this book to explore their relationship a bit more. They weren’t too sure of each other after A New Hope, and this book could have really capitalized on what was building between the movies. It however did none of that.

Not only that, I really felt that the end of the book, where the rest of the major players came in, overshadowed almost everything that Leia did. This to me seemed like the author, or the publisher, decided that Leia couldn’t hold a novel on her own merit without the support of Han or Luke or Chewbacca.

The other problem that comes in during this, and why I feel that character development needed a bigger role, is that the danger is entirely false danger. You know they are going to survive. No matter what happens in the book, Leia, Luke, Han, are all going to survive. Because of that major fact, you have to have good character development. You know where they end up, but sometimes you want the how to be told. This book missed the mark, and it could have been a huge statement in the universe dealing with the early relationship of Leia and Han.

I’m hoping that the next installation of this series plays a bit more into the characters emotions rather than some J.J. Abrahm’s all action no emotion style.

The Bottom Line: Like I said in the beginning, I enjoyed this book. It was a fun read. However, I felt that I could have skimmed it and gotten the same enjoyment. It was all flash and no substance. Maybe it was my fault for expecting something different than what was delivered, but I would wait for the price to drop. I got this from the publisher in exchange for a review, I would not pay $13.99 for this book…in any format. ...more

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Sep 21, 2017 Jonathan rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: star-wars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 08, 2013 Gene rated it really liked it

Shelves: star-wars, from-the-library

A good new star wars adventure. The author did a good job capturing the characters, in particular Han and Leia and the beginnings of their relation ship. Mostly a Leia centric story,but enough Han to make it fun.

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Nov 21, 2014 Dustin Overschmidt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

it was a good book. There were times that I found it rather easy to put down, which is why it took almost 2 months to read it. It was a fun read however, even if I wouldn't rank it near the top of all the star wars books I've read. ...more

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