Razor's Edge: Star Wars Author: Visit Amazon's Martha Wells Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0345545249 | Format: EPUB
Razor's Edge: Star Wars Description
Review
“[A] rollicking
Star Wars adventure . . . a book that keeps you eagerly turning pages.”
—Roqoo DepotAbout the Author
Martha Wells was born in 1964 in Fort Worth, Texas, and graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in anthropology. She is the author of fourteen science fiction and fantasy novels, including the Nebula-nominated
The Death of the Necromancer, as well as a number of short stories and nonfiction articles. Her books have been published in seven languages.
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- Series: Star Wars : Empire and Rebellion
- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: LucasBooks (September 24, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345545249
- ISBN-13: 978-0345545244
- Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Razor's Edge has been billed as a book about Princess Leia Organa during the Original Trilogy era. As such, I think the most important question I asked myself after finishing this book is whether or not I learned something new about Leia as a character. After all, I think one of the justifications for the Empire & Rebellion series is that we get books focused on the Big Three during the Original Trilogy era. I'm not sure I have a great answer to that question. I enjoyed the book overall, but thought it definitely would have benefitted from more character moments.
First, it's worth mentioning the setup, although I will not reveal spoilers beyond the first few chapters. Leia, Han, and other members of the Rebel Alliance are on a secret mission to procure resources for Echo Base when an Imperial corvette intercepts their ship based on a tip from a spy. They manage to escape to a nearby space station when they receive a distress call from a ship attacked by pirates. Leia is initially reluctant to get involved until she realizes that the pirate ship is Alderaanian. Feeling an obligation to investigate the actions of her fellow Alderaanians, Leia goes aboard the Alderaanian pirate ship. However, the Alderaanian pirate ship is forced back to the pirate base. Trouble and action ensue.
Broadly speaking, there were two things I liked about Leia's character development in Razor's Edge. First, I really appreciate that Martha Wells shows us the toll that Leia's leadership role in the Rebel Alliance takes on her personally. Leia is a strong character and always quick to take charge of a situation. But it's also clear that it's stressful. We see Leia become irritated and tire.
When Razor's Edge was first announced I thought "Oh great another big three novel, like we don't have enough of those already.", but when I saw who was writing it, I found that my lack of enthusiasm was immediately upended. I have read Martha Wells' books before and was a huge fan of her work in the Stargate Atlantis franchise. I know her to be a very good writer with a great understanding of the characters she writes. She is also a writer capable of writing big, meaningful stories. And here, with Razor's Edge, she doesn't disappoint.
In Razor's Edge, Leia carries the bulk of the book's story, and even though Martha Wells is painted into a corner story wise(limited by events before and after the book's story), she finds a way to make Leia's story compelling and entertaining. After the destruction of Alderaan, Leia is burdened with the memory of the Empire's crime against her home-world, but when a group of Alderaanian military refugees attacks a merchant vessel, she must leap into action to fix the injustices committed by her fellow Alderaanians. Pinned against a powerful pirate with an extraordinary ability to read her opponents, Leia is forced to jump through hoops to free those indentured into a life of servitude. But even as the lives hang in the balance, she must also complete her original mission to acquire much needed supplies for the rebellion.
Han, too, plays a large part in making these criminal acts right, but where Leia focuses her talents on finding a peaceful, diplomatic way to correcting these wrongs, Han chooses a more direct approach. In the book Martha Wells takes Han on a much more gritty adventure, full of death-defying action and suspenseful interactions with cutthroat machinery and vial villainy.
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