Just by paging through “The Essential Reader’s Companion,” it’s obvious that short stories make up a significant chunk of “Star Wars” fiction. Yet while the novels are easy to find, and 95 percent of the comics are collected in omnibus volumes, the short stories often have to be hunted down in magazine back issues or old web links.
I think Del Rey should regularly crank out paperback collections of the best short stories from Star Wars Insider and other sources, but there’s no indication that’s going to happen. Apparently, “Tales from the Empire” (1997) — a collection of nine short stories and one novella from West End Games’ Star Wars Adventure Journal (1994-97) — didn’t sell very well. It remains the only book collection of all-previously-published short stories. (The follow-up, “Tales from the New Republic,” was a mix of new and old material.)
As you can tell from the title, unlike the “Tales” trilogy (“Mos Eisley Cantina,” “Bounty Hunters” and “Jabba’s Palace”), “Tales from the Empire” covers a much wider canvas. Many of the stories touch on the common man’s or small-time freedom fighters’ oppression under the Empire’s boot, both before and a little bit after the Rebels’ victory at Endor. But I think these are mainly just the best stories from the Journal, as selected by editor Peter Schweighofer. (His introduction is worth reading, too, as it chronicles the often-overlooked contributions of West End Games to “Star Wars” lore and continuity.) As far as I can tell, he makes good selections, although I haven’t read the non-republished short stories from the Journal.
Here are my rankings of the 10 stories:
1. “Side Trip” by Timothy Zahn and Michael A. Stackpole — This 87-page, four-part novella will require a readers’ full attention because — much like Zahn’s latest book, “Scoundrels” — there’s so much stuff going on, and every character has different goals. It rewards careful readers, though, with a post-Episode IV tale featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn going undercover as bounty hunter Jodo Kast, Corran and Hal Horn working together with CorSec, and Black Sun thug Zekka Thyne flexing his muscle on Corellia.
2. “Missed Chance” by Stackpole — This is an essential story for Corran fans, as it tells of how he joins up with the Rebellion. In a humorous twist, it turns out Whistler had a lot to do with it.
3. “A Certain Point of View” by Charlene Newcomb — This is an emotional story about a young cruise ship lieutenant who is hurt by both the Empire and the Rebellion. Unlike many storytellers, Newcomb doesn’t lose sight of the individual, personal cost of war — that’s something that will clearly stick with Celia Durasha even if she picks the right side of the conflict.
4. “Retreat from Coruscant” by Laurie Burns — This is a pretty decent tale of pair of mail carriers recruited by the New Republic military to make an important wartime delivery. But the main reason I like it is that it takes place during the Imperials’ invasion of Coruscant between the Thrawn trilogy and “Dark Empire” — an event that is strangely unchronicled outside of this story.
5. “Blaze of Glory” by Tony Russo — This tale nicely portrays the camaraderie among mercenaries fighting their own private war against the evils of the Empire.
6. “First Contact” by Zahn — It’s not as good as “Missed Chance,” because the big reveal doesn’t come until the end. Still, the first meeting of Karrde and Mara Jade is an essential read for EU fans.
7. “Tinian on Trial” by Kathy Tyers — Like Stackpole’s and Zahn’s entries in this volume, Tyers (the only other “Star Wars” novelist in this group) introduces us to a character who will go on to bigger stories. Tinian, daughter of a corporate family that supplies weapons technology to the Empire, will later toughen up and take on Bossk in “Tales of the Bounty Hunters.” It’s neat to see how she is thrust out of her comfortable life by a corrupt Imperial here.
8. “Do No Harm” by Erin Endom — This is a classic “non-combatant thrown into a war situation” story. It chronicles a New Republic medic who has sworn to “do no harm” to other sentients, yet she must fight and kill in order to survive her mission. It’s one of the very few “Star Wars” stories told in first person. Off the top of my head, the novel “I, Jedi” is the only other one I know of.
9. “Slaying Dragons” by Angela Philips — This simple but not-exactly-light tale shows how a naïve little girl values fighting for liberty, not understanding her parents’ fearful concerns about the Empire’s wrath.
10. “The Final Exit” by Patricia A. Jackson — The only Force-centered story in this collection chronicles a Dark Jedi and the smuggler who agrees to transport him back to the Empire. The Dark Jedi’s motivations — notably, the killing of an innocent to open the story — are not explained very well. Perhaps Adalric Brandl gets fleshed out more in other stories.
How would you rank the entries in “Tales from the Empire?” And what are your thoughts on “Star Wars” short stories in general? Do you try to collect them all or find them online, or do you see it as a less important medium of “Star Wars” storytelling compared to the novels and comics?
Comments
It is interesting that you asked about the relationship of the fans with the tales, for me they are a complementation of the story told in the books and comics, I remenber the first time I went after one when I played Knights of the Old Republic, I wanted to know more about Revan then I got a fanfic about his origins and his fight against Mandalore. After that I learned of the importance of this material and I went for the mainstream short stories and got Tales of the Bounty Hunters and much later Tales from the Empire, I like the more fast read, after so many trilogies!
I agree completely with your ranks, and gotta say I like Retreat from Coruscant because it is one of the few times we got to see what preceded Dark Empire!# Posted By Eric | 10/11/13 4:46 PM
Indeed, short stories are a perfect form for telling small-but-important stories such as Mara and Karrde’s first meeting and Corran joining the Republic. Also, they are such fast reads; if you don’t like one, just wait a few pages and the next one could be better. I’ll have to try to track down the uncollected short stories for future “flashback” entries.# Posted By John Hansen | 10/11/13 5:25 PM