Star Wars: Edge Of The Abyss (Reign Of The Empire) Book Review
“Star Wars: Edge Of The Abyss (Reign Of The Empire)” is the best Star Wars novel in years.
For book two of the Reign of the Empire trilogy (“Edge Of The Abyss”), author Rebecca Roanhorse takes over writing duties from Alexander Freed who penned the first in the series (“The Mask Of Fear”). ‘Edge is set over a decade after ‘Mask’ and takes place one year prior to “Andor.” Much like ‘Mask,’ this is an ensemble story.
Senator Mon Mothma finds herself struggling to balance politics with a family life that is a mess. Her daughter Leida is obsessed with a pop singer named Quanaliko who Mon believes is pushing out Imperial propaganda with an Imperial named Nisus Osar. In reality, Quanaliko uses her tour as a smuggling front. Mon proposes a charity concert for Quanaliko at Canto Bight to both appease her daughter and for other reasons.
Saw Gerrera is haunted by the past but continues his violent crusade against the Empire. He launches an attack with his Partisans on the planet Inusagi which is under Imperial rule. His crew member (Nankry) is captured by the Imperials which distresses Saw and the rebels as a whole as she possesses valuable intel which is a liability. There’s great concern that she will spill the beans to the Empire and multiple parties want her dead before that can happen.
Fellow Senator Bail Organa is also juggling life as a family man, a Senator, and a spy. When he learns about Nankry, he proposes to get her a lawyer and have the trial in Inusagi to keep her out of the hands of the ISB and Empire. A barrister named Yulien is suggested for the trial. He just so happens to be the husband of the now pregnant Karama (a former Partisan who worked with Saw but is now attempting to live a normal life under a new alias). Yulien has no idea about Karama’s former life.
Imperial spy Chemish is assigned to infiltrate the Student Action Alliance at the Palmo University on Ghorman. The goal is to stamp out the group led by Deata Dau and he targets Deata’s friend Fennro from her inner circle. Matters become complicated when Chemish falls in love with Fennro which makes him question everything.
The last key character here is Anto- a former crew member of Quanaliko turned member of the Neo-Separatist Coalition who wants to revenge against the Empire. He wants to join Saw, but he has to prove himself. He decides to steal money from Quanaliko’s charity concert with the help of the Student Action Alliance.
“Star Wars: The Mask Of Fear” had a lot to offer in terms of character and story, but suffered from uneven pacing and a few storylines that felt undercooked. With the sequel “Edge Of The Abyss,” Rebecca Roanhorse has crafted a superior sequel in every way. Not only does she waste no time getting to business setting up the characters and story arcs, but everything is so intricately interconnected. Yes, there’s a lot of spinning plates here, but it never feels overwhelming as every character and storyline largely gets an even amount of attention.
If you’re a fan of “Andor,” you will especially find yourself drawn to this novel. ’Abyss’ truly feels like an “Andor” prequel that even includes appearances from characters such as Luthen and Kleya (no spoilers as to their involvement here). There’s plenty of plotting, spycraft, danger, and manipulation going on here and Roanhorse dives deeper into the lives of the 3 core characters (Saw, Mon, and Bail).
If there’s any knock on this book it’s the Quanaliko character. Roanhorse sets her up as a smuggler. It felt like maybe that smuggling operation would somehow tie into the story more, but it really just services Anto more than anything. It would have been more interesting to learn a little about who she was and her smuggling operation.
“Star Wars: Edge Of The Abyss” is a riveting read from cover to cover. A must for Star Wars and “Andor” fans.
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