Book Review: Star Wars: Dark Forces: Rebel Agent SPOILERS!

On March 11, 1998, William C. Deitz returned to the Star Wars Expanded Universe to compose the second novella of the Dark Forces trilogy, Star Wars Dark Forces: Rebel Agent, part one of two of a story about the hit Kyle Katarn game Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. Published by Dark Horse Comics and Boulevard. This time, Dietz takes us to the opening of the game to finding the coordinates for a lost planet of the Jedi, in a race against time and several Dark Jedi to determine the fate of the fabled Valley of the Jedi. Synopsis: Secret Rebel Agent Kyle Katarn will do anything to avenge his father's untimely death at the hands of the Empire. When Kyle is threatened by 8t88 in a Nar Shaddaa bar, he tracks down the droid and secures a mysterious disk that could put him on the path to learning why his father was killed. Kyle soon finds that the disk contains information about a map to the Valley of the Jedi, a place his father had stumbled upon and kept secret. Now it's a race between Kyle and the Empire to see who can get to the map—and the Valley—first. Based on the popular Star Wars: DARK FORCES and Star Wars: JEDI KNIGHT interactive games, Rebel Agent is part two of a trilogy written by acclaimed author William C. Dietz (The Final Battle) and illustrated by the award-winning artist Ezra Tucker (the Adventures of Little Nettie Windship children's book series).

The novella opens with Morgan Katarn taking a few citizens and farmers to a smuggler's haven on the remote and forgotten planet of Ruusan, home to telepathic beings called bouncers. Morgan, after helping oversee the settlers settle in "Fort Nowhere", Morgan heads for the badlands, where he encounters a couple of bouncers. They tell him about the Poem of Ages: "A Knight shall come, a battle will be fought, and the Prisoners will go free." Despite his misgivings, the bouncers believe he is the one who will free the trapped Jedi and Sith spirits. Morgan, after seeing the Valley, flees in terror. Back on Sulon, Morgan tells Jedi Master Qu Rahn about the Valley, but Rahn refuses to be told the location and that Morgan should leave the coordinates for Kyle. The book then references Morgan being killed by Jerec a few months later. Five years later, Rahn, pilot Duno Dree, professor Nij Por Ral, technologist Rolanda Gron, and weapons expert Cee Norley are hunted on Dorlo by Dark Jedi Sariss, her son and friend Yun, and Maw--a former Jedi Knight. The Dark Jedi trio manage to kill Norley and Boc Aseca manages to capture the others. On the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer Vengeance, Gorc and Picaroon C. Boodle--a.k.a. Pic--kill Rolanda, Yun kills Nij Por Ral, Boc kills Duno Dree (this is the part where the games starts, with Bock killing Duno Dree). Rahn, after Jerec pries the location of the coordinates from his mind, slices Maw in half, but Maw survives, and Jerec kills Rahn.

On Nar Shaddaa--the Smuggler's Moon/Vertical City--8t88 attempts to hire Boba Fett to shake information out of Kyle, but Fett, having had a prior experience with Kyle, declines. Kyle meets with 8t88; the droid reveals Morgan's disk, but Kyle refuses to help '88. 8t88 orders his goons to kill Kyle, but he gets the drop on them and chases 8t88 through the streets and finally corners him, blowing off an arm with the disk, but the droid escapes on a shuttle. Meanwhile, Jan, having arrived, blows a TIE/sa bomber about to kill Kyle. Kyle tells Jan that the disk has fallen to the undercity and goes racing off after it. After a fight through the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa, Kyle manages to retrieve the disc before he becomes badly wounded. Jan finishes off the rest of the scum and hauls Kyle back onto the Moldy Crow. On the hospital ship Mercy, Jan steals Kyle's disc and shows the information to Mon Mothma, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker, but Luke, despite Mon Mothma's assurance that Kyle might fall, knows this is part of Kyle's journey. He also states that Yoda related the Seven Battles of Ruusan during the New Sith Wars years ago. Jan puts the disk back, and Kyle, when he wakes up, leaves for the Katarn homestead on Sulon. It turns out that Boc, Sariss, and Yun have already arrived and taken a few stone slabs and left for Barons Hed. Kyle sneaks his way into the house and finds the family droid WeeGee. he reactivates him and plays the disk. Morgan appears and states that he embedded the coordinates for Ruusan in the ceiling of the work room--where WeeGee is and where the stone slabs came from--and left Rahn's lightsaber behind for Kyle to use for good.

Kyle and WeeGee escape the farm, but end up chased by a band of Tusken Raiders; WeeGee pulls Kyle to safety into the Moldy Crow while the Tuskens fall off a cliff. In the Governor's House, in Barons Hed, 8t88 kills a majordomo for being rude, and uploads the coordinates to Jerec. Kyle arrives, and so does Yun; 8t88 escapes with his Hornagaunt pet while Yun and Kyle duel. Kyle defeats Yun and spares him, then escapes as stormtroopers enter the room. Kyle tracks 8t88 to Fuel City and Jan drops him off. Kyle sneaks aboard the Sulon Star and finds 8t88, but the droid is dead, killed by Gorc and Pic. Dimwitted Gorc leaps out at Kyle and the Jedi shoots him in the head (very different from the game), then knocks Pic unconscious. Kyle kills the Hornagaunt--which has eaten 8t88's head--and retrieves the droid's head, figuring out that the coordinates are stored in them, but Pic wakes up. Kyle bashes Pic with 8t88's head, then flees the Star. A firefight ensues and Fuel City is destroyed, but a couple of TIE/LN fighters chase Jan and Kyle through the Nefra Canyons where one impacts with a cliff face, and the other is shot down by Kyle's Bryar blaster pistol. Back at the Katarn estate, Jan hooks 8t88's head into WeeGee, and all three of them see the coordinates for Ruusan. Luke arrives, and Kyle finds out that Jan told Luke, Leia, and Mon Mothma about his trip, but Luke talks him into a temporary apprenticeship. The four of them leave for the Valley.

All in all, a well crafted novella that perfectly captures the first half of the game, but Deitz's changes are great: Boba Fett's appearance, Morgan and the Ruusan scenes, a different trek through Nar Shaddaa than the game, a longer version of the hospital ship scene, faster action getting into and out of the Katarn estate, a different look at Barons Hed, a chase through the Nefra canyons, and Luke teaming up with Kyle and Jan to hunt for the Valley of the Jedi. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

Next time, Star Wars: Dark Forces: Jedi Knight by William C. Deitz, with art by famed artist Dave Dorman, in the epic conclusion to the novella trilogy and the second half of the game.

Book Review: Star Wars: Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire SPOILERS!

In 1997, just when Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight the game had come out, a trilogy of novellas by William C. Dietz was authorized by LucasArts and Dark Horse Comics to bridge the gap between Dark Forces and Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. Set around the rebel agent and mercenary Kyle Katarn, Soldier for the Empire tells how Katarn graduated the Imperial Academy and eventually joined the Rebel Alliance. Synopsis:  is a decorated graduate from the Imperial Military Academy who would forfeit his very life for the Empire. But he wouldn't forfeit his father's life, and that's what the Empire has taken. Kyle is willing to do anything to avenge his father's death which is what the Rebel Alliance is counting on. Join Kyle Katarn in this brand-new, fast-paced tale of adventure and suspense. Based on the popular Star Wars: DARK FORCES and Star Wars: JEDI KNIGHT interactive games, this novella-length prose-story is written by acclaimed author William C. Deitz (The Final Battle) and illustrated by award-winning artist Dean Williams (Tarzan: The Lost Adventure).


The novel opens with the farmer Morgan Katarn (Kyle's father) leaving the Katarn estate to fix a relay pump that failed. Incidentally, the Empire launches a campaign to take Sulon (the moon of Sullust), lock down their geo-thermal tap power, and let the SoroSuub Corporation roll in and bankrupt the planet. This is overseen by the Dark Jedi Jerec (once a Jedi Knight) and Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo (a.k.a. Thrawn). Morgan escapes the initial assault, but when the Sulon Resistance goes to defend the G-Tap, the Empire--disguised as the Rebel Alliance--destroys them. Morgan is taken captive, and, after refusing to answer Jerec's questions, is executed, his head placed on a spike in Barons Hed--Sulon's capitol. Meanwhile, during an graduation mission on Asteroid AX-456, cadet Kyle Katarn and his team of stormtroopers hold out against the Rebel Alliance. The Rebels manage to evacuate the asteroid, but Katarn notices something about their leader, Jan Ors. During the fight, Kyle's knocked out.

Days later, back on Carida, Katarn attends his graduation ceremony with his friend Meck Odum and the sniveling brat, Nathan Donor III (son of Governor Dol Donor II of Derra IV). At the ceremony, Jerec awards Katarn the Imperial Medal of Valor, while General Rom Mohc presides over the graduation ceremony; Jerec tells Kyle that he (Kyle) has a very special future and should he wish to take it, Jerec will be there. Later, Kyle learns that the rebellion killed his father. Kyle, angry, leaves for Sulon, but is waylaid by Nathan on the Haj Shipping Line vessel Star of the Empire. Kyle meets Governor Donor II, and Kyle tells Donor II why he's heading home and that he's looking for payback against the Rebels; Donor II lets slip about a "special something" the Empire has planned for the Rebels. During a game of sabacc between the governor and Lando Calrissian, spots Jan. He tails her, but her associates Rosco Ross and Ris Waller. They want to kill Kyle, but Jan orders them not to, stating that there's something different about Kyle.

Jan and Kyle end up talking about their different views on the Rebels, and she introduces him to a holorecording droid named A-Cee; she shows him unedited, real footage of the Battle of the Sulon G-Tap. Kyle notes how organized the Rebels are and learns that the Empire killed his father. Kyle rips off the Medal of Valor. He asks Jan to take him to the Rebels because he wants to avenge his father by killing the Empire, to which Jan agrees. This conversation is overseen by bounty hunter Slyder who informs Donor II. Donor II wants blood, but Nathan suspects that Kyle might've simply fallen for Jan. A fight ensues and during the escape, A-Cee is captured by Donor II and his party. Kyle, Jan, Waller, and Rosco flee the Star of the Empire, but not before Governor Donor II's ship blows up, killing the governor, Slyder, and Nathan because they tried to tamper with A-Cee's programming. At the Rebel Fleet, Kyle meets Mon Mothma, the political leader of the Rebellion.

She tells him about the Death Star plans being located on Danuta, and to prove his allegiance, he must steal them. Kyle sees footage of Meck Odum on Danuta, but when Mon Mothma inquires, he passes it off as just needing more intel. Mon Mothma knows he's lying, and after he leaves, assigns Jan to kill Kyle should Kyle be an Imperial Agent sent to destroy the Rebellion. Kyle is issued Moldy Crow for his ship. Jan follows Kyle to Danuta, notes him meeting with Meck Odum, and draws the conclusion that he still serves the Empire. Kyle, during his meeting with Meck Odum, asks his friend for help in getting into the facility to steal the plans. Meck agrees because his religious beliefs are against that of the Empire's. The first opening level of Star Wars: Dark Forces is written out, only faster paced because Deitz has run out of time. Kyle infiltrates the facility while Jan distracts the Imperial forces. Kyle fights his way inside, and, at one point, notes how slow the stormtroopers are (this is because Kyle has the Force) and punches Meck Odum, and both hope that footage looks good enough for to keep the Empire from executing Meck. Kyle steals the Death Star plans and joins Jan as they escape Danuta in Moldy Crow.

All in all, despite its 127 pages, a few of which are depicted in art, William C. Deitz creates one heck of a backstory for Kyle Katarn that lines up neatly with both games. The first of a trilogy of novellas surrounding the Dark Forces games, the other two being Dark Forces: Rebel Agent and Dark Forces: Jedi Knight both of which tell the tale of Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight just split into two stories. This novella captures the greatness of Star Wars while creating new and exciting characters, using old ones to their best degree, and is better written than most other game tie-ins like the Force Unleashed novels and the Old Republic ones. If you can find a copy of this, and not the audio book version, I'd recommend it.

Up next: Star Wars: Dark Forces: Rebel Agent by William C. Deitz, with art by Ezra Tucker.

Book Review: Star Wars: Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine SPOILERS!

In January 2004, a tie-in to the then-popular Star Wars MMORPG--Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided--was penned by author Voronica Whitney-Robinson with Haden Blackman. Though the book was supposed to be the start of an MMO line of tie-in books, it failed simply because it couldn't catch with the bigger connoisseurs of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Synopsis: Enter the explosive universe of the exciting online game--Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided! It is a time of great turmoil. The oppressive Empire is close to seizing complete control of the galaxy. The ragtag guerrilla army of the Rebel Alliance fights on, striking wherever it can, but now something has come to light that could spell certain doom. Hidden in the Jedi ruins of Dantooine is a Holocron containing a list of high-level Rebel sympathizers. If that list were to fall into the hands of Darth Vader, the Rebel Alliance would lose its most valued support, and possibly the war itself. As an Imperial bio-engineer who frequently visits other worlds, Dusque Mistflier is the perfect cover for a Rebel who needs to travel far and wide without arousing suspicion. And so she agrees to help Rebel spy Finn Darktrin in his quest to recover the crucial Holocron. Despite help from Han, Luke, and Leia, the mission is fraught with peril. And as their journey takes them into the fiery belly of the beast that is galactic civil war, Dusque and Finn will learn that the hardest part of all is figuring out whose side are you're on-and how far you're willing to go to win....

The novel opens with Imperial Inquisitor Loam Redge, in Emperor Palpatine's Retreat on Naboo, telling Darth Vader that his mission to retrieve a holocron from Dantooine's ruins is going as planned. Meanwhile, Leia expresses her concern about retrieving the holocron to Luke. Both Redge and Leia, it seems, have sent their best agent out to retrieve it. In orbit above Naboo, Imperial bioengineer Dusque Mistflier and professor Tendau Nandon arrive at a space station for a casino opening, but Tendau is killed and rebel spy Finn Darktrin rescues Dusque from trouble. They steal a shuttle and head for Lok; there they meet Nym who gives them a ship to reach Corellia, where the current Rebel Alliance headquarters is located. They are escorted there by Han and Chewie. There, they meet with Leia and Luke. They tell them about the holocron with the list of Rebel allies and spies being on Dantooine. Dusque and Finn agree to retrieve it. Once on Dantooine, they bypass an Imperial outpost using Dusque's status as an Imperial bioengineer and head for the ruins of the Rebel base, then to the Jedi enclave--possibly the one seen in KOTOR and KOTOR2TSL. Inside, they find and holocron and flee the planet. Finn, while Dusque rests, transmits the information to the Imperials following them. Dusque confronts him and he reveals that there is no Imperial agent following them: he is the Imperial agent. He reveals that he was the one who ordered Tendau killed and a Mon Calamari pilot during the trip to Corellia, how he'd warned the Imperials too late. Dusque tries to get him to stop, but Finn won't have it. Finn stuns Dusque and leaves her for dead on the shuttle, but Luke Skywalker arrives and saves Dusque and the holocron. Finn reports to Darth Vader, and Vader decides to spare his life, believing that Finn killed Dusque. The novel ends with Dusque pledging herself to the Rebellion.

All in all, a very poor book that is generally regarded as trash by the EU fans. In its attempt to show how large the galaxy is, both authors bring in Lando, Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, C-3PO, R2-D2, Wedge, and Vader, proving once and for all just how small-minded the authors and publishers are: that every novel must contain the Big Three--Han, Luke, Leia--from the Original Trilogy, as well as their sidekicks--Lando, C-3PO, R-2D2 Wedge, Chewie--and villains--Darth Vader.

Up next is Star Wars: Dark Forces: Soldier of the Empire by William C. Deitz, a prose novella with art by Dean Williams.