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Science Fiction & Fantasy |
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Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (AU Star Wars)
written by Steve Perry
Studio : Random House Audio
by Random House Audio
Release Date : 1996-04-01
Publisher : Random House Audio
Released : 1996-04-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 2
EAN : 9780553474381
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 11 reviews)
List Price : $16.99
Our Price : $36.88
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Book Description |
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Shadows of the Empire illuminates the shadowy outlines of a criminal conspiracy that exists in the background of the events in the movies, ruled by a character new to us. Prince Xizor is a mastermind of evil who dares to oppose one of the best-known fictional villains of all time: Darth Vader. The story involves all the featured Star Wars movie characters, plus Emperor Palpatine and, of course, Lord Vader himself. |
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Shadows of the Empire - An Audio Adventure |
If I could, I'd give this 4 1/2 stars, for as much I enjoyed this abridgement, there was one small thing that bothered me: it doesn't use much of the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack, by Joel McNeely, aside from Xizor's Theme. There is great music on that CD, and I was hoping a lot of it was used in this one.
Still, it was a wonderful performance by TV, movie actor Anthony Heald, (TV's Boston Public, "Silence of the Lambs") whom I've enjoyed as an actor for years. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of voices he uses in this for the different Star Wars characters, most notably Darth Vader, which was electronically modified and deepened, giving the listener a good mental image of the Sith Lord, though the voice is definitely not James Earl Jones, or even the late Brock Peters(voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars Radio Drama Trilogy), but it is sufficient.
Some of the other reviewers have noted that since this is an abridgement, a lot of material is removed from the performance. This is a fact, but in my humble opinion, it does not overly hurt the story. To my knowledge, there is not an unabridged version available.
But I'm glad to have this in my audio book collection. It's good listening while I'm in my car, working. Better that than most of the garbage on radio these days! |
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Good, but not filling |
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This review covers the audio cassette book (2 tapes, 3 hours). This was a pretty good tale, but, as an abridged version, it felt like some things were left on the cutting room floor. Once again, Anthony Heald does a great job in acting out all the various characters. The story line was weak and choppy. It does, however, fill in some of the gaps between episodes V and VI, so worth listening to for that. The sound-effects were well done, with the usual music score from the movies. Worth the purchase price. |
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Vader vs Xizor, and the journey to find Han |
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Anthony Heald is the great. He is so good that I'd rather listen to him do a book than the dramatizations I've heard. This is a review of Shadow of the Empire which is available as a hard cover book of 340 (ISBN 0553574132) pages, a comic (isbn 1569711836), a novelization of 176 pages (isbn 044013036) and audio cassette (isbn 0553100890). This story tales places between ESB and ROTJ. I always felt it was one of the more important stories of the Expanded Universe given that Xizor became an action figure as did Dash Render and his ship (Outrider). The whole gang is in this one even Han, though is encased in carbonite. We get Vader, the emperor, Fett, Guri, Boosk, 4-Lom, Jabba, Zuckuss and Wedge along with the regular gang of heroes.
Apparently Dark horse did have available any pictures of Lando or Leia because the artists did a lousy job of drawing them. Most of the time Luke was OK, but sometimes he looked like Jessica Lynch. They did do a great job drawing Fett, Vader and dash however.
Everyone is searching for Han, but he has not be taken directly to Jabba. Xizor has risen to lead Black Sun which has thrived since Darth Maul wiped out the old leadership. His newest ambition is to replace Vader as #2 in the empire. Xizor orders Luke killed knowing that Vader wants him alive. Then Xizor captured Leia. This is one of my favorite of all the EU stories. Steve Perry has created a new and exciting Journey. The novel is 4 stars and the comic is 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Considering that Dark horse released this in 1997 before some of their awesome new production techniques, this is a very well done comic. The abridged audio cassette is good quality, but at on 2 ½ hours to much is cut. |
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READ THIS BOOK!!! |
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My dad got me this tape for getting a good report card and I was very satisfied. I originally thought that this would be a boring book but I was wrong. This book has a very good plot. The 3 most powerful person in the galaxy is Prince Xizor. Darth Vader killed Xizor's familly and now Xizor wants revenge. Using his crime syndicate, Black Sun, he plots to kill Luke, Vader's son. Anyone who has even a faint interest in Star Wars should read this book. It is one of the best Star Wars books so far. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi stories for this is one of the best. I only wish Xizor was in it more. |
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Xizor rocks! |
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I love this book for the simple fact its got not one, not two, but three villains. Aside from my fave, Palpatine, it introduces another, Prince Xizor who dares to go up against another fave Lord Vader. Its an action packed book with lots of scheming, dirty dealings and fighting scenes. The glimpses into Vader's thoghts was a real treat and I was glad to see that the ending left you guessing a bit. A great addition to the Star Wars saga. Anthony heald who is my favorite narrator in audiobooks does a fantastic job bringing each character to life; using sound effects i.e mechanical breathing when Vader was speaking was a nice touch and you got to love Xizor's theme which plays throughout this great audio production; one of my top audiobooks in my collection and one which has given me countless hours of listening enjoyment. Highly recommended. |
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