Haden W. Blackman

An interesting and sad story about the seeds of the rebellion

It was well written with a lot of action and some great introspective moments. Starkiller remains a bit of a mystery, since most of the story is told from his droid, but enough is revealed through his actions to get a glimpse of the real man. I loved the inclusion of Bail Organa, and even Leia had a small role.
I didn't like that the pencillers changed throughout the book which led to a middle section with an inferior drawing style. The end was drawn marvellously again, with exceptional coloring.

What really bugged me about this sad story was the moment near the end where Starkiller is held back to kill the Emperor because that would mean that the dark side in him had won. Maybe, maybe not, but ir would've saved the galaxy far away a lot of suffering. It didn't make sense (apart from a continuity point of view - you need the emperor alive for the movies) - Starkiller had already proven that he is able to deal with the dark side in him, he is not mastered by it. And suddenly he is not allowed to kill his enemy because Kota says so? Kota who repeatedly tried to kill the Emperor himself?

Apart from that, I enjoyed the starships, strange planets, the shipyard and a glimpse of the death star. The duels with light sabres and force wielding were exciting, and the tiny touch of romance didn't hurt either.