WHAT'S GOOD:
Mara Jade stories are always a joy to read, having both the Force element and the grittier die-hard aspects of the Star Wars universe. There's also a brilliantly written story in which the implacable Boba Fett eliminates and entire Imperial garrison in an attempt to capture one man. However, my personal favourite is 'Simple Tricks' in which a smuggler and a con artist find themselves in the company of the Jedi Knight Kyp Durron, reviled for his mass-murder at Carida. This story shows us something that we never read in Kyp's mainstream tales, his struggle with his conscience after his redemption. It also acts as an excellent prelude to the novel 'Darksaber'.

WHAT'S BAD:
The quality of the stories in this anthology in general is markedly lower than those in 'Tales From The Empire', being as they are, the ones that didn't make the cut the first time around. The Zahn/Stackpole collaboration novella gives some interesting history to their characters, but cannot stand up in comparison to 'Side Trip'. Also, 'Day of the Sepulchral Night' is one of the worst Star Wars short stories I've ever read.

So enter this book, which beautifully fills in some detail into a dark area. Coupled with Shadows of the Empire, this book is a great insight into what the Empire was like, and why everyone was so hell-bent to destroy it.

So if you want more background or just love that Star Wars this is definitely worth a look!

BUY IT