Survivor's Quest (Star Wars) by Timothy Zahn and Jonathan Davis

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Survivor's Quest (Star Wars)
Available from Amazon
Price: $49.98
Updated on 12-28-2008.

Features

Audio CD

Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (February 3, 2004)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0739303201

ISBN-13: 978-0739303207

Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 4.9 x 1 inches

Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Hugo winner Zahn, author of five previous Star Wars novels (Heir to the Empire, etc.), serves up another G-rated crowd-pleaser in the bestselling franchise series. Regulars will recognize the cast, but newcomers may raise an eyebrow to learn that Luke Skywalker, whom they lovingly left as a youth on a screen in a galaxy far away, is now a married man. His wife, Mara Jade, is, however, no simple suburbanite clutching little Skywalkers. Having spent her early years innocently supporting a dictator, she now flies beside her husband, content to swap technological chitchat instead of romantic twaddle. She is, after all, a Jedi Knight, the equal of her Master Jedi husband and just as handy at wielding a blazing light saber. The alien Chiss, inadvertently or otherwise, have shot down Outbound Flight, the fabulous lost group of super dreadnoughts bearing more than 50,000 people into the most distant reaches of space, a scenario reminiscent of Robert A. Heinlein's classic Universe, if without the cosmological wonder. Now, half a century later, many species have assembled to locate the wreckage. To their surprise, when they discover the remains, survivors uninterested in being saved inhabit them. To no one's surprise, Luke and Mara are up to the situation's needs. Full of action and more twists than a corkscrew, this stand-alone SF adventure novel is sure to satisfy its target teen audience.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Here again we have Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, the married Jedi, whose quest this time is for remnants of the Outward Bound expedition, launched 50 years before by the Old Republic and subsequently destroyed by pirates, with the help of the late Admiral Thrawn. Of course, the New Republic wants Luke and Mara to represent it on this outing, and Thrawn's people, the Chiss, want in, too. Moreover, half a dozen other individuals, factions, and polities all have personal or political reasons for finding the remains of the Outward Bounders. So already the situation is complicated, and the fact that, except for Luke and Mara, nobody is what they seem, and that some of the agendas they're hiding in dusty storage compartments and computer files are flat-out lethal, adds more complications. Everything gets rapidly worse when it turns out that there are survivors on derelict Outward Bound ships, and they are tough, determined, and totally hostile to the Jedi Knights and everything they ever did on behalf of the Old Republic. Finally, one of the not-what-they-seems reveals itself, teeing off half-a-novel's worth of fast, furious, detailed, and intelligent action, clearly setting up another book; and, oh yes, also developing Luke and Mara's relationship. Not for beginners with Star Wars fiction, perhaps, but in the hands of tie-in Master Zahn, a thoroughly absorbing story for the seasoned reader. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Star Wars: Survivor's Quest (Hardcover) One of the nice things about Del Ray's series of Star Wars books is that they are not just concentrating on their New Jedi Order books. They are also producing some books that take place further back in the Star Wars novel history, when Bantam was running the show. Thus, they can refer to events that took place in earlier books (such as Tatooine Ghost), and they can even supply sequels. Timothy Zahn's Survivor's Ghost is one of those, and it's quite thrilling. Luke Skywalker and Mara Jada Skywalker, married for three years now, are helping Mara's old boss, Talon Karrde, go straight by informing some of his old friends that he will no longer be doing business with them. After rebuking one irate customer, Karrde catches up with them and gives them a message to go to Nirauan (the planet where they faced down the Hand of Thrawn in Vision of the Future). There, they are told that Outbound Flight, an exploratory mission sent out by the Old Republic 50 years ago, has been found by the Chiss (who happen to be the species of their old enemy, Admiral Thrawn). Outbound Flight was a ring of six massive dreadnaught battleships bound to an inner core, resulting in a huge ship, but the Chiss reportedly destroyed it years ago. The Chiss have asked Luke and Mara to come and inspect it, representing the New Republic. They have to keep their eyes and ears open, however, as old enemies show up as well as new. Who will be their allies and who will betray them? Mara also has to come to terms with her former life as the Emperor's Hand during the time of the Empire, making a decision that could change her life forever. Luke and Mara have to stretch their Jedi skills to the maximum to make it out of the bowels of Outbound Flight alive, as well as preventing a galactic war. I love the fact that the recent Star Wars non-NJO books have focused on only a few of our favourite characters. This gives the book an opportunity to really expand on their characterization, as well as explain certain changes between the old series and the New Jedi Order books. Survivor's Quest focuses exclusively on Luke and Mara, their relationship, and Mara's past. I've always enjoyed Mara, as she's one of the most dynamic new Star Wars (i.e. non-movie) character around. She's gone through massive changes since Zahn's first novel, where she wanted nothing more then to kill Luke Skywalker. Now they're married, sharing a bond that goes beyond love, a bond through the Force. When they first meet up with Commander Fel (the son of one of their old enemies) and his stormtrooper squad, memories flood her, memories of her time with the Empire. She begins to fall into old habits of command. She has a case of "survivor's guilt," as she realizes that while the Emperor was horrible, some of the Imperial policies may have actually been good. She and Luke have seen the New Republic struggle with petty wars and other conflicts among member planets, and the Imperials were efficient. Watching her thoughts is very intriguing. The best thing about this is that Zahn doesn't push this in the reader's face by trying to explain it. Instead, the reader gets to see some of her thought processes as she handles the situations that come up during the events of the novel. Luke occasionally presses her to talk, but he's usually unsuccessful. Instead, he just has to be supportive as well as being a good teammate. Watching them work together was a real treat. We've seen it in the New Jedi Order books, but this is when it was still fresh, and it was a wonder to see. Mara is Zahn's creation, so it's not surprising that he handles her well. The good thing is that he handles pretty much everybody else reasonably well too. This is especially true of Fel and, to a lesser extent, the stormtroopers. The troopers are individualized as far as having names goes, though they aren't given a great deal of character. One negative is that a big deal is made of one of the troopers being an alien, which would have been unheard of in the Empire's time where anti-alien prejudice was prominent. However, nothing much is made of it other then the odd mention or two. Still, the book does a good job (along with Tatooine Ghost) of making the troopers much more competent then they were in the movies. Fel is an interesting character to watch as he leads his squad in action. He's thoroughly competent and intelligent, and the best thing you can say about him is that you're not wishing for the book to go back to someone else when he's on screen. There are some unanswered questions that bring the book down, however. There is a scene in the middle of the book where Fel and one of his troopers talk about hiding something on the Chiss ship, but it's never referred to again. After this scene, you keep expecting the Imperials to eventually do something that they never do. It was jarring. Secondly, the animosity that the Outbound Flight survivors have toward Jedi is never explained. These feelings have a major impact on the story and the result, but we are given no reason why it exists. Is it just because the Jedi failed to successfully fight off the Chiss when they attacked? If so, it seems rather harsh to be feeling that way 50 years later. All in all, Survivor's Quest is an effective tale, full of action and great characterization of the main characters. While there are some plotting difficulties as mentioned above, it's an enjoyable read, especially for those who are getting a bit tired of The New Jedi Order. Give it a shot. David Roy

Survivor's Quest (Star Wars)
Available from Amazon
Price: $49.98
Updated on 12-28-2008.