Review: Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost (2004)
★★★
It seems the two books leading up to Timothy Zahn's excellent Thrawn Trilogy were underwhelming. The Courtship of Princess Leia was a rough novel to get into, and this one managed to be slightly less entertaining. It's unfortunate because of how many good ideas were in these novels.
The plot of the book centers on Princess Leia Organa and her spouse, Han Solo, as they set out to retrieve a priceless work of Alderaanian art on Tatooine. This artwork contains important information that could endanger the New Republic. Leia wrestles with her heritage during their journey, discovering remnants of her father Anakin Skywalker's background and learning more about his metamorphosis into Darth Vader. Along the route, well-known characters like C-3PO and Chewbacca offer assistance, and the voyage has a significant impact on Leia's understanding of the Force and her ancestry.
Like most novels, there is an A-plot and a B-plot. The A-plot is Han and Leia trying to retrieve a priceless work of Alderaanian art on Tatooine that was bought by Anakin's childhood friend, Kitster Chanchani Banai. The B-plot is Leia learning more about her father, Anakin Skywalker, and his life before becoming the dark lord, specifically his life before becoming a Jedi, through recordings of his mother, Shmi Skywalker, Leia's biological paternal grandmother.
The A-plot was very boring, bland, and underwhelming. That seemed to me like filler to set up the B-plot. Did it really need to take a whole novel to get the priceless work of Alderaanian art on Tatooine? It just leaves every character other than Leia underdeveloped and forgettable. That whole plot felt like a lengthy chase scene.
The B-plot is the only reason why I'm giving this a positive rating. The B-plot was the main reason why I picked up this book. Leia has little to no knowledge of her biological origins because the Organas adopted her. When the Force Ghost of Anakin tried to ask for forgiveness, Leia refused as she was mad for all the things he'd done. However, once she received Shmi's old journal, she was able to understand what kind of life Anakin had before becoming a Jedi and eventually a Sith Lord.
Overall, it's not the best Star Wars novel, but it certainly does justice to the films, specifically by connecting both the original and the prequel trilogies and giving closure to the conflict Leia had with her father, Vader. This also explains why Leia names her second son Anakin.