Shadow Games

Shadow Games is a novel by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff that was released on November 29, 2011. It is a "rags to riches" story of a holostar during the Rebellion's early days, taking place in 0 BBY, before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The short story "And Leebo Makes Three", also written by Reaves and Bohnhoff and published in Star Wars Insider 128^[2] on September 13, 2011,^[3] serves as a prequel to the novel.^[2]

Publisher's summary

Some games are played for life or death.

Javul Charn is the most famous pop star in the galaxy – and the runaway bride of a violent lieutenant in Black Sun, the crime syndicate commanded by Prince Xizor. Or so Javul says. Soon after Dash Rendar, broke and desperate, agrees to be Javul's bodyguard, he realizes that openness is not her strong suit – and that murder is stalking her tour. Between the discovery of dead bodies in a cargo hold and an attack by an unidentified warship, Dash and co-pilot Eaden Vrill desperately try to understand who is terrorizing Javul's tour and why. When Han Solo suddenly joins Javul's road show, the stakes are raised even higher. Now Dash, who has a history with Han and an even worse history with Prince Xizor, follows his instincts, his discoveries, and Javul herself – straight into a world that may be too dangerous to survive!

Plot summary

With his ship, the Outrider, needing repairs, Dash Rendar and his co-pilot, Eaden Vrill, take on work as bodyguards to pop star Javul Charn, who reports being stalked by overzealous fans. Dash, Eaden, and their smart-mouthed repair droid Leebo join Javul and her crew aboard her state-of-the-art yacht, the Nova's Heart. A series of escalating malfunctions aboard the ship lead Dash to believe the threat is far more than some agitated fan; the nature of the sabotage would require someone with connections.

Dash confronts Javul, demanding to know if she has earned any enemies. She denies it, but after a spectacular malfunction during a concert rehearsal on Rodia nearly claims her life, she finally tells Dash that she has been mistaken for the girlfriend of a Black Sun Vigo named Hityamun “Hitch” Kris, a brutal criminal of Mandalorian roots. Javul claims that she’s been targeted by Kris' enemies in a deadly case of mistaken identity. Though Dash warns Javul to be cautious, she indulges in dangerous behavior such as disappearing into the city after concerts in disguise and alone. The sabotage continues – an explosion in the cargo hold on the Nova’s Heart forces the ship to put down on Tatooine. Dash can’t repair his ship in time to make Javul's concert date, so the entourage must travel aboard Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon, much to Dash’s dismay. When his rival flirts with Javul, Dash is forced to confront his feelings for the pop idol.

Dash presses Javul on her past, and she reluctantly confesses it's more than a case of mistaken identity. Javul was romantically involved with Hitch and broke off the relationship when she realized the gangster was using her ship and her tour dates as a means of smuggling illegal cargo and disposing of dead bodies. Not only did Javul dump Hitch, she also informed the legal authorities of Black Sun operations, earning the enmity of none other than Prince Xizor. Dash realizes this assignment is far more dangerous than he originally believed.

At a gig on Falleen, Javul is targeted by a deadly assassin named Edge. Their lives endangered too many times, Dash once more presses Javul to level with him. She finally admits she's an operative of the Rebel Alliance, using her touring as cover to move Rebel leaders, political prisoners, and vital information. Even now, she is transporting a vital shipment of data from Bannistar Station to Bail Organa, a key Rebel leader on Alderaan. After another strike by Edge – one that kills Dash's partner, Eaden – Dash and Han team up to drop the shipment off on Alderaan while avoiding pursuit from Hitch, Xizor and the Empire.

On Alderaan, while the Falcon rests in a landing bay, Han and Dash are once more attacked by Edge, who has stowed away within one of the ship's secret smuggling compartments. Leebo blasts Edge, killing the assassin – a remarkable achievement for a droid who cannot, by its programming, harm a sentient. Leebo cagily attributes the blasting of Edge as a misfire – the droid had been aiming to shoot the compartment hatch and shot the killer instead. Han and Dash part ways when Solo drops him off on Tatooine. Dash eventually gets word from Javul that the delivery to the Organas was successful, and in gratitude, she has paid for the repairs required on the Outrider.

Development

Shadows Games initially started as a novel entitled Holostar by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Perry and Reaves pitched the idea for Holostar around 2007 while discussing about making another Star Wars novel together. Perry himself came up with the basic premise of a story set in the entertainment industry, crafting the character of Javul Charn. However, Del Rey asked for some changes like including characters from the main Star Wars canon. Unwilling to make so, Perry and Reaves left and the project was shelved.^[4]

A couple of years later, Del Rey had gotten more interested in the idea and offered Reaves and Perry to rehire them to write it albeit still with the imposed changes. Perry desisted again but allowed Reaves to go on with the idea if he wanted. Reaves did so and partnered with Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff to write it. Meanwhile, Perry was approached by Shelly Shapiro to write Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead for a 2009 release and accepted.^[4]

There are conflicting reports whether Holostar was the novel's working title^[5] or not.^[4] Anyway, on October 4, 2010, Del Rey announced that fans would get to choose the title of the novel. The three proposed titles were Star Wars: Shadow Games, Star Wars: Pursuit and Star Wars: Shadow Play.^[6] After a week, the title Star Wars: Shadow Games was chosen.^[7] An exclusive Hardcover was released by the Science Fiction Book Club.

Appearances

Sources

• A bit about the new novels..... on Had a slight weapons malfunction. But everything's perfectly all right now — Sue Rostoni's StarWars.com Blog (original site is defunct)
• The Publishing Horizon: The Next Three Years on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
• First Look: Shadow Games on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
• The Essential Reader's Companion

Notes and references

External links

• You Choose the Next Star Wars Title! on Suvudu.com (original site is defunct)
• Star Wars Shadow Games on Random House's official website (original site is defunct)