Star Wars Legacy, Volume Two: Shards

The galaxy 130 years after the battle at Yavin is a very different place. The Empire has resurged, headed by a man named Roan Fel, who is the Emperor. One of his subordinates, Nyna Calixte, has started a war to bring down the Jedi, mainly because she has allied herself with the Sith to make her lover, fellow Empire Soldier Grand Admiral Veed.

However, she soon realizes that once the Sith have taken out the Emperor, they will have no more need of her, or of her lover, Veed. So, she warns the Emperor of the plot to take his life by the Sith, which allows him to substitute a double for himself, and the double is killed instead. Nyna is still needed by the Sith, but instead of making Veed Emperor, the Sith Lord Darth Krayt takes the throne himself.

Cognizant of Nyna's treachery, the Sith make her their spymaster and give her the job of tracking down both ex-Emperor Fel and Cade Skywalker. While Roan Fel gives the Empire a hard time, Nyna contacts several Imperial agents to track down Cade. Unbeknownst to her, or to Cade, one of them happens to be his mother, who left his father before her husband/lover (it's unclear whether they were married or not) moved to Yavin with the rest of the Jedi Knights. She takes out the other agent who is on Cade's trail, but doesn't contact him, as once she sees him again, she would never be able to leave.

Cade, meanwhile, petitions his master for more Jedi training. Not because he really wants to be a Jedi, but because the Sith are on his trail and he knows he will need the edge that the training gives him to survive. But the Sith want him precisely because of who he is: As a descendant of Luke Skywalker, and because his family has had problems with the Dark Side. They feel that if they can turn Cade to the Dark Side, he will gladly join the Sith, like his many-times ancestor, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

Cade's personality hampers him here. He doesn't like the idea that he must live up to the popular image of the Skywalkers, and his impatience and hostility towards his heritage push him to the Dark Side. Can he resist it and remain unturned? Or will he give in and support the Dark Side? One thing is for sure- when he hears his old friends and partners have been captured by the Sith from a vision in the force, he breaks off his training to go and rescue them. And, he vows, no one will die for him again. But can he keep that vow?

This was an interesting change for a main character: a Skywalker who doesn't want the fame and infamy that come with his last name, who deliberately cuts himself off from the force by using drugs, whose anger and pragmatism may end up getting him killed or make him join those who seek to control him. Cade Skywalker is a prickly character, but it's hard not to care about him anyway, when he shows loyalty to his friends.

This graphic novel is told as a series of short stories, each focussing on different characters. Roan Fel comes in for a great deal of story time, as does Cade, but other stories are devoted to lesser characters like the Stormtrooper Anson Trask or the woman who turns out to be Cade's mother, Corrigan Corrde.

For those who have read the novels released in the Star Wars Universe, many of the characters will bear familliar names, such as Emperor Fel and Corrigan Corrde. Nevertheless, this graphic novels happen long after the events of the books, so the mentions merely add to the story instead of taking it over.

If you are looking for something a little different in the Star Wars universe, this may be the book for you. The stories, though separate, tell different parts of the story that adds up to a greater whole than merely the sum of its parts. I'll be watching for more in this series, and I hope they come out soon.