Product Description

Enter the explosive universe of
STAR WARS GALAXIES:
AN EMPIRE DIVIDED!

It is a time of great turmoil. The oppressive Empire is close to seizing complete control of the galaxy. The ragtag guerrilla army of the Rebel Alliance fights on, striking wherever it can, but now something has come to light that could spell certain doom. Hidden in the Jedi ruins of Dantooine is a Holocron containing a list of high-level Rebel sympathizers. If that list were to fall into the hands of Darth Vader, the Rebel Alliance would lose its most valued support—and possibly the war itself.

As an Imperial bio-engineer who frequently visits other worlds, Dusque Mistflier is the perfect cover for a Rebel who needs to travel far and wide without arousing suspicion. And so she agrees to help Rebel spy Finn Darktrin in his quest to recover the crucial Holocron. Despite help from Han, Luke, and Leia, the mission is fraught with peril. And as their journey takes them into the fiery belly of the beast that is galactic civil war, Dusque and Finn will learn that the hardest part of all is figuring out whose side you’re on—and how far you’re willing to go to win. . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #202380 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-30
• Released on: 2003-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780345470669
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Inside Flap
Enter the explosive universe of the exciting online game

STAR WARS GALAXIES:
AN EMPIRE DIVIDED!

It is a time of great turmoil. The oppressive Empire is close to seizing complete control of the galaxy. The ragtag guerrilla army of the Rebel Alliance fights on, striking wherever it can, but now something has come to light that could spell certain doom. Hidden in the Jedi ruins of Dantooine is a Holocron containing a list of high-level Rebel sympathizers. If that list were to fall into the hands of Darth Vader, the Rebel Alliance would lose its most valued support?and possibly the war itself.

As an Imperial bio-engineer who frequently visits other worlds, Dusque Mistflier is the perfect cover for a Rebel who needs to travel far and wide without arousing suspicion. And so she agrees to help Rebel spy Finn Darktrin in his quest to recover the crucial Holocron. Despite help from Han, Luke, and Leia, the mission is fraught with peril. And as their journey takes them into the fiery belly of the beast that is galactic civil war, Dusque and Finn will learn that the hardest part of all is figuring out whose side you?re on?and how far you?re willing to go to win. . . .

About the Author
Voronica Whitney-Robinson has worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, a veterinary assistant in New Zealand, and a marine biologist in Seattle. She has written four novels for Wizards of the Coast. She lives with her husband in Washington State.

Haden Blackman is producer at LucasArts on Star Wars® Galaxies™: An Empire Divided™, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the classic Star Wars universe and one of the largest Star Wars video game ever built. Blackman has worked in interactive entertainment as a writer, voice director, and content supervisor. He is also the author of The Field Guide to North American Monsters, The Field Guide to North American Hauntings, Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, and numerous Star Wars comic books.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PROLOGUE
Prologue

A light rain misted the hillside. Other than that slight patter, the only sound disturbing the evening was the sudden cry of the peko peko. The large, blueskinned reptavian?s pitiful squawk carried across the still lake before stopping as suddenly as it had begun.

?The tusk-cats must be hunting,? Inquisitor Loam Redge said quietly to himself, smiling at the idea of the sleek, fawn-colored beasts circling the Retreat. Peko pekos weren?t the only thing that the large predators could kill; simply the opening course.

The cloaked human stood alone on the stone balcony overlooking the placid lake and the hills beyond. For the last few moments, he had watched the final glow of the setting sun turn the world a brief, shimmering pink. As soon as the molten ball had disappeared, though, the sky had turned several shades of gray, from dirty white to steel. The colors layered themselves one on top of the other, so it was impossible to discern where one began and another ended. And then the rains had come.

With a parting glance toward the twinkling lights of Moenia off to the east, the Inquisitor returned inside, where he brushed at his cloaks furiously, as
though their exposure to the abrupt shower had somehow sullied them. He smoothed back his rich brown hair and stood with his spine at ramrod attention.

No one knew how old the Inquisitor was, and Redge preferred it remain that way. There were precious few secrets in the Empire, and he liked to keep as many as he could.

Inquisitor Loam Redge was one of those rare individuals who derived great pleasure from his work. Finding those sensitive to the Force, torturing them, and destroying them were his topmost priorities, and they also gave him the greatest joy. He was very good at his vocation, and he always looked as though he was enjoying a private joke when he was at his busiest. This twisted happiness had, over time, etched its mark on his face in the
form of the faintest crinkles near the outer edges of his dirt-colored eyes. Other than that, his face was mostly unlined. He might have been thirty, he might have been fifty.

When he was satisfied that he looked properly groomed, Inquisitor Redge moved out into the hallway. He padded silently across the plush, goldtrimmed maroon carpeting that lined the walkway. It was so thick, he barely heard the MSE-6 that almost scurried past his feet. The tiny, black, rectangular droids littered the Emperor?s Retreat, as they did so many of the Imperial starships and ground installations throughout the galaxy. When the struggling company Rebaxan Columni had found itself facing imminent bankruptcy, it had offered the Empire a cut-rate deal on millions of them. Because the navy was extremely short on droids, it accepted. Now the Empire was crawling with the little automatons.

The small droid stopped a few feet beyond the Inquisitor and extended its heavy manipulator arm, clutching a rag. It scrubbed feverishly at some unseen smudge on the tan marble wall. Redge studied the droid for a moment as it buffed the already highly polished surface before slightly raising his cloaks up and moving past it. He found that the mechanism reminded him vaguely of a type of small vermin, and it disturbed him slightly.

There was no one else in the corridor, and he continued to revel in the quiet luxury of Emperor Palpatine?s Retreat on Naboo. The Emperor?s homeworld was calmly green, with areas of dense swamps broken up by rolling plains and verdant hills. Redge found the view soothing and knew that Emperor Palpatine had chosen the location for just that effect, not because of any maudlin sense of homeworld loyalty. While he had traveled to Theed, Moenia, Kaadara, Dee?ja Peak, and most of the smaller cities on the relatively peaceful planet, Inquisitor Redge had not yet ventured into the streams and canals that honeycombed the interior core of the planet. He had heard from a reliable source that it was possible for one to travel throughout the whole of Naboo and never once stick a head above ground. At some point, he would have to explore the passageways himself, or send a trusted associate in his place. There was no way of knowing just what or who might be hiding down there. Naboo might be a haven not just for artists and architects, but for other, less desirable sorts as well.

Since establishing the Retreat, the Emperor had had little trouble planetside and seen no sign of the Rebellion, as far as Redge was aware. And Redge made it his business to know. Queen Kylantha had pledged and proven her loyalty many times over to Palpatine. But it irked the Inquisitor that she had not bothered to dissolve the Naboo Royal Advisory Council or to impose any real changes on the democratic structure of the government. If she were truly that loyal, then why hadn?t she made the simple and overt gesture of disbanding the mock administration? Was it simply for her vanity, so that she could retain her empty title, or was there more to it? These questions nagged at the Inquisitor during the darkest hours of the night.

Rounding a corner, Redge arrived at the entrance of a cavernous, domed antechamber, large enoughto hold several garrisons comfortably. Like the hallway that led up to it, the chamber was composed entirely of mottled pink-and-tan marble. Hanging along the walls and from the curved ceiling were banners of maroon and gold, like the rugs that carpeted the myriad hallways in the Retreat. Cylindrical gold lamps hung down, casting shining puddles of light on the polished floor. Along the far wall, two of the Emperor?s personal guards, draped entirely in crimson, stood as sentries by the door the Inquisitor knew led to the Emperor?s inner sanctum. Like avenging spirits, the guards remained steadfast in their duty, not moving a muscle. However, the vast chamber was not entirely devoid of movement.

Along the curved wall, near a small computer terminal, two stormtroopers stood. Unlike Redge, these troopers were relaxed in their stance. One eaned casually against the wall?no easy feat, given the fact that he was clad from head to toe in sparkling white armor. His colleague held only a slightly more militaristic pose. Neither man faced Redge, so both were unaware of his presence. Gliding over slightly, the Inquisitor could just hear their clipped conversation.

?I tell you,? the one against the wall squawked to the other, ?if they haven?t started building a new one yet, they?re not going to.?

?It?s only been about a year,? the other replied with more static in his response, his transmitter clearly in need of some attention. ?Equipment that awesome takes time to repair.?

?I?m telling you,? the first argued, ?that if they haven?t repaired or replaced the Death Star by now, they won?t. And that should tell you something.?

?What do you mean?? his comrade responded, and even Redge could hear the unease in the man?s mechanized voice.

The first stormtrooper shifted his stance slightly. ?I?ve heard rumors that the Rebellion is growing, becoming more powerful. If they could take out a
weapon as great as the Death Star, there?s no telling just how strong they really are. I think the Emperor is hiding that from us.? His voice had dropped surprisingly low, considering he had to speak through a transmitter. ?I think he?s hiding many things.? ?Talk like that will get you killed,? his friend warned him.

?Or worse,? Redge added in a gentle, melodic voice.

Both troopers turned suddenly, clearly caught off guard. That was the technique that Redge enjoyed the most: knock an opponent off balance and strike while he was teetering.

?Sir, I-I didn?t know you were here,? the first stammered.

?Obviously,? Redge replied easily, enjoying the man?s apparent discomfort. He decided to let him squirm a moment longer and so remained silent,
forcing the trooper to try to dig his way out of his shallow grave.

?I?m sorry, sir, I meant no disservice. I was just explaining my concerns to??

?Don?t bother trying to explain anything to me, soldier,? Redge interrupted coldly. ?I know exactly what you were trying to explain to your ?friend?
here.? He nodded to the other man. ?You feel our Emperor is keeping things from you, keeping you in the dark, so to speak??

?It?s just that??

?It?s just nothing,? Redge warned him darkly, his facade of pleasantness a memory. ?You know all that you need to know and nothing more or less,
like the rest of us. To serve the Emperor is to trust in him completely and question nothing.?

The stormtroopers remained silent, and the Inquisitor knew they were both too frightened to speak. That fear warmed his cold heart. The corners of his thin lips twitched in growing pleasure. He relaxed his stance ever so slightly.

?But,? he graciously allowed, ?you do make a good point in your own simplistic fashion.?

?Sir?? the second soldier asked, and Redge knew they were fishing for anything to redeem themselves.

?The war is far from over,? he admitted. ?We do have the strength and the power to crush the Rebels; that much is obvious. However, the Rebels
are devious, and like fanned rawls they have hidden themselves well and fashioned nests and lairs at the highest levels of power. Only when we drive them out and exterminate those hidden in our midst will victory truly be ours,? Redge explained, momentarily caught up in his own fervor.

But before he could pursue the discussion further, he felt an almost imperceptible change in the air pressure of the chamber. The wiry hairs on his
arms rose, and Redge knew the Emperor?s door had slid open.

He turned his back on the two stormtroopers, their presence completely inconsequential now, and watched as a black figure separated himself from
the impenetrable shadows of the doorway. As the stark figure moved forward, Redge felt his stomach turn and experienced a moment of vertigo. Sensitive as he was to the Force, the Inquisitor was nearly overwhelmed by the power of the man moving toward him.

The giant figure was covered from head to toe in obsidian armor. On his chest plate, a series of devices blinked blue and red, in time with his breathing and his heartbeat. His face was covered by a grotesque, helmeted breath mask that resembled the skull of some dark god. He moved wiftly yet deliberately toward the Inquisitor, his black cape billowing behind him. He looked like nothing so much as a winged bird of prey.

Redge vaguely saw, from the corner of his eyes, that the troopers snapped even straighter at the ominous presence than they had for him. He didn?t
notice much more as he sank gracefully to one knee in a deep, obsequious bow.

?My Lord Vader,? he whispered with just the right amount of reverence.

?Rise, Inquisitor,? Lord Vader ordered in a deep, rich voice, his orders punctuated by his unmistakable mechanized breathing. ?Rise and walk with me.?

Redge rose as gracefully as he had knelt and resisted the urge to shake out his cloaks yet again, refusing to appear foppish before a Dark Lord of the
Sith. He stretched his back even straighter, but still had to look up at the Sith Lord who stood two meters tall. Before he moved with Vader, however, he turned to face the two soldiers.

?Since you both have so much free time on your hands to reflect, I will see about relocating you to a post that you will undoubtedly find more . . . challenging,? he told them. ?Perhaps something in the Hoth system,? he mused. ?I don?t believe we have sent many satellites out there yet. Report to your garrison commander for new orders. Your tour of duty here is now over.? With that, he turned and marched alongside Lord Vader, briefly contemplating what hellish location they would eventually be dispatched to.

After a few moments of silence that were distinctly uncomfortable for Redge, he addressed the dark shadow. ?Yes, my lord??

?The Emperor wishes to know how you are progressing,? Lord Vader demanded.

Redge struggled to keep his equilibrium. The dark power of the Force rolled off Vader in crashing waves.

?Inquisitor?? the distorted voice demanded, and Redge knew he would not ask the question a second time.

?My lord,? he began, ?I understand the seriousness surrounding the nature of the mission.?

?Do you? I am honored that you agree with me,? Vader replied. Redge thought he could almost hear the sarcasm in the Sith Lord?s voice.

?I only meant, Lord Vader, that I fully comprehend my role in this.?

?Do you, Inquisitor?? Vader asked him, stopping just before both men reached another hallway. Only Vader?s mechanized breathing could be heard
echoing in the antechamber. Redge was momentarily at a loss for how to proceed. Darth Vader was the only creature that ever inspired this effect in the Inquisitor.

?Do you truly know what it will mean,? the Sith Lord eventually continued, ?if the holocron should return to the Rebels? hands??

Redge swallowed hard. ?Yes, my lord, I think I can appreciate what should happen. If the Rebels manage to retrieve that device?with, among other
things, its list of high-level Rebel sympathizers?and activate those spies, the Empire could very well crumble from within.?

Vader regarded him stonily before he raised a gauntleted finger to point accusingly at the Inquisitor. ?What are you doing about it?? he demanded.

?Lord Vader, I have my best operative on the trail of this item even as we speak. I have trained this agent for many years, and I believe there is no one better suited for the mission. We will not fail,? he promised, barely hiding the quaver in his voice.

Vader stared a moment longer and then turned to walk down the hallway, his heavy footfalls muffled by the thick pile of the carpets. The Inquisitor hastened his step to keep up.

?The Death Star incident will never occur again,? Vader told Redge. The Inquisitor knew the Sith Lord was not really sharing a confidence with him as much as he was simply thinking aloud. However, he did nothing to interrupt Vader, awed as he was in the moment.

?The fact that those plans slipped through our fingers and reached the cursed Rebels . . .? Vader?s voice trailed away and he tightened the fingers of
his left hand.

As he did so, Redge felt a pressure build up around his heart. His breathing grew more rapid, and black spots began to dance around the corners of his vision. He slowed his pace and vaguely sawthat Vader was continuing on, unaware that he had lost his stricken companion. Redge placed a hand
against his chest. He felt as if a fambaa were settled atop it. His head swam. Then, as abruptly as the pressure began, it disappeared. He rested one hand against the marble wall and tried to catch his breath before trotting weakly after Vader, who had not paused in his march.

?Inquisitor?? Vader demanded.

?Y-yes, my lord?? Redge stammered, barely recovered from Vader?s unconscious assault.

?Your best agent, you say??

?Yes, Lord Vader,? Redge said, his voice growing stronger with every passing moment. ?This agent will not fail.?

Darth Vader turned and stared at Redge once more. ?Inquisitor, you should know full well that that there is no such thing as failure within the Empire. I suggest you remember that.? He raised a finger and shook it once, ominously, toward the Inquisitor and then turned and left. The hiss of his automated breathing faded as he marched down the length of the passageway. Only when Redge was no longer in the presence of the Sith Lord did he realize that he had been holding his own breath. He let it out slowly.

Redge turned from the hallway and walked over to an alcove with a view of the Emperor?s personal shuttle, an AT-ST standing guard nearby. He leaned his head against the cool marble wall and sighed. His thoughts drifted from the holocron to his operative and back to Vader?s barely oncealed death threat. He understood only too well how much was riding on the success of this mission. Redge sighed and continued to stare out into the night. The rain fell harder.

Customer Reviews

Brian
Normally, I love the star wars books, and have prided myself on reading every single book at least twice. I can't even finish this. It took me a month to get to page 200 because I didn't even want to pick the book up. The writing is bad, the plot is bad, and it had so much potential. It took 200 pages to get to a point, and I don't recommend that any read this. Not a normal recommendation from me for a star wars novel.

What in God's name is this
Having played the game, then read the book, I have to say that I have never read a worse Star Wars novel in my life. Yes, you heard me, 'The Ruins of Dantooine' is terrible. From the very beginning of the book where it tries to tie in the book with the game by inserting some junk about how the main character became a bioengineer by 'mastering scout and learning a medic's knowledge of organic chemistry' (apparently Star Wars characters have to climb the same trees as you do in the game at the Imperial Academy. I bet Luke unlocked his Force Sensitive Character Slot when he mastered Tatooine Dirt Farming by gaining Vaporator Maintenance 4, but I digress). In any event the book is the most boring read that I have ever encountered. Play the game, fine, but stay as far away from the book as possible. Especially if you haven't played the game, because most of the LOL THIS IS JUST LIKE IN STAR WARS GALAXIES LOL jokes will end up going straight over your head and making the book seem worse than it already is.

video game tie-ins seldom pay off
The last Star Wars novel I read that was based on a video game was the excellent "Republic Commando: Hard Contact" by Karen Traviss. I had hopes that "The Ruins of Dantooine" could be nearly as good as the Traviss novel, but it wasn't to be. "The Ruins of Dantooine" felt somewhat like a video game and it just wasn't very good. The story was fairly simple and quest orientated and wasn't nearly as engaging as it could have been.

The Empire learns that a Rebel Holocron has been left on the planet Dantooine. The holocron contains a full list of all of the Rebel Alliance spies within the Empire. If it falls into the hands of the Empire it could effectively crush the ability of the Rebellion to operate. Everything would be compromised. The Empire sends one of their spies to recover the holocron. The Alliance sends Finn Darktrin to locate the holocron before the Empire finds it. An Empire biologist, Dusque Mistflier, somehow gets mixed up into the search for the holocron and assists Finn as Dusque becomes more and more disillusioned with the realities of the Empire.

This book just wasn't very interesting. The story itself is quite basic and followed a video game structure with missions and a boss battle. While the chance to explore Dantooine, and a post Prequel Trilogy Naboo was potentially interesting, the overall experience was weak and lacking. The one good thing here is that there is no need to have played the game to understand the story, but I can only hope that the game was better than this book. It was a nice effort, but the only reason to read this book is to read every Star Wars book published. That's about it.

-Joe Sherry