Ricky Church reviews Star Wars: Reign of the Empire – The Mask of Fear…
One of the time periods in the Star Wars franchise that has always been intriguing is the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope where the Empire ruled with an iron fist across the galaxy. While some Star Wars media like The Bad Batch, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor have explored this gap, there are still plenty of questions left as to how Darth Sidious and his minions gained such a massive amount of control in a relatively short time after Revenge of the Sith.
Reign of the Empire sets out to answer some of those questions in The Mask of Fear, the first book in a trilogy detailing the Empire’s growing rule and the beginnings of the Rebellion with Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and Saw Gerrera as the central characters. Written by Alexander Freed, who is no stranger to Star Wars after his Alphabet Squadron trilogy, Battlefront: Twilight Company and the Rogue One novelization, Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear is a compelling and revelatory story blending the espionage and political thriller genres while giving insight into some of Star Wars‘ most notable characters.
Taking place just a few weeks after Revenge of the Sith, the newly formed Galactic Empire is trying to cement its hold on the galaxy while bringing the recently defeated Separatist worlds back into the fold. As Mon Mothma tries limiting Emperor Palpatine’s power over the Imperial Senate, Bail Organa is still reeling from the extinction of the Jedi and is hellbent on exonerating them by proving Palpatine unjustly ordered their deaths. Meanwhile, Saw Gerrera is intent on battling the Empire’s fascism through any means necessary and wants to build up arms, leading all three characters on a path that will test their mettle and eventually plunge the galaxy into civil war.
Freed captures the personalities of Mon, Bail and Saw well, showing us the early versions of who they will eventually become as Bail and Mon are not quite as adept in their politicking against the Empire while Saw, though already hardened from the Clone Wars, is not yet the ruthless freedom fighter/terrorist with little to no distinction against military and civilian targets. The evolution of the three is intriguing, though it is more so for Mon and Bail as we are placed directly in their POV while Saw is mostly seen from others.
Mon and Bail’s naiveté in believing they could bring Palpatine down through various legal methods with enough pressure is foolhardy at best, but that’s part of the book’s fun as they both work incredibly hard to outwit him and his allies even as the Imperial Security Bureau grows in strength and spies. Mon’s story in particular is great at it provides further insight into the Senate’s working at this point in time as well as how it utilizes Revenge of the Sith‘s deleted subplot of the Delegation of 2000 where Padmé Amidala, Bail and Mon led a charge to have Palpatine lay down his emergency powers in the wake of Count Dooku’s death. It is a great move for Freed to build upon that and Padmé’s presence (and lack thereof) is definitely felt throughout the story.
Freed also creates new characters who become entwined with the Republic’s transformation into the Empire with Soujen, a Separatist assassin augmented with various technology to enhance him, Naki and Chemish, an ISB officer and spy and her unofficial protege. Soujen is quite an interesting figure as a man who had legitimate gripes with the Republic, but wakes up after being frozen to a radically different galaxy and is angered to find the Separatists have capitulated to the Empire’s demands. He’s got a cold personality and is rather direct due to his programming, but enough individuality to form his own opinions on Saw’s crew and Bail Organa, not to mention how much he improvises on the fly as he remains self-driven for the most part. He’s a refreshing character as well after all the other Separatist villains we’ve seen through The Clone Wars as Soujen has a rather sympathetic backstory and a conflicted mindset.
While Soujen provides a look at the galaxy at large, Haki and Chemish’s story is more boots on the ground, particularly with the latter, as Haki spies on Bail and Chemish investigates potential militia movements on Coruscant. It’s exciting as Chemish gives readers more of the everyman’s perspective on the sudden change into the Empire with most of the populace either welcoming or being indifferent to the new way of life. Haki is in a similar position after being a senior Republic officer and now Imperial viewing it as more of the same even if some of the incoming Imperial officers are inadequate or too young. She’s also got a humourous, playful personality that often clashes with some of the people she interacts with, but when she switches on her professional mode she is quite a force and her methods of deduction are fun and energetic.
Freed’s structure is fast-paced and and engaging with a lot of great character work for his cast. The way he opens up Coruscant from the common man to the big players of the Senate creates a nice parallel between how the world is viewed. And as much as some people within the Star Wars fandom say its politics are boring, Freed’s examination of the Empire’s power grab away from the Senate is anything but especially as so much of the story feels relevant and pulled from the many headlines we currently see in the news today. Not only does it make Mask of Fear more plausible in this ultra-sci-fi world, but it can give one quite an eerie feeling when reading.
The Mask of Fear is a great opener for the Reign of the Empire trilogy with Freed writing a captivating tale. The setting opens up new doors into the vast world of Coruscant while providing insight into familiar characters as well as its relevance to our own times. Any fan, whether you’re a diehard Star Wars nerd or casual sci-fi reader, will enjoy this look into a time rarely explored in the Star Wars universe, especially as we near the second season of Andor which Mon Mothma and Saw Gerrera feature in. Whatever the case, you won’t go wrong in picking the book up.
Rating: 8/10
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