Book Review – Star Wars Tarkin

I know many of my fellow Police/Fire/EMS friends are also Star Wars fans. There is something about Star Wars that transcends the movies. The video games and books both seem to draw a person deeper into the mythology.

The newest book in the Star Wars family is one called Tarkin. This novel describes the events that bring Grand Moff Tarkin (the gray haired dude who commanded the Death Star in the original Star Wars movie) into command of the Death Star.

For anyone who watched the Clone Wars cartoons you know that Tarkin and Darth Vader crossed paths before Vader was Vader. While on the same side they did not see eye to eye. The events of this novel show how it is that Vader and Tarkin form something that could be called a friendship.

This novel takes place a few years after the Clone Wars but well before the events of the movie Star Wars: A New Hope. The basic plot for the novel is that an imperial ship is stolen. The thieves use the ship to attack imperial targets. The so called rebel alliance has not been formed, but these thieves seem to be one of the many small cells that will someday become the alliance.

Tarkin and Darth Vader are on a mission to find this stolen ship. It is a cat and mouse game. With Tarkin playing the role of police detective trying to find out who and why the thieves are doing this. From flash backs to Tarkins youth we find out he was a quasi police detective at one time. He was part of a small defense force protecting his planet from pirates in his past.

This novel was a fun read. For me it was a real page turner. The mystery aspect of who are the thieves and tracking them made it more interesting to me as a police officer. I found myself wanting to read more just to find out if I was right. I don’t get that when reading a Sci-Fi book all that often.

So overall if you enjoy Star Wars, and need a book to read I do recommend checking out Star Wars:Tarkin.