''Allegiance'' is a ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' novel released in January 2007 by
Del Rey. The book was written by
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn (born September 1, 1951) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. He is known best for his prolific collection of ''Star Wars'' List of Star Wars books, books, chiefly the Thrawn trilogy, ''Thrawn'' series, and has publis ...
, and was followed in 2011 with ''Choices of One''.
Story
The story is set just after ''
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope''. The book's subject is, according to Zahn, "...three different people and groups with allegiance issues."
Synopsis
The story was told in three parallel threads which eventually intertwined in the later part of the book.
Five members of the
Imperial Stormtroopers
Stormtrooper are soldiers in the fictional ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Introduced in '' Star Wars: A New Hope'' (1977), the stormtroopers are the shock troops/space marines of the autocratic Galactic Empire, under the l ...
attached to the
Imperial Star Destroyer
Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional ''Star Wars'' universe. Star Destroyers were produced by Kuat Drive Yards, later Kuat-Entralla Engineering, and serve as "the Ship of the line, signature vessel of the fleet" for the Galactic Repub ...
''Reprisal'' began to have doubt about their work after being made to participate in massacre of innocents on planet Teardrop. The planet had a rebel base, but evacuated just moments before the ''Reprisal'' arrived. The Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) officers in charge of the operations had the innocent people killed anyway. Back on board the Star Destroyer, the ISB Major Dreflin made a mistake of pushing the stormtrooper too far and ended up killed by his own weapon. The five stormtroopers aboard realized official channels would get them nowhere, and managed to escape on board the ship ''Suwantek''. While on the run, their sense of honor and duty led them to seemingly unrelated incidents where they rescued local populace, and subsequently pursued a link to a pirate group named the Bloodscars operating in the Shelsha Sector.
Leia was dispatched to the Shelsha Sector to meet three local representatives of the Rebellion. Luke, Han and Chewbacca went along as her escorts. They separated to pursue different leads, the men to investigate pirate attacks on the Rebel supply line, and Leia to a negotiation that the governor of Shelsha sector was going to declare independence and join the Rebellion.
Mara Jade
Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise. She appears in the now non-canon ''Legends'' series as the wife of Luke Skywalker and mother of Ben Skywalker. She has been voiced by Heidi Shannon, Edie Mirman and K ...
was investigating corrupt Imperial moffs, and clues from stolen valuable artworks led her to the Shelsha Sector.
It was indicated in the original
''Thrawn'' trilogy novels that Rebels (
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The ...
,
Han Solo
Han Solo is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. The character first appeared in the 1977 film '' Star Wars'' portrayed by Harrison Ford, who reprised his role in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) an ...
,
Chewbacca
Chewbacca ( ), nicknamed "Chewie", is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a Wookiee, a tall, hirsute, bipedal, intelligent species originating from the fictional planet of Kashyyyk. Chewbacca is the loyal friend and firs ...
, and
Leia Organa
Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, portrayed in films by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the Star Wars (film), original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is princess of th ...
) met Mara Jade for the first time during the events of that same trilogy. As such, despite being in the same place at the same time on more than one occasion, the Rebels and Mara Jade did not actually see each other.
Continuity
* The book includes a cameo appearance of a character based on Stacey, the heroine of the ''
Pink Five
''Pink Five'' is a ''Star Wars'' fan film that made its debut on the Internet in 2002 and was written and directed by Trey Stokes and stars Amy Earhart as Stacey (a.k.a. Pink Five), a fast-talking Valley Girl-type dropped into an X-wing cockpit d ...
'' series of
fanfilms, marking the first time a fan-created ''Star Wars'' character has ever crossed into the
Expanded Universe.
* The first hardcover printing has the time period mislabeled as taking place during the ''
Rise of the Empire/Prequel Trilogy'' period instead of the correct time period, ''
Rebellion Era/Classic Trilogy''.
Sequel
''Choices of One'' is a ''Star Wars'' novel written by Zahn, released by Del Rey on July 19, 2011. The sequel to Zahn's 2007 novel ''Allegiance'', it is set between the events of the films ''Star Wars: A New Hope'' and ''
The Empire Strikes Back
''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...
'' and features Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Mara Jade, and the villain Nuso Esva.
References
External links
StarWars.com First Look''Star Wars'' Message Board Topic*
*
Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign.
Etymology
From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...
on
Wookieepedia
Wookieepedia: The ''Star Wars'' Wiki is an online encyclopedia for information about the ''Star Wars'' universe—including information on all the films, as well as '' Clone Wars'', '' The Clone Wars'' and its introductory film, ''Rebels'', t ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allegiance (Novel)
2007 American novels
2007 science fiction novels
Novels by Timothy Zahn
Star Wars Legends novels
Del Rey books
Military science fiction novels
Space opera novels