Survivor's Quest: Star Wars Legends

Timothy Zahn definately knows how to write the SW characters, after reading "Outbound Flight", I was eager for more, I am not a fan of post-"Return of the Jedi" books simply because the ones I have tried to read always seem to portray Luke as a character unsure of himself, after the events of "Jedi" that shouldn't be the case, luckily Zahn makes Luke a strong character here which I liked, his portrayal of Luke is exactly how I would picture the character being like, In this one 50 years have passed since "Outbound Flight" was attacked & her fate left unknown, Luke is now a Jedi Master & has full confidence, there are moments where Luke questions whether or not he has lived up to what Yoda might have wanted him to become, but for the most part & I like how Luke is written here, he is now married to former imperial agent Mara Jade who once again is brought to life by Zahn, she has definately become my favorite non-movie character, there is a unique chemistry between her & Luke, as they are informed by the Chiss that "Outbound Flight" has been found & can possibly be salvaged, Luke & Mara board a Chiss vessel, the Chiss have since expressed regret for Thrawn's actions 50 years earlier & are willing to assist in the recovery effort, but there are others who are interested as well such as Jedi Lorana Jizler's brother, who never made amends with his sister, a former imperial officer accompanied by three Stormtroopers & some aliens with a secret agenda, the first few chapters deal with these characters & some crazy events aboard the Chiss vessel, but once they arrive at the wreckage, the action really starts as they discover survivor's among what is left of "Outbound Flight" & the aliens secret agenda is revealed, there isn't much I can say that others haven't already said, but this is a great follow-up to "Outbound Flight", that last few chapters are intense that see Luke & Mara trying to defeat a ancient Trade Federation Destroyer Droid that becomes difficult to defeat & quite a task as they start running out of options, their battle with this droid is quite similar to Qiu-Gon & Obi-Wan's battle seen at the beginning of the "Phantom Menace" but much more intense & would really look good on screen, they do defeat it, but barely, all & all this by far the best post "Jedi" book I have read, there is no Han, Leia, or Lando here, just Luke & Mara & some shady characters & many plot twist, Thrawn is referenced quite a bit, but I never could embrace him in the Heir to the Empire" Trilogy, why he would clone C'Both is beyond me, considering that their confrontation in "Outbound Flight" was downright ugly & menacing, although Thrawn was quite effective in that one, he just didn't rank with Sideous or other villians of the films as being the best non-film villian, but that is just me, it should be noted that this one came first, but "Outbound Flight" should be read before this one for continuty purposes, the only post-"Jedi" book I can recommend.

The book is great! But when I opened the Amazon package, I saw that the last 50 pages had a little dent on them.

Surivivor's Quest, by Timothy Zahn, is part of the former Expanded Universe of Star Wars stories, now rendered as the alternate continuity by the Lucasfilm/Disney story folks. Written by Zahn, it is, of course, high quality.It is also a tad unique in that it is much more action-packed than the other books. Yes, there is the "realism" of other Zahn titles, combined with the aspect of trying to figure out a mystery, but the main action takes up about a third of the book in a series of battles.The basic story is that Jedi Masters Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker (Luke's wife) are summoned by the Chiss, via the Empire of the Hand. The Chiss Ascendancy, the people of Grand Admiral Thrawn, have discovered the remains of the Outbound Flight (which readers know from earlier books that Thrawn destroyed), and wish to hand them over to the Republic and the Jedi.On the way, they meet aliens who wish to thank the Jedi of Outbound Flight for what they did saving their people from the slavers the Vagaari. But all is not as it seems, and if Luke, Mara, and others, including a man posing as an ambassador for personal reasons and Baron Fel's son leading a squad of the 501st Stormtroopers from the Empire of the Hand, can not figure out the truth, many lives will be lost.The favorite part for me was seeing both the Chiss, who are awesome, and Luke and Mara's marriage. The Chiss are fascinating, and to see ones that are not anti-villains, but more heroic, was really cool. I loved also the closeness that Luke and Mara had. Seeing their marriage was nice because you see they love each other. I so hope they have Mara adapted into the main universe in Episode 7. I'd love to see her as Luke's wife there too. :DAnother part of the book I liked I can't describe well, as I'd give away major spoilers. Let's just say that Zahn gives us an emotionally and intellectually satisfying tale and leave it there.Only thing I disliked was wincing at how Thrawn was given an in-universe historical hero upgrade among the characters. He wasn't as evil as other villains, but was still a bad guy.All in all though, a great book that I Highly Recommend.

Entertaining and a well written storyline. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to see Luke and Mara Skywalker in action.

Timothy Zahn is one of the most original Science Fiction writers writing today. In particular, his contributions to the "Star Wars" Universe, especially Grand Admiral Thrawn, are some of his best work."Survivor's Quest" is set 22 years after the first "Star Wars" Film (Episode IV - A New Hope). Luke Skywalker is now a Jedi Master, and is married to Mara Jade, formerly the Emperor's Hand, now a Jedi Knight.Luke is sent a message by a race called the Chiss: they have discovered the ships of an exploration mission called "Outbound Flight" which had left the Old Republic on a voyage of exploration some 50 years before.A Chiss Commander called Mitth'raw'nuruodo - later known as Grand Admiral Thrawn - had intercepted Outbound Flight and apparently destroyed it. The rest of the Chiss were not pleased by his actions, and having found the remains of Outbound Flight, they want to give it back and formally apologise for Thrawn's actions. Luke and Mara are invited to help explore the remains. But what starts out as the investigation of an old tragedy turns into a deadly pattern of intrigue and plots. And it turns out that there were some survivors from Outbound Flight ...Subsequent to writing this book, Zahn when back fifty years and published "Outbound Flight" which tells the story of the original expedition. If you're minded to read either story, I strongly recommend that you read "Outbound Flight" first. Knowing too much about what is going to happen will somewhat dampen your pleasure at reading "Outbound Flight" if you read "Survivor's Quest" first. I also found a number of details in "Survivor's Quest" more powerful when I re-read them after tackling the book about the earlier events.For example, two important characters in "Outbound flight" are put in a position where the only way to save the lives of the survivors of the expedition means almost certain death for themselves. Fifty years later, Luke and Mara find their bones, with a personal item which enables one of the bodies to be identified. They correctly conclude that the individual concerned had died to protect others while defending the mission, and convey this information to the family of that person, but with no way of knowing what had really occurred. Nor did Luke and Mara have any way of knowing that the other set of bones belong to someone closely connected to an individual of great interest to them. It's quite poignant if you read both books sufficiently close together to realise what happened.Other good things about this book: the partnership of Luke and Mara is well described and highly enjoyable to read about. The plot and action setting are first rate.If you enjoy Zahn's Star Wars fiction but were disappointed in most of the other books set in the Star Wars Universe, there is one other writer whose Star Wars books I can strongly recommend, and that is Roger MacBride Allen. His Corellian trilogy is nearly as good as Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" trilogy, and that is saying a lot.Overall both "Outbound Flight" and "Survivor's Quest" are worthy additions to the Star Wars canon and I recommend them.

I liked this book very much. Not only the action, which was quite sufficient and cracking, but also the thinking going on in Mara's head. But then, perhaps that was to be expected as T. Zahn of course is the one who had thought her up originally. And what a lovely character she is. I had already become enthousiastic about her in the Thrawn novels (both the trilogy and the 10-years later occurring Hand duology)but this was even better. I like it especially that she does not fit into the blacks and the whites most of the original SW characters do. Furthermore, I liked the psychological part, about survivor's guilt. Not too heavy - this is SW after all, not a series of the human psyche - but present non the less. Making it even more worthwhile getting to know her better.Admittedly, the novel did not answer all questions, but I presume we will get the remaining answers once the prequel has been read. So, I don't really worry about that.I just hope the author will write another novel about them in this particular time frame (just before the NJO novels, a series I am terribly hesitant to start with, due the variable judgements on the different books, and of course the size of the series that really consists of just too many books - three should be the max in any series), perhaps in a nice combination with some other characters like Karrde and Shala, and of course Han & Leia.

Brilliant! Although I would advise you read "Outbound Flight" first as it a follow on from there.

It's not the best novel out there but I still thought it was a great romp highlighting Luke & Mara Skywalker & their developing relationship. Ok so the plot is a little stretched, there's not enough background to the mysterious Outbound Flight programme or even lightsaber battles...but still - it's OK.

Big fan of other Timothy Zahn books both within the Star Wars universe and outside of it. But this was a little simplistic and short for my tastes.