Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a novel by Steve Perry, released in 1996. The book became the centerpiece of the multimedia project of the same name, which also included a video game, a comic, a card series, and a separately released soundtrack. The idea behind the project was to use different media to tell a story taking place between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, in a gap that had never been shown on screen.

The narrative covers the period when Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, Leia Organa is preparing an operation to rescue him, and Luke Skywalker continues his training in the ways of the Force. In parallel, a storyline unfolds about Prince Xizor, head of the criminal syndicate Black Sun, who competes with Darth Vader for the Emperor's favor. The mercenary Dash Rendar also makes his first appearance here.

The novel belongs to the Expanded Universe and was assigned to Legends after 2014. The Shadows of the Empire project is considered one of the most ambitious publishing experiments surrounding the saga in the 1990s.