Survivor's Quest (Star Wars) [Hardcover]

Timothy Zahn (Author)

Book Description

Series: Star Wars | Publication Date: February 5, 2004

Luje and Mara get a message to go and get the remains of the Outbound Flight Project. But there is more than meets the eye to this unexpected gift. There is still someone alive on the ship and they are not interested in visitors.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hugo winner Zahn, author of five previous Star Wars novels (Heir to the Empire, etc.), serves up another G-rated crowd-pleaser in the bestselling franchise series. Regulars will recognize the cast, but newcomers may raise an eyebrow to learn that Luke Skywalker, whom they lovingly left as a youth on a screen in a galaxy far away, is now a married man. His wife, Mara Jade, is, however, no simple suburbanite clutching little Skywalkers. Having spent her early years innocently supporting a dictator, she now flies beside her husband, content to swap technological chitchat instead of romantic twaddle. She is, after all, a Jedi Knight, the equal of her Master Jedi husband and just as handy at wielding a blazing light saber. The alien Chiss, inadvertently or otherwise, have shot down Outbound Flight, the fabulous lost group of super dreadnoughts bearing more than 50,000 people into the most distant reaches of space, a scenario reminiscent of Robert A. Heinlein's classic Universe, if without the cosmological wonder. Now, half a century later, many species have assembled to locate the wreckage. To their surprise, when they discover the remains, survivors uninterested in being saved inhabit them. To no one's surprise, Luke and Mara are up to the situation's needs. Full of action and more twists than a corkscrew, this stand-alone SF adventure novel is sure to satisfy its target teen audience.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Here again we have Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, the married Jedi, whose quest this time is for remnants of the Outward Bound expedition, launched 50 years before by the Old Republic and subsequently destroyed by pirates, with the help of the late Admiral Thrawn. Of course, the New Republic wants Luke and Mara to represent it on this outing, and Thrawn's people, the Chiss, want in, too. Moreover, half a dozen other individuals, factions, and polities all have personal or political reasons for finding the remains of the Outward Bounders. So already the situation is complicated, and the fact that, except for Luke and Mara, nobody is what they seem, and that some of the agendas they're hiding in dusty storage compartments and computer files are flat-out lethal, adds more complications. Everything gets rapidly worse when it turns out that there are survivors on derelict Outward Bound ships, and they are tough, determined, and totally hostile to the Jedi Knights and everything they ever did on behalf of the Old Republic. Finally, one of the not-what-they-seems reveals itself, teeing off half-a-novel's worth of fast, furious, detailed, and intelligent action, clearly setting up another book; and, oh yes, also developing Luke and Mara's relationship. Not for beginners with Star Wars fiction, perhaps, but in the hands of tie-in Master Zahn, a thoroughly absorbing story for the seasoned reader. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Century Hutchinson (February 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844136809
• ISBN-13: 978-1844136803
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,332,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Timothy Zahn is the Hugo Award-winning author of more than a dozen original science fiction novels and the bestselling Star Wars trilogy Heir to the Empire, among other works. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What do you get when you cross two jedi?, June 5, 2004

By 

David Roy (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Wars: Survivor's Quest (Hardcover)

One of the nice things about Del Ray's series of Star Wars books is that they are not just concentrating on their New Jedi Order books. They are also producing some books that take place further back in the Star Wars novel history, when Bantam was running the show. Thus, they can refer to events that took place in earlier books (such as Tatooine Ghost), and they can even supply sequels. Timothy Zahn's Survivor's Ghost is one of those, and it's quite thrilling.

Luke Skywalker and Mara Jada Skywalker, married for three years now, are helping Mara's old boss, Talon Karrde, go straight by informing some of his old friends that he will no longer be doing business with them. After rebuking one irate customer, Karrde catches up with them and gives them a message to go to Nirauan (the planet where they faced down the Hand of Thrawn in Vision of the Future). There, they are told that Outbound Flight, an exploratory mission sent out by the Old Republic 50 years ago, has been found by the Chiss (who happen to be the species of their old enemy, Admiral Thrawn). Outbound Flight was a ring of six massive dreadnaught battleships bound to an inner core, resulting in a huge ship, but the Chiss reportedly destroyed it years ago. The Chiss have asked Luke and Mara to come and inspect it, representing the New Republic. They have to keep their eyes and ears open, however, as old enemies show up as well as new. Who will be their allies and who will betray them? Mara also has to come to terms with her former life as the Emperor's Hand during the time of the Empire, making a decision that could change her life forever. Luke and Mara have to stretch their Jedi skills to the maximum to make it out of the bowels of Outbound Flight alive, as well as preventing a galactic war.

I love the fact that the recent Star Wars non-NJO books have focused on only a few of our favourite characters. This gives the book an opportunity to really expand on their characterization, as well as explain certain changes between the old series and the New Jedi Order books. Survivor's Quest focuses exclusively on Luke and Mara, their relationship, and Mara's past. I've always enjoyed Mara, as she's one of the most dynamic new Star Wars (i.e. non-movie) character around. She's gone through massive changes since Zahn's first novel, where she wanted nothing more then to kill Luke Skywalker. Now they're married, sharing a bond that goes beyond love, a bond through the Force. When they first meet up with Commander Fel (the son of one of their old enemies) and his stormtrooper squad, memories flood her, memories of her time with the Empire. She begins to fall into old habits of command. She has a case of "survivor's guilt," as she realizes that while the Emperor was horrible, some of the Imperial policies may have actually been good. She and Luke have seen the New Republic struggle with petty wars and other conflicts among member planets, and the Imperials were efficient. Watching her thoughts is very intriguing.

The best thing about this is that Zahn doesn't push this in the reader's face by trying to explain it. Instead, the reader gets to see some of her thought processes as she handles the situations that come up during the events of the novel. Luke occasionally presses her to talk, but he's usually unsuccessful. Instead, he just has to be supportive as well as being a good teammate. Watching them work together was a real treat. We've seen it in the New Jedi Order books, but this is when it was still fresh, and it was a wonder to see.

Mara is Zahn's creation, so it's not surprising that he handles her well. The good thing is that he handles pretty much everybody else reasonably well too. This is especially true of Fel and, to a lesser extent, the stormtroopers. The troopers are individualized as far as having names goes, though they aren't given a great deal of character. One negative is that a big deal is made of one of the troopers being an alien, which would have been unheard of in the Empire's time where anti-alien prejudice was prominent. However, nothing much is made of it other then the odd mention or two. Still, the book does a good job (along with Tatooine Ghost) of making the troopers much more competent then they were in the movies. Fel is an interesting character to watch as he leads his squad in action. He's thoroughly competent and intelligent, and the best thing you can say about him is that you're not wishing for the book to go back to someone else when he's on screen.

There are some unanswered questions that bring the book down, however. There is a scene in the middle of the book where Fel and one of his troopers talk about hiding something on the Chiss ship, but it's never referred to again. After this scene, you keep expecting the Imperials to eventually do something that they never do. It was jarring. Secondly, the animosity that the Outbound Flight survivors have toward Jedi is never explained. These feelings have a major impact on the story and the result, but we are given no reason why it exists. Is it just because the Jedi failed to successfully fight off the Chiss when they attacked? If so, it seems rather harsh to be feeling that way 50 years later.

All in all, Survivor's Quest is an effective tale, full of action and great characterization of the main characters. While there are some plotting difficulties as mentioned above, it's an enjoyable read, especially for those who are getting a bit tired of The New Jedi Order. Give it a shot.

David Roy

37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER winner from the BEST Star Wars author working today, February 3, 2004

By 

Jeff Edwards "RadioJeff" (Twin Falls, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Star Wars: Survivor's Quest (Hardcover)

For those of us who are either casual or even serious Star Wars readers, the name Timothy Zahn usually means one thing in particular: a REALLY GOOD BOOK. Zahn's original Trilogy still remains the absolute BEST Star Wars novels in print, and I am happy to say that for the die-hard Admiral Thrawn fans out there, we finally get to see a glimpse into where he came from. The Chiss, as they are called contact the New Republic -- specifically Luke Skywalker -- to offer a gesture of good will by informing them they have located the remains of the original Outbound Flight where the original Jedi Master C'Baoth disappeared some 50 years before on a quest to map out the Unknown Regions of Space. Thrawn intercepted this flight under orders from Emperor Palpatine and utterly decimated all within -- or so we were told.

From the very beginning, this story absolutely ROCKS. I would describe it as a finely tuned mystery that, like an onion, is peeled away slowly but surely as the chapters fly by at Lightspeed. Someone has intercepted the message meant for Luke and as they travel deep into Chiss space, they discover abruptly who it is who made that interception, and along the way Luke & his wife, Mara find more than they bargain for. Mysterious problems happen on the Chiss spaceship, seemingly to be nothing more than choreographed diversions for other more interesting crimes to take place. Along the way we meet another race of aliens who wish to pay tribute to the Jedi who fought to save them from enslavement by a mysterious unknown race of ruthless conquerers and very nearly slaughtered them all. When Outbound Flight is finally reached, Luke, Mara & the Chiss are rather surprised to find out that not only are the 6-Dreadnaughts in remarkable shape considering their crash-landing, but they also find the last thing they ever expected: survivors -- survivors who apparently wish to have nothing to do with Jedi. A chance to discover what really happened to Outbound Flight and what role the Chiss really had in their destruction is quite a mystery indeed -- a journey that is very much worth taking.

For those of you who ONLY enjoy Star Wars tales that include all of the major CORE characters (Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, R2D2 & C3PO etc) you just may be slightly let down. For the rest of us who read ANYTHING written by Timothy Zahn, you will NOT be disappointed in the slightest. As this story unfolded I found myself absolutely wrapped in the mystery and I had a very difficult time putting it down to do mundane things like eat and sleep. I was also VERY thrilled to hear that Zahn is also planning an additional novel based upon the actual mission OF Outbound Flight scheduled for release sometime next year. Fans of Timothy Zahn Rejoice! This is just an additional adventure in that Galaxy Far, Far Away that truly lives up to the Grand Adventure that began with Episode IV back in 1977. Great Stuff!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Luke and Mara into the Unknown, September 29, 2005

By 

DJK ver 2.0 "Reader and Movie Buff" (Richardson, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Survivor's Quest (Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

'Survivor's Quest,' by Timothy Zahn, features Luke Skywalker and his wife, Mara Jade-Skywalker (often referred to as Mara or Jade). In the last two novels by Zahn ('Specter of the Past' and 'Vision of the Future), Luke and Mara had travelled into Chiss space and encountered the Empire of the Hand. This Empire was what remained of Grand Admiral's Thrawn's efforts in the 'Heir to the Empire' trilogy. In those novels, the destruction of the Outbound Flight project at Thrawn's hands was used as the back drop as to why Thrawn had been exiled from the Chiss Ascendency and had gone to work with the Empire.

It is now three years later. Luke and Mara receive word from Talon Karrde that the Empire of the Hand is trying to contact them. Responding to the message, the Skywalkers travel to Chiss space to discover the Chiss have found the remains of the Outbound Flight project. This project was established during the Old Republic. Its mission was to travel out of known space, and possibly out of the known galaxy, to colonize other worlds. Thrawn's attack ruined those plans. Aristocra Formbi, from one of the nine ruling families of the Chiss Ascendency, invites the Skywalkers and representatives of a race calling themselves the Geroons to investigate the ruins....

There are several features that make this novel a worth while read. First, there are storm troopers in the novel. With the New Jedi Order (NJO) and many prequel novels in recent years, storm troopers have been missing from Star Wars literature for the most part. Its good to have a recognizable face from the Empire back. Second, the Skywalkers are featured. Mara gets a fair amount of face time in the NJO, but most of the time Luke was left out so the story could feature Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin Solo and their Jedi friends. Third, more details of the legendary Outbound Flight project come to life in this novel. Its a nice supplement to some of Zahn's earlier work.

The novel has its not so good points as well. First, in my opinion, the Skywalkers were frequently misused in action sequences. They seldom got a chance to have a good old fashion stand up fight. Instead, they are frequently using overly complicated Jedi force tricks to get themselves out of yet another seemingly imminent death. A little guile is one thing, but Luke and Mara are supposed to be some of the most reknowned Jedi in the galaxy. Let's see them take it to the enemy.

Second, everyone is hiding something from someone else. The Geroons, "Ambassador" Jinzler from the Republic, Aristocra Formbi, the survivors of the Outbound Flight, the Imperials, and even the Skywalkers are hiding things from everyone else. Frequently, Zahn hints at a secret someone is hiding to build up the mystery, only to let down the reader when the revelation proves not to be a big deal. The intrigue, in the end, is just artificially inflated.

Third, the plot frequently plods along at a snail's pace. The best section of the book is the opening few chapters and the ending few chapters. The Jedi and storm troopers are in action, and Zahn succeeds in revealing crucial plot points to the reader. The middle, however, bogs down with bickering between the characters and a very slow exploration of the ruins of the Outbound Flight.

Overall, this novel is a good read. It builds on both prequel era material and points towards events revealed in the NJO. Zahn has another novel, 'The Outbound Flight,' that will soon be published that should reveal the rest of the mystery of exactly what happened with the Outbound flight. I'd recommend this novel to Star Wars fans, but if you really want to know the story of Mara and Luke, start with Zahn's original trilogy and then read his duology that precede this novel first.

Overall Grade: 3.25 stars.