Star Wars Legends Fan Group discussion

January 2025 Legends Group Read

Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers



The Group read starts on January 1st.

- First published in November 1993 (source: Wookieepedia).
- Set in the time immediately following Episode VI (4 ABY).

No sooner has Darth Vader's funeral pyre burned to ashes on Endor than the Alliance intercepts a call for help from a far-flung Imperial outpost. Bakura is on the edge of known space and the first to meet the Ssi-ruuk, cold-blooded reptilian invaders who, once allied with the now dead Emperor, are approaching Imperial space with only one goal: total domination. Princess Leia sees the mission as an opportunity to achieve a diplomatic victory for the Alliance. But it assumes even greater importance when a vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to Luke Skywalker with the message that he must go to Bakura—or risk losing everything the Rebels have fought so desperately to achieve.

Even as the Alliance arrives, the aliens have almost overcome the Bakura Imperial garrison, whose desperate commander will accept help from any quarter—even Rebel—against an insidious foe that enslaves Human minds to pilot their invincible machines of war and destruction.

While marshalling the tattered Imperial forces, Luke, Han Solo, and Princess Leia must win the trust and cooperation of the Bakurans. For although Imperial Governor Nereus has granted the Rebels temporary amnesty there is the possibility of treachery among those whose first allegiance lies with the Empire.

On the eve of the final explosive onslaught, Rebel and Imperial forces must finally come to terms with each other…or lose the entire galaxy to the hideous servitude promised by a victorious alien enemy.

Capturing the sweep and excitement of the original Star Wars saga, The Truce at Bakura plants a seed of hope for peace, sees the formation of a timeless love, and stands witness to a Jedi's undying sacrifice to defend Humanity against an alien nemesis.

From this interview with the author Kathy Tyers: https://www.theforce.net/jedicouncil/... (The full interview contains spoilers for the NJO series. So beware!)



Can you give an insight how you first entered the realm of Star Wars? What was your first reaction when you were offered the opportunity? Was it daunting being the second author after fan favorite Timothy Zahn?

I was first asked to write Star Wars by my editor at Bantam Spectra, Janna Silverstein. She'd been at Bantam during my early writing career, and she and I were already friends when HttE was published. She sent me a pre-pub copy, so I had the honor of writing Timothy Zahn one of his first SW fan letters. Several months later, when Janna asked if I would like to be a Star Wars author, I answered, "Well, let me think about it . . . yes." Her reply: "What took you so long?" It was daunting to follow Tim, but since my book had to take place several years before his trilogy, my only research requirement was to watch the movies one more time (oh, DARN!) and take good notes.

Can you share with readers how you prepare for writing a Star Wars book? What material do you use to research the massive volume of backstory, history, information? What does Lucasfilm and Del Rey provide in assistance?

I prepared to write TRUCE by watching the movies again and taking copious notes. LFL and Del Rey provide many excellent references, including all of Del Rey's "Essential Guides", the Slavicsek GUIDE TO THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE, and access to resource people (for example, I made unabashed use of the spaceship and map specialists). I re-read several novels. I was also able to telephone and e-mail Mike Stackpole and Jim Luceno, in order to stay current on the progress of their novels, including any small continuity details that may have been changed (names that were switched, etc).

And from this interview commemorating the 20th anniversary of publishing The Truce at Bakura: https://roqoodepot.wordpress.com/2014...



Where did the idea to set the Truce at Bakura literally right after Return of the Jedi come from?

That came from above. I was asked to come up with a story that would take place as soon as possible after RotJ. When I describe the setting of TRUCE, I tell people, “The Ewoks are still dancing on Endor.”

Though the story is kind of pigeonholed by taking place right after ROTJ and before other Bantam-era Star Wars novels, did you have any “big” or “controversial” ideas that were vetoed by LucasFilm?

In the first version of my synopsis, which was vetted by Lucas Licensing before I started actually writing the book, I had Luke using the Force in a way that they nixed. They thought it was seriously over-the-top, and they asked me to dial things back a bit. Apparently moving a starship using the Force is rather a bigger deal than raising an X-wing out of a swamp, as Yoda did. So apparently size DOES matter.

Did you have any inspiration in creating the society of Bakura, with local authority figures being schooled into the Imperial system by being educated on Coruscant? The new cartoon Star Wars Rebels seems to have been inspired by your concept, with Lothal society operating the same way.

It simply seemed logical that authority figures would be schooled at the heart of civilization. It’s a nice thought — that SWR might have been inspired by my concept — but I’m guessing they also thought of it independently, based on Earth history.

This is only the fourth "new" Star Wars book after the Thrawn Trilogy. I'm looking forward to seeing how much of Katy Tyers's writing and ideas were embraced by other authors like Stackpole, Wolverton, or Anderson.

I bought myself a second-hand physical copy. I'm ready for January.

I remember reading this a while back. Strange story, but a good one if you plan on reading the New Jedi Order as there's a part of it that's relevant, I think.

Darlene wrote: "I remember reading this a while back. Strange story, but a good one if you plan on reading the New Jedi Order as there's a part of it that's relevant, I think."

I'm looking forward to it. I've read in the interview that there are "dinosaurs" in the story. It's bound to be a bit weird.

This is the first time I've read this one. I was hoping for a reference to Grand Admiral Teshick, and then I realized this was probably written before we knew the names of all of the Grand Admirals.

Rebecca wrote: "This is the first time I've read this one. I was hoping for a reference to Grand Admiral Teshick, and then I realized this was probably written before we knew the names of all of the Grand Admirals."

In the interview Kathy Tyers hinted that the only lore (in 1993/94) she worked with was the movies and the Thrawn trilogy. So unless he was named in those she didn't know about him.

He wasn't. I always forget that he and most of the other Admirals weren't named until later. He's mostly in source books, maybe one video game, and an article. He was a cool character though. I'd love to have a book from his perspective.

I've always regretted that the Tales from... series covered the Mos Eisley Cantina, Bounty Hunters, Jabba's Palace, the New Republic, and the Empire, but never gave us Tales from the Death Star. It would have been both logical and fascinating to explore the events from the perspective of the Imperial officers stationed there.

Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View includes a handful of short stories set on the Death Star, and they stand out as the best of the collection.

Interesting that Obi-Wan is on the cover. I'm expecting his Force Ghost to appear in the story.

Cover art artist, Drew Struzan, created the original movie posters for Episodes I-III, posters for the 90s Lucas's Special Editions of OT, and other fantastic art for Star Wars and other movie projects.
Check out his website for more info and the gallery full of incredible movie poster art: http://www.drewstruzan.com/illustrate...

Rebecca, how's your reading going? Are you done yet?

I'm finishing Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu today and hopefully I'll start Bakura tomorrow.

Zuzana, there is a book called Death Star (michael reaves wrote it, if I'm not mistaken). It is sort of Tales vibe and pretty interesting and fun, as it covers several characters who lived and worked on the Death Star.

As for Truce at Bakura, I read it years ago and as far as I can remember, it's a decent book, with Ssi-ruuk as nice addition to the universe, but not in the top EU league.

Fingon wrote: "Zuzana, there is a book called Death Star (michael reaves wrote it, if I'm not mistaken). It is sort of Tales vibe and pretty interesting and fun, as it covers several characters who lived and work..."

Co-written with Steve Perry? I enjoyed Battle Surgeons by this duo.

Thanks for the rec, Fingon.

Anytime :)

Steve Perry is the co-author, yes. And MedStar books are among my SW favorites :)

I'm only a few chapters in right now. Library books took priority for a bit.

I just started listening to the audiobook (I didn't think I'd get through the physical book quickly enough with everything else I'm reading, haha) and I am a few chapters in now too.

3 chapters in.

The dedication of the book to John Williams was a really sweet touch!

I love that the author watched the final showdown on the Death Star and thought: "There’s no way Luke Skywalker just shrugged off that electrocution by Palpatine’s Force lightning like it was nothing." Luke starting the book injured makes sense. Luke’s struggle with some of his Force powers, like meditative healing, also feels spot on—who would have taught him how to Force heal? He’s figuring so much out on his own.

Obi-Wan as a Force ghost delivering vague, ominous directives without much explanation feels completely in character—probably an old habit from his years as Anakin’s master.

Speaking of Anakin, Leia’s reaction to learning that the monster who destroyed her family, her home, and most of her people is her father is on point. Her struggle with denial and anger is just so understandable.

Don't know how I feel about the aliens. So far, they've made only a short appearance, but boy, they do seem weird. I picture them as (view spoiler)[Velociraptors working on PCs.

(hide spoiler)]

BTW Chewie preparing (view spoiler)[a love nest for Han and Leia (hide spoiler)] is wildly funny.

Glad I'm not the only one who was imagining them that way. I'm enjoying the same things as you Zuzana. Their ships sound a tad similar to Vong ships as described in Outbound Flight, so k was a little thrown off by their names.I can't put my finger on it right now, but there is something slightly off about the writing style especially when she uses adjectives. I'm not sure if she gets the adjectives in the correct order.

Im roughly 3 chapters in also.

So is it that when Kenobi speaks to Luke it’s vague but if he appears as a vision, he can converse with him?

I always thought Luke understood what R2 was saying until this point

Daniel wrote: "Im roughly 3 chapters in also.

So is it that when Kenobi speaks to Luke it’s vague but if he appears as a vision, he can converse with him?"

Not so sure about that, Daniel. Maybe it’s more about Force Ghosts gradually fading away the longer it’s been since their death.

Kathy Tyers actually drew on Timothy Zahn’s trilogy for this idea—it starts with Obi-Wan explaining to Luke why he can’t stick around any longer.

Daniel wrote: "I always thought Luke understood what R2 was saying until this point"

I always assumed Luke picked up on Artoo’s vibe and extrapolated from there. He probably learned a bit of Binary while taking care of his uncle’s droids, and over time, with all the time spent with Artoo, he gradually became more fluent in the language.

Anakin, on the other hand, didn’t just understand Binary—he could speak it.

I'm 12 chapters in.

What do you think of hormonal Luke? He's way too desperate for my taste.

Slow going for me. I just can't get the rhythm of this prose.

How far into the book are you, Rebecca? I don’t want to spoil anything for you.

Leia and Han are leaving planet number 6.

Okay, let me know when the space battle is over.

Just started chapter 5. These adjectives are excessive. Zahn, Travis, and Moon have me spoiled for proper military descriptions during combat. That was painful to read...

Just about to start chapter 12. We must not forget that he’s still a young man. Would you say it’s almost as if he’s acting like his father? But I could do without the little thoughts on Leia

Daniel wrote: "We must not forget that he’s still a young man. Would you say it’s almost as if he’s acting like his father? But I could do without the little thoughts on Leia"

I wouldn’t mind as much if he wasn’t so fixated on his sister’s sex life. It’s just… uncomfortable.

Not only does he sense through the Force when Leia (and Han) are intimate, but he also thinks about it, then makes remarks to them so they know he knows. What on earth?!

Honestly, I think he really needs to get laid, like, yesterday. There are plenty of Rebel pilots who wouldn’t be opposed to a little stress relief, as we see in the X-Wing series. He really needs to figure things out one way or another, because this isn’t cute, it’s creepy. It’s even creepier than Anakin in Episode 2—at least Anakin kept his weirdness confined to Padmé; he didn’t “monitor” other people’s sex lives.

Rebecca wrote: "...Zahn, Travis, and Moon have me spoiled for proper military descriptions during combat. That was painful to read..."

I didn’t mind it as much. To me, it highlighted that Luke is just not good at tactics. Tyers clearly drew inspiration from Zahn, and I think this was deliberate. The contrast between Luke and Admiral Thrawn is almost comical—and it should be. Why is Luke even a commanding officer? He’s a spectacular pilot, but as a commander, he’s completely out of his depth: distracted by minutiae, without a proper plan, and relying on a computer program (and the Force?) to guide his tactics.

That said, he still might grow into a capable or even great military leader in future books, but here, we’re seeing him at square one.

I’d say in that first battle, Luke didn’t really win—he "suffered" a victory. The Ssi-ruuk were caught off guard and unprepared for another force to join the battle. Even so, Luke was only saved at a critical moment by the Millennium Falcon swooping in.

oh it wasn't that, it was that the way she described the ships on screen kept changing. Sometimes they were called pips, but other times they weren't. It drove me up a wall.

Rebecca wrote: "oh it wasn't that, it was that the way she described the ships on screen kept changing. Sometimes they were called pips, but other times they weren't. It drove me up a wall."

Yeah, the style could be better. But I can "switch that off" while translating in my head. So the adjectives don't bother me as much unless it's as atrocious as Foster in Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Nothing beats the gems like these: "the shaft of azure destruction" (for lightsaber), "sepulchral moans" or "leprous lily". These live rent-free in my head thanks to Foster.

That sounds so much worse!

Well, I'm done.

This is my mostly spoiler-free review (seriously only very minor spoilers):

One of the earliest entries in the modern Star Wars Expanded Universe following Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, this book takes place immediately after Return of the Jedi. The Rebellion answers a distress call from the Outer Rim planet Bakura. Though originally intended for the now-dead Emperor, the Rebels seize the opportunity to win new allies. Luke leads a small force, joined by Han, Leia, Chewie, 3PO, and R2 aboard the Millennium Falcon. Upon arriving in the Bakuran system, they discover a battle in progress. Faced with an alien threat, the Imperials and Rebels agree to an uneasy and temporary truce—but the question remains: how long can it hold?

This book is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some great moments, but it’s weighed down by oddities and a few “What was the author thinking?!” moments. On the positive side, I appreciated some of the character development, like the evolving dynamic between Luke and Leia (with a caveat—see below), R2 and 3PO confronting Bakuran society’s anti-droid prejudices, and the exploration of why societies tolerate oppressive regimes, as well as the courage it takes to rebel and risk everything for freedom.

The alien threat, the Ssi-ruuk—dinosaur-like beings with strange communication, unique cultural sensibilities, and Matrix-like technology powered by the stolen life essence of human prisoners—is undeniably bizarre but appropriately “alien,” so I can’t fault it too much.

What I could have done without:

- The unclear and meandering space battle scenes.
- Han’s overblown, unprovoked jealousy toward Leia (seriously, massive red flags in any real relationship—but thankfully these moments were brief).
- Luke’s overly intrusive musings about Leia’s love life.
- And, of course, Luke’s “incel crisis.” I get that he’s young and longing for a relationship, but it was overdone. There were points where I wanted to grab a spray bottle and snap him out of it. Thankfully, this phase is mostly confined to the middle of the book (when meeting Gaeriel), and Luke eventually tones it down a bit.

Overall, it’s a standard Star Wars adventure—not terrible, but not groundbreaking either. Compared to some rough reads like Padawan or A Test of Courage, I’d give it a solid 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

I have highlighted several passages and have more spoilery notes, but I will give you time to finish the book.

I have lots of thoughts about (spoilers for Chapter 10) (view spoiler)[Anakin's Force Ghost appearing to Leia and their conversation (hide spoiler)].

I'm about a third of the way into the book and have the same notes. I currently have nothing else to add.

No rush, we can wait for other people to catch up.

About to start chapter 20. I never really read deep into the aliens description as being dinosaur like. I guess I was thinking they were more lizard like the Bounty Hunters but with bigger tails. It’s a pretty good read despite some of Luke’s focus on his attractions. He still a human and not a life long brainwashed Jedi. While it may not add much to the story especially a fledgling “love interest” on Bakura, Jedi are all about feelings and he has to learn how and when to use them otherwise he may as well be a droid.

I thought there was much to go based on the book completion percentage but I wrapped it up tonight. All in all fun story to read. I’d say the only thing I learned was that Luke struggles with balancing the light and dark side of the force.

ugh.. I'm stalled at about 1/3 way into this book. It's just not holding my attention. I love the idea of this book. I'll try to finish it.

Just finished it, and I liked it alright. Definitely some things I would cut if I was an editor on the book.

If I had to rank all the story threads going on, which are plentiful for how it feels like a short one off event, I would have to say that Luke's story is the strongest out of them all. The idea of this growing in the force while balancing living in a world that may not always accept who he is, is compelling. Bringing all the legacy crew from the original trilogy felt a little unnecessary to me as they often just offer familiarity to readers, Han felt like a disposable character in this and Leia could have used more expounding upon the Vader legacy to make it more effective. Effective conflict especially when paired up against the wild nature of creating a new world from scratch after the fall of the Empire.

Daniel wrote: "... I never really read deep into the aliens description as being dinosaur like. I guess I was thinking they were more lizard like the Bounty Hunters but with bigger tails...."

I would say it's canon that they look a bit like velociraptors.
There is some art floating around on Wookieepedia, some even approved by Lucasfilm.


Glad you enjoyed the story, Daniel.

Deryk wrote: "...Bringing all the legacy crew from the original trilogy felt a little unnecessary to me as they often just offer familiarity to readers,..."

I agree with this. It would’ve been nice for Han to have something meaningful to do beyond just being Leia’s (jealous) love interest.

Almost finished. The second half is going much faster.

Finally finished it. I liked the second half. I wish we'd gotten more depth on Leia processing Vader/Anakin being her father.

The book Tatooine Ghost deals with Leia's coping with Vader's legacy in more detail.

Rebecca wrote: "Finally finished it. I liked the second half. I wish we'd gotten more depth on Leia processing Vader/Anakin being her father."

I feel that way about most of SW books. Once the action gets going it's usually a quick read. :)

I have an observation about Anakin’s Force Ghost scene. It’s fascinating that Leia, as skilled a politician as she is, didn’t catch that Anakin never truly apologized for anything he had done—not really. He opens with the pompous “I am forgiven,” and it only goes downhill from there. His vague “I wish to atone” leads nowhere.

If his real goal was to help Leia let go of her anger and hatred, he sure went about it in the worst way imaginable.

And then Leia turns around and tells both Han and Luke that Anakin apologized—when he never actually did. I would have expected her, of all people, to recognize that, because in politics (and law), words matter.

I actually appreciate that Anakin’s personality hasn’t changed with his “ascension.” He may be one with the Force, but he’s still the same pompous, self-absorbed A-hole he always was.

"What kind of terrible mistake had Ben Kenobi made, sending him here? Jedi masters weren’t perfect. Yoda had believed Luke would die at Cloud City. Ben had thought he could train Anakin Skywalker.

He curled his arms around his knees. If Yoda and Ben could make mistakes, Luke Skywalker could too. Fatal ones."

A far more interesting question to ponder is how much Force ghosts actually know about the future. Sure, they made mistakes while alive—no surprise there. But after death? Who knows.