One of the many great things about Star Wars is that there is no shortage of characters to care about. They can range from blink-and-you-miss-them figures like the Jawas who sell droids in A New Hope to seemingly immortal figures like Princess Leia Organa. These characters have the storytelling potential to leave a mark on those who love the galaxy far, far away.
In Alexander Freed's latest Star Wars novel Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear, we spend time with familiar heroes, but the companion characters are just as intriguing, making this a strong opening in the first of this trilogy.
Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear exploring tyranny feels familiar
I am depressingly well-read in certain areas of history, so one of my earliest thoughts on The Mask of Fear was, "Freed definitely understood the assignment of researching tyranny for this book."
I saw shades of Stalinist Russia in Mon Mothma's experience while Bail Organa seemed to have spent time in occupied Europe during the Second World War. Of course, the plot involving Saw Gerrera could have been plucked from any number of our real-world conflicts that needed guerilla warfare, but that didn't make his group's struggles feel generic. And for the unnamed public who render their opinions, it's depressing to hear the echoes of this world's current events in some citizens' confidence that Palpatine is so old and weakened by disease that he won't last much longer.
Freed shared with ScreenRant that The Mask of Fear depicts a time "when no one knows how bad things will get and certainly there's no... sense of what it means to fight back." The book begins just weeks after the Clone Wars ended and the Empire was formed and while Mon Mothma and Bail aren't sure what's possible, they both feel compelled to act. We have Bail's risky, but understandable, obsession with bringing to light the evidence of the Jedi Order's perfidy while Mon Mothma rallies former members of the Delegation of Two Thousand to find a path forward. Based on the Alliance that they later formed, I was hoping that this book would highlight how early we saw their natural ability to work together.
What impressed me was the schism that existed on a subtle level. At one point, Bail speaks to his friend about why he is determined to expose what happened to the Jedi, and Mon Mothma vehemently insists that "No one cares about the Jedi!" At the time, this seemed unnecessarily callous, but not long after comes from a chilling perspective that explains her antagonistic response:
"You could tell who'd had the luxury of a righteous defiance, kept in a low-security waiting room, and who'd been through hell, to their own Dark Place. Mon couldn't explain it, but... you could just tell."Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear
Bail Organa made a show of declaring his loyalty early in the Empire during a press conference, while Mon Mothma was put through confinement for so long that she hallucinated and soiled her robes, and "she'd been stripped of all dignity with casual, deliberate cruelty." One founder of the Rebel Alliance got to make a public statement and described his detainment as being caused by 'overzealousness' where law enforcement was concerned. The Chandrilan Senator was detained for thirty hours before being told that she could sign a pledge to the Empire to leave immediately but cautioned that they could bring her back in for questioning at any time. Freed's book highlights inequalities on many levels and having this tension between two staunch Republic loyalists is a master stroke.
Far removed from this, of course, we have Saw's journey in the aftermath of the Separatist downfall. The threat to his home posed by the enemies of the Republic has passed, but he has never stopped fighting. Now, he has a new enemy in the Empire makes less of a mark for a person who was already at such a disadvantage before Palpatine seized his unlimited power. His development of the Partisans is illustrated through third-hand accounts and we see the way the disenfranchised people come to look to him for leadership. Mon Mothma speaks of the "luxury of a righteous defiance," but we see revolution from a place of sheer stubbornness. A new character named Soujen, who comes through his own pain to be a devotee and ally of Saw, is the character whose development interests me most.
The Mask of Fear brings new outstanding elements to Star Wars
The Mask of Fear explores many new elements of the franchise. One is Mon Mothma's inclusion in a reception that introduces the system of regional governors. One of the governors affably and humbly discusses the honor of serving the Emperor at such a high level, then describes the kind of beings who were fit to hold the position. The criteria weed out moderate thinkers and people who aren't able to see the potential for further dominion, but he frames these things as the Grand Vizier's search for people with "big ideas."
This is my favorite depiction of Bail and Breha to date. In James Luceno's Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, I loved seeing Bail's adjustment to parenthood, but felt slightly exasperated by the tendency of his wife to have a child-minding role by comparison. Leia appears in the story frequently because both parents are involved in matters of galactic concern, but are also working on balancing their child's needs with demands on their time. Breha is as present a character as in the royalty-centric Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray and this is a wonderful thing.
This book does spend a lot of time showing the Organas as struggling new parents, but the heart of the Alderaanians’ story is found in the regrets that Bail has over the past. He is desperate to create a safer future for his daughter. It’s a motivation that we can hope to see carried forward, because it works so well.
Mon Mothma and her husband Perrin have a very different dynamic from what we saw in Andor Season 1. There is more laid bare about how difficult marrying young was on them, but they rely on each other effectively in public and care for each other in their home. The shift from this state of trust to the strained state of things that we saw during the lead-up to Rogue One is one that is worth reading.
The same can be said of Saw's radicalization. In this book, he is less powerful and more connected to the people who take his guidance. He is not yet the extremist leader who is able to coordinate things on a large scale. He recruits personally and works intimately to fight back.
Freed has called Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear “a prequel to Andor” and the book earns that designation with its emotional stakes and the development of rebellious plots. For fans of the subversive or deeply personal parts of Star Wars, this is an excellent addition to the canon. As an entree to a trilogy, it sets up enough intrigue to drive our interest in the next installment. It is definitely on my to-recommend list for its keen understanding of the cause and effect of oppression.
Star Wars Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear is available in bookstores as well as at online retailers in print, ebook, or audiobook format.