Razor's Edge

Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion, Book 1

By: Martha Wells

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal.

But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: The fierce marauders come from Leia's homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive - and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire...if they find out her true identity.

Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death - or embrace it - to keep the rebellion alive.

©2013 Martha Wells (P)2013 Random House Audio

Alderaanian survivors, we hardly knew ye

This is a superb story set between the 1st & 2nd films of the Luke Trilogy. On a mission to secure supplies for the Alliance, Princess Leia & Han encounter survivors of the destruction of Alderaan who are left with a ship and a strong survival instinct. The book focuses on some really interesting female characters who lead the parties involved. It doesn't have a feminist approach though, as there's plenty of action present, and the male characters are multi-layered and still contribute significantly to the plot.

This is part of a trio of books (not a trilogy... they are stand-alone stories) called Empire and Rebellion. This is the "Leia" entry; the "Han" book is called Honor Among Thieves, and is also excellent. The "Luke" installment, Heir To The Jedi, was disappointing.

January LaVoy's performance as the reader was terrific -for the female characters. Some of the male characters she pulled off very well, and others not so much. Her Han Solo takes some getting used to. Bottom line, I got used to it -and gave the performance 4/5 stars.

This is a very exciting adventure, with a lot on the line and a lot of deep emotions running through it. Exploring Leia's tortured thoughts about the destruction of her home planet, and her connection to survivors of the catastrophe, adds much to the drama of our favorite space opera.

Good story, but female narration left it wanting

The story was good, but the narrator's voices were not varied enough to distinguish between characters. The male voices did not sound male at all, and the females all sounded angry.

Sorry January - this was a poor performance

What did you like best about Razor's Edge? What did you like least?

Best – The general story line was good, though a little contrived in places.
Least – character development
.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Clearly the author intended to include a strong female presence in the leadership of the various entities: The Rebel Alliance, the pirates, the spacers. Unfortunately, this was more painful than it should have been. I don’t know if it was the performer or the author that failed.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The performer lacks credible male voices. Frequently could not tell the gender of the character until a pronoun (he/she) was used. Luke Skywalker came off as a 10 year old child while Solo was unemotional and flat. None of his sarcastic expression was heard.

Was Razor's Edge worth the listening time?

I will listen again, just to discover whether my issue is with the author or the performer or both. That way I may be able to give one of them a second chance.

Any additional comments?

Where is Marc Thompson? He needs to perform all of the star wars texts.

The force is Female.

If they really wanted to make an all female Star Wars, this would have been the way to do it.
The characters are not so cartoonly flat, that they are unbelievable, and it still fits in the Star Wars
universe.
It’s a good listen, good story, and well read by the reader.
Leia is Leia, and she is written as Leia. She is the same person we see in the original 3 movies.
The issue is that all the strong characters she meets in this book are also female… and strong… and clever… and beautiful… and….. you get the idea.

Minor Spoilers: <-------------
The top pilot she runs into: female
The captain of the opposing ship: female
Her second in command: Female
The leader of all the pirates: female
The clever smuggler: Female (basically a female han Solo)
All the evil, weak, traitors, are guys. Except Han (of course).

there are no ‘clever’ lines like “I’d like to see a man do that.” or “Us girls have to stick together.” and the girls
all have a touch (small touch) of depth to their character (about as much as you’d expect for a character
in say… Stargate Atlantis single episode person). but that is more that what they did in the movies.

Good story. Good listen. Not disappointed at all, but I do like a little Balance in the Force.

Good Attempt at Similar Voices

One of the few books I wish I'd read via the text version. They did a great job of trying to match the voices of the main characters with those in the movies, but I could hear an echo in my head in the proper voices. Reading the text would have given me the experience of hearing it with the real (if imagined) voices.
Still, a fun book and well done. Loved the sound effects. :)

Meh.

I enjoyed Luke not being a full Jedi, but the story as a whole was a little boring and didn't really spark my interest or imagination. The reader was fine I guess. Many of the characters sounded similar to me. But I might be an inner sexist or something because I usually don't enjoy audiobooks with a female voice actor.

Good book, but wrong choice of narrator

If you could sum up Razor's Edge in three words, what would they be?

Good book, but the Audiobook felt inconsistent with the usual high quality of Star Wars audiobooks.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Razor's Edge?

Overall, I loved the exploration of a time period which is often not dealt with in Star Wars novels. The personal struggles and guilt within Leia were well written.

Would you be willing to try another one of January LaVoy’s performances?

Probably not - this is the first audio book I have ever considered looking for a print version instead. The narrator's voice is pleasant, and the narration aspects were good - but when doing characters' dialogue, it was difficult to distinguish between characters. It really detracted from my ability to feel involved in the story. And all the men sounded as if it was an impression of Rosie O'Donnell after 40 cigarettes. For many books, I am sure she would be great, but it really didn't work here.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not especially, but that's fine. I like to break the books up and listen to them on my drive to work.

Inside the mind of Princess Leia Organa.

If you could sum up Razor's Edge in three words, what would they be?

Princess Leia Organa

What other book might you compare Razor's Edge to and why?

a lot of the other Han and Leia books.

What does January LaVoy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Makes me feel like Leia is saying it.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Han and Leia Strike Back.

Any additional comments?

Thanks!

Amazing work as always

January LaVoy gives a spectacular performance in this novel! Her pronunciation is proper through out and acts out the various action words as she reads!

Good story but narration is lacking

The narrator does a poor job with male voices. The story is good but doesn't add anything of value to the whole star wars picture, this didn't shed any light on characters or reveal missing knowledge, but it was entertaining.