Preview
  • Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

  • By: Steve Perry
  • Narrated by: Anthony Heald
  • Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (988 ratings)

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Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

By: Steve Perry
Narrated by: Anthony Heald
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Publisher's summary

Shadows of the Empire illuminates the shadowy outlines of a criminal conspiracy that exists in the background of the events in the movies, ruled by a character new to us. Prince Xizor is a mastermind of evil who dares to oppose one of the best-known fictional villains of all time: Darth Vader. The story involves all the featured Star Wars movie characters, plus Emperor Palpatine and, of course, Lord Vader himself.

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  • Abridged Audiobook
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Critic reviews

"Anthony Heald is a superb performer for the various Star Wars audiobooks. He slides in and out of distinctive Star Wars characters with such smoothness that the characters are instantly recognizable, as if the original actors were working in ensemble." (AudioFile)

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What listeners say about Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    175
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Oh. Didn’t know it was abridged.

Shorter than I expected. Xizor’s theme sounds like a MIDI file instead of the actual song (which is a great orchestral piece so this was disappointing). The narrator pronounces Coruscant as “Chorus Can’t”, but his impressions of major characters aren’t bad. His Jabba the Hutt sounded like Cookie Monster though. That was pretty great. The sound and voice effects were good, but I would’ve traded them for the complete novel.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Should have been a movie

Great book...I really wish this would have been an episode within the original series. so much wasted opportunity here

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A true Star Wars legend

this story should be Cannon, really enjoyed this story really recommen the read. Peace out

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wish it was the full book

Wish it was the full novel. Read the book when it came out in the 90’s. This did not have quite the same affect. But it does get across the main points.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Meh

The sorry just didn't flow. it seemed to jump all over the place, and not just within the different setting.

The reader did an poor job articulating voices, and a particularly poor job with established character voices. This in addition to mispronouncing certain names that had also been established, made for an unenjoyable listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The true story of what happened between Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi.

While the narrator isn’t the best we’ve heard in Star Wars audiobooks, he still does a great job giving it his very best.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Abridged

Beware. This is a highly abridged version. I wish there was a full version available.
For what it’s worth, though I don’t usually like added music and sound effects, they worked well here. I just wish it was the full story. This moves too quickly and there are clearly important sections missing. Sometimes characters appear in scenes that weren’t there before.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Luke to the Rescue

Great action, plot line, and character development following the events after Empire and before Return

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent

This book has been the best I could ever read to me and good as well.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

love this story

I like the music and sound effects during the story, it added depth to the reading. only this I wish to hear in the future is getting female voice actors for the female parts.

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