Delusions Of Grandeur

Mara Jade, welcome to the war on cars. Mara stops the Hand of Thrawn from making a huge mistake (and maybe becomes a Jedi?) while Luke takes a nap. Bel Iblis puts the finishing touches on his suicide plan. On Bothawui, Moranda puts a clever plan into motion but forgets her Imperial counterparts might have a death wish of their own. Pellaeon takes a call from an unknown number (possibly the bravest...

We race towards the thrilling conclusion of this fine novel, when one thousand carefully placed space dominoes will come tumbling down. For now, after helping to defeat Rei'kas's slavers with the power of friendship (and incredible violence), Karrde and Shada confront the final boss of manic pixie dream bosses: Jorj Car'das after a nap. In his stately pleasure-dome/conversation pit/library to the...

Luke Skywalker finally gets a chance to shine as a both a Jedi and a general contractor. Artoo unleashes his murderous side. Mara manages to avoid getting shot a second time. Han proves conclusively that he simply doesn't know metadata exists. Moranda gets drunk in a box. Flim has some fun playing galactic Risk on the big board. And Admiral Pellaeon puts on his favorite boots to make a dramatic en...

Did your intrepid hosts yell at eachother for over an hour and half and still only make it through three chapters? Well, yes but...you guys, things are getting good. Kliff and Navette finally start putting their plan in motion on Bothawui, only to spot those New Rep military types up close and personal in their pet shop with some old lady. Unfortunately for the Imperials, one of them is a guy off...

"What is a hallway but a series of open-ended storage compartments?" --Karoly, probably. Gilad Pellaeon breaks into one ivoory desk to steal floppy disks and now he's all, "let's go break my friend out of prison!" Meanwhile, despite his boss' critical feedback, Flim is out here doing an incredible job being fake-Thrawn. He's convincing pirates to give him their super deadly shipyards for free. He'...

Leia hastily sweeps some fast food wrappers off the dash as she and Pelleaon sit down to negotiate lasting galactic peace in the Falcon. Back on Bastion, the Imperial Triumvirate of Messy B*tches rides again as Han and Lando race against the best spy craft the space 1970s can buy, while Pelleaon casually violates Disra's 4th Amendment rights. Luthen Rael, eat your heart out.

We open on a very skeptical Lando who, having been guilt tripped by Han Solo YET AGAIN for casually betraying him and his lady friend ~15 years ago, is struggling to put his faith in a clone. Actually, it's more intense than that: Lando is incredibly anti-clone. Like, to the point where I can't repeat what he says here, in case clones are reading this. Turns out, the clone just loves farming and w...

This future vision is starting to get spicy! Leia is (diplomatically) ambushed by Corran Horn's former butler Elegos Ak'la -- who was always too good for him, right?? Right. Oh, and he brought along this 30 year old kid named Ghent, too. Shada and Karrde have a rough day out as it becomes clear Jorge Car'das definitely knows they're coming -- and as Karrde leaves Shada out in the cold during Opera...

The Council of Imperial Bitches make it through their first battle with the help of Wookipedia. Lando is interrupted on his quest to invent an underwater version of Nevada by a phone call from an old friend. Karoly D'ulin shoves herself into ever-smaller closets. Corran and Wedge fail at their mission seconds after stetting foot on Bothawui. And Mara sits down for a good-old fashioned therapy ambu...

Luke and Mara reunite and begin an emotionally fraught camping trip to sneak into a heavily fortified military base while being forced to hold hands. Han attempts to seduce his wife (presumably in a sarong) only to be foiled by the Solo Embarrassment Factor (and a bunch of unmarked starfighters). Our Imperial saboteurs roll up on Bothawui with frankly offensive space-Italian accents, a dream of op...

We press on in the Hand of Thrawn duology. The cover: full of amazing hair for all our principals: Luke, Mara, and...Han? The dedication: from the author to his friends, but aren't we the real friends he made along the way??? The plot: we catch up with a variety of Imperial officers gazing pensively into space (and one scheming quite effectively to pry worlds away from the New Republic). Luke shou...

We reach the epic conclusion of this (possibly?) New York Times bestselling novel. Lando learns the downsides of the caped lifestyle. Shada's job interview goes slightly sideways. Talon Karrde offers to work for free (!?). Wedge and the Rogues simply cannot catch a break (or a cake). Our hosts wonder if finding the Camaas document can even fix what's broken in the New Republic. And friend of the p...

Lando gets hustled: first at sabacc, and then by Flim and co. New Republic C-SPAN gets juicy as they debate whether or not Imperial warlords can come back from the dead. We get a crash course Alderaniaan design philosophy. Shada D'ukal phones customer service and asks TO SPEAK WITH A REPRESENTATIVE. And Talon Karrde sips some fine brandy while inviting you to get comfortable in your own conversati...

We rejoin Pellaeon, sippin' some brandy on his galactic frenemies tour. He starts to realize that Moff Disra is probably up to worse shenanigans than money laundering, but can't quite figure out what it could be. No time to linger for a second brandy, though: he's late for a meeting with Bel Iblis (...who has not yet accepted the cal invite). Luke Skywalker trusted the Force and it rewarded him wi...

[Extremely Ron Howard Voice] "Now the story of a wealthy Empire who lost everything...and the one Captain who had no choice but to keep them all together..." While your man Pellaeon can't sleep well, he sure can scheme. His investigations into Imperial corruption are going swimmingly and he's plotting an elaborate library heist. Meanwhile, Han and Leia get caught between a mob and a Bothan stairca...

The Bothan people continue their crime spree with a turn into massive financial fraud. Talon Karrde shows up with a gift and a threat. Mara just parked in the driveway but she has to turn around and go to the corner store for more intel. Luke might finally understand what the Force is all about. And Pellaeon continues his gofundme tour of the remnants of the Empire.

The Senate is in an uproar about how to dish out justice in the face of genocide — but at least they agree that their new interior decorator has impeccable taste. Han Solo casually commits Watergate-adjacent political crimes so that he can argue over payment plans for espionage with Talon Karrde. And Luke Skywalker goes on a bonkers undercover mission with the help of stage makeup and a rack of ri...

The High Council of Imperial Bitches has their inaugural meeting. An extremely stable political alliance forms. A Smuggle Buddy begins to doubt her life choices. Pellaeon puts on his detective hat. Wedge tries to back out of buying a melon.

Once again, we find ourselves on the bridge of the Chimera with one Gilad Pellaeon, staring thoughtfully into space. Only this time, there's no more Thrawn and Pellaeon is having a bad case of the Mondays. 19 years after the Battle of Yavin, the galaxy is completely changed, with the Empire controlling scraps and the New Republic (theoretically, at least) large and in charge. While Pellaeon is pon...

This week, we chat with the delightful author of The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire . Dr. Kempshall walks us through what an Imperial archive might include (or not include), which EU character he could imagine ghostwriting for, and finally gives us an answer to the persistent question: "how often should Luke Skywalker be thrown in the brig for stealing an X-Wing?" (tl;dr just like...maybe do...

If all goes according to plan, we'll start our new year and next season with an interview with Dr. Chris Kempshall — author of "The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire." The book traces how and why Palpatine took power (spoiler: Sith crap) and how middle managers, bureaucrats, and neutral evil civilians held the Empire together. It also tries to make the most rational case we've encountered so fa...

A quick pre-cap of what you can look forward to from us in early 2026, so you can scour the used bookshelves now! (Hey-la, hey-la, the Grand Admiral's back.)

As this novel and trilogy draw to a close, the universe seems to be conspiring to make Han the grumpiest space pirate this side of Nar Shadda. Actually, it's not the universe. It's Bria and Han's inability to hear one another, despite a surprising amount of honesty (okay, and maybe the teensiest bit of betrayal). After a firm business handshake leads to a naughty coin flip and sexy times on the ca...

Sit yourself down, my lads, as we delve into ever more Hutt schemes and ever wilder seating arrangements. Hutt clans are squaring off both metaphorically and literally. Xizor and Guri are using the power of Black Sun and electronic butts that just don't quit to take over the galaxy's spice production. Chewie is practicing self care and going to bed early. And, in the true spirit of Space Thanksgiv...

Han Solo takes a break from this trilogy to pop over into the Brian Daley series of adventures on the Outer Rim. Meanwhile, Bria is back in the field, baby! She's taking her crew's temperatures, mercing slavers left and right, and posing as a middling but hot lounge singer, where she meets a rakish mustache by the name of Lando. After narrowly escaping the clutches of Boba Fett (thanks to Lando's...