Book details
- Title: Mask of Fear
- Author: Alexander Freed
- Narrator: January LaVoy
- Genre: Scifi, space opera, fantasy, detective fiction, romance
- Publisher: Penguin Random House
- Publication date: February 2025
- Page count: 496 pages
- Audiobook length: 1012 minutes
My review
Happy Star Wars Day to all who celebrate!
If you’re enjoying the second season of Andor, I highly recommend reading Star Wars: Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed with January LaVoy (Narrator). Mask of Fear is set during the first year of Emperor Palpatine’s reign, and is the first book in the Reign of the Empire trilogy. The story takes place after Revenge of the Sith and while the empire is still trying to get its bureaucratic apparatus in place.
We follow the stories of 3 main characters: Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Saw Gerrera. Mothma is trying to gain support for legislation in the Senate and beginning to forge alliances from the ashes of the Delegation of 2000. Organa sets off on an Obi-Wan Kenobi–style detective mission to prove that the Jedi are innocent of the charges Palpatine has leveled against them. Gerrera meets a new character named Soujen, who seems to not like anybody at all, but whom Saw uses to achieve his revolutionary goals.
This book illustrates how difficult it is to forge political and organizational alliances among groups with very different goals. In many ways, what becomes the Rebel Alliance resembles our current Democratic Party.
Some senators seem more interested in their political survival than the needs of their constituents. Other senators keep a low profile not because they don’t care but because they’re trying to ensure that “all those things we can’t talk about” do not come to the empire‘s attention. A few senators speak out against the empire risking everything. And of course, some senators collaborate and appease the empire to help it achieve its stated goals.
We also see the post-war devastation throughout the empire. For many in the Star Wars galaxy, the end of the Clone Wars brings with it an opportunity for peace and prosperity, even if that comes with a side of fascism. Soujen shows us that not everyone is thrilled with the new status quo.
We also meet the spies Karama and Chemish, but I’ll let you discover more about them for yourself.
Check out my full IG review
You should read this book if you:
- Love Andor and Rogue One
- Believe that all reading is political and enjoy the politics of a galaxy far, far away more than our own
- Enjoyed Obi-Wan’s detective story in Attack of the Clones
- Need some hope to get you through the darkness
How to read the book
I will now perform my best Jedi mind trick on you:
This is the book you’re looking for. You can find it in all the usual formats and places, but I suggest the Penguin Random House website.