Note: While the below text represents a brief review of this specific Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear entry, a greater retrospective on the entire series, complete with images and footnotes, can be found here on my site, dendrobibliography.

There's a moment near the end, a calm moment after the Empire's mad scientist has explained exactly where the good guys went wrong and what's in store for them, where the hero takes a moment to reflect on Boborygmus Gog's nefarious plans. In this moment, her response so perfectly encapsulates the issues with this book, and really, the greater issues with this series' interweaving narratives.

## "This doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone go to all this trouble? There's no reason to fool people with [this]."

I love this series despite its many faults, but this is the weakest of them, and the most prone to plotholes. "It's a children's series" is an excuse that can only go so far, and I think if your own characters calling the story out for not making any sense, the suspension of disbelief has been passed. Beyond this point, the audience is being insulted.

Ghost of the Jedi has a great set-up: A brief cameo from Jabba the Hutt sends the Arranda twins and their uncle Hoole deep into the Outer Rim, hunting for signs of rebel activity and a rebel 'hacker' (for lack of a better word) named ForceFlow. Their story lands them on a long-lost derelict space station, Nespis VIII, home to only ghosts and legends of treasure. An ancient jedi library is said to have been lost with the ship's disappearance, and legend has that only those with the force can find and enter the library without falling under the curse.

After a great introduction -- a massive, dark, creaking structure drifting eternally in the void; ghostly whispers and breezes the only company you can expect -- Ghost of the Jedi's plot goes haywire.

Nespis VIII, it turns out, isn't so lost, and has been occupied on and off by a never-ending cycle of fortune seekers -- a cartoon cast if ever I saw one -- from across the galaxy. Or at least for ~20 years, because the timeline of events within the Star Wars films leading up to this story and during it are riddled with plotholes. Characters from the Nightmare Machine are written as here on the ship during the events of the previous novella. Dianogas exist where it's impossible to exist, and only serve to repeat an iconic scene from the first movie. And Boborygmus Gog's evil plan -- to harness the power of the force through the most obtuse, nonsensical sort of deception imaginable: An evil plan of falsifying rumors and then spending his every waking moment on board this ship in the off chance the right person hears said rumor, believes it, seeks its source, is lucky enough to find its multiple stages of hidden secrets, and finally fall victim to his trap -- makes absolutely no sense, as Tash Arranda was quick to point out.

It's ridiculous. It's lazy. And it fails to make use of the interesting setting.

On the matter of the overarching plot and character development, Tash Arranda has now come to accept her sensitivity to the force (hooray!), the identity of ForceFlow is revealed in a genuinely shocking twist, and Hoole's secrets (both good and bad) are finally shedding light on his mysterious character.

John Whitman's Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear (1997–1998):
#4 The Nightmare Machine | #6 Army of Terror ( )