This first book trilogy also continues most of the film trilogy's themes. There is a very strong, almost biblical theme of subjugation/liberation in the Star Wars movies. In Zahn's novels, most worlds of the Empire have been liberated from bondage (although some only shakily so). But the theme continues with peoples like the Noghri, whose planet's ecology has been destroyed by Empire forces, whose remnants still keep them enslaved.
Another theme of Star Wars is hidden identity. Who is Darth Vader? Who is Ben Kenobi? Who is Luke, and why did he grow up on an obscure desert planet? Who is Leia, and why was Alderaan destroyed? These questions are answered by the end of the trilogy, in a way that ties together factual and metaphysical mysteries. Hidden identity is less central to the novels,.....
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