Knight of Shadows, a Star Wars novel by Karen Osman. Cover art (dust jacket) by Eluki bes Shahar. Interior art and inner cover by Carol Waterman. Published May 25, 1982.
Yes, it’s a Darth Vader origin story written before Return of the Jedi! And a strange one to be reading so many years later, after 5 movies have rendered it further and further from the source canon. The name Anakin Skywalker is never mentioned. Luke is not referred to by name until the last page. And of course, there is no Padme Amidala. This is a novel of royal intrigue, with the Sith vying against the Jedi (with Darth Vader caught between his Sith birthright and his longing to be a Jedi Knight.)
Modern fans are probably baffled by all this. You have to remember, there was a time when two movies and a bunch of toy backing card bios were pretty much all we had in the way of canon. We knew Darth Vader was a Sith Lord; we didn’t have any real idea what a Sith Lord was. We didn’t have a history of the Empire or the Republic, we didn’t know who Luke’s mother was, and we had only just found out about Vader being his father. Or rather, Vader’s claim that he was Luke’s father. Yoda wouldn’t confirm this was true until The Return of the Jedi in 1983. (In 1982, this movie-in-production was still being referred to as Revenge of the Jedi.) Back then, it was possible Vader was lying, or telling the truth but not being Anakin Skywalker. And Leia being Luke’s sister was a bombshell dropped in Jedi, something probably no fan had even considered until that movie was released.
(Interior cover by Carol Waterman.)
(Interior art by Carol Waterman.)
This was one I bought simply because the cover amused me. That looooooming Darth Vader with the flaring ears makes me snicker. In spite of that, it’s a pretty kickass cover, and it certainly grabs the attention. The story’s not without its flaws (even considering the time period it was written in,) but it’s worth reading. I’ve seen copies as low as $5 on eBay (which is what I paid for this one.) It’s not a bad collectible for a Star Wars fan to have on their shelf.
