Darth Pedant

Moving Target is set between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Leia is still reeling from the events on Bespin, but the Rebellion can't take a time-out until she sorts out her feelings. There's a Rebel fleet to assemble and an Empire to topple, after all.

On the surface, this is an enjoyable Star Wars story about Princess Leia dealing with the burdens of being a figurehead, the inhumanity of war, and duty versus personal desires. Dig a little deeper and the plot unravels a bit when you realize that a good 95% of the moral dilemmas Leia faces are the direct result of her acting out of character at the beginning. Leia's the Rebel who cares too much, the one who won't leave besieged bases until everyone else is evacuated, the one who undertakes super dangerous missions herself rather than endanger someone else. For her to propose a mission that involves endangering not only herself but the populaces of three planets and a bunch of Rebels who don't know they're just decoys seems rather . . . un-Leia-like.

I would be totally fine with this if the mission had been someone else's idea, or if she'd reached some sort of realization herself at some point and done some introspective soul-searching. If she did any of that, I missed it. And after her plan is approved and she's more than halfway through the mission, she just sort of seems to do a 180 because suddenly innocent lives and the lives of the Rebels she's deliberately duped matter more than the success of her mission. Okay...? I guess?

Perceived plot inadequacies aside, there was a lot to like here. I especially liked the little glimpses into Leia's childhood on Alderaan. And another nod to Phil Noto for his spiffy illustrations.