Teaser

The Eternal Emperor cares not for the lives of his subjects. Nor do his subjects care for the old tyrant. In a galaxy this messy, it’s only natural that conflicts will arise . . .

Review

In 1977, George Lucas’ Star Wars changes not only cinema, but science fiction. Forever. Though not necessarily innovative, Star Wars codified a new form of space opera entertainment, and then delivered it to the masses. For an entire generation, Star Wars and science fiction are inseparable. Lucas’ visual legacy can still be seen on screen today, but the effects were far more wide-ranging than cinema alone. Just as Dune before it, Star Wars spawned countless imitations in prose form. The Sten Chronicles are one of the earliest, and perhaps most successful, of these Star Wars successors.

Coming in at the start of the 1980s (the same decade that gave us Predator and Aliens), Sten delivers the comfortably familiar with heapings of the new style. As with many older works, Sten features genre staples such as oppressive imperial regimes, rebellions working in shadow, and strange new worlds. But this is not the wonderful vision of the future depicted only a few decades earlier. The sheen has been worn away. There’s blood, sweat, and tears. everything feels grimy. There are no fancy restaurants and robotic servants, only brothels, meal tickets, and expendable human labourers. It’s science fiction for fans of Rambo, paving the way for the video nasty generation.

To an extent, Sten feels like a part of the early Star Wars Expanded Universe, though it arrived around a decade and a half earlier. There’s a sense of filed-off serial numbers surrounding some of the worldbuilding. Yet at the same time, none of the thrill from the EU is to be found here. This is a dark and nasty novel, and there are not enough distinct features to hold my attention. Women are largely relegated to sex work, while the men are either macho posers or scheming villains. This is, I suppose, the problem of going back to earlier works. This may have been a standard-setter back in the day, but to me, in 2024, it all feels very cliched.

What I will say is that it’s well-written. A little bare-bones in places, but that’s not inherently a bad thing. More to the point, it does not feel like the work of two authors. With co-authored works, there will always be the question of which author write which sections, but a single readthrough offers no clues on that front. Sten is a thoroughly consistent novel.

It is also the first of a nine-volume saga (plus a few additional books, including a cookbook, of all things). With that in mind, Sten must be taken not only as a single book, but also as the opening volume of a larger epic. If the book set out to entertain me, then it succeeded. If, however, it’s aim was to enthral me, to entice me into devouring the entire series, then it falls a little short of the mark. I’m not saying I’ll never read another Sten novel, but I am saying it will be a long while before it becomes a priority.

Book Stats

• The Sten Chronicles (Book 1)
• First Published 1982
• 310 Pages