Tag Archives: The Icarus Hunt

Even Timothy Zahn Hates the Catsuit

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Here at Tosche Station, we hate Mara Jade’s catsuit. It’s completely inappropriate attire for an assassin/smuggler/Jedi, and not at all what she was described as wearing in the books. Brian and I have often wondered what Timothy Zahn, Mara’s creator, thinks about what has become her standard attire.

Well, last night, I discovered what might be an answer. Those of you who listen to the podcast know that I’m currently reading The Icarus Hunt, Zahn’s best non-Star Wars novel by far. About halfway through, I found this gem of a passage:

I wondered briefly if she could be Uncle Arthur’s information courier, but the skintight outfit she was wearing couldn’t have concealed a spare poker chip. At least, I thought incongruously, that also meant we didn’t have to worry about her being an assassin.

Well played, Mr. Zahn. Well played.

Timothy Zahn’s ‘The Icarus Hunt’ Now Available in Electronic Format

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We’re just going to keep talking about this book until we convince you all to buy it.

If you have ever been curious about an Expanded Universe author’s offerings outside of the realm of Star Wars, the first novel you absolutely must pick up is Timothy Zahn’s The Icarus Hunt, a science fiction noir and chase mashup that’s made its way onto my list of yearly re-reads. If you need a bit more convincing, check out the review I wrote a little while back for Roqoo Depot.

The Icarus Hunt is a fascinating book because it delivers a sense of grandeur but, at the same time, is a rather intimate story. Alien species, futuristic technology, starships and freighters, sprawling locations, and criminal factions. With this setup, it would be easy to delve into a tale about war between species ala Ender’s Game or some sort of galactic apocalypse ala any major multi-author Star Wars series since 1999. The framework was there to tell that sort of a novel. Zahn, to his credit, chose instead to dial back on the type of doomsday conflict that we see far too often in science fiction and tell a different kind of story.

If you have a measly $7 handy, you can get yourself a copy via Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Congratulations to Timothy Zahn as well, I know in talking with him on his Facebook page that he and his agent have been working for a long time to secure the rights to get this out in eBook format.