Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 10 Great (Canon) Books To Read While You Wait

10. Tarkin

Star Wars: Tarkin
Del Rey/David Smit

As far as Star Wars villains go, they don't get anymore one-dimensional, ostensibly, than A New Hope's Grand Moff Tarkin. That isn't to say that there's anything necessarily wrong with Peter Cushing's foul-stenched imperial officer - he is, after all, one of the most recognisable villains of the franchise - but it is obvious the character only served one purpose: to personify the malice of the Empire in full.

Of course, Cushing's portrayal lends Tarkin an edge that few Star Wars villains can match (though some would perhaps argue that he lacks the aesthetic flare to compete with the likes of Boba Fett), and that in turn has fuelled a discernible level of interest in the character from the fanbase. Enter James Luceno, who, having commanded various Star Wars novels in the past, set about exploring the character in a massive way in 2014. There, we see Tarkin, the eponymous soon to be commander of the Death Star, morph from a loyal ally of the Republic into the iron hand of the Emperor, a process that adds some much needed depth to one of the most recognisable faces of the Star Wars mythos.

Luceno is something a veteran of the franchise, and his experience with the universe more than pays off in Tarkin. If you've just gotten round to revisiting Rogue One (and you're after more of that Episode III/IV hype), then you could do a lot worse than to give this book a shot.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.