Star Wars: The Mask of Fear is a Riveting & Poignant Kick-Off | Review

The first major Star Wars novel of 2025 weaves high stakes political intrigue, engaging characters, and compelling mysteries all together in a new story that feels all too timely.

Alexander Freed returns to the galaxy far, far away with The Mask of Fear, and I couldn’t be happier. Freed’s previous Star Wars novels (Battlefront: Twilight Company and the Alphabet Squadron trilogy) have been impressive standouts among an already impressive slate of Star Wars books. Freed is adept at writing compelling stories featuring ensemble casts, where no one feels underused, while weaving in thought-provoking commentary. This makes him the perfect choice to lead off this new, politically charged, Reign of the Empire trilogy.

Starting just weeks after the events of Revenge of the Sith, we get a look at how Palpatine implemented his Empire at a practical level in those early days. Moreso, we see how the various Senators (especially those who’d opposed Palpatine before the Empire declaration) must strike a balance in order to retain their positions, lives even, without conceding all their morals.

It’s a fascinating look into the minutiae of what all such a massive coup entails, at a perspective we haven’t really seen before. Our view of the Empire taking over has largely been from either the ground-level oppression side (Rebels, Andor, etc) or the big hero side of things like the Jedi. With Mask of Fear, we dive into the nitty gritty bureaucratic point of view.

On the surface, I admit such a description doesn’t sound immediately compelling. From page one, however, I was pulled into the story and characters on a level I wouldn’t have expected so quickly. This is mostly due to Freed’s engaging writing style, which balances quick pacing and heady concepts with preternatural ease.

The story itself puts the focus on three main characters: Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Saw Guerrera. There are some other fairly prominent side characters (one I’d argue is another lead, but don’t want to spoil their role in the book) included as well that help propel the story forward while still keeping things focused on those three.

One of the things the novel does best, is showcasing the very different methods, even ideologies, of these three central figures of the Rebellion. From Saw Gerrera’s overtly militant approach; to Mon Mothma’s need to do everything aboveboard, exhausting every legitimate option; and with Bail Organa’s seemingly unshakeable faith in people’s capacity for good and doing the right thing…we see all of this play out within the pages of the novel. We’re given a inside look into how they find common ground, despite their disparate views, and a need to work together against the great evil the Empire, and Palpatine, represents.

We see how these characters come about (and work within) their individual approaches to resistance. Moreso, we get glimpses into how they end up on the final paths we know they wind up on. In this way, Mask of Fear is a far more personal, character driven story. One that goes beyond the simple logistics of building a rebellion, and gets into the heart of what drives people to fight back (beyond the obvious).

Mask of Fear is more about these characters discovering their own ways to resist; coming to their own personal revelations about what that resistance will entail, and the sacrifices to be made for it. The encounters they face throughout the novel forces them to come face to face with the enormity of the task before them and their own limitations in handling it.

The novel presents a number of themes, and has much to say on the nature of power and control (even outside the confines of an overt dictatorship). What struck me most as I read, was how it presents resistance in a more practical fashion. Fighting fascism is frequently presented in idealized, often binary, ways. Star Wars itself does this regularly as it showcases the conflict as the battle good and evil. It’s flashy and heroic, meant to be inspiring.

In a lot of ways, that’s exactly how these characters—including Saw—tend to view resistance at the beginning of the book. They see their noble purpose in black and white terms and are forced to reckon with all the grey areas in between; putting their convictions to the test. In this way, we, as readers, must similarly confront the ideals of resistance, with the messy necessities it entails. The result is an empowering story that’s surprisingly hopeful in its execution.

Perhaps what’s most impressive about seeing these elements come together, is how effortlessly the book manages to weave their stories together. For the most part, all three of these characters have very, very different stories going on within the book. To the point where it’s tough to see how their journey’s could possibly intersect. And yet they do!

All of the stories come together in an engaging way that not only adds to the larger story of the Rebellion’s origins, but manages to feel natural. It’s not small feat, and for all the political intrigue/thriller elements, Freed manages to inject a surprising amount of action to boot. It very much retains the tone of something like Andor, balancing the high stakes drama with the pew pew fun we expect from Star Wars.

I’m honestly not sure I could say enough great things about Mask of Fear. It’s thrilling, smartly written with phenomenal character work, and a message that feels all too timely. Though it’s the first novel in this trilogy, it can easily stand alone and doesn’t leave you hanging. If, by some tragedy, this was all we got out of Reign of the Empire as a series, it would still be worthwhile.