In the time between the events in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Princess Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca attempt to rescue Han Solo from the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett, while the criminal Prince Xizor and Darth Vader make plans to control, or destroy, the leaders of the Rebel Alliance.
Shadows of the Empire was a multimedia Star Wars event - a film-without-the-film - in which a major story was told across a series of novels, comic books, role-playing games, a video game, and trading cards. Shadows even had its own soundtrack.
Included her is the complete comic series as well as two stories that followed in its wake: Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand , the story of the Imperial assassin who would one day wed the New Republic’s greatest hero, Luke Skywalker; and Shadows of the Empire: Evolution, a direct sequel to Shadows of the Empire.
— Description from Comic Vine community (comicvine.gamespot.com).
