Sean Williams carves out his ‘Star Wars’ niche in ‘The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance’ (Book review)

George Lucas conceived the phrase “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” so that “Star Wars” — like “Lord of the Rings” before it — would not be confused as taking place in our own world.

But what happens when you want to tell a “Star Wars” story that’s separate from the stories that have already been told? You set even longer ago, and you stage the main action on the fringes of the galaxy.

That’s what Sean Williams does in “The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance” (July, hardcover), which is set 3,650 years before the events of “A New Hope.” While that ancient era of “Star Wars” isn’t totally untapped — see the “Tales of the Jedi” and “Knights of the Old Republic” comics, which take place slightly before this novel — it hasn’t been explored in book form until now. And all of the characters and situations are separate from those comics.

Granted, Williams — and the game designers of “The Old Republic,” which this book is based on — doesn’t stray far from what we already know about the Jedi, Republic, Sith, Empire and Mandalorians. However, because the characters and the specific state of the galaxy are new to us, it sets up a wealth of possibilities for fresh stories. And when Williams moves the action almost outside the galaxy, to an isolated planet where you can see the spiral of the galaxy, it’s quite poetic, reminiscent of how the astronauts must’ve felt when they first saw the Earth from the Moon.

Whereas Williams’ previous “Star Wars” video-game adaptation, “The Force Unleashed,” read too much like a video game, “Fatal Alliance” doesn’t get overly bogged down in fight scenes. Instead, it introduces us to a lot of great new characters and some decent galaxy-wide tension as the Jedi/Republic and Sith/Empire are on the brink of war.

“Fatal Alliance” is framed as a mystery, and broken up into sections that probably fall in sync with the stages of the video game. A smuggler, Jet Nebula (himself a mystery to the reader and other characters), comes upon spooky technology from a ship of unknown origin. When his employers, the Hutts, auction it off, all the major galactic players get involved, setting up fights and ultimately the temporary team-up of the title (which, yeah, is similar to what I just read in “Fate of the Jedi: Allies,” but different enough that I’ll allow it). The tech isn’t all that original (it’s a bit too science-fictiony for my “Star Wars” taste, calling to mind the self-replicating machines of “Virus”), but Sith apprentice Eldon Ax’s possible familial connection to that technology drew me into the story.

My favorite character, though, is Larin Moxla, a former Republic soldier who has to settle for vigilantism after being kicked out of the military for ratting on a superior officer (who deserved it, of course). Her situation calls to mind the many skilled, unemployed people in America today who desperately want a place to fit in, but find all doors closed.

Things start to look up when Larin meets Shigar, a Jedi Padawan. Their upbringings couldn’t be more different, but they are the same age and the same species, Kiffar. So they have a connection. But complicating the love triangle is Ula, an Imperial/Republic double agent who harbors a crush on Larin.

Cut from a more iconic cloth, Williams delivers the wise Grand Master who stands in for Yoda, an emaciated Sith Lord who stands in for Sidious and a Mandalorian warrior who stands in for Fett.

Those characters are well-drawn, but it’s the ones with internal conflicts that really drew me in: Good-hearted Shigar, who gets a taste of the dark side; villainess Ax, who gets a taste of goodness; Ula, who is tired of being a fake; and Larin, who yearns to belong.

Williams contributed a few decent books to the “New Jedi Order” series and did a workmanlike job on “The Force Unleashed,” but with “Fatal Alliance,” I’m intrigued by the originality within the well-worn fabric of the larger yarn. I’m hooked just as I was with Aaron Allston’s Wraith Squadron pilots, Karen Traviss’s clone troopers and Michael Reaves’s ragtag band of underworld dwellers.

Now we can add Sean Williams to the list of authors who have carved out their own little place to play in Lucas’ sandbox.