Some games are played for life or death.
Javul Charn is the most famous pop star in the galaxy – and the runaway bride of a violent lieutenant in Black Sun, the crime syndicate commanded by Prince Xizor. Or so Javul says. Soon after Dash Rendar, broke and desperate, agrees to be Javul's bodyguard, he realizes that openness is not her strong suit – and that murder is stalking her tour. Between the discovery of dead bodies in a cargo hold and an attack by an unidentified warship, Dash and co-pilot Eaden Vrill desperately try to understand who is terrorizing Javul's tour and why. When Han Solo suddenly joins Javul's road show, the stakes are raised even higher. Now Dash, who has a history with Han and an even worse history with Prince Xizor, follows his instincts, his discoveries, and Javul herself – straight into a world that may be too dangerous to survive!
Shadows Games initially started as a novel entitled Holostar by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Perry and Reaves pitched the idea for Holostar around 2007 while discussing about making another Star Wars novel together. Perry himself came up with the basic premise of a story set in the entertainment industry, crafting the character of Javul Charn. However, Del Rey asked for some changes like including characters from the main Star Wars canon. Unwilling to make so, Perry and Reaves left and the project was shelved.
A couple of years later, Del Rey had gotten more interested in the idea and offered Reaves and Perry to rehire them to write it albeit still with the imposed changes. Perry desisted again but allowed Reaves to go on with the idea if he wanted. Reaves did so and partnered with Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff to write it. Meanwhile, Perry was approached by Shelly Shapiro to write Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead for a 2009 release and accepted.
There are conflicting reports whether Holostar was the novel's working title or not. Anyway, on October 4, 2010, Del Rey announced that fans would get to choose the title of the novel. The three proposed titles were Star Wars: Shadow Games, Star Wars: Pursuit and Star Wars: Shadow Play. After a week, the title Star Wars: Shadow Games was chosen. An exclusive Hardcover was released by the Science Fiction Book Club.