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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
A very fun read, with brisk pacing, good characters, and a heck of a twist at the end. Plus, Indiana Jones jokes! And it was great to see Chewie again, even if he didn't do much. Definitely recommend this one
Star Wars + Oceans 11 + snatch.
Not horrible, but been done before. Good way to pass the time on airplanes
Not horrible, but been done before. Good way to pass the time on airplanes
Should have been better. Felt like it was trying to blend Ocean's Eleven with Star Wars and did not quite make it.
I didn't think I would like Star Wars novels, but then I was given an audio CD copy of [b:Honor Among Thieves|18050080|Honor Among Thieves (Star Wars Empire and Rebellion, #2)|James S.A. Corey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385232527s/18050080.jpg|24581828] and I loved it, so I figured I would give other Star Wars novels a chance. I chose this one because it was also about Han Solo, my favorite character, and it had the same narrator -- it is worth noting that the narrator does an amazing job mimicking Solo's voice, and the Star Wars audiobooks are all great in terms of sound effects like droid beeps, blaster fire, and wookie noises.
But this novel just fell so short I couldn't even bring myself to finish it. It was impossible to follow, had tons of technobabble explanations that didn't really serve the plot in any important way, had way too many characters, didn't focus on the characters I did care about, and was trying way to hard to be Ocean's Eleven in Space. It was a mess, and I don't mind not knowing the conclusion of the heist -- oh, except since Han took the job because he owes Jabba the Hut money, and he still owes Jabba money in the Empire Strikes Back film... well, I'll let you do the math there.
But this novel just fell so short I couldn't even bring myself to finish it. It was impossible to follow, had tons of technobabble explanations that didn't really serve the plot in any important way, had way too many characters, didn't focus on the characters I did care about, and was trying way to hard to be Ocean's Eleven in Space. It was a mess, and I don't mind not knowing the conclusion of the heist -- oh, except since Han took the job because he owes Jabba the Hut money, and he still owes Jabba money in the Empire Strikes Back film... well, I'll let you do the math there.
I thought this was a pretty good novel. It's very descriptive and elaborate in its storytelling. I wouldn't say that this is essential Star Wars reading, but it does tell you why Han didn't pay off Jabba after Ep. 4 and why Lando has a little anger toward Han in Ep. 5.
This is a heist story with a story line with many twists and turns. It works well and goes pretty quick for how long it is. Good stuff.
This is a heist story with a story line with many twists and turns. It works well and goes pretty quick for how long it is. Good stuff.
A Star Wars heist story that was fun and worth the read. Not my favorite Zahn book but the twist of an ending was unexpected and fun. If you are a fan of the EU I suggest you give this a book a read but don't expect the same Zahn that we see in the Thrawn trilogy and Hand of Thrawn duology.
Star Wars Legends Project #228
Background: Scoundrels was written by [a:Timothy Zahn|12479|Timothy Zahn|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215545810p2/12479.jpg] and published in January 2013. Zahn is the author of over a dozen Star Wars novels, spanning both the Legends continuity and the new official canon, most of which feature the popular characters he introduced in his Thrawn Trilogy, which also launched a new beginning for the Expanded Universe.
Scoundrels takes place a few weeks after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian, along with a whole team of, well, scoundrels which includes Winter. There is another major character who plays a role throughout, but whose identity isn't revealed until the end of the novel, so I'll forego spoilers by including that information here. The story takes place on and around the planet Wukkar.
Summary: Han Solo is a newly-minted hero of the Rebellion, but thanks to some bad luck he still has debts to pay. But then a job drops right into his lap, with one of the biggest payouts he's ever had a shot at on the other end. It's an opportunity too good to pass up, but Han and Chewie can't do it alone. He'll need a whole crew of specialists from among his most skilled underworld contacts. And with Black Sun and maybe even the Imperials involved, there's no guarantee of success, or even that all of them will walk away alive.
Review: The pitch for this novel is so strong: A classic trilogy-era, Ocean's 11-style heist starring the most beloved scoundrels in Star Wars and penned by the most celebrated EU writer. I guess it's almost inevitable that it wouldn't quite live up to those expectations. This book is . . . fine. It's enjoyable. It's a bit like a mediocre Pixar film: Not amazing by comparison to some of their masterpieces, but still better than what almost everyone else is doing. I think, ultimately, the plot of this just ended up feeling a bit overengineered to me, like I could see the way Zahn was setting up challenges and complications but also see the way they were tweaked to be surmountable. Either that, or I just didn't follow it as well as I thought I did because there was a LOT going on, and the twists and surprises start to come thick and fast towards the end.
Now, far be it from me to complain too much about the inclusion of characters I like in a good story, but I did kind of question the use of both Winter and Lando here. Winter's appearance in this story felt like an insane coincidence, and I wasn't sure why it was necessary that it be a coincidence. I kept waiting to find out that it wasn't really, but not only did that never happen, Han and Winter never had a moment where they both realized that they have a mutual connection in Princess Leia (who Winter believes dead at this point). It's possible that this is because of some scene in an upcoming novel or comic that I'm just not aware of, but . . . I don't know. It was a little odd. As for Lando, this is now the SECOND time between his MAJOR falling out with Han and their reunion on Bespin when they've worked together as allies on a job, and . . . that just doesn't feel like it makes sense on a character level. Both of these roles felt like they could have been as easily filled by other characters.
But overall, this is a fast and engaging read with less substance than I'd prefer, but lots to like and plenty of entertainment.
A-
Background: Scoundrels was written by [a:Timothy Zahn|12479|Timothy Zahn|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215545810p2/12479.jpg] and published in January 2013. Zahn is the author of over a dozen Star Wars novels, spanning both the Legends continuity and the new official canon, most of which feature the popular characters he introduced in his Thrawn Trilogy, which also launched a new beginning for the Expanded Universe.
Scoundrels takes place a few weeks after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian, along with a whole team of, well, scoundrels which includes Winter. There is another major character who plays a role throughout, but whose identity isn't revealed until the end of the novel, so I'll forego spoilers by including that information here. The story takes place on and around the planet Wukkar.
Summary: Han Solo is a newly-minted hero of the Rebellion, but thanks to some bad luck he still has debts to pay. But then a job drops right into his lap, with one of the biggest payouts he's ever had a shot at on the other end. It's an opportunity too good to pass up, but Han and Chewie can't do it alone. He'll need a whole crew of specialists from among his most skilled underworld contacts. And with Black Sun and maybe even the Imperials involved, there's no guarantee of success, or even that all of them will walk away alive.
Review: The pitch for this novel is so strong: A classic trilogy-era, Ocean's 11-style heist starring the most beloved scoundrels in Star Wars and penned by the most celebrated EU writer. I guess it's almost inevitable that it wouldn't quite live up to those expectations. This book is . . . fine. It's enjoyable. It's a bit like a mediocre Pixar film: Not amazing by comparison to some of their masterpieces, but still better than what almost everyone else is doing. I think, ultimately, the plot of this just ended up feeling a bit overengineered to me, like I could see the way Zahn was setting up challenges and complications but also see the way they were tweaked to be surmountable. Either that, or I just didn't follow it as well as I thought I did because there was a LOT going on, and the twists and surprises start to come thick and fast towards the end.
Now, far be it from me to complain too much about the inclusion of characters I like in a good story, but I did kind of question the use of both Winter and Lando here. Winter's appearance in this story felt like an insane coincidence, and I wasn't sure why it was necessary that it be a coincidence. I kept waiting to find out that it wasn't really, but not only did that never happen, Han and Winter never had a moment where they both realized that they have a mutual connection in Princess Leia (who Winter believes dead at this point). It's possible that this is because of some scene in an upcoming novel or comic that I'm just not aware of, but . . . I don't know. It was a little odd. As for Lando, this is now the SECOND time between his MAJOR falling out with Han and their reunion on Bespin when they've worked together as allies on a job, and . . . that just doesn't feel like it makes sense on a character level. Both of these roles felt like they could have been as easily filled by other characters.
But overall, this is a fast and engaging read with less substance than I'd prefer, but lots to like and plenty of entertainment.
A-
This was the first time I've listened to a Star Wars audio book. I was very impressed. The sound effects added a nice touch to the story. The book was read by Marc Thompson who is the Jim Dale of the Star Wars franchise. There were a lot of different characters in this novel but I was never lost as to who was speaking. His Lando was almost dead on and his Han was very close. If Oceans 11 and Star Wars had a love child, it would be this book. It was very good.
This book was recommended as essentially “Star Wars meets Ocean’s Eleven.” I’d say that’s pretty on point, and I mean that as a compliment. I do enjoy a little heist tale, and this one is a fun one AND features Han Solo, who is one of my favorite characters. I loved several things about this book, but one standout was Zahn’s characterization of Han. Too often (particularly in new canon Star Wars) Han gets characterized as this loser and swindler whom nobody trusts and who constantly screws people over, which just doesn’t make any sense for him. The Han Solo in this book feels much more like the Han Solo we love from the Original Trilogy movies—he’s smart, he’s good at improvising his way out of a tight spot, he knows people who can help, he claims to be in it for the money but somehow always shows up to help folks in trouble (often in a way that keeps him from being able to keep the money), he’s a daring pilot, he’s a hopeful cynic.
The book is set not long after the end of Star Wars original recipe, and Han and Chewie are looking for a job to pay their debt to Jabba, since their original reward ended up stolen by pirates not long after the Battle of Yavin. A job falls into their lap that isn’t really in their wheelhouse—they’re smugglers, not professional con artists or cat burglars—but the payoff would be sweet so Han enlists his contact Rachele and puts together a team to pull it off. There are lots of double-crosses and plot twists, and the job is a lot more complicated than anyone bargained for, but it’s a lot of fun going along for the ride. We also get some interesting conflict between Han and Lando (who had a pretty bad breakup after another job went south but end up thrown together here) and meet a cast of other interesting characters, both the others on the team and the various groups of bad guys who are amping up the danger on this job (including the Imperials and the Black Sun crime syndicate). It’s also notable that Han’s team includes four women characters who all have interesting backstories and character arcs that do not involve being anyone’s love interest (including Winter, Leia’s childhood foster sister from Alderaan, who does not know Leia survived the planet’s destruction). All-in-all, a fun read if you’re a Han Solo fan or a Star Wars fan.
The book is set not long after the end of Star Wars original recipe, and Han and Chewie are looking for a job to pay their debt to Jabba, since their original reward ended up stolen by pirates not long after the Battle of Yavin. A job falls into their lap that isn’t really in their wheelhouse—they’re smugglers, not professional con artists or cat burglars—but the payoff would be sweet so Han enlists his contact Rachele and puts together a team to pull it off. There are lots of double-crosses and plot twists, and the job is a lot more complicated than anyone bargained for, but it’s a lot of fun going along for the ride. We also get some interesting conflict between Han and Lando (who had a pretty bad breakup after another job went south but end up thrown together here) and meet a cast of other interesting characters, both the others on the team and the various groups of bad guys who are amping up the danger on this job (including the Imperials and the Black Sun crime syndicate). It’s also notable that Han’s team includes four women characters who all have interesting backstories and character arcs that do not involve being anyone’s love interest (including Winter, Leia’s childhood foster sister from Alderaan, who does not know Leia survived the planet’s destruction). All-in-all, a fun read if you’re a Han Solo fan or a Star Wars fan.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes