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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Typical Zahn, fun characters, set pieces and a plot that moves along at a brisk pace with a really fine ending. Wouldn't mind reading a sequel with Solo's Scoundrels.
Think "Ocean's Eleven" in a galaxy far, far away and you'll have the gist of this. I found it to be a fun, quick read.
One of my favourite Star Wars books in a good long while. Perhaps its the use of the universe for an atypical EU novel, but it still works really well.
Okay, so we all know about Disney and you should know that I’ve rejected everything published since the buyout. So meet the exception to the rule: Timothy Zahn’s last Star Wars contribution, a fun little heist movie set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Featuring Han and Lando.
Wait, what? Han and Lando in an adventure set during the OT? You heard me . . .
It’s months after the Battle of Yavin. Han Solo’s not trying to be part of the Alliance, but he can’t get that princess off his mind. Which is awkward because the other thing he can’t get off his mind is money. Money he owes to Jabba the Hutt.
He can’t pass up the lure of a high-stakes heist — going up against Black Sun will be anything but easy, but with great risks come great rewards, and even split ten ways, a massive prize is a massive prize. So he assembles his team and goes out to lift 163 million credits from a gangster. Yes, it’s Ocean’s 11 in a Star Wars skin. Yes, I’m okay with that and it’s lots of fun.
There’s just not much else you can say about a heist novel. Han’s crew is drawn from a list of familiar faces and new names, and there’s some interesting stuff with Winter who does not yet know Leia survived Alderaan. My biggest problem was accepting that this wasn’t a pre-ANH novel and yet Han and Lando were together.
It’s closing on two decades that I’ve known Han’s “that was a long time ago, I’m sure he’s forgotten about that” refers to the raid on Ylesia. That Han and Lando hadn’t seen each other in a decade. Accepting that their last encounter was only a couple of years ago was tough and I resisted Lando’s appearance as being as forced as Obi-Wan and Anakin’s in Outbound Flight . . . but as usual, the man responsible for at least half if not more than half of Star Wars in its entirety knows better than I do.
This book is just “a day in the life.” It’s a few weeks of Han’s everyday existence before the Alliance. And while this date last year to me feels as close as yesterday, to these thieves and smugglers, to the guy who thought of Obi-Wan as “an old fossil,” something that happened a couple of years ago does qualify as “a long time ago.” The Ylesia business would be ancient history on their radar. In fact, that Lando and Han are seemingly always reuniting after a grudge goes a long way to show their relationship; if they’d spent a decade furious about Ylesia, would ROTJ really demonstrate such unconditional and unquestioning forgiveness? In the end, it works better.
So pick up this realcanon heist novel with confidence, but don’t expect it to be any more than that: it’s a standalone one-off that is meant to be fun, so if it doesn’t sound fun to you, don’t try to force it. If it does sound fun, enjoy away!
Wait, what? Han and Lando in an adventure set during the OT? You heard me . . .
It’s months after the Battle of Yavin. Han Solo’s not trying to be part of the Alliance, but he can’t get that princess off his mind. Which is awkward because the other thing he can’t get off his mind is money. Money he owes to Jabba the Hutt.
He can’t pass up the lure of a high-stakes heist — going up against Black Sun will be anything but easy, but with great risks come great rewards, and even split ten ways, a massive prize is a massive prize. So he assembles his team and goes out to lift 163 million credits from a gangster. Yes, it’s Ocean’s 11 in a Star Wars skin. Yes, I’m okay with that and it’s lots of fun.
There’s just not much else you can say about a heist novel. Han’s crew is drawn from a list of familiar faces and new names, and there’s some interesting stuff with Winter who does not yet know Leia survived Alderaan. My biggest problem was accepting that this wasn’t a pre-ANH novel and yet Han and Lando were together.
It’s closing on two decades that I’ve known Han’s “that was a long time ago, I’m sure he’s forgotten about that” refers to the raid on Ylesia. That Han and Lando hadn’t seen each other in a decade. Accepting that their last encounter was only a couple of years ago was tough and I resisted Lando’s appearance as being as forced as Obi-Wan and Anakin’s in Outbound Flight . . . but as usual, the man responsible for at least half if not more than half of Star Wars in its entirety knows better than I do.
This book is just “a day in the life.” It’s a few weeks of Han’s everyday existence before the Alliance. And while this date last year to me feels as close as yesterday, to these thieves and smugglers, to the guy who thought of Obi-Wan as “an old fossil,” something that happened a couple of years ago does qualify as “a long time ago.” The Ylesia business would be ancient history on their radar. In fact, that Lando and Han are seemingly always reuniting after a grudge goes a long way to show their relationship; if they’d spent a decade furious about Ylesia, would ROTJ really demonstrate such unconditional and unquestioning forgiveness? In the end, it works better.
So pick up this realcanon heist novel with confidence, but don’t expect it to be any more than that: it’s a standalone one-off that is meant to be fun, so if it doesn’t sound fun to you, don’t try to force it. If it does sound fun, enjoy away!
adventurous
medium-paced
I have to start out being a bit misleading. Star Wars audiobooks are simply the best - they combine the intimacy of reading a book with the sound effects and music of the movies. Blasters, lightsabers, R2D2 squeals, and the same compositions as the movies! Then they get amazing voice actors who are pitch-perfect when it comes to the voices of the characters we love. That's a pretty big role to fill when books are based on movies since we already know how these people sound and anything different...just wouldn't work.
I have to say Marc Thompson does not let us down. His Lando Calrissian is spot-on even though his Han Solo borders on sounding like Patrick Warburton. You don't realize how close they actually are until you hear it.
There's one scene toward the beginning where Thompson voices 11 characters having a discussion and he doesn't miss a beat. I was astounded, although I had to go back and re-listen because I wasn't paying attention to what was actually being said, it was way too impressive! But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself.
Star Wars: Scoundrels takes us back (or forward since Old Republic is going on right now) to just after the first movie in the Star Wars franchise, episode IV, Star Wars: A New Hope. If you're confused now, it's best to just turn away.
I'm not the most well-read when it comes to Star Wars novels, in fact I've only "read" any of them through audio form. But, I do know that it can be a confusing timeline because there are A LOT of Star Wars books. Where do you even start? Luckily, they provide you with a nice timeline at the front of every book showing a listing of the books and the movies. In this case, Scoundrels can be read as long as you've watched the original movies.
(It looks like this, but I couldn't find one with Scoundrels on it. You'll just have to trust me I guess.)
Another way to put this, if you're human, you can read Scoundrels at any point. It's just filler, taking place in between movies, it doesn't follow any other books, although I've heard it does contain characters from other Han Solo-involved books. Again, I show my lack of actual knowledge. Scoundrels is essentially Ocean's Eleven meets Star Wars. There are even 11 people! Han Solo lost all his reward money and still needs to pay off that darned Jabba the Hutt. He's approached, after a quick nod to the "who shot first" controversy, and gets a team together to get some money.
Of course, it's all but impossible because blah blah blah. The scene mentioned above with the 11-person discussion revolves around this in fact. Like I said, Ocean's Eleven inevitably springs to mind, you can't help it. This comparison's been thrown around a lot and while it's fitting, I think it's a huge detriment to this book. Here’s why I said I was being misleading, I’ve been very positive about this book up to this point, but there was plenty I didn’t like. You can't help but think of the comparison, but quickly you start thinking how much better Ocean's Eleven is. At least that was my experience. It really just wasn't that great of a heist. It wasn't terrible, but things just kept getting added on and suddenly the ball starts rolling and I really just didn't care.
Then there's just not a whole lot of Han Solo. He's the person this essentially revolves around, but he doesn't really play a huge part. On the other hand, Lando was really fun to follow for the first time outside of the movies. But he doesn't really do a whole lot in the movies either. This was cool to see his easy-under-pressure "gambler" side.
The final complaint I have, which really isn't a complaint, is that I've found I prefer lightsabers in my Star Wars. In fact, this was a new discovery during this read. Han Solo's great and all, but I really really like jedis and lightsabers I guess. I missed them here. I noted that Star Wars books have lightsaber sounds, but there wasn't one sound in this audiobook.
Scoundrels is a fun read and the narrator is incredible even, but on the whole I didn't love this book. It was entertaining at times, boring at others, and just didn't live up to expectations. That's not always the book's fault, but it ran a line much too close to Ocean's Eleven that begged for the comparison and missed the mark.
3 out of 5 Stars (Recommended with Reservations)
Note: I have to say this is one of the best covers I've seen whether Star Wars or not. It puts a spell on you so you have to read the book just to hold longer.
I have to say Marc Thompson does not let us down. His Lando Calrissian is spot-on even though his Han Solo borders on sounding like Patrick Warburton. You don't realize how close they actually are until you hear it.
There's one scene toward the beginning where Thompson voices 11 characters having a discussion and he doesn't miss a beat. I was astounded, although I had to go back and re-listen because I wasn't paying attention to what was actually being said, it was way too impressive! But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself.
Star Wars: Scoundrels takes us back (or forward since Old Republic is going on right now) to just after the first movie in the Star Wars franchise, episode IV, Star Wars: A New Hope. If you're confused now, it's best to just turn away.
I'm not the most well-read when it comes to Star Wars novels, in fact I've only "read" any of them through audio form. But, I do know that it can be a confusing timeline because there are A LOT of Star Wars books. Where do you even start? Luckily, they provide you with a nice timeline at the front of every book showing a listing of the books and the movies. In this case, Scoundrels can be read as long as you've watched the original movies.
(It looks like this, but I couldn't find one with Scoundrels on it. You'll just have to trust me I guess.)
Another way to put this, if you're human, you can read Scoundrels at any point. It's just filler, taking place in between movies, it doesn't follow any other books, although I've heard it does contain characters from other Han Solo-involved books. Again, I show my lack of actual knowledge. Scoundrels is essentially Ocean's Eleven meets Star Wars. There are even 11 people! Han Solo lost all his reward money and still needs to pay off that darned Jabba the Hutt. He's approached, after a quick nod to the "who shot first" controversy, and gets a team together to get some money.
Of course, it's all but impossible because blah blah blah. The scene mentioned above with the 11-person discussion revolves around this in fact. Like I said, Ocean's Eleven inevitably springs to mind, you can't help it. This comparison's been thrown around a lot and while it's fitting, I think it's a huge detriment to this book. Here’s why I said I was being misleading, I’ve been very positive about this book up to this point, but there was plenty I didn’t like. You can't help but think of the comparison, but quickly you start thinking how much better Ocean's Eleven is. At least that was my experience. It really just wasn't that great of a heist. It wasn't terrible, but things just kept getting added on and suddenly the ball starts rolling and I really just didn't care.
Then there's just not a whole lot of Han Solo. He's the person this essentially revolves around, but he doesn't really play a huge part. On the other hand, Lando was really fun to follow for the first time outside of the movies. But he doesn't really do a whole lot in the movies either. This was cool to see his easy-under-pressure "gambler" side.
The final complaint I have, which really isn't a complaint, is that I've found I prefer lightsabers in my Star Wars. In fact, this was a new discovery during this read. Han Solo's great and all, but I really really like jedis and lightsabers I guess. I missed them here. I noted that Star Wars books have lightsaber sounds, but there wasn't one sound in this audiobook.
Scoundrels is a fun read and the narrator is incredible even, but on the whole I didn't love this book. It was entertaining at times, boring at others, and just didn't live up to expectations. That's not always the book's fault, but it ran a line much too close to Ocean's Eleven that begged for the comparison and missed the mark.
3 out of 5 Stars (Recommended with Reservations)
Note: I have to say this is one of the best covers I've seen whether Star Wars or not. It puts a spell on you so you have to read the book just to hold longer.
This was a really fun and silly caper. It takes place between Episode IV and V and is about Han taking on a dubious heist in hopes of paying off his debt to Jabba. Since he's a smuggler and not a burglar, he assembles a whole crew from his network of shady criminal types. It's a really fun assemblage of characters (apparently this is where Zahn introduces Winter?) and has all the double-crosses, overly-complicated burglaries, and catty group dynamics that one wants from the genre.
It's a really, really good stand alone Star Wars EU caper and I definitely recommend it for a quick, fun read.
It's a really, really good stand alone Star Wars EU caper and I definitely recommend it for a quick, fun read.
3.5 stars. It was a fun Oceans Eleven style space heist, but it dragged in places. I REALLY wish I had known about the big plot/character twist/reveal at the end earlier. It would have had me WAY more invested. But even knowing it now, I don’t think I’ll do a reread.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Not something dense or complicated. Just a fun romp with some scoundrels which is why I think it's great.