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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
With Timothy Zahn's Star Wars books, you can usually expect two things: a good understanding of the Expanded Universe characters; and a good story. Scoundrels isn't quite up to his usual fare, mostly because he doesn't seem to hit the characters the way he's done in his other EU works.
The story is about a heist, and as it progresses, it begins to feel like Ocean's Eleven set in the EU. This isn't a bad thing, but for readers who like the universe for its epic scale and grand plots, be aware that this isn't one of those. The story is decent, but it's not without its foibles.
The narrative is a strange combination of a glacial pace and a compelling story. As a result, it makes it hard to want to return to the book because so little happens during the chapters, but once you get into it, you're pleased that you did. It took me longer to finish the book than expected, simply because I was finding other things I wanted to do with my time than return to the story.
Since it's a heist story, there's a lot of setup that leads up to a payoff near the end of the book. Some of the schemes the characters set up are ridiculously convoluted, and require a level of precision that's hard to believe. In one particular scene, it requires not just a timing of equipment (both mechanical and digital), but also the perfect timing of three characters working together at just the right moment. Given that the characters are conning someone (and who they know is on to them), it was a situation that had too much unpredictability to be executed as smoothly and unobtrusively as it did in the story.
The story involves Han, Lando, and Chewbacca (as seen on the cover), and also a handful of other characters who are introduced in a novella -- Winners Lose All -- that's included at the end of the book. (I'd recommend reading it first, since it was written and set previous to the events in the novel.) I never quite felt like Zahn was channeling the characters, since their voice and choices didn't always jibe with what I would expect the characters to be or do. Plus, at one point Zahn puts Han running away from a rolling permacrete sphere, cracking a whip as he runs. It's like he forgot for a moment which Harrison Ford character he was writing.
Another odd thing was how this was the third book in the last few weeks that's had a character with an eidetic memory. First there was Mike Erikson in The Fold, and then Stephen Greaves in The Boy on the Bridge, and now there's Winter. Granted, she was established in previous EU novels (also by Zahn, I believe), but it was an odd thing to notice.
As far as EU novels go, Scoundrels isn't bad, but it's far from the best ones you could read. Fans of Zahn and his EU characters would likely be the best audience, but for people just dipping their toes into the EU, I'd recommend starting elsewhere.
The story is about a heist, and as it progresses, it begins to feel like Ocean's Eleven set in the EU. This isn't a bad thing, but for readers who like the universe for its epic scale and grand plots, be aware that this isn't one of those. The story is decent, but it's not without its foibles.
The narrative is a strange combination of a glacial pace and a compelling story. As a result, it makes it hard to want to return to the book because so little happens during the chapters, but once you get into it, you're pleased that you did. It took me longer to finish the book than expected, simply because I was finding other things I wanted to do with my time than return to the story.
Since it's a heist story, there's a lot of setup that leads up to a payoff near the end of the book. Some of the schemes the characters set up are ridiculously convoluted, and require a level of precision that's hard to believe. In one particular scene, it requires not just a timing of equipment (both mechanical and digital), but also the perfect timing of three characters working together at just the right moment. Given that the characters are conning someone (and who they know is on to them), it was a situation that had too much unpredictability to be executed as smoothly and unobtrusively as it did in the story.
The story involves Han, Lando, and Chewbacca (as seen on the cover), and also a handful of other characters who are introduced in a novella -- Winners Lose All -- that's included at the end of the book. (I'd recommend reading it first, since it was written and set previous to the events in the novel.) I never quite felt like Zahn was channeling the characters, since their voice and choices didn't always jibe with what I would expect the characters to be or do. Plus, at one point Zahn puts Han running away from a rolling permacrete sphere, cracking a whip as he runs. It's like he forgot for a moment which Harrison Ford character he was writing.
Another odd thing was how this was the third book in the last few weeks that's had a character with an eidetic memory. First there was Mike Erikson in The Fold, and then Stephen Greaves in The Boy on the Bridge, and now there's Winter. Granted, she was established in previous EU novels (also by Zahn, I believe), but it was an odd thing to notice.
As far as EU novels go, Scoundrels isn't bad, but it's far from the best ones you could read. Fans of Zahn and his EU characters would likely be the best audience, but for people just dipping their toes into the EU, I'd recommend starting elsewhere.
Who wouldn't want to read an Ocean's 11-style heist story starring Chewie, Han, and Lando?
Timothy Zahn tells a fun, action-packed story full of twists, and he sprinkles the book with references to other Star Wars works. At one point he mentions a group of Talz in a crowd, and I remember thinking to myself, "What an interesting piece of Star Wars lore. But you wouldn't catch him mentioning a Lepi..." Then, a few pages later, several Lepi walked by!
Timothy Zahn tells a fun, action-packed story full of twists, and he sprinkles the book with references to other Star Wars works. At one point he mentions a group of Talz in a crowd, and I remember thinking to myself, "What an interesting piece of Star Wars lore. But you wouldn't catch him mentioning a Lepi..." Then, a few pages later, several Lepi walked by!
This review is for the Audiobook version of this novel.
Overall, this was a FANTASTIC caper reminiscent of Ocean's Eleven or an episode of Leverage. The reader was fantastic and is a very accomplished voice actor. Each character had a distinct voice and it was easy to tell who was speaking from the voice, which was great for immersion into the story. The production as a whole was amazing, as there was background noise appropriate for each scene that also added to the immersion.
The performance wasn't perfect the reader's take on Lando's voice didn't quite match Billy Dee Williams, BUT, that's really a minor quibble. After a while, you don't notice the difference - it's close enough to serve.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone wanting a good Star Wars story.
Overall, this was a FANTASTIC caper reminiscent of Ocean's Eleven or an episode of Leverage. The reader was fantastic and is a very accomplished voice actor. Each character had a distinct voice and it was easy to tell who was speaking from the voice, which was great for immersion into the story. The production as a whole was amazing, as there was background noise appropriate for each scene that also added to the immersion.
The performance wasn't perfect the reader's take on Lando's voice didn't quite match Billy Dee Williams, BUT, that's really a minor quibble. After a while, you don't notice the difference - it's close enough to serve.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone wanting a good Star Wars story.
A fun heist novel. Think Ocean's Eleven with laser guns and space ships. Great quality audiobook.
Just fun. I think that's why I liked this book so much. It was fun, light and didnt' take itself too seriously. Just what I was in the mood for.
Even tho it's a good book it's not my type of book. I only can read a book and like it a lot if I love at least one character and want to know what happens to them. In this book I just didn't care if they died or lived, or if they got the money or not.
I'm not a big fan of stories that are crowbarred in between two other existing stories, but it was a fun story. This was my first Star Wars book, and although it is hard to think of it as a real part of star wars, it was fun.
Hands down the best Star Wars novel I've read in decades. Smart, funny, and featuring a wonder gallery of rogues. Han Solo's 11 is a great concept for a story, and heist in the Star Wars universe is never going to go exactly as planned. Well worth reading.
It's a Star Wars book. It's not great literature. It's fun, but not particularly great sci-fi either. I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away or anything.
Basically, this is Ocean's 11, set in the Star Wars universe with Han Solo and Chewie front and center.
Basically, this is Ocean's 11, set in the Star Wars universe with Han Solo and Chewie front and center.
Scoundrels was fun, but nothing special. It just took me forever to get through this book. No matter how cool something was, no matter how crazy the twist, I just couldn't find myself caring. I just wanted to get through it and that's all. It had some really cool twists and turns, and some fun moments, but it wasn't really memorable.