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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
'Last Shot' by Daniel José Older is an entertaining read that focuses on the Star Wars universe's two favourite scoundrels, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian.
An assassination attempt on Lando leads him to find Han, and recruit a ragtag ensemble, including a young hotshot pilot, an ewok slicer and a Twi'lek strategist, to find the Phylanx Redux transmitter before evil Frankenstein-like scientist Fyzen Gor does, and exacts his nefarious plan on the universe.
The story is told in three different eras; the present, set a couple of years after 'Return Of The Jedi', with Han, Lando and the ragtag band; then flashbacks to about 15 years previously, before the events of the 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' film, with Lando and his droid L3-37; and then about 10 years previously, in between 'Solo' and 'A New Hope', with Han, Chewbacca and Sana Starros. The search for the Phylanx Redux Transmitter is the thread that loops through all three eras, although with all the flipping back and forwards, it can get confusing at times.
Reading the novel, we see the differences over the years between the younger, more carefree attitudes of our scoundrels, compared to the more older and mature former heroes we see in the present. In his youth, Lando exudes his charm and confidence and flashes his winning smile on more than one occasion, but fast forward 15 years and he thinks he's finally found the one love of his life and is actually thinking about setting down with her. Younger Han on the other hand, is the typical rush gun ho into things without thinking Solo we know and love, but in the present of a decade or so later, he is struggling to come to terms of being a father (to Ben Solo, who makes a fleeting appearance) and a husband too. Middle age has indeed caught up with Han and Lando.
Aside from the change in character of our heroes over time, the story is pretty fast paced and has some thrilling action too. I liked the banter between the different groups of people that Han and Lando hang with. It was quite funny at times, and I loved the exchange between Han and a Gungan, but on the flip side there are some pretty dark moments in the story, especially when we read chapters from the pov of Fyzen Gor. That character is just not very nice at all!
Overall, it's a fun read that is packed with thrills, chills and a good dose of humour too. I wouldn't class it as the best in the Star Wars Canon series, but it is by no means the worst. It'll also be interesting to see how much of what is in the book crosses over with or is hinted in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'.
An assassination attempt on Lando leads him to find Han, and recruit a ragtag ensemble, including a young hotshot pilot, an ewok slicer and a Twi'lek strategist, to find the Phylanx Redux transmitter before evil Frankenstein-like scientist Fyzen Gor does, and exacts his nefarious plan on the universe.
The story is told in three different eras; the present, set a couple of years after 'Return Of The Jedi', with Han, Lando and the ragtag band; then flashbacks to about 15 years previously, before the events of the 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' film, with Lando and his droid L3-37; and then about 10 years previously, in between 'Solo' and 'A New Hope', with Han, Chewbacca and Sana Starros. The search for the Phylanx Redux Transmitter is the thread that loops through all three eras, although with all the flipping back and forwards, it can get confusing at times.
Reading the novel, we see the differences over the years between the younger, more carefree attitudes of our scoundrels, compared to the more older and mature former heroes we see in the present. In his youth, Lando exudes his charm and confidence and flashes his winning smile on more than one occasion, but fast forward 15 years and he thinks he's finally found the one love of his life and is actually thinking about setting down with her. Younger Han on the other hand, is the typical rush gun ho into things without thinking Solo we know and love, but in the present of a decade or so later, he is struggling to come to terms of being a father (to Ben Solo, who makes a fleeting appearance) and a husband too. Middle age has indeed caught up with Han and Lando.
Aside from the change in character of our heroes over time, the story is pretty fast paced and has some thrilling action too. I liked the banter between the different groups of people that Han and Lando hang with. It was quite funny at times, and I loved the exchange between Han and a Gungan, but on the flip side there are some pretty dark moments in the story, especially when we read chapters from the pov of Fyzen Gor. That character is just not very nice at all!
Overall, it's a fun read that is packed with thrills, chills and a good dose of humour too. I wouldn't class it as the best in the Star Wars Canon series, but it is by no means the worst. It'll also be interesting to see how much of what is in the book crosses over with or is hinted in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'.
Last Shot has some great moments and some confusing plotlines. Let me start with the positives- LANDO..... there is never enough Lando Calrissian in anything, and I fully appreciated all the Lando in this book including character development and a small glimpse as to what he has been doing post original trilogy.
Also positives- Han and his struggles to be a father, the call backs to L3 the droid from Solo, the new characters.
What was lacking and confusing? - the timeline. It bounced back and forth every single chapter. I think it would have benefited from a little more linear storytelling. I was not clear as to the motivation and bad-guy backstory of Gor, how he made this huge crazy jump to murderous droids. And also the entire weapon itself was confusing to me.
It is still a worthwhile read for the positive aspects for sure.
Also positives- Han and his struggles to be a father, the call backs to L3 the droid from Solo, the new characters.
What was lacking and confusing? - the timeline. It bounced back and forth every single chapter. I think it would have benefited from a little more linear storytelling. I was not clear as to the motivation and bad-guy backstory of Gor, how he made this huge crazy jump to murderous droids. And also the entire weapon itself was confusing to me.
It is still a worthwhile read for the positive aspects for sure.
The jumping around in the timeline was a little hard to keep up with, but a good story overall. Loved how he wrote Lando, little less so Han, parts about Baby Ben very touching, and I will never not smile when thinking about an Ewok who is a slicer. Also enjoyed Kaasha and Taka.
I felt like there was a good story in here, but it got jumbled about by trying to include three different time periods. I like the idea of L3 starting a droid uprising for freedom and could really work if it explored the idea of droids being more than just servants. Could even have some of the hero's take different outlooks on this (Lando could be more sympathetic to the cause vs Han's 'just shoot em all' attitude).
However this book kinda fell short into more of two dimensional "here is the bad guy, go stop him".
However this book kinda fell short into more of two dimensional "here is the bad guy, go stop him".
Fun book: not the best of the Star Wars novels I've recently read, but still fun. The whole bit about Lando's cape closet on the Millennium Falcon is hilarious, and I'm assuming that will be in the movie. Definitely recommended for die-hard Star Wars fans.
I wanted to love this book, I really, really did. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the droid storyline. Some of that is just me, I have never really been into the droid aspects of Star Wars stories, but I also feel like this story just wasn't all that interesting. It was nice to see Han/Lando/Leia again but even that couldn't keep my interest. I still give this three stars because it wasn't bad necessarily, it was just....meh.
Audiobook. 3/5. I was hot and cold on this one. At times it was entertaining, and at times it kind of dragged. Frequently, it felt like Han and Lando were just caricatures of themselves. The second half of the book really picked up and made it hard to stop listening. The narration was pretty solid, with the Han and Lando voices being surprisingly accurate recreations of the actors' voices.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't really understand the hate for this novel. Sure, it's a bit more adult in tone than we're used to for a Star Wars book, and yeah, the other characters aren't *that* great.
But I did find the emotional dilemmas that both Han and Lando were going through to be quite interesting and I think the nature of those dilemmas made the adult tone more understandable. These are serious adult issues they're contemplating. Han trying to balance his roguish nature with being a dad and a husband. Lando wondering about settling down.
Sure, it may not be what you want from a Star Wars novel, but I don't think that makes it inherently bad.
I also found the book very funny. Love the Ewok and the bits about Gungan prejudice. Taka was even fun most of the time.
The reason for the 3 star rating is because the side character work wasn't the greatest overall. Even while the other characters were fun, they didn't really get that much development (Taka being a bit of an exception, but even they didn't get that much).
I really enjoyed the novel, though.
But I did find the emotional dilemmas that both Han and Lando were going through to be quite interesting and I think the nature of those dilemmas made the adult tone more understandable. These are serious adult issues they're contemplating. Han trying to balance his roguish nature with being a dad and a husband. Lando wondering about settling down.
Sure, it may not be what you want from a Star Wars novel, but I don't think that makes it inherently bad.
I also found the book very funny. Love the Ewok and the bits about Gungan prejudice. Taka was even fun most of the time.
The reason for the 3 star rating is because the side character work wasn't the greatest overall. Even while the other characters were fun, they didn't really get that much development (Taka being a bit of an exception, but even they didn't get that much).
I really enjoyed the novel, though.