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lajulie24 's review for:
Scoundrels: Star Wars
by Timothy Zahn
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.