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A review by ericbuscemi
Honor Among Thieves by James S.A. Corey
4.0
Having never read a Star Wars novel, I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into. Were the lot of them just poorly thought out pulp slogs churned out to cash in on the franchise's fame? I doubted it after seeing James S.A. Corey's name on it cover of this one, as Corey is the writing team behind the [b:Leviathan Wakes|8855321|Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1)|James S.A. Corey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1411013134s/8855321.jpg|13730452] series. While I didn't like the first book in that series enough to keep going with it, having read it made it clear that a) they could write well and b) they loved science fiction. I actually think the constraints of writing in the Star Wars universe helped them in this case, as it kept them from flying off the creative rails.
As far as this novel specifically, it was exactly what I hoped it would be -- a great Han Solo story. Corey captured the voices of familiar characters like Luke, Leia, and especially Han, but the focus remained on Han, Chewbacca, and the Millennium Falcon. Also introduced were Scarlet Hark and Baasen Ray, roguish characters fitting with the novel's title. The plot, which I won't spoil here, felt right at home in the Star Wars cinematic universe. There were a few lampshades I enjoyed, such as a throw away line about how Han likes to shoot first, and a scene in a temple reminiscent of Indiana Jones, but the novel took itself seriously, and never slid into farce.
While sometimes I feel it doesn't matter, in this case I feel compelled to mention that I listened to the audio book of this novel. Both the narrator, Marc Thompson, and the production quality were amazing. I am sure some people will be turned off by the sound effects -- beeping droids, blaster fire, wookie grunts, music from the cinematic score -- but I thought it added immeasurably to the experience. It was basically an audio play with Thompson voicing every character, and he did an amazing job with the voices, capably switching between all the different characters, male and female, and his Han Solo impersonation, second only to Harrison Ford himself, is alone worth the cost of the audio book.
As far as this novel specifically, it was exactly what I hoped it would be -- a great Han Solo story. Corey captured the voices of familiar characters like Luke, Leia, and especially Han, but the focus remained on Han, Chewbacca, and the Millennium Falcon. Also introduced were Scarlet Hark and Baasen Ray, roguish characters fitting with the novel's title. The plot, which I won't spoil here, felt right at home in the Star Wars cinematic universe. There were a few lampshades I enjoyed, such as a throw away line about how Han likes to shoot first, and a scene in a temple reminiscent of Indiana Jones, but the novel took itself seriously, and never slid into farce.
While sometimes I feel it doesn't matter, in this case I feel compelled to mention that I listened to the audio book of this novel. Both the narrator, Marc Thompson, and the production quality were amazing. I am sure some people will be turned off by the sound effects -- beeping droids, blaster fire, wookie grunts, music from the cinematic score -- but I thought it added immeasurably to the experience. It was basically an audio play with Thompson voicing every character, and he did an amazing job with the voices, capably switching between all the different characters, male and female, and his Han Solo impersonation, second only to Harrison Ford himself, is alone worth the cost of the audio book.