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Title: Star Wars: Scoundrels
Author: Timothy Zahn
Genre: Media tie-in
Thingummies: 4.5
Synopsis: Han Solo didn't think the heist of millions of credits from a Black Sun crime boss's safe was going to be easy, but there were even more complications than he'd realized.
Thoughts: I'd pretty much given up my childhood addiction to Star Wars novels years ago, back when the Yuuzhon Vong showed up. But I was willing to make an exception for a new Timothy Zahn novel, especially one not so entangled in the decades of continuity now established. (This is set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.) And I wasn't disappointed.
This is a heist caper, a la Ocean's Eleven, with all the "let's get a team together", complications, and double-crosses implied. Not only do we have classic characters Han, Chewie, and Lando running around, there's also some favorites from the extended universe, including Winter and Kell.
The plotting itself is fast paced and fun. There's also a lovely handful of in-jokes. Zahn leads with a reference to the "Han Shot First" controversy and continues on with a cleverly set up Indiana Jones reference in the climax. Every group shows up--the Rebels, the smugglers, Black Sun, Imperial Intelligence, all at cross-purposes, all with temporary alliances.
It's a delightful revisit to the universe, without requiring anyone to have read forty other novels of varying quality. Perfect!
Author: Timothy Zahn
Genre: Media tie-in
Thingummies: 4.5
Synopsis: Han Solo didn't think the heist of millions of credits from a Black Sun crime boss's safe was going to be easy, but there were even more complications than he'd realized.
Thoughts: I'd pretty much given up my childhood addiction to Star Wars novels years ago, back when the Yuuzhon Vong showed up. But I was willing to make an exception for a new Timothy Zahn novel, especially one not so entangled in the decades of continuity now established. (This is set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.) And I wasn't disappointed.
This is a heist caper, a la Ocean's Eleven, with all the "let's get a team together", complications, and double-crosses implied. Not only do we have classic characters Han, Chewie, and Lando running around, there's also some favorites from the extended universe, including Winter and Kell.
The plotting itself is fast paced and fun. There's also a lovely handful of in-jokes. Zahn leads with a reference to the "Han Shot First" controversy and continues on with a cleverly set up Indiana Jones reference in the climax. Every group shows up--the Rebels, the smugglers, Black Sun, Imperial Intelligence, all at cross-purposes, all with temporary alliances.
It's a delightful revisit to the universe, without requiring anyone to have read forty other novels of varying quality. Perfect!
