Star Wars Scoundrels Review

Do you remember back in July when we had author Timothy Zahn on the show and he mentioned his upcoming Star Wars book “Scoundrels”?  Its out now and this book is Timothy Zahn’s return to the Star Wars universe and he delivers us what he called a Star Wars meets Ocean’s Eleven, starring Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando, and a number of other characters for those of us who have read any of the Expanded Universe would know (and several new characters, too.)

The story is set just after the events of A New Hope, Han Solo is as we know in debt to Jabba, and is looking for a score that will settle his debts with the crime lord.  When one that is too good to be true falls into his lap.  It’s a daring heist and he’ll need a team to pull it off. He brings in a whole host of criminals, rogues, and scoundrels and they get set to work.

The story Zahn has created written very well and is straightforward for the long-con structure. That’s not to say there aren’t any twists and turns, like any good Ocean’s story there are MANY twists and turns, but they’re almost to be expected for this kind of story. Zahn manages to find ways to twist them one step further than you’d expect. There truly is nothing predictable about this book. And every time our scoundrels get a bead on how to do things, a new hydrospanner is thrown into the sublight drive.

The book is highly entertaining and enjoyable. I had a smile on my face and chuckled the whole time while readin. Tim’s writing just does that. It’s sure of itself and knows what it’s doing. To quote Bryan Young of Big Shiny Robot, “there aren’t enough Star Wars books that maintain that light-hearted sense of adventure that permeates Star Wars. Too often they’re brooding affairs”.  Sometimes you just want a fun Star Wars book, and this book delivers just that!

The assortment of characters is great, from the con-men employed to Han and Lando’s delicate relationship. It all rang in such a way that it made me very happy. I also really loved the way Winter was used in the book, and how they actually played on the recent destruction of the planet Alderaan. In the movie it really didn’t seem like enough attention was paid to the fact that billions of people were killed on Alderaan and there are people in the galaxy who felt it. Zahn gives us that window through Winter and utilizes her better than I can ever remember her being used.

This book is a great read because the book ends in a way that forces you to want to immediately start it over again, and I wouldn’t blame anyone who does. It’s a totally different experience reading it over from the beginning knowing what you learned through the first read through. Just know that there are revelations you learn by the end of the book that almost require a second reading.

I would give this book 5 star. Its excellent Star Wars book and a must read!

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