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| Unusual suspects plan the ultimate "job" in STAR WARS: SCOUNDRELS. |
STAR WARS - SCOUNDRELS
A novel by Timothy Zahn
Published in UK hardback by CENTURY
PUBLISHING
Reviewed by Scott Weller
The
con is on!
Our legendary pilot and smuggler Han Solo has
taken on some risky jobs in the past but this may be his greatest and most life
threatening challenge yet, as fan favourite author Timothy Zahn’s Classic
Trilogy era heist adventure, Scoundrels,
finally makes its way into hardback release in the UK, from CENTURY PUBLISHING.
Getting away from the massive plot lines of the
past but still delivering some deft plotting, Oceans Eleven meets STAR WARS is how the publicity blurb describes
the novel, and they’re right for the most part, but also with a heavy dose of Mission: Impossible throw in for good
measure- the only thing Scoundrels
doesn’t have from that show is Martin Landau’s clever make-up disguises!
Out of luck and needing money with the escalating
price on his head courtesy of Jabba the Hutt and his goon squad, Corellia’s finest
star child and his loyal friend and first mate Chewbacca are hired by a
mysterious and shady employer, wanting revenge on a dangerous criminal,
Villachor, to break into his seemingly impregnable bank vault and retrieve his
fortune- a task that will not be easy with all the incredible and sophisticated
technology and manpower guarding it. But with a hundred and sixty-three million
credits up for grabs, Han soon has a plan- his wildest yet- for what could be the
job of the century, but knows he can’t pull it off without some considerable
and intriguing help (lithe safe cracking twins, an explosive expert, a
magician, a nervy acquisitions man, a top hacker, and a memory expert), as well
as the talents of an old acquaintance left sour from a previous business deal
gone belly up- Lando Calrissian.
Unbeknownst to them, however, is the additional
presence of the galaxy-spanning criminal organization Black Sun on the planet- two of its top members entrusting Villachor
with secret materials in the vault that bring even greater danger and risk to
our band of fortune and glory seekers, as well as attracting the attentions of
two of the Empire’s top undercover operatives. With such dangerous times ahead,
can Han ultimately trust any of the old and newcomers? And just who is using
who?
The first half of the book and the assembling
of the characters is strong, as are the villains and the story’s general locale
(for Las Vegas read the planet Wukkar and a massive party/celebration taking
background duties to all the madness ahead), but once it enters all-important
heist mode, what should be exhilarating and fun gets tediously bogged down in technobabble,
which is not what STAR WARS is about to me, and left me feeling a little battle
weary. Fortunately, the big action finale, involving one bizarre homage
sequence in which an Indiana Jones-esque Solo gets involved with a laser whip
and a moving boulder no less!, ends the book on a more positive note.
Set after STAR WARS but a year or so before
EMPIRE, and enjoyably between two classic Roy Thomas/Archie Goodwin MARVEL
comic storylines from 1978, the story has lots of continuity but is no slave to
it. On the hero side, the book gives us a little bit of background into why
Lando and Han hadn’t been getting along prior to their reunion on Bespin as
well as mildly setting up things to come by their next reunion in EMPIRE,
though I wonder if it might have been wiser if Zahn had placed the story a few
years before EPISODE IV and given things a bit more of a cleaner, less
continuity hassle slate.
For fans of Black
Sun-hearted villainy, its nice to see the organization properly represented
in a Zahn novel, as well as the welcome use of the pheromone overbearing
reptilian gangsters, the Falleen, who’ve had a good time of it in the STAR WARS
saga recently, what with their appearance in THE CLONE WARS animated series
final season. Plus, there’s a final link to EPISODE V badness that fans of Classic
Trilogy super-icons will enjoy.
Zahn’s own specially created band of STAR WARS
characters continues to grow within the Expanded Universe (and long-term
readers will be happy to see the return of his Alderaanian Rebel, Winter,
forming a key part of Solo’s posse), but this time out I found his new team overall
lacking charisma-they seemed pretty interchangeable for the most part and
didn’t have the presence of our main classic trio.
Despite its mixed bag status, Scoundrels proves itself as a great idea
for a novel, but it’s a bit too po-faced at times- Han and Lando keep their
necessary sardonic edges, but I think the adventure needed a writer who could
handle plotting as strongly as Zahn but someone who was also more adept at writing
larger than life characters and whom could have injected a little bit more
humour and zippiness into proceedings.
AFICIONADO RATING: Another sure-fire hit for
Zahn, still the king of Expanded Universe storytelling, but Scoundrels didn’t quite live up to
my very high personal expectations. 3.5 out of 5
