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Star Wars: Last Shot Book Review

“Star Wars: Last Shot” is hit-and-miss.

Written by Daniel José Older, “Star Wars: Last Shot” is a Han Solo and Lando Calrissian novel that takes place in 4 different time periods. The central storyline is set after “Return of the Jedi” where Han is adjusting to life as a husband and father and Lando is heading up a business operation called Calrissian Enterprises. Han and Lando wind up crossing paths once again, however, when a person from their pasts reemerges. This person turns out to be a dangerous gangster named Fryzen Gor who is searching for the Phylanx Redux Transmitter. The deadly device can control droids and cause them to murder anyone in their path. Han and Lando decide to team up together to try and stop Gor, but they’ll need the help of Kaasha (a love interest of Lando), an Ewok slicer named Peekpa, a pilot (Taka) and his alien pal (Korrg), an Ugnaught (Florx), and a damaged droid. Don’t worry, Chewbacca is also on this journey as well. As for the other 3 timelines, one takes place 10 years prior and involves Han and Sana Starros on a mission, the second timeline takes 15 years prior and follows Lando and the L3-37 droid (soon to be seen in “Solo: A Star Wars Story”), and the third timeline takes 20 years prior and revolves around Fryzen’s past and origin story so to speak.

“Star Wars: Last Shot” is a strange novel that is a bit all over the place. The novel starts out promising enough as we get to catch up with characters like Han, Lando, Leia and Chewbacca a couple of years after “Return of The Jedi.” Given how little we know about events between episodes 6 and 7, it was nice to see some gaps filled in. As a “Star Wars” fan, I personally liked learning about the character’s mindsets during this time period while also learning about what they were up to. I also appreciated the fact that author Daniel José Older clearly has a deep knowledge of the “Star Wars” universe as he incorporated elements from all facets of canon from comics, books, and films. He even includes things that we will likely see in the forthcoming “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (which I’m sure was mandated).

Where “Last Shot” goes a bit off the rails is with the story and various other elements. For a novel that has Han and Lando teaming up again, the story isn’t exactly top tier SW material. The crux of the story issues is the villain. Not only does he feel like something out of “G.I. Joe” or “Star Trek,” but the backstory about how he became a mad Doctor is entirely forced and unconvincing. As a result, the entire plotline about Fryzen drags on (especially in the last 100 pages). Equally puzzling here is the inclusion of an Ewok slicer/hacker (don’t ask) and the use of modern phrases like “hard pass” or “bro.” All of these elements felt out of place and clunky.

Overall Thoughts: “Star Wars: Last Shot” is worth reading just to learn more about beloved characters, but don’t expect much from the story itself.

April 20, 2018 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Book review | Ben Solo, Chewbacca, Han and Lando Novel, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Leia, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars Book, Star Wars: Last Shot Book Review