Star Wars: Last Shot Book Review- No Spoilers

Star Wars: Last Shot, by Daniel Jose Older is the most recent novel from Del Rey and Lucasfilm and I would like to thank them for a copy to review. The plot of the book, is that three years after Return of the Jedi, a criminal named Fyzen Gor comes back from Han Solo and Lando Calrissian's past. His plan is to use a destructive weapon on the galaxy. Han, Lando and an assembled crew must go on a hunt around the galaxy to stop him. The story primarily takes place there, but every few chapters is one about Han, ten years before or Lando, twelve years prior, both of them dealing with Fyzen Gor. There is about four chapters that take place roughly twenty years before-hand and are about Fyzen Gor's past on Utapau, him being of the Pau'an species, these chapters are especially good.

Two Noteworthy Pau'ans

 Daniel Jose Older has in the past written for Star Wars in From a Certain Point of View, with a story about a stormtrooper and a Dewback, he gets in a couple references from that story. This novel is called Last Shot and even after reading, I am not really sure what the title refers to, maybe it is connected to Han saying, "I've been waiting a long time for a shot like this." in the Solo: A Star Wars Story trailer. The cover of the book is actually very interesting because it is reversible between a cover with Han or Lando. The art on the the cover is also very good. I appreciate the interconnectivity to all three trilogies, comics, other books, and even The Clone Wars in Last Shot. That brings me to the characters, Sana Starros from the Star Wars comic series appeared during Han's chapters, ten years earlier, I really like how Older was able to connect the books and the comics that way. The story is really on Han and Lando, both of them are written very well. I could tell instantly that the author had an understanding of these characters and I really felt their voice come out. Both of them fit very well within the story and back into the dangerous smuggler-like life. Ben Solo as a baby and Leia also appear and we get to see much of what Han's family was like, and how he struggled with it. Due to the time period, the New Republic is present and so is much new information about the government as it starts, as well as what Leia and Han did and how they felt.
The heroes encounter a Gungan named Aro, who speaks normally and changes what we think all Gungans to be from Jar Jar Binks. Although he is only around for a few chapters, Aro is a cool and funny character. Some of the other new characters developed for this book don't work as well and are not very developed. For example, there is a pilot named Taka who has a plot point very similar to Ezra from Star Wars Rebels.
                                     

I did very much enjoy the presence of L3-37 or L3 for short in the Lando sub-plot. She was funny, had an interesting personality, and connected to the plot very well. The droid is set to appear in Solo: A Star Wars Story and I am excited to see her in the movie more now. We learn several neat things that it is known will play into the movie and several other which might. So overall, the book makes me feel even more hyped for the movie.
Star Wars: Last Shot has short very readable chapters, sharp-witted humor, at-times an interesting dialogue on Star Wars, and great writing along a galaxy-spanning adventure. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Star Wars: Last shot a 9.5/10. Thank you for reading and stay connected.