AND LO, THERE WAS NEWS AND IT BROKE… The announcement we were expecting is here, and it’s the title and cover art for Timothy Zahn’s Han Solo novel. Here’s the blurb:
The Death Star has been destroyed. The Rebellion has had its first big victory. And Han Solo, newly conscripted to the Rebel cause, is on the run from the Empire and the bounty hunters eager to turn him in for the huge reward being offered by Jabba the Hutt. Now a mysterious stranger offers Han the resources to execute a daring robbery from a major crime lord. The mission is impossible, but the prize will make Han a free man. With no choice but to accept, Han Solo and his Wookiee partner, Chewbacca, set out to assemble a cast of rogues, knaves, and cons with the right combination of wits, skills, and derring-do to pull off an operation of this complexity and scale—the best scoundrels the galaxy has to offer. And then the game is on: a rip-roaring, intergalactic, Ocean’s Eleven-style heist adventure starring Han Solo, Chewie, and Lando Calrissian, written by #1 New York Times bestselling Star Wars author Timothy Zahn!
Of course, the other 8 scoundrels are still a mystery, but we need something to debate until December 26! (A Wednesday? Well, I’ll take it.) For the record, Zahn himself says “…While there may be a name or two you recognize, most of the rest of the group will be new characters.”
Lando gets some new duds… you’d think that Han would have at least one other pair of clothes. but Chewie’s look at being in this lineup: winner!
Man that’s a long way off. Can I count on a reminder?
So we’re finally going to find out the REAL reason Lando was so angry at Han during ESB? This book had better feature a seriously dramatic bro-breakup.
Xadrian: I don’t plan to stop doing the weekly releases posts, so yes.
…but the Rebels just paid him!
So much for the Great Solo Caper. Farewell, we hardly knew thee.
Scoundrels is kind of a meh title (especially in comparison), but it’ll do, I guess.
As for the rest: I don’t get why they would open that huge bucket of worms that is continuity in this particular timeframe. Between all the comic books there can hardly be a week’s worth of uncovered Solo time left, and bringing Lando into the mix doesn’t seem very wise either. So in Zahn I trust, but he better not disprove Crispin’s Solo trilogy. Best non-Jedi trilogy ever, imho. :)
This is one of those times when little continuity slips don’t bother me at all. Just give me a good story, please! :)
Me too. Just about the only thing I care about/know in that era are the movies themselves.
(I found her books fairly forgettable, but didn’t Crispin stop just pre-ANH?)
Looking forward!
Contiwhatity?
the rest of the team: Hierogryph Marn from the KOTOR comics (frozen in carbonite?), Mickey from Hu$tle, the cast from Leverage, and Yo/Saf/Bridg from Firefly.
given Zahn’s prospensity for redheaded females, getting Mrs. Reynolds might just be possible.
Contiwhatity?
Honey Badger don’t care!
(Really into the honey badger today. IDK.)
Interesting cover…wonder if we’ll meet Kaiser Soze.
This honestly sounds awful. Like someone has already said most of Han Solo’s life has been covered in some way, there really is nothing more to do in the era but blunder around for the sake of it.
I love the films and that era of the EU, but its been done to death. Zahn has been a massive disappointment in my opinion since he did the outbound flight/survivors quest novels.
To each their own, man. To each their own.
Since if it’s not in a comic book called “X-Wing” or “Agent of the Empire: Iron Eclipse”, I don’t know or care about it (Dark Empire what?) it won’t bother me any if this craps all over the comics. And since it’s not set the prequels or Old Republic there’s a reasonable chance this will contain characters and situations where I actually care what happens to them!
And flushing Crispin’s books down the toilet would just be another one of those charming perks to enjoy. Rather like “I, Jedi” giving a well-deserved middle finger to the Jedi Academy Trilogy.
Curious to see this, and kind of relieved that it’s NOT going to be a solo Solo tale (in the vein of the original Daley trilogy). This might give us some more context of the people Solo worked with and ran with.
We were always told he was the BEST with a blaster, the BEST pilot, the BEST smuggler…I always felt he was the BEST self-promoter, and when he came across Galandro in Lost Legacy, he was caught out. Where he WAS very strong was his smarts and streetwise. No one could hustle like Solo.
Roll on 26th December!