As Solo: A Star Wars Story approaches, Del Rey books sets the stage with Last Shot, a Han, Chewie and Lando adventure set in the period surrounding the new movie and continuing their stories post-Return of the Jedi. What follows is an adventure as outlandish as you’d expect from scoundrels such as these.
Moving On
One of the hardest things to do as we get older is to move on and grow. Daniel José Older digs into this theme for Han and Lando in his post-Return of the Jedi portion of the book, exploring what it means for them to develop into more mature people.
For Han, he’s finding marriage and fatherhood to be a lot harder than he imagined. Nothing in his life has prepared him for how to perform either of these roles, and he’s certainly not had any good role models to look to. When he’s away from his family, there’s an intense longing to be with Leia and Ben again, yet when he’s at home, he struggles with feeling like everything he does is wrong. Older does a wonderful job of showing how difficult it is to make this kind of transition in life, to find a way through the adjustment period and develop the patience that is required from both you and your partner along the way. This is the strongest part of the book, as we witness Han take this emotional journey and come out the other side stronger for finally confronting his feelings and being willing to at least attempt to share them with Leia.
Lando’s journey is similar to Han’s. He’s finally found someone who causes him to think about settling down, and that has him scared. How does he put aside the scoundrel persona for something more stable? Is it possible to embody a little bit of both? With Lando, his characterization does feel a bit more like the comedic caricature that’s become prominent in things like The Freemaker Adventures or Robot Chicken, but Older uses this to show who Lando was, giving the character an arc.
What Older does so well is use the stories from the past to show who Han and Lando were and the seeds in their lives that have led them to be who they are becoming. It is a good reminder that for us to grow, it is our responsibility to learn from the past, using those experiences to push us forward and not letting fear keep us in our old routines.
The Book
As one would hope from a book staring Lando and Han, the story is fun. There is plenty of great banter and the book offers a unique plot that fits the characters. It’s structured into chapters that alternate between the post-Return of the Jedi story, Lando’s past, which takes place before Solo, Han’s past which is set after Solo, and our villain’s past, which seems to be set sometime before Solo as well. For the most part the book is well written. There are some times when the writing style, especially in the dialogue, feels much toomodern, which may take some readers out of the story. The style can also make it difficult to keep track of the action, but neither of these issues outweighs the positives of such an enjoyable romp through the galaxy with our favorite nerf herders. There is so much more that could be added to this review, but honestly, it’s best left to you to enjoy in the story! This book will leave you energized for Solo and wanting more books like this. Last Shot is rated 4 out of 5 stars.
Review is by Matthew Rushing of Trek.fm‘s The 602 Club and TheNerdParty.com‘s AggressiveNegotiations. He can be found on Twitter @mattrushing02.
This review was completed using a copy of Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel provided by Del Rey.
Author: Matt Rushing
Matthew Rushing is the host of Trek.fm‘s The 602 Club and co-host of TheNerdParty.com‘s AggressiveNegotiations: A Star Wars Podcast. He can be found on Twitter @mattrushing02.