Smith, L. Neil

AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:

2 out of 5

(1 book)

Star Wars: The Lando Calrissian Adventures

3 BBY.  An omnibus edition containing the long-windedly named 'Lando Calrissian And The Mindharp Of Sharu', 'Lando Calrissian And The Flamewind Of Oseon' and 'Lando Calrissian And The StarCave Of ThonBoka'.  This trilogy of stories tell the tale of Lando Calrissian's early days when he goes from being a gambler and incompetent pilot to being the skilled and dashing rogue we see in the Star Wars movies. 

Sadly, these stories seem very dated and the poorly disguised analogues (like coffeine) constantly drag you out of the Star Wars mindset.  The humour also leaves a lot to be desired, ranging from Lando calling his droid things like 'old toaster oven' to the cliched byplay of "Don't call me 'Master'" "Sorry Master". 

The worst offending factor of the book is the villain who dogs Lando's steps; Rokur Gepta.  Gepta is a painfully B-movie style villain who adds little tension or threat to the story and, ultimately, turns out to be a psychic snail! 

It's not all bad, though.  I enjoyed the fact that Lando is pretty much useless at everything except gambling when he sets out, but develops into a hotshot pilot and daring adventurer.  I also enjoyed the Battle of ThonBoka in which Lando helps a group of giant vacuum-dwelling aliens defend their home (the weird StarCave) against an Imperial fleet.  The plotline involving the vengeance-driven Renatasians is also quite interesting. 

Despite the intermittent good bits however, the story as a whole isn't worth the effort and doesn't sit well with a fan of Star Wars' Expanded Universe.

2 out of 5

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