Smuggler's Run (Book Review)

Smuggler's Run is one of the trilogy of Adventure books that is part of the Journey to the Force Awakens publishing event. It was released on Force Friday (9/4/2015). Each of the Adventure books features one protagonist from the Original Trilogy. This book features Han Solo and Chewbacca, although the Millennium Falcon itself has a prominent role as well.

You can find plenty of book reviews, so I will keep mine short and sweet. This was a lot of fun! Rucka's characterization of Han and Chewie were right on the money.

Comparing this to the first book I read in this series, the Weapon of the Jedi, the content is a bit heavier. There is one scene in particular where some rebels commit suicide or assisted suicide rather than be captured by the Empire and forced to divulge sensitive information. Aside from this one scene, the book is otherwise in the younger end of the YA spectrum.

What I really want to capture here in this blog are the major elements of the story for future reference. Part of the marketing of these books is that hints about The Force Awakens have been planted in the story. So here it goes:

Prologue:

• Han tells the story to a group of gangsters

New Depths for Legacy Characters:

We know that a Han Solo spin-off film is in the works. There are a few tantalizing details at the beginning of the books. It leaves the door open for Han having been an Imperial before meeting Chewbacca, which I think would make for a great story.

• After the Battle of Yavin, only 2 X-Wings and 1 Y-Wing left
• Chewie was 180 during the Clone Wars
• Chewie refers to Han as the Corellian
• Han calls his selfishness "enlightened self-interest"
• After Han and Chewie met they fled to the Outer Rim
• Reward for rescuing princess and fee promised by Obi Wan more than enough to pay off Jabba
• Yavin IV a temple to gods long by people long dead or forgotten
• Han: "Got an old friend who's fond of saying that truth is greatly dependent on your point of view."

New Depths of the Falcon:

• YT-1300 is a common space ship
• Engines are overpowered for its size, even without modifications
• Sensitive controls require both a pilot and co-pilot to fly her
• The Falcon is a "gas guzzler" - half of the credits they earned went into the ship
• Multiple computers, developed their own dialect and sometimes feuded with each other
• Gravity emulators cut out during sharp maneuvers so must strap in
• FAST

New Characters:

• Lt. Ematt - leader of the Shrikes: rebel base location hunters
• Shrike is a bird of prey
• Shrikes commit suicide rather fall into hands of Empire. Only Ematt escapes.
• Shrikes ambushed at Tanaab by the ISB. ISB following Emperor's orders to sieze all rebel sympathizers. ISB had been quietly tailing the Shrikes. Rebels and sympathizers are to be shot on sight.
• Comander Alecia Beck (Imperial Security Bureau)
• Commander Hove of the Star Destroyer Vehement
• TK-828 "Torrent" is one of the last remaining clones. Very efficient.
• Delia Leighton - Captain of Miss Fortune, a starship-based cantina. Miss Fortune used to be called Durese by the original Duros owner (Serendipity). Redhead. Used to wait tables at a cantina on Lothal.
• Curtis - Delia's co-pilot and bouncer

New Locations:

• Cyrkon - 6 planets, on the edge of Hutt space

Plot Notes & Other Things:

• Imperials are anti-alien and pre-dominantly male
• Tractor beam described as a wave. Not instantaneous.
• The moon is referred to as "Yavin 4" instead of "Yavin IV"

Epilogue:

• The gang never heard of Cyrkon. Perhaps all made up?
• Gang may belong to the Irving Boys, Guavians, Ducain. - they want the Falcon.
• Han: "You tell Ducain, you tell the Irving Boys, you tell all of them this: we're not afraid of them."
• The unanswered question - What happened to Beck?