Lit The Official Scoundrels Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

I'm almost finished.
Was hard to get going, due to the small scale and lack of interesting parts, but it seems to be getting good now.

I loved the references to Grievous and Revan/Malak. That was cool.
And i'm wondering if Lando is going to be mad at Han again, and If so, how many times are they going to meet up before ESB and find a new retcon for why Lando is mad at han?

 

I was pretty satisfied with the last-page reveal, but like you, I was suspicious of Eanjer very early on.

Yeah, about all the protagonists surviving, that's to be expected. I remember about midway through the book trying to predict who would be the one(s) to die during these schemes before I realized this was a Zahn book--and Zahn philosophically doesn't agree with killing off protagonists (hence why he refused to be part of the NJO series). So I figured they'd all emerge unscathed in the end.

 

I too, knew something was up with Eanjer. Was not expecting

Spoiler

the Boba Fett

twist, so that was a nice surprise for me.

Didn't know that about Zahn, but thinking back, it makes sense. I think Im ok with that.

 

That's why I love Zahn. I find it much more exciting to figure out how the heroes are going to survive than guessing who is going to die.

 

I have a hard time getting into a story if there's no real threat to the characters. Part of the fun is the buildup of tension and emotion while the plot runs its course.

That makes sense. I was wondering why Karrde wasn't written by Zahn in NJO.

 

IDK, wouldn't death have been a high price to pay for a heist? It's not like they were battling stormtroopers or flying into battle against the Executor. That was one of the things I liked about it - the GFFA wasn't on the line or anything. Just some money.

 

I dunno, I thought there was plenty of threat to the characters. I was worried sick for Bink and Tavia and really thought one of them was going to die. I was thrilled when they both made it.

I just don't think you need character death to create tension. If that was the case, why bother reading the book at all, when you know that at least five of the characters will survive? Same with any other book that goes back in the EU timeline. A good writer can create tension even if you know the ending of a story.

 

They were robbing someone in the Black Sun. This was so dangerous that it made them reconsider doing the heist period. Most of the characters were threatened with death at one point or another. Kell almost died during his stunt. Two of them were even confronted by a bunch of stormies. They had been incredibly lucky to have all gotten out alive.

Edit: I read the book because I trust Zahn to give me a good story? I still liked it even though it didn't hit me on an emotional level? I'm allowed to want people to die especially when their mission is self proclaimed to be nigh suicidal. Our expectations from the story were different. Let's move on.

 

It all depends on the type of story being told, for me. For something like Scoundrels, I know going in that it's going to be a fun little heist novel; I'm not really expecting it to hit me on any kind of emotional level. Now, in something like the NJO, a long series where the entire Republic is at stake, I'd be annoyed if everyone got out alive.

 

Pretty much this. Its fun and well written but ultimately empty as it lacks any emotional depth.

 

Scoundrels hit the NYT bestseller list at #35.

 

Finished it last night. I liked it. As others have posted, I didn't see the character revelation at the end coming. I think it's one of Zahn's more enjoyable SW books.

 

That's too bad. I'm not a big fan of B&N, and the closest one is not a quick drive in DC traffic. I miss Border's. *sniff*

I'm almost exclusively an amazon shopper these days.

 

It was obvious right from the start that there was going to be a twist regarding Eanjer and who he was really working for . . . but i was genuinely surprised at the end!

 

Finished it last night. I liked it, but I thought the twist at the end was ridiculous as was the heist scheme - plan was to rob or destroy the vault and ruin the festival?

The characters were all great, liked that Winter had more lines.

 

Finished it today. Very good novel. Not sure where it ranks on Zahn's list but a worthy addition none-the-less. The twist on the last page was great. The thing with Lando was interesting as well.

 

Point.

 

Arh I saw what you did their "cocks eyebrow"

 

Though I haven't finished the book yet (haven't had much time to read it this week), I'm really expecting a The Usual Suspects type of twist in regard to Eanjer. Looking forward to seeing if I'm right.

 

I just finished the excerpts for Crucible and DOTJ. Crucible had some over the top action but still seems fun and has potential to be a good story, DOTJ seemed boring.

 

Yeah, DOTJ didn't impress me much either. I think it's just that the time period doesn't really interest me. If it's going to be a HC I'll probably wait for the paperback.

 

I will as well. Hard as I try I just cant get into that era. Been trying to get into the dark horse series, but its pretty boring IMO.

 

It was the same with the Knight Errant stories. I read the novel but didn't go any further than that. Part of that also was I couldn't stand the main character. She just struck me as the 'could do no wrong' type. Now I've been OK with the Bane novels - I liked those.