Lit The Official Scoundrels Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

All I see when I see Zerba is "Wanna buy some death Sticks?"
"You don't want to sell me Death Sticks?"
"I Don't want to sell you death sticks"
"You want to go home and rethink your life."
"I want to go home and rethink my life"

 

Finished this book the other day and thought it was great. I could not put it down and was very interesting to see the references to other works. My own opinion is that Zahn does that very well. I saw the ending coming, but about 2 paragraphs. I have a First Gen Nook, so the last line that told the ending was actually on the next page and the only line on that page. But I thought who it was about a paragraph or two from the end. I was not totally shocked as it made some things make sense from the book.

 

Mine is still en-route from Amazon US, but I got around to the Insider short story today and liked it. Looking forward to the book! (If I'm lucky it will come tomorrow or early next week.)

 

should have seen the twist coming but i didn't. good novel, but i would not say great.

 

real excited about Dawn off the Jedi though

 

Just finished. Nice twist at the end, didn't see that coming at all. Really enjoyable read.

One thing I can't figure out: is Kell part of the Rebellion yet? Is he supposed to be Winter's partner, or did she recruit him from Mazzic's organization?

 

Holy Hell... I LOVE THIS BOOK... one can't get enough ZAHN ever! and the twist at the end, I suspected it but never thought he'd go for it! awesome!

this also so screams for a Sequel heist novel with a new team of scoundrels, as well as some we saw here like Bink, Tav, Zerba and maybe Winter. I like that Winter got a secret with Han now, and how they met first time long before Leia could introduce them rocks. Though I want another Zahn book to show how Han is fooled by Winter disguised as Leia for a mission as decoy hehe.

also well handled was the part of Han and Lando meeting before TESB.. brilliant and worked so well, never thought it could be that smooth.

but... now we know Lando got a "type three mustache" as per Imperial Intelligence classification of facial identification marks... I wonder what else the Imperials put into categories? especially when hunting females lol

 

Was going to pick it up, but I was wondering how this fits in continuity. I though Lando stated in ESB he hasn't seen the Falcon since that fateful card game in Rebel Dawn.

Besides that, can't wait to pick it up. More Lando and Han together make interesting dynamics. Plus, I'm excited for Dawn of the Jedi and can't wait to read the preview!

 

You know, I don't know that Lando saw the Falcon in Scoundrels. One drawback to this novel - all on planet, essentially.

 

Lando never mentioned in TESB when the last time he saw Han or the Falcon was. Don't worry, Zahn handled it perfectly.

 

Postman just delivered my copy from Amazon US. It's next on the reading list!

 

This was a really good book, not sure if I like it as much as the one he did in 2011 but it's good to see him trying new things and succeeding. Lots of original characters, most of whom are integrated exceptionally well, and smart usage of Kell and Winter. Lando, Han, and Chewie are absolutely perfect. This could be the best Lando portrayal we have gotten in the Del Rey era. If not it is certainly up there. Could have lived without turning this into yet another Empire vs. Rebellion thing, but at least it didn't suddenly become the focal point like in Shadow Games. It also got a bit complacent with the structure, the pattern of complication happens-return to base for new plan-execute new plan-new complication made it feel a bit like a video game, and the way we learned more about the new characters/Winter and Kell got kind of repetitive too (group of people working on a component of the plan, talk about their origins, motivations, and goals) but at the same time all the stuff that was actually happening was pretty cool, so there was that.

I really got the sense that Eanjer was going to be somebody in disguise something like 75% through the book. My worst nightmare (and creeping suspicion) was that Zahn would ruin the book and have it be Thrawn. Boba Fett maybe isn't the ideal character, but he is so much better than Thrawn for that purpose that it ended up being a neat way to finish the book. Of course, I can't say it was too predictable because I also thought Dozer would go out in a blaze of glory after screwing up due to his emotions and need to prove himself.

 

I'm also a bit "meh" about Lando and Han being together. Lando did mention Han's stunt that took place in Rebel Dawn. But with everything here (I've about 150 pages left) there doesn't seem to be [m]any continuity issues. Han and Lando are very cordial to each other, which really supports their hesitancy to be around one another.

 

I just started it last night. Not bad so far.

 

Oh that was fun. The ending took me by surprise.

 

Just finished it last night. More detailed thoughts later, but here was the biggest surprise for me:

Spoiler

Not a single character used the statement "Point" throughout the entire book.

 

Not even sure how you thought to look for that, Rew. Lol. Good catch

 

Point.

 

I just happened to think of it, fairly absent-mindedly, when I was about 3/4 of the way through. It was a sudden spark of realization.

The closest we came was someone saying, "Point taken," I believe.

 

Got back to reading this after a small break (got side tracked by A Memory of Light). As always with a Zahn novel, the plot is rock solid. However, one cool thing I'm noticing is all the little continuity nods. A Zahn novel is about the last place I'd expect to run into a Empress Teta or Revan and Malak reference.

That said, the Revan and Malak reference is a bit odd; is it a reference to them disappearing, and returning all evil and taking over the galaxy? Or is it just a reference to them both being remembered as really badass? I sort of like the idea that a lot of the figures from the Old Republic are remembered as vague legends or stories. I have to wonder if the legend of Revan is a cautionary tale or a story of redemption in this era.

 

Well, this is a bit of a digression, but I always thought that Revan would be seen like Petain was in France after World War II. For a long time, his service in World War I (in which he was seen as having saved France from the invading Germans) overshadowed (at least to an extent) his WWII collaboration. However, as time went on and World War I receded from people's memories, public mood gradually turned against him, until it boiled over in 1968, after which he was largely remembered entirely as a traitor due to his collaboration.

Adapting that to Revan, we have him saving the Republic from Mandalorian invasion, only to then become the invader himself a few years later. Maybe for a while (especially in the Outer Rim) he would be remembered more as a hero because of that. Heck, people living in those planets that he saved may have actually not had a problem with living under his Sith Empire rather than the Republic - the Republic hadn't done anything to save them, after all, while Revan did. But especially in the Core (and after Malak took over and clearly made the Sith Empire much harsher on its occupied worlds) Revan's memory probably would be much more tarnished, especially given how KOTOR II shows the extent of how the Jedi Civil War trashed the galaxy.

 

Random aside: Can everyone who starting guessing on how Zahn would shoehorn his "pet characters" into this novel please step up and say you were wrong?

 

I concur with JediMara77

 

Just finished the book. It was entertaining but not satisfying. The pacing in the first half was really slow and didn't capture my attention.

Spoiler

I had suspected that Eanjer wasn't who he claimed to be since the beginning and figured out who it was about two pages away from the end. It didn't feel right. Actually, I was pretty annoyed but I guess it had to be someone pretty famous for a last minute reveal like that to work. I was also disappointed that none of the good guys died. For a brazen scheme like this, there was remarkably little tension in the book. I liked how many different angles were being played at once and enjoyed the different groups manipulating each other.