Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: SHADOW GAMES (Spoilers)

I really enjoyed this novel. It had plenty of twists and turns, panic and anticipation.

The cockyness of smugglers and the comic relief of the droid was fantastic.
Even the fems![sic] had real character attributes.
9.5/ 10

 

Average score: 114.7/14 = 8.19

 

I really really liked this book. Nothing overly complicated, just a fun mystery and adventure in the days leading up to the SWU's most famous event, following a character many of us may or may not have wanted to see more of ever since Shadow premiered 17 years ago. I am, of course, speaking of Leebo.

Oh, and Dash. Dash Rendar! Now there's a Star Wars name.

This book was just a whole lot of fun to read. The mystery is the major driving force and kept me hooked. I wondered who the mole might be, who was after Javul and why and just how Dash and co. were going to solve and handle these constant threats to their mysterious pop star.

Some things I saw coming (like Oto's involvement and Javul's real role) and some came as surprises (the identity of the mole, the fact that Javul had three parties after her). It works mostly, though at times the pacing does seem to take its time in letting things unfold, and Dash learning Javul had yet another secret did get repetitive after a while. So much so that Dash even lampshades this near the end of the book, recounting every revelation he's discovered about Javul up to that point.

We certainly get a sizable cast this time around, with most feeling distinct and some certainly getting more development than others. Dash, of course, is our main and the POV character for most of the book. His portrayal here clashes quite a bit with his demeanor and attitude in Shadows where he was more of a arrogant, swaggering, hotshot pilot and fighter. In other words, he's not quite the exaggerated Han Solo caricature this time around. He actually has flaws and not ones that simply are due to ignorance of the characters and reader. He's also more conflicted and passionate this time around, his Shadows-like attitude in the opening scene giving way to desperation and later a mindset that allows him to take his new duty as a bodyguard seriously. I don't know if the moral here is that Dash is a chameleon that will fit himself to any role he has to play or if it's just inconsistent characterization, but he's rounded and it doesn't take him long to care about Javul and his safety. And eventually, that leads him to something of a deconstruction of the Star Wars fringer lifestyle, particularly under the rule of oppressive governments like the Empire. It's an interesting idea, really, to question just why these people choose the fast lives that they do, staying ahead of the law, flying the space lanes, and shooting first. Here we see Dash take a surprising journey that nearly leads him to take up a cause greater than himself, but unable to go through with it in the end. Truthfully, his final decision to return to the Falcon doesn't quite work for me, as if he only did this because he had to knowing his status in Shadows of the Empire. Change is hard, though, so it's not too much of a stretch to justify it. It just seemed like his final decision was kind of flimsy.

It does make me wonder what makes Dash change between Shadow Games and Shadows of the Empire, though. We can guess, of course, especially once we learn our final twist about Javul. As far as we know, I don't think any of Leia's family survives the Death Star. It would be interesting to see Dash's reaction to that particular incident.

As for the other characters, as I said before they were distinct and fairly fleshed out in some cases. Leebo is a delight and his banter with Dash is always entertaining. Javul stays interesting as her layers keep peeling away, though she can be frustrating in her constant revelations, allowing the reader to feel some of the frustration Dash feels with her. Dash's co-pilot Eaden is one of the more fascinating new characters and exploring him more would have been nice. Mal ends up being fairly generic, though, and most of the rest of Javul's entourage are forgettable, even Dara, who I thought was going to be a major character at the beginning of the book.

Part of the way through Han shows up and that's pretty fun, especially since we didn't get to see Dash interact with him at all in Dash's first appearance for obvious reasons. Pre-Rebel Han, heck, Classic era Han is great to read about and here is no exception.

I appreciate that Reaves (and now Bohnhoff) continues his trend of using droids and alien species that are not only established in the universe already, but choosing examples that have visual representations. Saves my imagination some work and I get some delight jumping to Wookieepedia and having that "oh yeah, that guy" moment. Like with the Advozse. And, of course, words you may not see every day, like fuliginous and antediluvian (Chrome apparently doesn't even know the former is a word).

So yeah, good book. Nice to have Reaves back along with his new co-writer. 7.75/10

 

Average score: 122.45/15 = 8.16

 

7 of 10

This is a very fun and lighthearted novel, with interesting characters and ideas but sadly it has such an utterly disjointed plot (I swear Javul lies more then Obi-Wan in the OT about what is going on), also Eaden seemed to really have no point to him and should have rather been hanging out with Jax Pavan and not Dash. This book also seems to have no clue how the timeline or space works.

 

What's wrong with Han telling jokes about Ewoks walking into a bar? He obviously watched Return of the Jedi on DVD Spaceballs style.

 

Clearly, whilst Lando took over Bespin and lost it again.

 

Average score: 129.45/16 = 8.09