Darth Pedant

Smuggler's Run is hands-down the most fun, entertaining, Star Warsy book of the new canon that I've read to date. It's damn near perfect. So near to it I'm giving it five stars because it gave me ALL THE STAR WARS FEELS.

Hats off to Greg Rucka, who could actually give Paul Kemp lessons on characterization. His Chewie is so very Chewie. Han is exceptionally Han. Even the new, unfamiliar characters leap off the page. The dialogue is so spot-on that it's like having a full cast audio book in your head. Please, oh please let this guy write more Star Wars books!

The story takes place right after the Battle of Yavin and explains why Han and Chewie didn't book it straight to Tatooine to pay off Jabba. It also goes a long way to showing how Han starts on the journey from a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants smuggler out for himself (and Chewie, and the Falcon, in that order) to a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants Rebel with a cause bigger than himself. It was so well done and got back to the roots of what first made me fall in love with Star Wars. It's a story simply told that will appeal to young and old. I read most of it in one sitting when I was supposed to be doing responsible adulty stuff. (I regret nothing!) I was so entertained I didn't even notice any typos. And that's saying something!

And once again, Phil Noto's spiffy illustrations help set the Star Wars mood. Thanks, Phil! Love your work!