Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the two men who write together under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey, stopped by the Full of Sith podcast to talk about their first exposure’s to “Star Wars,” their new book in the “Star Wars” universe, and how to handle the genre echo-chamber that began with Han Solo and came out with such great characters like Malcolm Reynolds.
Their book: “Star Wars – Empire and Rebellion: Honor Among Thieves” is a fast paced romp through the Rebellion’s time between Episodes IV and V. Han Solo is the central character and is put through the paces. The book feels like a brilliant blend between the world of “Firefly” and the whirlwind destruction of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
In fact, the climax of the book ends up in a massive ancient temple, booby-trapped and Han Solo must get there, through snake-and-corrosive-ant-filled jungles. It’s a fascinating dynamic to see an Indiana Jones-style situation toplined by everyone’s favorite smuggler. He’s rubbish at being a Dr. Jones sort and it leads to all kinds of great situations and exchanges in the book.
New to the “Star Wars” universe in this book is a new female character, a rebel spy named Scarlet Hark. She’s a worthy addition and is as different from Leia as Willie Scott is different from Marion Ravenwood. She’s brilliant and provides an excellent verbal sparring partner for Solo, but never once competes for the attention of Han Solo, no matter how much everyone’s favorite smuggler thinks he’s getting himself into a love triangle.
Clocking in at 280 pages or so, it’s the shortest book from the EU I’ve seen in a long time, which is always a good thing. It’s breathtakingly paced, short, to the point, and provides a great jumping off point for people only familiar with the movies to dive into some books set in the universe. I’m giving it high marks for it’s brevity and for it’s fun factor.
Listen to the interview above (or at any of the normal podcast venues over at Full of Sith) and pick up the book here.