Star Wars: Crucible by Troy Denning
Synopsis:
When Han and Leia Solo arrive at Lando Calrissian’s Outer Rim mining operation to help him thwart a hostile takeover, their aim is just to even up the odds and lay down the law. Then monstrous aliens arrive with a message, and mere threats escalate into violent sabotage with mass fatalities. When the dust settles, what began as corporate warfare becomes a battle with much higher stakes—and far deadlier consequences.
Now Han, Leia, and Luke team up once again in a quest to defeat a dangerous adversary bent on galaxy-wide domination. Only this time, the Empire is not the enemy. It is a pair of ruthless geniuses with a lethal ally and a lifelong vendetta against Han Solo. And when the murderous duo gets the drop on Han, he finds himself outgunned in the fight of his life. To save him, and the galaxy, Luke and Leia must brave a gauntlet of treachery, terrorism, and the untold power of an enigmatic artifact capable of bending space, time, and even the Force itself into an apocalyptic nightmare.
Review:
Forty-five years have passed since the events in A New Hope. Han and Leia run into trouble when meeting up with Lando Calrissian. And the old gang is back together when Luke decides to lend a hand. I only read the occasional Star Wars novel, so I haven’t kept up with the events leading up to this installment. But thankfully, I didn’t feel lost at all. There were plenty of mentions of past events when applicable. Not a long rundown, but brief mentions here and there – enough to get caught up in their lives.
Crucible is a well-paced adventure with plenty of action, mystery, suspense, and intrigue. There is a large cast of characters, so the character glossary at the front of the book was used several times. There wasn’t a lot of character development for the familiar ones, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the new characters. The pace picks up for an exciting finish, though it got a bit muddled at the very end with some of the strange happenings with The Force at the end that I didn’t quite get. This was a fun and exciting installment in well-loved universe. Star Wars fans will certainly want to check this one out.
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