Winner Lose All is Star Wars e-novella featuring Lando Calrissian set in the time period between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. The novella is a prequel to Zahn’s new novel Scoundrels due out January 1st. It will star Han, Chewie and Lando and will be set in roughly the same time period in relation to the films.
Readers may be familiar with Zahn’s work because of his much lauded Thrawn Trilogy, the first novel of which recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary. The Thrawn Trilogy revisited the principal characters in the original Star Wars trilogy five years after the events of Return of the Jedi and established Timothy Zahn as one of the most beloved authors in crafting stories that are respectful to the universe created by George Lucas.
Needless to say I was thrilled to learn of this latest project, particularly since it would feature some of my favorite Star Wars characters and would more deeply examine events happening off camera, as it were, in between films. So thrilled in fact that I pre-ordered the e-novella and when it arrived on my Kindle Fire HD today (a recent acquisition), I fired it up and devoured it in one sitting.
Lando Calrissian has been known to play a card game or two in his time and when he hears of a game offering a prize of a rare sculpture worth 50 million credits, his curiosity and greed compels him to a place at the table. Soon into the first evening Lando is noticed by a pair of twin thieves, acquaintances of his who tip him off that there is reason to believe the statue is a fake. Smelling both a lucrative opportunity and a rat, Lando cannot help but play the noble rogue and get caught up in the web of intrigue that may mean more than just losing a game of cards.
Winner Lose All feels like the opening act of a much longer story. Events happen quickly and the story moves ahead at a steady clip that doesn’t allow for a very deep examination of characters or situations. Zahn’s skill at immersing the reader in the Star Wars universe is evident right from the start and it would be the skilled reader who could manage to read this without picturing Billy Dee Williams the entire time. While the story may not be deeply plotted, it is highly entertaining. The additional characters are fun and play well off of Lando’s character and the story itself reminded me favorably of the gambling plot thread in more recent film version of Casino Royale.
Timothy Zahn respects the readers and the greater Star Wars universe and that is evident even in this brief glimpse of his newest chapter in said universe. With Winner Lose All he sets the tone for what is to come and I personally am very excited to see how he builds on this in Scoundrels. For fans of the original trilogy of films this will be $1.99 well spent. It has been a good long time since I have read a new chapter in the saga and I am so glad that Zahn is back at it. This was good, solid entertainment
I always love reading your posts. So full of enthusiasm. I can almost see you smiling while you type. I hope all is well Carl and I wish you and your loved ones happy holidays.
Sometimes I am really grinning from ear to ear when I type them, that is for sure. Other times, like last night, I have stayed up too late and am over-tired and am hoping that I am stringing coherent sentences together. This was a fun one, and thanks for the well wishes. š
Glad you enjoyed it. I myself always lean to the Star Trek universe over Star Wars myself but if I would read any SW it would be about the characters from the original trilogy. Lando, Han and Chewie. Those are the characters I would want to read the most about as well. I know we both enjoyed their stories years ago in those small novels that came out written by Brain Delany I believe.
I will add I love the idea that you pre-ordered it and then on release day you had. That’s damn cool.
On the negative side I find that ebook cover awful. Just because it’s an ebook I don’t want to see the art department mail it in on covers like those above IMHO.
I generally do as well. Other than the Brian Daley trilogy which I pick up and re-read every so often the only other non-film-adaptation Star Wars books I’ve ever read were Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy. I’m really interested in these though because it is going back to the time period with Han and Chewie and the gang where I like them to be. I was never all that interested in seeing them grow old, seeing their kids, etc. I’ve read many, many more Star Trek books over the years, mostly in the original series universe.
It was cool to get an email yesterday saying it had been delivered to my Kindle and then to fire it up when I got home and to see it right there front and center waiting for me to read.
Oh, it is a god awful e-book cover to be sure. And to be honest I’m not really that fond of the cover art for Scoundrels. Generally I’ve liked Zahn’s cover art but these are a disappointment. I’m tempted to get the ebook version of Scoundrels just to save money since I don’t like the cover.
The big question is will this new novel explain why Lando is wearing Han’s clothes at the end of Empire Strikes Back? š
Perhaps they just have a “special” relationship. š That or Lando just forgot to pack an extra set of jumpers.
I’m really interested to see how Lando, Han and Chewie end up in a story together (referencing the next novel, Scoundrels) when it seems clear in Empire that Han and Lando haven’t seen each other in a long, long time. I’m hoping Zahn stays true to my assumptions and remembrances of his other work that I’ve read and doesn’t go against continuity there.
Ooh…this sounds wonderful! I love the Thrawn Trilogy, and after just reading the Lando Calrissian trilogy, more Lando sounds like enormous fun. Will have to remember this one!
It was fun. A light slight being a novella but as a chapter of what will be a larger story it was an entertaining read and one that has me in the mood for more Star Wars.