Book Review:  Last Shot (Part II)

Click HERE to order Star Wars: Last Shot on Amazon



Last Shot was written by Daniel Jose Older and published by Del Rey on April 18th, 2018. The novel takes place both in the “present day” of about 2 years after the Battle of Jakku as well as in the past, with its earliest point being about 20 years prior. For the sake of clarity, I will summarize the book in chronological order rather than in the order it is presented.

(Click here for part I)



In the present, Lando is back at Cloud City, where he is no longer the “Baron Administrator”, but rather the “Impressario”. I’m not sure what the difference is except that, as Impressario, he probably now has a men’s carry-all bag. It’s okay; it’s European. Long story short, one night his protocol droid is approached by a mysterious figure (it’s Gor) who makes the droid want to kill Lando, but he only gives the droid a blaster set to stun and, after he stuns Lando and his Twi’lek girlfriend, Gor tells him that the owner of the Millennium Falcon stole the PRT 10 years ago and he wants it back in 3 days or he’s dead. Lando, who knows he wasn’t the owner 10 years ago, seeks out Han, punches him in the face and tells him this is all his fault. Han agrees to help Lando track down the PRT, but only as a way to draw out Gor so they can get him. Knowing that Gor was last locked up at Grimdock, they hire a freighter and captain and get a slicer (who happens to be an Ewok). They head to Grimdock, but not before stopping at Kashyyyk to pick up Chewbacca and also learn that Gor has been there kidnapping young Wookiees. I don’t know. Just stay with me here. When they get to Grimdock they see a New Republic fleet blockading in a bunch pirate ships to keep them from leaving the place. See, what happened was, when the Empire fell, the New Republic left the same people (Imperials) running the prison. Why not, right? Well, now the guy in charge, Magernon, has issued some kind of amnesty and is letting a bunch of these dangerous people go. So now it’s time for the NR to do something about it (maybe the First Order should be running the galaxy).

Han, Chewie, and Peekpa the Ewok get into the prison, get the info they need. Before they can get out they end up in the basement where they are threatened by some monsters. How do they get out? Taka the freighter captain comes down and is able to ride a bigger monster and takes out the other monsters. How is he able to control a larger version of something that was trying to kill the others? The author doesn’t seem to care, so why should we? They get back to the Vermillion (that’s the freighter) and try to escape the blockade. Well, come to find out, Gor is on one of the pirate ships (they are there to give the people being let out rides), which implies that he was one of the people who just got released even though he was just seen on Bespin. So, a firefight ensues, Gor escapes in his space suit, the Vermillion gets boarded by a NR ship and Taka is revealed to be a NR agent. Leia arranged it so that Han and Lando would hire this particular captain. So the NR let’s them go and gives them another ship so they can split up. Alright, I gotta wrap this thing up; hold on. Han and Lando go to Grava where Fastent was put out to pasture when he became obsessed with the PRT, he spouts the party line about droids should rule the galaxy and tells them that Gor wants them to find the PRT so they can lead him to it. Taka, Chewie and the others used the info gotten from Grimdock to find the PRT’s last known location. Gor hijacks their ship and follows a trail of junk to the PRT. See, the PRT has been amassing junk around itself during it’s travels around the galaxy (sort of like a less discerning V’Ger), so now it’s the size of a ship. But when Lando and L3 found it a while back, L3 infected it with a retrovirus that makes it catch feelings about facilitating droids killing all organics. So, now the PRT wants someone to kill it and it has been shedding it’s junk to act as a trail to its location. Turns out it is in the Mesulan Remnants, which travel around the galaxy. Lando ends up on board the PRT and sees that the actual device is the head of #1. Gor is there too, he digs into his arm and pulls out some kind of circuit, which he must have had there for at least 10 years. It’s what allows him to turn any droid into a killer. When he puts it into the PRT, it will transmit this signal throughout the galaxy and cause the droid uprising. In this case, I guess the revolution will in fact be televised since your television will be trying to kill you too. I’m sorry; I’m trying. Also arriving on the scene is the L3 assault team. L3 built the first of these droids and he built the rest in order to hunt down the PRT. You know, the thing that L3 literally had her hands on years ago but had to let go of because of one guy in a space suit and some droids with organic tentacles. Anyway, they help too; the PRT is destroyed, Gor is killed.



I admit, I left out a lot of little details in my summary. Would the inclusion of these details make the story more coherent or encourage you to want to read it? No, they would not. If anything they would do the opposite. Look, the book is not 100% bad. In fact, there are some really nice moments in it. There is one scene in particular where Han and Lando basically discuss, albeit briefly, Lando’s betrayal of him to Vader and the Empire. It’s an important moment and it’s good that it’s out there. Aside from the actual PRT plot, the gist of Han and Lando’s stories in the present is that Han feels woefully inadequate as a father. He has no idea what he is doing with Ben. He is more comfortable out there risking his life to try and save the galaxy than he is at home being a husband and father, and he feels guilty about that. In the end, Leia tells him that he is trying his best and she knows that; and that it is okay to occasionally take a break from home and go on an adventure. As for Lando, his thing is coming to terms with the fact that he is in love with Kaasha (his Twi’lek girlfriend) and really ready to settle down and be a one woman man. Overall though, there is just too much about this book that confuses or doesn’t make sense. Gor wants Han and Lando to get to Grimdock so they can get into the files and find the last known location of the PRT. Why? He was just there. He couldn’t do it himself? The dude can control droids. Some people will want to read this book because most of the story takes place post-ROTJ and they will want to get those precious new canon details. Okay. The Lady Luck is mentioned. Lando takes it to Chandrilla to meet Han. So, it’s back. Ecclessis Figg, who was apparently in the old Star Wars RPG, is mentioned as being one of the founders of Cloud City. A two year old Ben Solo is in it. He is a huge cry-baby, even by two year old standards. This should surprise no one. Looking for some sweet tidbits about our boy Luke? Not here. His name is mentioned twice in passing. He is not in the story. Leia is in it, obviously, but really only on the periphery. If you are a completist who has to read all the new material, or if you’ve got time to kill and want to see for yourself...go ahead. Like I said, it does have its moments. Otherwise, it’s probably just going to make you mad.[/QUOTE]

Click HERE to order Star Wars: Last Shot on Amazon

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