THEN:

It’s one of the galaxy’s most dangerous secrets: a mysterious transmitter with unknown power and a reward for its discovery that most could only dream of claiming. But those who fly the Millennium Falcon throughout its infamous history aren’t your average scoundrels. Not once, but twice, the crew of the Falcon tries to claim the elusive prize—first, Lando Calrissian and the droid L3-37 at the dawn of an ambitious career, and later, a young and hungry Han Solo with the help of his copilot, Chewbacca. But the device’s creator, the volatile criminal Fyzen Gor, isn’t interested in sharing. And Gor knows how to hold a grudge.

NOW:

It’s been ten years since the rebel hero Han Solo last encountered Fyzen Gor. After mounting a successful rebellion against the Empire and starting a family with an Alderaanian princess, Han hasn’t given much thought to the mad inventor. But when Lando turns up at Han’s doorstep in the middle of the night, it’s Fyzen’s assassins that he’s running from. And without Han’s help, Lando—and all life on Cloud City—will be annihilated.

With the assistance of a young hotshot pilot, an Ewok slicer prodigy, the woman who might be the love of Lando’s life, and Han’s best and furriest friend, the two most notorious scoundrels in the New Republic are working together once more. They’ll have to journey across the stars—and into the past—before Gor uses the device’s power to reshape the galaxy.

Of the 40 different short stories in the absolutely brilliant Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, it was Daniel José Older’s “Born in the Storm” that left the biggest impression on me. Funny & gut-punchy as hell, it was just an absolute breath of fresh air in the Star Wars universe. Needless to say, I was fucking ecstatic when Older revealed on Twitter that he had a full-length Star Wars novel in the works! 

Overall, I think Last Shot was a fucking blast! The book bounces around chronologically, so we get snippets of Han Solo & Lando Calrissian’s life over three distinct time periods: the present (post-Return of the Jedi, with Ben Solo at about two years old), ten years before that (after the events of SOLO), and then about five years prior to that. It can be very slightly confusing bouncing around like this, but it was also kind of cool to read a Star Wars novel with a bit of a challenging timeline. 

The story (and not just the BADASS reversible Lando-or-Han cover) really splits the time evenly between these two iconic characters. More than that, we’re introduced to an incredibly diverse cast of new Star Wars characters! Older is part of a a great group of Star Wars authors doing a MUCH BETTER JOB of making inclusivity a priority than what we’re seeing in the movies. Seeing the reactions on Twitter to Taka, a non-binary human character  (and a hell of a pilot!) who uses them/they pronouns is really just incredible…it matters. A lot. 

In addition to Taka, we also meet Peekpa, an Ewok slicer (basically a hacker in the Star Wars vernacular), who is feisty & brilliant & kinda infatuated with Chewbacca!! She’s AWESOME (I love Ewoks so goddamn much, don’t @ me). Kaasha Bateen is another bright addition to the cast…a badass Twi’lek who is making Lando think twice about his swinging lifestyle. This book is also an AMAZING place to further explore the relationship between Lando & L3-37, his highly self-aware droid companion from SOLO. 

Daniel José Older is clearly someone who is passionate about Star Wars & who writes with a lot of heart. He really leans into these characters we think we know so well. Lando is struggling with whether or not he wants to settle down, and Han is struggling with every last part of being a father. It’s really a nice change of pace for both characters, trading in a bit (just a bit) of their usual swagger for some intense soul searching. Gah…really loved Last Shot so much!!

Oh, and try not to get a bit choked up when little Ben Solo calls Lando “Uncle Wanwo”.