Though a fun read, Smith's characterization of Lando Calrissian feels off in these books. Lando comes across as a spacefaring Jay Gatsby. Instead, the most interesting character, who grows the most over the course of the three novels, is Lando's droid friend, Vuffi Raa. The story is burdened by Smith's libertarian views, creating a fierce belief in individualism that at times feels unreasonable. Lando, flaunting authority, openly insults authority figures who applaud him for his bravado, leading to several sequences that feel unrealistic, like they belong in Douglas Adams's work rather than a "Star Wars" book. Overall, though the books are fairly entertaining, the creation of a more fixed continuity Expanded Universe in the 1990s negates much of their content and the books suffer from Smith's heavy-handed libertarianism. ( )

I'm rating this and reviewing this for the record--it's something I'm trying to do for all the books I've read, or at least tried. But it's more the case than usual that my personal tastes factor into my reactions--this really just isn't a book for me. I actually was drawn to the book not because of Star Wars, but because of the author, L. Neil Smith. Smith is known as an author of "libertarian science fiction." His novel The Probability Broach is particularly well-known among libertarian circles. When I was newly drawn to those ideas, it was great seeing them reflected in fiction, even if years later, I do find Smith too heavy-handed in his message. (One novel of his I feel isn't is Crystal Empire, an alternate history with a powerful Sino-Aztec Empire.)

I've seen all the Star Wars films, but I can't really say I'm a fan, and other than this omnibus of three novels centering on the exploits of Lando Calrissian, I've never picked up a novel based on the franchise. Star Trek yes, Star Wars no. So maybe that was the problem, but I think I liked and knew Star Wars well enough I could enjoy a novel based on it if the story and writing were engaging enough. I just found this lifeless. I read through most of the first novel, Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, and it never came to life for me. Lando and the whole plot struck me as cardboard. Smith is better than that--but I suspect he was drawn to Star Wars more for the paycheck than a love of the characters and world and it shows. ( )