Just finished this fun book, part one of the two part Empire and Rebellion series, Razor's Edge (Martha Wells, 2013). The story takes place in 2 ABY, right in the heart of the Rebellion era. The main cast of characters includes Leia, Luke, Han, Chewie, R2, and 3PO. We see the Falcon. The group is working on gathering supplies for Echo Base, currently under construction.
Their task requires them to visit some unsavory locales, frequented by pirates. From page 1 this book dumps the good guys into the soup, so to speak, and challenges their ability to adapt, adjust, improvise, and overcome. It's a most Star Wars of stories, a fly by the seat of your pants series of plans, plan Bs, alternate plans, etc. Constant entanglements reward the hero's resiliency. A very good RPG-type novel.
The scale and scope is good, too. Pirates are encountered, and so are low-level Imperials. Leia et al are on an undercover mission, basically, so they don't have much in terms of back-up. They have to rely on their own resourcefulness to win. No new super-weapons, no crazy plot points, just a good solid adventure packed with action and an almost continual "change of plans".
Definitely a good read and a nice addition to my preferred canon.
I enjoyed that one. If I recall correctly, it was one of the last novels before Disney took over. Heir to the Jedi was supposed to be part of that series, a trilogy, but it ended up becoming one of the first novels in the new canon. You make a good point about it feeling like an RPG scenario.
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