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    Randy Door County, Wisconsin 08-26-14
    Randy Door County, Wisconsin 08-26-14 Member Since 2012
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    3
    2
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    "Felt like a Star Wars version of Ocean's Eleven!"
    Would you listen to Scoundrels: Star Wars again? Why?

    Maybe - was a pretty solid story.


    Who was your favorite character and why?

    Bink - quite spunky!


    What about Marc Thompson’s performance did you like?

    Excellent job by Marc. Voices were spot on - and felt like you were listening to the audio of the actual actors.


    Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

    I listened while in the car and at the gym - as often as I could - it did keep me coming back.


    Any additional comments?

    Overall - a solid story. Felt a lot like Ocean's 11 with Han playing Danny Ocean - and so forth. Parts were predictable - and parts were not - all in all - solid!

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    J. Steinbrecher 05-30-14
    J. Steinbrecher 05-30-14
    HELPFUL VOTES
    6
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    64
    3
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    "Great Heist Story, Distracting Production"
    Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

    I did enjoy listening to this book, but it took a bit of getting used to. More on that below.


    What other book might you compare Scoundrels: Star Wars to and why?

    If you like The Great Train Robbery, Ocean's 11, and similar heist stories, this one is pretty good.


    How did the narrator detract from the book?

    There were Star Wars sound effects and background noise throughout the narration. I get that it'd nice to create a real sense of ambiance, but it's tough listening to the book while listening to the whine of an airspeeder in the background, or hearing the same narrator play five characters in one conversation and then suddenly having Chewbacca growl loudly into your ears.


    Was Scoundrels: Star Wars worth the listening time?

    For the most part. This is not Timothy Zahn's best work -- it's a unique departure from usual Star Wars literature, and if you can get over the overt background effects and noise, it's a good read.


    Any additional comments?

    Best to listen to a sample first to ensure that you can actually live with the sound effects -- it's very distracting and probably ruined the first few hours that I listened to it.

    Not sure if this is a common practice with Star Wars audiobooks as a whole, though.

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    Andras 05-27-14
    Andras 05-27-14
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    12
    5
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    "Exciting from the first second to the last"
    If you could sum up Scoundrels: Star Wars in three words, what would they be?

    Han Solo's Eleven


    Which character – as performed by Marc Thompson – was your favorite?

    Mark Thompson does an excellent performance on all his characters, but my favourite was Lando Calrissian, as he sounded 100% like Carl Weathers including the accent and everything.


    Any additional comments?

    An excellent and exciting story full of twists! I think I'm going to listen to it a 3rd time as well. :-)

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    Jeff Berger 04-21-14
    Jeff Berger 04-21-14
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    19
    2
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    "Awesome"
    If you could sum up Scoundrels: Star Wars in three words, what would they be?

    Fun, exciting, action packed


    What does Marc Thompson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

    Marc is the voice that brings a book to life and paints a piece of Art


    Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

    Laughed


    Any additional comments?

    You just cannot go wrong with Zahn

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    Dave Whittier, CA 03-13-14
    Dave Whittier, CA 03-13-14 Member Since 2011
    HELPFUL VOTES
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    303
    115
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    "Too Many Players, Not Enough Scoundrels"

    I was born in 1977, the year of Star Wars. Empire Strikes Back was the first movie I saw in theaters, and I’ve been a would-be Jedi ever since. When Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire series came out, I ate up every page of those books, and I read many of the subsequent books. But around the time the New Jedi Order came out, I got burned out on the Expanded Universe books.

    Fast forward to Disney buying Lucasfilm, and (completely coincidentally) Zahn writing a standalone Han Solo’s 11 novel. I’d read exactly one SW book in the past decade (the ridiculously fun Death Troopers), so as soon as I heard about this one, I wanted to check it out. I thought it’d be the perfect book to get back into SW – one that wouldn’t be overly bogged down by the Expanded Universe continuity, and that would be good old comfort food.

    It wasn’t bogged down with continuity, but it wasn’t too much fun, either. Scoundrels is a “Heist” novel, starring our favorite rogues from the SW galaxy: in particular Han Solo, Chewie, and Lando Calrissian. This is the biggest problem with the book: there are too many players, and not enough of our favorite scoundresl. Han Solo is the mastermind of the heist, and thus – he oversees it all and doesn’t do as much as the rest of the players until the very end. Chewie does even less. As the frontman Lando’s part is thankfully bigger, but most of the rest of the action falls to characters Zahn created for this book (and a couple pre-existing EU characters), which is a shame. In a book with Han, Chewie, and Lando in an Imperial line-up on the cover, you want Chewie, Lando, and especially Han to steal the show, if not the prize.

    My suspension of disbelief was blown pretty early on (and yes, it was set to Anakin midichlorian levels of “High” to begin with) when the characters didn’t ask some basic questions about their marks or the job itself, I was disappointed. It might have been forgivable if the pace of the book didn’t feel so slow. Perhaps it’s my own nostalgia speaking, but it just didn’t work as well as Zahn’s other Star Wars books. It took too long, and I didn’t find a lot of the rest of the team to be very entertaining or developed considering how much time we spent in their heads.

    There is some entertainment value – Zahn introduces Han in a scene where someone else shoots first, and Han and Chewie turn the tables. There are some fun twists (especially at the end). And once the action does pick up (about halfway through the book), things become more fun. It just took so long to get to that point – I was literally looking up Star Wars fanfic waiting for the good stuff to kick in. But it takes a looooooong time, and Han Solo just doesn’t do enough.

    Marc Thompson has a knack for narrating Star Wars, apparently. His Han Solo is flawless, which is a necessity for a book that’s supposedly about him, and his Lando is pretty good too. (His Chewabacca is INCREDIBLE. (What? It was soundbytes from the movies? NO, SIR, I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT.) The production is punctuated by sound effects and the occasional John Williams score, which was much more distracting than the other SW book I’d listened to. Thompson sometimes overplays his line-to-line delivery as well, but I’m not sure I can really fault him for the pace.

    I probably will go back and revisit Heir to the Empire at some point, as well as A.C. Crispin’s Han Solo trilogy (oh, for an UNABRIDGED AUDIO VERSION!), but overall, it felt like the only thing heisted was my time.

    (Originally published at the AudioBookaneers)

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    Michael 03-05-14
    Michael 03-05-14
    HELPFUL VOTES
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    "Marc Thompson great as always!!"
    What did you love best about Scoundrels: Star Wars?

    Marc Thompson!! He always brings the Star Wars universe to life with his narration. The story was great as well. Think of it as Oceans 11 meets Star Wars.


    What was one of the most memorable moments of Scoundrels: Star Wars?

    Spoiler!!!

    I liked the scene when the safe was rolling through the streets.


    What about Marc Thompson’s performance did you like?

    His first person voice impersonations are spot on! Especially when it comes to Han and Lando.


    Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

    I wouldn't say that the book moved me.


    Any additional comments?

    Great book for Star Wars fans. As with many of the Star Wars books, there are great sound effects and music to provide the listener with a more cinematic experience.

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    Sam 02-11-14
    Sam 02-11-14 Member Since 2014
    ratings
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    28
    5
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    "The Quality I've come to expect from this duo"
    What other book might you compare Scoundrels: Star Wars to and why?

    If you've read any other of Zahn's books, this is pretty comparable. The Thrawn Trilogy and Outbound flight are still my favorites by him, but if you enjoyed other things by him, you'll enjoy this.


    What does Marc Thompson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

    The voices are pretty well done - especially Han and Winter. He's very understandable and has a good cadence.


    Any additional comments?

    This book takes place in between episode 4 and episode 5. Zahn does a good job of writing within the restriction of keeping previous plots in tact, while keeping the story suspenseful.

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    justin 01-17-14
    justin 01-17-14 Member Since 2015
    HELPFUL VOTES
    35
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    "Zahn at his worst"
    Would you try another book from Timothy Zahn and/or Marc Thompson?

    I loved the Thrawn books and the Hand of Thrawn books and every other Zahn book this one was just bizarre and had no connection with any of his prior books I was very disappointed it felt like a bad RP game


    Would you ever listen to anything by Timothy Zahn again?

    yes everything else he has written in the universe was great


    Which character – as performed by Marc Thompson – was your favorite?

    all of the m Marc Thompson is the best narrator ever for star wars


    Could you see Scoundrels: Star Wars being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

    NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!


    Any additional comments?

    Zahn please go back to what you do best not a one trick pony of a story

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    Patrick J. Gallagher Mifflintown, PA USA 01-09-14
    Patrick J. Gallagher Mifflintown, PA USA 01-09-14 Member Since 2017
    ratings
    REVIEWS
    5
    2
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    "Mediocre"
    What did you like best about Scoundrels: Star Wars? What did you like least?

    I found the "Ocean's 11"-style story to be an interesting direction for some of my favorite Star Wars characters. Unfortunately the book gets bogged down in way too much minutiae and spends an inordinate amount of time developing a cast of secondary characters that are no where near as interesting as the main characters that drove me to the book in the first place.


    What do you think your next listen will be?

    In the Star Wars series my next book will be John Jackson Miller's Kenobi.


    What does Marc Thompson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

    He develops nuanced personalities beyond the printed page. He also brings the characters from the movies to life in surprising ways. If I didn't know any better I would have sworn that Audible hired Billy Dee Williams and Harrison Ford to reprise their roles.


    Could you see Scoundrels: Star Wars being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

    Absolutely not and further more if they did I wouldn't be inclined to watch it.


    Any additional comments?

    I'm a fan of Timothy Zahn's writing, both Star Wars and his own original material. This unfortunately was not representative of his better work. For his better work I would recommend any of his Thrawn books or his Conqueror's trilogy.

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    Adam ORANGE, MASSACHUSETTS, United States 11-13-13
    Adam ORANGE, MASSACHUSETTS, United States 11-13-13
    ratings
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    1
    1
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    "Zahn Fan"
    Would you listen to Scoundrels: Star Wars again? Why?

    I would definitely listen to it again. This was my first audio book and I was impressed by the quality. I wasn't expecting the sound effects, music and voice acting (impressive that it was all done by one person.)

    I am however a big fan of Timothy Zahn having read many, if not all his star wars books.


    What did you like best about this story?

    The story was great, very entertaining from start to finish. The last 1 minute of the story was awesome, I didn't expect it. It gives the excitement that comes from seeing different parts of the star wars universe come together.


    What about Marc Thompson’s performance did you like?

    Again, my first audio book; I thought his performance was awesome.


    If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

    They are going All In.

    lol, probably could come up with something better


    Any additional comments?

    Get it, it's worth it.

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