I thought this was one of the better Star Wars books. Why? Because it was different. Unable to rely on the Force. A different kind of tale. So many of the books around that time were about someone being kidnapped or another Dark Jedi no one knew about. And not organic things, but these random items designed to fuel the plot of a single book. This novel went back to character story telling. The characters drive the story, the story is not there just to show off the characters. Definitely one of my favorites and a pleasure to re-read.