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"The
third instalment of the Jedi Prince series
deals with Jabba the Hutt's father, Zorba, who seeks retribution
against Princess Leia for the death of his son. In spite of this
being the title and therefore, one would assume, the focus of the
book, the majority of this book deals with "braze", a
suspicious portmanteau for the ubiquitous "brown haze" of
Cloud City. The story begins with a thoroughly embarrassing
housewarming party for Han and his "sky-house" (a concept
which I still have difficulty accepting) during which Han and Leia
perform the "Space Pirate Boogie". There are several other
incredibly jarring plot points throughout the novel, such as Lando
gambling and subsequently losing his governorship of Cloud City in a
game of sabacc with Zorba, and Ken's impossible naïveté which
leads him to accept sweet baked goods laced with truth serum not
once but twice, firstly from a giant sentient slug and secondly from
a half-burned sociopath with three eyes - given that the authors
repeatedly show Ken to be somewhat omniscient (he knows everything
about everyone, it would seem, including top level Imperial
secrets), he is remarkably moronic.
"Unfortunately this book is full of examples of unsavoury
writing, from a crime lord that interrogates using cookies and milk
to Lando and Zorba spit-shaking. This series hasn't deviated, as
yet, from its meagre beginnings. The premise of Zorba's revenge
would have been intriguing, had it been handled properly." |