Remember that time when Lando Calrissian owned the Millenium Falcon and wound up trying to get his neck out of the noose from two sets of bounty hunters, a lethal Queen, and her precocious daughter, Princess Rinetta? You don’t? Well, not many people do …
You see, it all starts with a game of Sabacc (cards to folks who don’t live a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away), which Lando is playing after accepting a load of local, luxurious and pricey gherlian furs. He is on a winning streak, due to luck, skill, and no compunctions against cheating. However, the game breaks up when trouble arrives in the form of a bounty hunter. It could be looking for Lando or the furry Lynna alien Zel Gris, who has been aiming to be last woman standing at the table. Lando tries to escape the joint, but not before he finds himself up to his neck in trouble.
His card playing friend is a self-defense and tactics tutor for the planet’s royal family, and unbeknownst to anyone else, Princess Rinetta made a promise to see one of the treasures in the royal vaults returned to the Lynna people from whom it was stolen. It is a crucial component in the Lynna ecosystem and they are suffering without it. However, the Solstice Globe she intends to return has actually been slated to be presented to the Empire as tribute (since someone stole this year’s supply of gherlian fur).
Well, with Zel in jail, Rinetta will need to work with this crass, self-absorbed, charming bastard Lando Calrissian and his navigator and companion L3-37. Lando has other plans, since he has debts to pay and the idea of working with this thirteen-year-old princess is not appealing in the slightest.
Can they work together, see the tribute paid, see the Globe restored, and/or see Lando’s debtors paid off? It seems unlikely, but not impossible. And Lando is a man who knows when to push the odds, when to trust his luck, and when to make a little of his own … Justina Ireland pens a clever, breezy, and entertaining Star Wars adventure for her middle-grade readership with Lando’s Luck.
After checking out the suspenseful Scream Site, last year, I knew I needed to read more of Ireland’s fiction. She has a good sense of pace, solid characterizations, and the ability to bake in clever twists and turns aplenty. On Tuesday, we checked out Ophie’s Ghosts, Ireland’s middle-grade ghost story. Instead of shifting over to her adult work, we continue taking a look at the releases for younger readers. As we’ve come to expect, Lando’s Luck is pure story, told with conviction, no small amount of adrenaline, and plenty of fun twists and turns.
The pairing of Princess Rinetta and Lando as the book’s major point of view characters is a good one. Here, the latter is more of a cad and clever swindler. As Ireland writes:
“Oh, hello, friend. I don’t suppose you know where I can find Ne’eda?” Lando asked.
The Wookiee responded by grabbing Lando’s upper arm and fairly lifting him off his feet as he dragged him toward a turbolift located behind a bank of large, leafy potted ferns.
“Friend, I assure you this isn’t necessary,” Lando said, but the furry creature didn’t listen. Lando could either run along on tiptoes or be dragged, so he ran. He didn’t even want to consider what the rough grip was doing to the fine cloth of his cape.
Lando smiled and waved at people who stared as the Wookiee dragged him through the lobby and to the turbolift.
Once inside, the Wookiee released Lando. He smoothed his clothes. “I genuinely hope this isn’t wrinkled,” Lando muttered, straightening his shirt and adjusting his cape. Honestly, while he understood the need for a businesswoman like Ne’eda to have a certain kind of staff to ensure her interests were served, he did not like being treated like some common criminal.
There was nothing common about Lando Calrissian. Lando’s Luck (p 55)
Lando can be a jerk, but he’s charming. What he lacks is a moral compass that works outside of his next payday and getting his neck out of trouble.
That’s where Princess Rinetta comes in. She is younger than him, driven by a promise she refuses to break, and while she has led a somewhat sheltered life (I say somewhat, because Rinetta’s mother took the throne by force, earning herself a reputation for ruthlessness, the title Assassin Queen, as well as enemies galore), but she’s eager to have an adventure the way her people did in their golden age. Consider this moment when her world opens up for the first time:
Rinetta tilted her head and listened for a moment for the plodding steps of the droid. When none were forthcoming, she stood and made her way to the cargo bay and the boarding ramp off the ship. Rinetta had never been to Neral’s moon, even though she’d heard about it from various tutors during galaxy mapping courses. Once Neral had been a prosperous planet, rich in natural resources. But a series of volcanic eruptions had violently destabilized the core, and the planet had exploded, leaving behind nothing but an asteroid field and a moon. Rinetta had already seen the asteroid field. Now she wanted to see the moon.
Rinetta fairly skipped down the ramp, her excitement was so great. Sure, her plan had failed miserably. She hadn’t been counting on Lando Calrissian being so clever and snatching the blaster out of her hands. Nor had she counted on meeting a droid that didn’t do what it was told. But even though she hadn’t accomplished her mission, Rinetta was still having an adventure. For what seemed like her entire life, she’d dreamed about traveling to other planets the way her ancestors had. Once upon a time, Hynestians had been known throughout the galaxy as great travelers and sometimes conquerors. Now they were known as lichen farmers. Rinetta knew which one she would choose if she had a choice.
So for the moment, she would live her heart’s desire: she would explore Neral’s moon. Lando’s Luck (p 61-62)
There is a charm to be found when the possibilities seem endless. The readers likely know that her hopes will not necessarily live up to what she dreams about, but it’s fun to see a character grabbing hold of her future with both hands.
This pairing of experience and innocence offers fruitful opportunities for each of the characters to pick up something new, learn a bit about themselves, maybe move far enough outside their comfort zone to see their little corners of the galaxy in a different light.
The above two excerpts ably demonstrate clean and concise writing, well-suited for a middle-grade audience by trying to encourage an immersive experience instead of writing down to their level. Ireland has a knack for bringing trouble to her characters and building suspense without kicking things over into terrifying levels. Lando’s Luck shows a clear love for the worlds and materials, as well as a yearning to add in a few things of her own. So, we get a blend of new as well as tried-and-true concepts, all contributing to a sweeping sense of epic space adventure. It’s light, it’s fluffy, it’s not a challenging read, but it is nevertheless a satisfying one for folks looking for an epic saga on a small scale. There’s even a mythic quality to the book, since this entire story is being told to a researcher who appears in the prologue and epilogue, a character in search of information about the Millenium Falcon and its history. Apparently, it’s an entry in a larger series called Flight of the Falcon, and while I don’t know what the story has to show about the famed spacecraft itself for that researcher, it’s nevertheless a fun yarn for the rest of us.
The prose is accompanied by occasional artwork from Annie Wu. The style is colorful and would not be out of place in a comic book. She has a good sense for conveying emotion, particularly through facial expressions. And the image that accompanies Lando’s visit with one of the crime bosses he’s indebted to shows a talent for mixing up suspense, humor, humans, and neato alien creatures. There are less pictures than I would have preferred, but ah well.
While the story is a short one, it does not lack in twisty action. Lando’s Luck might not appeal to readers who haven’t already gotten bitten by the Star Wars bug (or at least have an awareness of “ancient,” first trilogy characters like Lando Calrissian, lol), but Justina Ireland tells a fun space opera story with all the requisite adventure, ship-to-ship battles, decoys, clever double crosses we’ve come to expect from this particular franchise. What it lacks in length, Lando’s Luck more than makes up for with wit and playfulness. It’s a charming story told well about new and familiar characters.
#
Lando’s Luck is available in eBook and audiobook editions.
Next week, we will take a look at Gabino Iglesias’ newest barrio noir. The House of Bone and Rain is available for pre-order in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook editions.
“There’s Nothing Common About Lando Calrissian: Justina Ireland’s Lando’s Luck ” is copyright © 2024 by Daniel R. Robichaud. Quotes and cover image taken from the Disney-Lucasfilm Press eBook edition, released in 2018.
Disclosure: Considering Stories is a member of the Amazon Associates. Under that program, purchases made using the product links in any of our articles can qualify the Considering Stories site for a payment. This takes the form of a percentage of the purchase price, and it is made at no additional cost to the customer.
consideringstories 