“I dunno, Lando. All this is a mystery to me. I never thought I’d be a husband, much less a father. None of it makes any sense. I try to spend time with the boy, he’s in tears. I go away, he’s mad I left. Kid’s barely got a personality yet and I’m already messing it up.”
To my surprise, I’m really enjoying this book. The characters are fascinating and relatable and entertaining. Lando’s hilariously, obnoxiously oversexed. And I’m only 50 pages in, but already there’s been a wealth of insight into Han and Ben’s relationship. I don’t know if I care for the way it’s jumping back and forth through time, but I’ll reserve judgment for now. I’ve only really had a taste.
(© Last Shot by Daniel José Older, Del Ray.)
^Just covering my ass.
I’ve been reading it too! I got the audiobook because I got impatient and wanted it the morning it dropped. It’s great because the three narrators they got for the three different timelines are AMAZING with the voices of the characters (The “Now” timelines especially sounds so much like Harrison and Billy Dee) but the drawback is that it’s so much slower than reading it myself.
But I’m still enjoying it so much. The “Now” stuff is heartbreaking. When Han is at that meeting and thinking about how everything he tries to do for Ben is wrong, I felt so much sadness and compassion for father and son. When I’m done with this book I’m definitely watching TFA again with the new perspective just to rip my heart out a little more.
The “10 years ago” timeline is interesting. I liked the glimpse of Maz’s castle way back then. I’m not far enough in yet to know if this girl Han is depressed about is Q’ira from the new movie, but that’s my suspicion for now. Sana’s kind of entertaining, though. I like her so far.
And Lando falling hopelessly in love is fluffy fun. I’m definitely pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable this whole thing is.
The audiobook isn’t available through my library yet, but someday I hope to enjoy it. This had to have been a delicious challenge for a voice actor, all those different languages, accents, and inflections.
It is so heartbreaking. Han wants to be a good dad but he just doesn’t know how, and he doesn’t believe he could be. His defeatist attitude will guarantee he fails. He has the same worries about his marriage, but Leia’s a mature adult who understands him, so she’s not traumatized by his insecurities like Ben, though she does get hurt and that relationship crumbles eventually, too. I don’t mean to make the Solo family tragedy sound like Han’s fault, it’s not, but he’s certainly not helping anything. Have a little more faith in yourself, Han. You’re a lovable fella! I wonder what his childhood was like? Leia said he didn’t have good parental figures to model himself after. And I find his lack of comfort in clean surroundings very interesting, like he doesn’t feel he belongs in anything clean and well-kept. Hmm…
Yeah, I’m assuming he’s depressed over Qi’ra, though I’m trying to remember when Solo’s supposed to take place and if the timing lines up. Glad to know someone’s having the same thoughts as I 🙂