I knew almost immediately after I bought the book that I should have waited until it came out in paperback. After the first page it became clear that the book would in all likelihood be a loose collection of stories that would lead to an ending that would either be enlightening or disappointing. I leave that determination to the reader. It's an enjoyable read, but it doesn't contribute much to the universe in general. There's little discernible character growth, unless you count the Falcon itself, and the few action sequences failed to fill the void where a more engrossing plot could have been. I held out hope that something world shattering might occur either at the end or somewhere in between, but found myself disappointed. In the end I felt as if the plot had been lifted, in many ways, from National Treasure and though the individual stories were at times imaginative and interesting the overarching plot that tied them together was quite boring.

However, the book is worth reading, but as I said in retrospect it was worth waiting for. It seems to be a filler, intended to whet the appetite of the reader for the upcoming Fate of the Jedi series; providing tantalizing tangents that I would have very much have liked to explore. I can only conclude that either Luceno was asked to add these tid bits, or was asked not to stray from the main plot. Over all the book was not terrible, but it certainly seems to reinforce the idea that plots are constantly reused.

So, this book started a little slow for me. But I have to say towards the end it was an absolute, could not put the book down and stayed up all night to finish it book. Just a few comments: how many times can you use the kidnapping of Solo children (or grandchildren in this matter) in a Star Wars storyline?; so far Chewbacca and Mara Jade and others have been killed off, but seriously...the Falcon is still living on or will it finally suffer a catastrophic failure or be blown to bits? obviously it is it's own well developed and beloved character, but I think it may be time to retire; finally I realize that some form of conflict makes a story move, but are we ever going to see a Jedi 'golden age' of sorts or even just Jaina finally settled down and happy with Jag?

Happy reading...I hope the next series starting in April 2009 is just as wonderful as all the other extended universe books!

I enjoyed this book. i enjoy any book that provides additional background on the series.

I picked this up on the day of the release with the hopes that we'd get to see the history behind the most famous ship in sci-fi, and see whats been going on in the 2 years since Jacen Solo was defeated at the end of the last series. However once I finished this book it left me with a over all feeling of "ehh". The story was flat, and really not all that interesting, the birth of the Falcon started off interesting enough and gave me hopes for the rest of it, but a few chapters in I realized that it was probably the highlight of the book. We do get a few glimpses into whats going on in the rest of the EU, around the halfway point as we get to see a conversation Leia has with Luke about the new government and public view has of the Jedi knights. Then another glimpse at the end of the book that looks to be a kick off for the new series to be released in April. Lets hope it does better.

A good read if you are a die hard fan of the series and have been curious about the history behind the ship, but casual followers probably will want to wait for the 6-7 buck paperback.

This was a great book. A friend and I had been talking one day about trying to find out if there was any history on the Millennium Falcon, and a few weeks later I heard about this book being in the works. I was excited about the possibilities, and was not disappointed. You find out that the ship is like her Captain, full of surprises. It may be a bucket of bolts, but it has seen more action than any other ship out there, and looks pretty good for everything it has been through as you will find out when you have finished reading the book.

so i thought this was going to be a good star wars book. i was wrong. the ending is so anti-climactic. what the hell is the point of this book if that's the ending. it's like seriously? that's what everyone was chasing? are you an idiot? apparently yes you are. there was barely any action too. when there are jedi and lightsabers involved you at least expect a decapitation or a redirected blaster bolt into someones chest. but no, there is none of that. there is a pet show however. unfortunately none of the pets were killed. that would've helped to relieve the retardedness of this book. i wish i did not spend $17 on it. i wish i got it at the library b/c then i could throw it at the librarian. worst star wars book i ever read.

It is a good (not great) story, but the writing is atrocious.
As just a few examples of the flaws in execution:
The dialog throughout was stilted and labored. I continually found myself declaring out loud "People don't talk like that!" or "Nobody would say that!"
Nonsensical events, like civilian freighter pilots knowing during the battle of Coruscant - before the Invisible Hand has crashed - that Kenobi and Skywalker have killed Dooku and rescued Palpatine, do not add to the narrative, they detract from it.
The concept of a Gungan auctioneer must have been very amusing to the author, but in reality, reading the "Weesa hasa" Gungan speech patterns slows the reader down. It breaks the urgency and speed of an auction. The scene in question, rather than being intense and fast moving, is rendered positvely leisurely.
Throwing in an Alice in Wonderland reference made the author feel very clever indeed, I'm sure, but again, it really just breaks the flow of the narrative.
Fairly early on, I knew the ending was going to mirror that of an earlier Star Wars novel, and sure enough, it did. But it wasn't enough for the author to let that reference stand on its own. Instead he had to explicitly call out that earlier adventure.
Numerous times I got the feeling that the author was more intent on showing how clever he was rather than just telling what could have been a very good story, and the book suffered for it. I was honestly shocked to find that the author is a New York Times best selling author. I can only hope that this was not his best effort.
Again, it is a good story, but it is very poorly told. My copy will not have a place on my bookshelf, it is destined for the used book store.

It was nice to not read a book that was next-step-to-doom.

It's a filler book, but fill-in both universe-history, as well as the namesake.

As someone who's played the SW RPG, some of the information made more sense - both ways - but it's explained well enough for the non-gamer to enjoy. Me, I simply got to cackle a bit over some of add-ons to the *Falcon*, knowing what that meant in game-play.

And it ends as we head into ANOTHER story arc - I just hope the next one isn't angst-ville. Cuz really, just how can you top the Vong, and Jedi-turned-Sith??

I found this book very disappointing. It could be my own fault for expecting more out of it than its description as the history of the Millennium Falcon, but really, that's all it is. It has very little new information on the state of the post-LOTF galaxy, and in fact is mostly "old" information about the Falcon, with quite a few 5-10 page soliloquies by previous owners recounting their exploits with the ship. Some people may find that interesting, but I found it boring and unimportant information about characters that will likely never show up again. Characters, I might add, that all managed to survive the 5+ decades, and all the wars in between since they owned the ship, healthy and well with perfect memories of their time with the Falcon. Topping it all off was a very anticlimactic ending that, really, rendered the entire narrative pointless.

I do think there are people that will find the novel and it's information about the Falcon very entertaining, and if that's the case and that's all you're expecting, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I have to admit (ashamedly) that I actually missed picking up this book the day it had come out and didn't get it until that Saturday. I know I am going to have to speak with a very upset Wookie shortly. Hopefully, there won't be any arm pulling out of the sockets discussions. I think that would tend to hurt just a bit. Anyhow,..

I started reading this book right away and was a bit apprehensive at first as I had visions of the Legacy of the Force series and those weren't what I would call good visions, although some of the writing was quite good.

I was happy to find out that my apprehensions were unfounded and the writing was very well done and I immediately go sucked into the story lightsaber and all. Now I don't want to give away too much of the story as I hate to ruin it for someone who hasn't read it yet, so I won't. Instead, I will just give you a couple of highlights that I really enjoyed.

1. Some really great history of the Millenium Falcon, before Han got her.

2. Han and Leia's growing relationship with their granddaughter, Allana.

I could easily give you a whole lot more, but then what would the fun in that be. Besides, I really detest spoilers and don't want to ruin it for anyone else. So please, take my word for it and get this book and read it. It is a nice change of pace for the Star Wars universe, a great story without the entire galaxy being in turmoil once again.

Shawn Kovacich
Star Wars Fan and Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.