Star Wars: Pirate’s Price
“Flight of the Falcon” Series, Book 2
Audiobook | Hardcover | Kindle
Written by Lou Anders
Illustrated by Annie Wu
Audiobook narrated by Jim Cummings
Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm Press
Release date: January 8, 2019

Do you remember the pirate Hondo Ohnaka from either the Star Wars: Clone Wars or Star Wars: Rebels animated series? You don’t? That’s a little shocking. Sure, this Weequay was a background character, but he managed to insinuate himself into some pretty unforgettable sequences, both for better and for worse. I was never much of a fan myself. So imagine my dismay when I tuned into Star Wars: Pirate’s Price only to discover he was the front-and-center character driving the plot?

Yeah, I wasn’t happy. But then I started listening and, I’m going to be honest with you, hearing Jim Cummings bring Hondo to life through a mostly first-person accounting of his multiple times aboard the Millennium Falcon made me come around a bit. I actually kinda like the guy now.

Continuing her quest from Lando’s Luck, mercenary Bazine Netal is seeking information on the whereabouts of the infamous Millennium Falcon. During this leg of her quest, she comes across Hondo who regales her with a story about a time when he nearly stole the Falcon only to wind up becoming a stowaway and, later, a partner with Han Solo and Chewbacca as they transport a “paying customer” to recover priceless rubies from a faraway safe deposit box.

As you’d expect, the best laid plans do go awry as they so often do. This is actually just one of three stories Hondo recites to Bazine but I’ll leave the final two as a surprise if you decide to go read this book. There’s also a fairly satisfying twist to the ending that I wasn’t expecting.

It’s a very quick book being a young adult reader and the story’s pacing is well done. One thing I found happening here more so than in other Star Wars books is that I had less trouble envisioning species and settings that I don’t recall having experienced previously. I credit Lou Anders‘ writing and Cummings’ narration; they really kept me engaged.

One thing I am unfortunately unable to credit… again… is the artwork of Annie Wu. Much like Lando’s Luck, she contributed artwork to the book that gets completely missed when you listen to the audiobook. One of these days, I will look up the physical books to check that out.