Due to back problems, I recently spent the weekend lying down and trying to recuperate, and I chose a fairly easy-to-follow audiobook to listen to. This site isn't for audiobooks, though, so I'll try not to go too far in detail about Marc Thompson's performance (though I thought very highly of it).

These books are very highly recomended, and for good reason. The plotting is tight, and the characterization is interesting and consistent. While some characters may seem similar, they're never cut from the same cloth, and everyone's actions and responses are always unique. The plot always has interesting things for everyone to do, and no one is ever lost or left away from a challenge that suits them.

The prose leaves something to be desired, of course, but I'm not really expecting Proust from a Star Wars tie-in novel. Zahn frequently reuses phrases ('two heartbeats', 'what in blazes', etc) and makes word choices that, while it's clear what he means, are inelegant at best (he refers to Han's disregard for authority as his 'automatic disobedience circuits', for example).

Still, it's the characters and plot that really shines. Zahn does an excellent job shaping the world his characters inhabit, making everything seem like it exists in a sensible yet surreal union that's become emblematic of the franchise. Unlike some other tie-in novels, he doesn't rely on jargon gimmicks to make his scenarios feel grounded, and instead just never forgets who his characters are and what they're doing. If this kind of stuff is for you in the first place, I highly recommend it.