It had potential. It had the plot, the characters (Luke, Leia, and a woman named Halla) but something about this book didn't add up. First, there was the print. It felt like I was reading The Cat in the Hat! Second, once they got on the planet, they meet a cast of cartoonish, happy-go-lucky characters including the Yuzzem, an extraordinarily strong species that Luke can somehow understand. It's a book that is truly based on coincidence, so far as the plot goes, and does a poor job of detailing Luke and Leia. They seem off as characters. It also bothered me at how easily Luke is able to battle Vader, and the plot inconsistensy that allows Vader's arm to bleed. I am aware of the fact that the book was written before Empire, and long before RotJ, but it still bothered me. Also, Leia is able to battle Vader, for a time. The book does do a reasonable job of showing Luke's budding force talents, but this is not enough to justify the atmosphere that the book is written in. Also, the book starts by having Leia desperate to get to a conference on a world interested in joining the Alliance, but that mission is totally forgotten by the end of the book! The author doesn't even bother to bring us back to the planet they were flying to in the first place. If this book had been a little more spit and polished, it could have been great. But it isn't, so it ain't.