We press on in the Hand of Thrawn duology. The cover: full of amazing hair for all our principals: Luke, Mara, and...Han? The dedication: from the author to his friends, but aren't we the real friends he made along the way??? The plot: we catch up with a variety of Imperial officers gazing pensively into space (and one scheming quite effectively to pry worlds away from the New Republic). Luke should have sprung for cave valet, as his X-wing is immediately jacked the moment he parks. The Force is surprisingly cool with grand larceny. Wedge and Corran are tapped by Bel Iblis for some planet side maneuvers that satisfy the letter of army law if not the spirit. Shada D'ukal befriends C-3P0 and then immediately unfriends some bikers. And we find out Talon Karrde did not take Corellian Lit in space college.