Rating: 
Summary: Did the Author forget this is another Galaxy?
Review: I did not like these books. I have to admit that the 3rd book was the best of the three. But the first two are two of the worst books I have ever read. There are way too many references to cigarettes, sardines, children's TV icons, Rabbits from Breakfast cereals, and many other things from our galaxy and not the Star Wars galaxy. I know that this was one of the first Star Wars books ever written, but these books do not even fit in with the original trilogy, much less the Expanded Universe. If you want to read these books I would recommend forgetting everything you read in them, as soon as you are finished, especially if you are going to read any of the other Star Wars books. I have read several of the Star Wars books and these three are the worst by far.
Rating: 
Summary: Way too humorous and silly to be taken seriously...
Review: I don't mind the plot, or the new characters, or the settings, or even whole book's entire deviation from Star Wars. The thing I have a problem with is the writing style. Honestly, I don't mind the author inserting a sarcastic jibe every now and then, but when it's in almost everything Lando says, it gets offensive and utterly annoying.For the first couple pages, I chuckled along with probably everyone else who's read the book. The narrative was humorous and the conversations entertaining, but if sarcastic humor and colorful insults are the only thing L. Neil Smith has up his sleeve, well, I certainly won't be reading the last two stories. For a moment or two I really did care about our characters, but soon it was obvious that they had nothing more than their sarcastic wit to get them out of jams. None of the situations seemed 'real' enough to me, since either the narrative or Lando himself had some comment that completely downplayed the whole thing, had dismissed the danger. Such comments I believe weren't necessary. This revelation reversed my opinion of the story. "Ok, when does this start to get serious, here?" was a frequent thought in my head. Apparently, since the narrative's only strength is the humor, it goes down in burning flames when one begins to consider what other positive aspects there are in the writing style. It's simple: there aren't any. The writing quality itself really isn't that great in the first place. I suppose this last idea is a product of my reading of Tolkien, Dumas, Homer, Dickens, and Shakespeare that I just experienced an amazing bathos in picking this book up. If I'd've been warned beforehand (such as on the front cover perhaps) that this book was a PARODY, well then I certainly would have enjoyed it, and it would have succeeded with great praise.
Rating:
Summary: Way too humorous and silly to be taken seriously...
Review: I don't mind the plot, or the new characters, or the settings, or even whole book's entire deviation from Star Wars. The thing I have a problem with is the writing style. Honestly, I don't mind the author inserting a sarcastic jibe every now and then, but when it's in almost everything Lando says, it gets offensive and utterly annoying. For the first couple pages, I chuckled along with probably everyone else who's read the book. The narrative was humorous and the conversations entertaining, but if sarcastic humor and colorful insults are the only thing L. Neil Smith has up his sleeve, well, I certainly won't be reading the last two stories. For a moment or two I really did care about our characters, but soon it was obvious that they had nothing more than their sarcastic wit to get them out of jams. None of the situations seemed 'real' enough to me, since either the narrative or Lando himself had some comment that completely downplayed the whole thing, had dismissed the danger. Such comments I believe weren't necessary. This revelation reversed my opinion of the story. "Ok, when does this start to get serious, here?" was a frequent thought in my head. Apparently, since the narrative's only strength is the humor, it goes down in burning flames when one begins to consider what other positive aspects there are in the writing style. It's simple: there aren't any. The writing quality itself really isn't that great in the first place. I suppose this last idea is a product of my reading of Tolkien, Dumas, Homer, Dickens, and Shakespeare that I just experienced an amazing bathos in picking this book up. If I'd've been warned beforehand (such as on the front cover perhaps) that this book was a PARODY, well then I certainly would have enjoyed it, and it would have succeeded with great praise.
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars
Review: I must admit that L. Neil Smith is an extremely talented author; his sentence construction was great, his descriptions were vivid and colorful, and he all around wrote with talent. However, this book was Star Wars soley by name and main character. Lando Calrissian, while not a huge character in the original Star Wars series, is a very prominent character in the expanded universe - even having a role in the newer Dark Tide novels. However, Mr. Smith had Lando visiting obscure places that I had never heard of before (with 70+ novels and reference books I know a lot) accompanied by a droid who's design was apparently "one of a kind," - a concept which the author seemed to like very much. At seemingly every location Lando visited there existed, "the largest buildings in the galaxy," or the "most precious gems in the galaxy," etc. Lando journeyed to places where certain authorities spanned the galaxy. There were entire fleets that roamed space enforcing their own laws, doing as they pleased. Hello Neil? Do you remember a little, tiny thing called the GALACTIC EMPIRE, that played, hmmm, a small role in the movies? Obviously you haven't done any reading about Star Wars, because the few references to the Star Wars galaxy in your book refer to the movies. In fact, I recall considering making a list of the items in this book that did not pertain to Star Wars, but did not end up doing so. Unfortunately I cannot name every nuance of the book that upset me. I'm sure this would make an excellent, general science fiction novel if the main character were renamed, because I do not recall any references to Han Solo, and Star Wars planets, or anything else Star Wars. However, if you are a die-hard Star Wars Fan as I am, you will find yourself constantly correcting the book and calmly explaining to it that it was wrong. :-) The one that stuck with me most was how Neil called Vuffi-Ra (Lando's droid companion) a robot. I believe Star Wars stands out in that it is one of the only series to refer to its mechanical counterparts as "droids." Anyway, I do not know if you would agree with my 2-star rating, but as I said before, if you are a big star wars fan like me you would give it such a score for the sacrilege Neil has committed!
Rating:
Summary: Only if you're a big fan
Review: I read this series because I had finished all of the other Star Wars books, and when I read a series, I want to read EVERY SINGLE BOOK in that series. With all of the other excellent Star Wars books out there, this book should be labeled "Die Hard Fans Only." These three stories detail some of Lando's adventures before he meets Han in the Han Solo Trilogy by A. C. Crispin. Lando and his faithful droid Vuffi Raa travel the galaxy looking for a good game of sabacc, and try to stay out of the clutches of the evil sorceror Rokar Gepta. I think the only direct references to this series in other books were when Han worried that Lando was a better sabacc player because he had made a fortune in the Oseon, and when Han asked Lando about his friend, Vuffi Raa. Other than that, there is nothing crucial that you must know in order to read the other Star Wars books. This series was a little silly at times. At one point, Lando grows very tall, and then eventually s! ! hrinks back to his normal size. No explanation is given (you know, like the Force gave him the power) and the reader is left shaking his head in disgust. In the last book, huge vacuum breathing aliens are able to fashion convincing models of themselves out of their own waste products. Give me a break! If you can stand the hilarity, and would like to be able to say that you've read ALL of the Star Wars novels, then happy reading.
Rating: 
Summary: It is a good insight on Lando Calrissian
Review: I think that this book gives you a better feeling as to why Lando Calrissian is the way he is. Reading this book, was no different then reading the otehr Star Wars book. The exception was that Lando was the main character. If you want to read more about what Lando did before he met with Han Solo, read these books.
Rating:
Summary: A bit dated
Review: I thought that overall this was a good book. The stories took a little while to get moving but once they did it was fun to read. The writing style seemed a bit dated but that may be because i'm sixteen.
Rating:
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: I was expecting a good, thrilling adventure story, after all, Lando Calrissian, a real scoundrel, is the main character. I got a huge disappointment. These are just awful books! The plots were boring, the characters were boring, the writing was slow, and there just isn't anything very interesting at all with these selections. In fact, if I hadn't vowed to read all the Star Wars novels, I never would've finished them. Don't waste your time, or your money.
Rating:
Summary: this book was very boring and hard to get into.
Review: I'm sure L Neil Smith is a perfectly good author, but his style is totally wrong for Star Wars.
Rating:
Summary: Boring. Very boring.
Review: If you like Star Wars books, great! This book still may not be for you! I read the first novel of the trilogy and quit after that. It just didn't seem to spark the same interest that the better Star Wars books have. Some of the elements didn't seem to belong in the Star Wars universe. All these combined with the fact that they chose the worst possible character to base a series on makes a bad book, not to mention a bad trilogy
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