Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary by David West Reynolds, James Luceno, and Ryder Windham
Pages 245 and 262-263
We learn that Jabba the Hutt's rancor was discovered in a mysterious crashed ship in the Tatooine desert by Bib Fortuna and his associate. Jabba treated the rancor as harshly as possible in oder to encourage ferocious behavior. The book shows nearly a full-page illustration of a rancor with pertinent details pointed out. The beast looks quite fearsome. It doesn't say anything about how rancors love to read.
4/5 Rancors - Included with Survivor's Quest is Fool's Bargain, previously available only as an eBook. Fool's Bargain tells the story of the legendary Empire of the Hand's 501st Legion as they go on a mission on the planet Kariek. Their objective is to capture a Warlord alive. The planet was traditionally the scene of endless violence due to disagreements among the many tribes of the native Eickarie race. However, since the Warlord arrived with his troops fifty years earlier, he had held all the power. As the 501st arrives, the Eickaries have forged an alliance, and the Warlord appears to be trapped in his fortress.
A unit of the 501st is captured by the Eickaries and presented with an offer to join forces, release a number of political prisoners, and then grab the Warlord. The question is can the Eickaries be trusted or will the 501st be making a fool's bargain.
It's a good story with lots of twist and turns. Mr. Zahn comes through once again. I enjoyed reading about stormtroopers named Twister, Shadow, Cloud, and Watchmen as the 501st tried to fulfill its mission.
4/5 Rancors - Survivor's Quest has Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade Skywalker as its two main characters, and the action takes place after all of the adventures described in Mr. Zahn's two-volume series The Hand of Thrawn. The author is one of the best in the Star Wars genre, and he has turned out another good book with Survivor's Quest. The plot is focused primarily on the remains of Outbound Flight that have been found on the planet Nirauan fifty years after the flight took place. Outbound Flight was a pioneering Jedi expedition that was destroyed by the alien warlord Thrawn. Up until this point, the reasons for the destruction of the flight have been a mystery. Now the beings who discovered the remains of the flight have contacted the New Republic and Luke in particular with an offer to turn over what is left of the flight to the New Republic. Luke finds the offer irresistible, so he heads off with wife Mara Jade on a long and perilous voyage to see what they can learn from the wreckage of Outbound Flight. Many surprises await.
Luke and Mara run into unexpected enemies and have to rely heavily on their Jedi skills to get out of one tough spot after another. Mr. Zahn does his usual good job with the plot, although I did feel that the action bogged down once in a while, especially when compared to the Hand of Thrawn books. It was great fun to see Luke and Mara fighting together, and a number of intriguing new characters were introduced. All in all, I thought Survivor's Quest was a worthy addition to the Star Wars world.
We learn that Jabba the Hutt's rancor was discovered in a mysterious crashed ship in the Tatooine desert by Bib Fortuna and his associate. Jabba treated the rancor as harshly as possible in oder to encourage ferocious behavior. The book shows nearly a full-page illustration of a rancor with pertinent details pointed out. The beast looks quite fearsome. It doesn't say anything about how rancors love to read.
