On the Coffee Table: L. Neil Smith

Title: Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon
Author: L. Neil Smith

via Wookieepedia

Lando's back, once again finding himself an unwitting pawn in someone else's game.   One of his Sabacc opponents draft's him to take part in a drug bust of a political rival.  There are also a couple of other parties who, entirely independent of the narc story, seem to have it in for our gambling scoundrel friend.

There's a little more character development for Lando this time, though not much.  The Millenium Falcon is still a fairly recent acquisition for him and we see how the ship is the beginning of a more stable, responsible life for Calrissian.  There are glimpses of a backstory, though one thin on details.  We get more Sabacc rules, too, though it's still a highly confusing game.  The phone app hasn't done much to help me understand it.

The Flamewind of the title is a more violent version of the Northern Lights and is a similar draw for tourists.  We do get one intriguing character: Waywa Fybot, an avian/humanoid from Uaua.  One, I believe fan-generated, image of the character looks like this:

via Wookieepedia

My own mental image was more like this:

via Wikipedia