Much better than the first in the series. The story felt more cohesive to me, with less frenetically stuffed in action for the hell of it. Which is not to say this isn't also action-packed, but the action here tends to be a little more in service of the story than the reverse. I'm all for popcorn reads, but I like a book to be more than a series of special-effects-in-prose. This still has its share of action silliness - Chewbacca making a hang-glider out of a dead pterodactyl springs to mind - but there's nothing as egregiously dumb as the tower-shot-into-space of the last book. There's less attention on the boring droids and other supporting (and ephemeral) cast here as well - the focus is more solidly on Han, which allows for a bit of character work, adding to the greater likeability of this volume. I'd still like to see more focus on his friendship with Chewie, but in general Daley's decision to strip back the moving parts a bit has paid off.