Well, after spending 4 hours or so tryping that thing out, I pretty much know Chapter 4 by heart. The thing that sticks in my mind the most? Nom Anor is a SICKO. We've all seen the twisted villian, taking joy in other people's misery, the whole poisoning the good guys thing, etc etc etc, but Nomie takes it to new heights.

Nothing like the villians of old, with their dramatic dialogue and delusions of grandeur, Anor seems to take sincere joy in just the situation. He is so sure of himself, so proud of his accomplishments, that he barely cares what the enemy thinks at all. I can't remember ever hearing Hethrir or Thrawn or Zsinj chuckle, at least not for no good reason other than pure delight.

He remains so unbelievably calm and in control of the situation, it's a wonder he's not a Jedi. It's hard to believe any of this really matters to him at all, so...almost light-hearted, is he during the whole confrontation. The closest he comes to the typical Star Wars villian is when C-3PO speaks up during the "lecture in a hallway" and Anor freaks out, seemingly about ready to tear the droid limb from shiny limb. Even that turns out to be a conflict he enjoyed. I could practically hear his laughing--though not maniacally, mind you--as Leia & company flew over the enormous "pit o' droids," as it were. Truly is he, as Nom himself said of Leia, one to respect. Respect and fear, that is.

The latter part of the excerpt is a very familiar scene: Han and Chewie working on the Falcon. Only now, he's got a fifteen-year-old on the scene, causing more trouble then he's worth. The boy even makes the mistake of calling the Falcon a "stupid ship," leading to a funny exchange between him and Chewie.

The most interesting thing about this part is that the very end is Luke and Han planning their visit to Lando's mining operation (leaving presumably as soon as Leia and the gang get back), but the actual visit doesn't take place for six chapters...