Timothy Zahn returns yet again to the Star Wars universe, with a new publication to be released at the end of this year focusing on Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian. Entitled Star Wars: Scoundrels, the book will be released on Boxing Day, which is December 26.

Zahn’s new adventure is essentially a heist/crime story, which is an awesome idea, as this concept has never been explored in the Expanded Star Wars Universe. Picture this: mixing up the stories of Ocean’s Eleven, The Usual Suspects, and The Italian Job, and chucking them all into the backdrop of the Star Wars galaxy… Sold on the idea yet? I can tell you with absolute certainty that I am.

The Expanded Universe has been advancing sub-genre stories like this for a few years now, the best known being Deathtroopers, mixing up Horror and Zombie stories into Star Wars lore. This year’s Darth Plagueis played more like a Godfather-esque tale inside the context of Sith lineage; and the recent Dark Horse comic book series Agent Of The Empire captures the Bourne/007 spy genre wonderfully.