I read this less because I'm a Star Wars fan (I'm not at all) than because I just needed a hit of nostalgia and wanted to take a trip back to the sort of book I read when I was young (I read one of the other Daley books when I was 12.) This novel was written when there was only one film in existence, so there isn't a lot of lore to drag the story down or limit the author. It really can be read as just a science fiction adventure, unconnected to anything else. There's also none of that Jedi stuff, just a single passing reference, so it's more science fiction and not science fantasy like the films, or more recent spin-offs (I imagine). The only drawback is that you know nothing really terrible is going to happen to the two leads. Brian Daley was a solid writer and it's a shame he left us so soon.

P.S. Nude catgirls are a SF/F trope that never gets old.