2/5 Rancors - The second book in the Han Solo Adventures, Han Solo's Revenge, is not a sequel to Han Solo at Stars' End but rather its own distinct story. The only important elements that carries over from the first book besides Han, Chewie, and the Falcon are Bollux and Blue Max. In a funny opening sequence, Han and Chewie are embarked on a venture as somewhat honest businessmen, but a cultural misunderstanding quickly tosses them back into their usual one-step-ahead-of-the-law lifestyle.
The dominant theme of this story is Han's hatred of slavery. This characteristic of Han's, given a full backstory in Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy, has often been cited as the reason he rescued Chewbacca, sacrificing his career in the Empire as a result. Han and Chewie have blindly accepted a mission without knowing any details; when they discover it involves the transportation of slaves, they turn the tables, free the captives, and set out for revenge on the jokers who set them up.
I found this story somewhat disjointed compared to the more tightly-focused first novel. It seemed to move from one loosely-connected vignette to another without cleanly weaving the strands into a larger tapestry. After spending most of the story introducing new characters, locales, and plotline, I expected a bigger finish, but the climax depends rather heavily on exposition telling us how clever the various plots had been. Han has been used as a tool the whole story, and his revenge mostly consists of helping the Authority to disrupt the slavers and getting some money out of the whole deal. I expected something a little more primal from a book with Revenge in the title.
I enjoyed reading Han Solo's Revenge but not as much as the first Daley book. Despite having a fairly well-written mystery plot at its core, I never connected much with the characters or the storyline.
1 comments:
I actually felt this was the strongest novel of the three Han Solo Adventures penned by Daley.
I agree that the story seems to jump (rather abruptly) from planet to planet. But I must admit that I enjoyed the use of mystery in this novel. There are several mysteries that arise and will eventually be resolved over the course of the novel - such as who attacked Han in the Bonadan Spaceport warehouse, who is the mastermind behind the slave ring that set up Han in the first place and who is the gunslinger Gallandro working for? Daley continues to use humour to great effect in this novel. The early chapter involving water holoprojections on a desert world was funny. I was particularly tickled by the character Spray - a member of a water-based alien species known as the Tynnan. Spray is essentially a sort of glorified repo man/bail bondsman referred to as a "skip tracer" and he works for an outfit called Interstellar Collections Limited. His determination to collect on Han's various debts on behalf of dozens of creditors is quite humourous. In several scenes, it appears that Chewie or Han are about to crush him (quite literally), but it doesn't stop Skip from noting that Han's debts will continue to be subject to collection and further legal action will take place. I think it's safe to say we will all probably face this kind of bureaucratic "resistance is futile" debt collector mentality at least once in our own lives. I found the character Fiolla to be somewhat of a disappointment as a potential love-interest for Han. She wears her ambition so much on her sleave that no matter what romantic sparks or pangs of loyalty that may fly vis a vis her and Han, you have no doubt from the beginning that this woman will put her career and loyalties to the Corporate Sector Authority first - the inevitable betrayal is just a matter of time. The introduction of the gunslinger Gallandro is done with great aplomb. I certainly got the feeling that this guy is one tough hombre who could probably best Han in a fair shootout. It's a good thing that Han doesn't have any qualms about not playing fair! In the end, I think this is the best novel in the Han Solo Adventures and the conclusion was satisfying.
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