David's Review of The Courtship of Princess Leia

3/5 Rancors - Mr. Wolverton's book continues the pursuit of Warlord Zsinj but ties the tale in with Han's courtship of Leia and Leia's apparent admiration for another suitor. At the beginning of the book, General Solo returns from a five-month campaign against Zsinj and believes that he has won a major victory. Arriving at Coruscant he is startled to find dozens of saucer-shaped Battle Dragons from the Hapan fleet. The Hapan Consortium is an extremely powerful, wealthy, and mysterious political entity that would be a valuable ally to the New Republic. Leia had paid a diplomatic visit to the Hapans several months earlier to explore the possibility of joining forces. Now the Hapans have come to Coruscant to give the terms they would insist upon in a joint effort. The only problem that arises is that Leia is expected to marry Isolder, the Queen Mother's son and heir.

From this point the book moves on to Han's kidnapping of Leia, their journey to the planet of Dathomir, their difficulties with the legendary Witches of Dathomir, and the discovery that Warlord Zsinj's ship Iron Fist is actually undergoing repairs in an orbital stardock above the planet. Fortunately, Luke Skywalker also shows up on Dathomir to help our heroes. The book ends well and has some great battle scenes.

However, Mr. Wolverton's problem lies in his depiction of Leia as a lovesick damsel who has suddenly decided to spurn the advances of her previous true love, Han Solo. Almost uniformly throughout the Star Wars saga Leia is an extremely strong and capable woman. Now all of a sudden she has reversed her feelings completely and has fallen for the Hapan prince. The whole sequence just falls flat. I didn't believe it for a minute.

On the other hand, the book has some great characters and scenes, especially the Nightsisters, i.e., the witches. They are memorable and would be a welcome addition to future books. Also, we learn a lot more about one of my favorites, the rancor. On the planet of Dathomir the rancors have flourished and developed a place of their own. There is a lot more to the rancors than simply serving as a killing machine for Jabba the Hutt.

Read the book and enjoy it. Just skip through the romance novel scenes of Leia trying to decide who she really loves.