David's Review of Han Solo and the Lost Legacy

5/5 Rancors - Han Solo and the Lost Legacy is the third tale in The Han Solo Adventures and the best of the three. All of the stories give us an idea of how Han came to be the lovable rogue that we know from the films and how his relationship with Chewbacca developed over the years. The stories are packed with action and with a lot of humor. The first tale, Han Solo at Stars' End, was good. The second, Han Solo's Revenge, was vastly disappointing, so I was glad to read this third one and let Han's adventures from this book finish on a high note.

Our heroes in this book have fallen on hard times in the beginning and are reduced to accepting whatever types of jobs will get them by, including serving as the pit crew for an aerial entertainer. When a real job turns up, they leave the insufferable entertainer in a memorable scene in which Han shows an audience what a real pilot can do. They are then off on a mission to earn credits, but this one does not work out. However, they do run into an old friend - Badure along with his associates Hasti and Skynx. Badure previously was a respected piloting instructor on Carida but had fallen on hard times. Hasti has taken up with Badure in a quest they are on for a treasure and also to avenge the death of her sister. Skynx was a Ruurian who was an expert on pre-Republic times. All of this crew along with our old friends the droids Bollux and Blue Max head off on a quest to find a legendary treasure from a ship called the Queen of Ranroon. According to legend, the treasure is stored in the vaults of Xim the Despot, a legendary conqueror of many worlds in ancient times. These vaults are located on Dellalt.

As you might expect, Han and Chewie are greatly attracted by the thought of treasure. Also, as you might expect, they are not the only ones interested in the treasure. The operators of a mining company on Dellalt are also after the riches and provide most of the bad guys in the tale. The bad guys are helped out by Gallandro, the noted gunman from earlier stories. The tale moves along rapidly through a number of harrowing situations and has a somewhat unexpected ending. A number of things that made the story great fun to read are listed below.

• The interaction between Han and Chewie reaches a new level.
• A chase scene with Han and Chewie and assorted company riding in a groundcoach that is decked out as if it were in a parade. Chewie's driving skills and reactions to situations are priceless.
• The sauropteriods who help our intrepid team to cross a major lake.
• A ride down a huge snowfield on a large gong with all of them hanging on for dear life as the bad guys come after them.
• The cleverness of Bollux and Blue Max as they help their friends get out of several scrapes.
• The war-robots of Xim - huge robots intended only to search and destroy when called upon. Great characters. I felt as if Transformers had come to Star Wars.

This is a story not to be missed.

Andrew's Review of Han Solo and the Lost Legacy

3/5 Rancors - Han Solo and the Lost Legacy concludes Brian Daley's Han Solo Adventures, although like the first two books, it is a standalone tale. Bollux and Blue Max continue to be a part of the Millennium Falcon's crew, and the feared gunslinger Gallandro returns from Han Solo's Revenge, but otherwise you don't have to have read the prior volumes to enjoy this one. Daley also continues to mix up the style of adventures; we've had a prisoner rescue story and a tale of revenge, and now we have a quest for a legendary lost treasure hoard accumulated by Xim the Despot millenia earlier.

The first few chapters of Han Solo and the Lost Legacy focus on assembling our new cast of characters. As per the other two novels, the story kicks off with a deal of Han and Chewie's going bad. From there they find themselves on the run and in dire need of funds. The new characters include Badure, an old smuggler acquaintance of Han's; Hasti, a younger woman Badure has partnered with; and Skynx, a Ruurian academic interested in pursuing the lost treasure for the sake of adventure and knowledge rather than monetary gain.

Once this group has assembled, they head off to Dellalt to try and unlock the secret of Xim's vaults. The notion of huge empty vaults Xim left behind being dotted all over the galaxy is evocative, and I found it easy to picture Han being swept up in this sort of quest (maybe due to Harrison Ford having played a certain notable archeologist…). There are many action sequences occurring one after another on Dellalt, but the story largely maintains its energy and focus.

I was amused by a sequence mid-book that took place on a lake involving giant dinosaur-like creatures towing rafts of humans across for money. My visuals for this scene kept blending with the Doomworld arc of the Star Wars Marvel comics, in which Luke and Co. encounter large dinosaurs on a world of water. Not totally the same, but the goofy factor in this sequence in the book rivaled that of many of the Marvel tales.

The Gallandro arc draws to a satisfying conclusion in this book. It's hard to instill a sense of danger in these prequel stories, where we know perfectly well Han and Chewie will be OK, but there is a moment in their final confrontation that comes closes. The book ends well and the last page really feels like you're heading back into the events of A. C. Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy (which she gets credit for, as her books were written many years later).

Like the Lando Calrissian Adventures before them, all three of the Han Solo Adventures stand somewhat detached from the Star Wars universe as established in the films. A few elements are brought into each, but the Empire seems very far away throughout. Happily, there's plenty of room for side stories in such a large galaxy. If you are looking for a story closely tied to the films' primary thematic elements, these two series don't fit the bill and may feel more like a diversion. However, if you're interested in expanding your Star Wars universe and taking a break from the epic struggles of Jedi vs. Sith, give one of them a try.

David's Review of Han Solo's Revenge

2/5 Rancors - Han Solo's Revenge is the second tale in The Han Solo Adventures. Unfortunately, I found this one to be a real step down from the previous story, Han Solo at Stars' End. The synopsis of the story sounds good. Han and Chewie are tricked into an attempt to transport a shipload of slaves. Since anything associated with slavery is anathema to our heroes, we know they will fight against the attempt. They do exactly that and manage to free the slaves. However, from there on, the tale goes downhill. Han and Chewie take off in the Falcon in an effort to collect the fee they were promised as part of the deal. Things get complicated. They run into Fiolla, an Assistant Auditor-General for the Corporate Sector Authority, and Spray, a licensed collections agent who is charged with the responsibility of claiming the Falcon as payment for Han's unpaid debts. These two characters stay with us until the end of the tale at which point Spray turns out to be someone completely different.

The tale just did not hold my attention. The most interesting character to turn up is a hired gun named Gallandro who has the reputation of being the fastest gun in the galaxy. He and Han are involved in a showdown in which Gallandro backs down, but you just know that he will turn up in future stories. The story travels to the planets Bonadan and Ammuud, and in the end Han and Chewie make a slick maneuver to escape with Fiolla and Spray (actually Odumin, the CSA territorial manager) held hostage and their ten-thousand credit fee safely tucked away. So all ends well, but it could have ended equally well in about thirty fewer pages.

Now it's on to the third tale in Han's adventures. I am more optimistic about Han Solo and the Lost Legacy.

Andrew's Review of Han Solo's Revenge

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.

David's Review of Han Solo at Stars' End

4/5 Rancors - Han Solo at Stars' End is the first tale in The Han Solo Adventures. I found Stars' End to be an extremely enjoyable tale of adventure with Han, Chewie, and assorted other characters. The bad guys in this story are the Corporate Sector Authority, a semi-independent group that seems to be interested solely in profit. Any means of gathering profits are acceptable to them.

The CSA has constructed the Stars' End prison complex on the desolate rock Mytus VII. Dissidents and other troublemakers are quietly being rounded up and held at Stars' End in stasis cells. In one of the frequent bouts of trouble that they run into, Chewie is captured by the CSA and taken to Stars' End. Han, of course, mounts a rescue effort with the help of Bollux, a labor droid, and Blue Max, a positronic processor hidden in Bollux's chest cavity. They are joined in this mission by two Trianii: Atuarre and Pakka. This team manages to get to Stars' End, destroy the prison, and rescue many of the prisoners.

The book is a real treat in many ways. The familiar byplay between Han and Chewie is wonderful, and Chewie's methods of expressing his emotions through honking and roaring are just great to imagine. This is a real Star Wars adventure with familiar characters doing adventurous things. Don't miss it.

Andrew's Review of Han Solo at Stars' End

3/5 Rancors - Like the Lando Calrissian Adventures, Brian Daley's Han Solo Adventures are among the few books written while the original film trilogy was still being produced. In fact, Daley wrote these before The Empire Strikes Back was released, so he had to be very careful not to step on Lucas' toes creatively. Therefore you will find little that is familiar from the films in these three novels. They are set before A New Hope and are essentially three stand-alone episodes of Han Solo's life. A.C. Crispin's excellent Han Solo Trilogy encompasses a much broader span of time; she works these adventures into her third volume, Rebel Dawn.

Han Solo at Stars' End is set in the Corporate Sector Authority region of space, an area that appears to be largely free of the influence of the Empire. Han is living the typical smuggler's life, moving from job to job and situation to situation as he and Chewbacca try to make a living. An early predicament in this book throws them a curve: they desperately need some upgrades to the Millennium Falcon and they need them fast to stay a step ahead of the Espos, the regional security goons. There is only one man to turn to: Doc, the preeminent outlaw-tech who runs an illicit starship chop-shop.

Unfortunately, Doc has been captured by the Authority and has disappeared. Han and Chewbacca agree to attempt to track Doc down and attempt a rescue in exchange for ship upgrades. To aid them in getting data on Doc's location, they are assigned Bollux and Blue Max, a pair of droids who, much like Vuffi Raa in the Lando Calrissian Adventures, will start out as annoyances but grow to become trusted partners. Blue Max discerns that Doc has been taken to Stars' End, a wretched, isolated facility on the very edge of the Corporate Sector. The rest of the book deals with the rescue mission.

Daley is a descriptive and engaging writer. Han Solo at Stars' End, though set apart from most other Star Wars EU novels, does occasionally introduce an element that has been carried through to many other stories, such as Z-95 Headhunters and vibro-blades. Bollux and Blue Max prove to be entertaining additions to the story and I'm glad Daley chose to bring them along in his other two books. The feline Trianii mother and son Atuarre and Pakka and the wicked VicePrex Hirken are the other memorable characters introduced. There are a fair number of supporting characters who flit in and out of the story quite briefly, which seems realistic for a smuggler's tale.

The climatic events of the story are almost too over-the-top for my tastes. I found the ultimate fate of Stars' End rather hard to believe, although I will grant it certainly paints a vivid picture when you're reading it. Han is a rather two-dimensional character in this tale. Everything you learned of him from seeing him in the cantina in A New Hope is what you're given in this story. I was surprised by how cold-blooded he is in dealing with a traitor mid-book, but that probably fits well with the pre-Rebellion old-style Han Solo.

Although it doesn't add much to the overall characters of Han Solo and Chewbacca, Han Solo at Stars' End is an entertaining stand-alone chapter in the saga.

David's Review of Lando Calrissian and the StarCave of Thonboka

2/5 Rancors - Starcave is the third tale in The Lando Calrissian Adventures, written in 1983 and intended to give us background information about the charming rogue who figures so prominently in the films. However, the writing style led me to attempt to focus purely on the story without being too put off by the conversational efforts of the characters. I am just not a fan of Mr. Smith's writing.

Lando and Vuffi Raa have made a new friend - Lehesu of the Oswaft, an extremely reclusive species of gigantic vacuum breathers who can make natural hyperspace jumps and are able to glean nourishment from the microbes floating in space. Lando and Vuffi rescue Lehesu from a near-starvation situation and gain his true friendship. Unfortunately, the ability of the Oswalt to make hyperspace jumps comes to the attention of the Emperor, and he decides that they could pose a danger to the Empire. Of course, he orders that they be wiped out. In answer to Lehesu's pleas, Lando and Vuffi spring into action, travel to the sack-shaped nebula known as the Starcave or the ThonBoka, and teach the Oswalt how to fight.

In the climax of the story, our old friend the Sorcerer of Tund turns up again and duels Lando mano a mano to settle the battle. Without going into all of the details, suffice it to say that Lando wins the day and Vuffi Raa springs a huge surprise.

Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka is worth reading, but it will not overwhelm you. There are better stories in the Expanded Universe.

Andrew's Review of Lando Calrissian and the StarCave of Thonboka

3/5 Rancors - Completing L. Neil Smith's Lando Calrissian Adventures, Lando Calrissian and the StarCave of ThonBoka weaves together some of the events and many of the characters of the first two volumes to bring some closure to the story. This volume is the most far-out of the three, involving gigantic vacuum-breathing transparent creatures, kilometers-long droid starships, and a few surprising revelations about our main characters, including Lando's faithful sidekick Vuffi Raa and the malicious Sorcerer of Tund, Rokur Gepta.

This third volume is written in the exact style of the first two: large doses of humor, gambling vignettes, Earth-based terminology, and flamboyant dialogue. Lando and Vuffi get in one scrape after another but with all the humor it is hard to feel very concerned. However, Smith does continue to write in a broadly entertaining style and I will admit that this encouraged me to read and digest these three books very quickly. Also like the first two books, this story feels tangentially connected to the Star Wars universe we know at best, although some sources have retconned various aspects of the story into the more familiar modern framework (such as specifying Gepta's role under the Emperor or locating and explaining the Centrality sector of the galaxy).

The inhabitants of the titular StarCave are the massive vacuum-breathing Oswaft. An adventurous young Oswaft named Lehesu is befriended by Lando and Vuffi, leading to their involvement when the Empire decides the Oswaft are a potential threat to galactic security. Rokur Gepta has been designated by the Emperor to control fleet operations in this sector, setting up the final conflict between the EVIL Sorcerer and our hero Lando. The plotline from the second volume concerning old fighter pilots from the Renatasian system hunting down Vuffi for vengeance is also resurrected and concluded. Even Ottdefa Osuno Whett resurfaces from Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu and is pivotal to the book's climax.

My favorite addition to the Expanded Universe to come from this series is Vuffi Raa, the one-meter tall starfish-shaped wunderkind of a droid. His sparring with Lando is amusing, if a bit relentless, and his storyline turns out to be one of the most intriguing parts of the trilogy, especially when his past and purpose are revealed in this book. We'll probably never see another book feature Vuffi in any substantial way, but it would be fun to see him return and play a role somewhere in the post-Return of the Jedi era.

Lando Calrissian and the StarCave of ThonBoka and the Lando Calrissian Adventures as a whole are a somewhat peculiar and left-field addition to the galaxy far, far away, but it's nice to see a different perspective occasionally and read stories that try for a more light-hearted tone.

David's Review of Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon

2/5 Rancors - All three tales in The Lando Calrissian Adventures were written in 1983 and serve as a guide to Lando's background and some of his adventures that helped to make him what he turns out to be later on in the Star Wars films. As was true with the first story Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, the second story is strangely written. Mr. Smith's handling of language throughout the three tales consistently hits a wrong note with me. It just does not sound like the charming resourceful character we come to love in the films.

The Flamewind is a natural event that occurs each year in the Oseon asteroid belts. For three weeks, stellar flares interact with ionized vapors. The result is a light show beyond belief. Another result is that the Flamewind is basically not navigable during the three weeks. Lando's piloting skills are put to the test, and he relies heavily on Vuffi Raa, his droid companion from the first tale, to do what needs to be done.

Lando and Vuffi arrive at the Oseon system after their adventures at Sharu and their battle against the Imperial ships at Nar Shaddaa. Once again they run into trouble with the administrator of the system and are forced to participate in a dangerous drug bust in order to win their freedom. The sting operation is aimed at the billionaire industrialist Bohhuah Mutdah. Lando poses as a drug dealer and succeeds in getting two drug enforcement agents through the Flamewind and in to see Mutdah. This does not go well for any of them from that point. The agents end up dead, and Lando is in trouble because Mutdah turns out to be Rokur Gepta, the Sorcerer of Tund, in disguise. Rokur is still extremely displeased with Lando because of all the trouble Lando caused in Sharu during the first story. Lando escapes this one only through the accidental efforts of a squadron of Renatasian starfighters who are really trying to settle an old grudge against Vuffi Raa.

As was true with the first story in Lando's Adventures, you really should read this story for a decent adventure and to learn about Lando's early days. Once again, just don't set your expectations too high.

Andrew's Review of Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon

2/5 Rancors - Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon is the second book in L. Neil Smith's Lando Calrissian Adventures series. It picks up fairly closely on where the first volume left off, with Lando finding that prosperity is not all he dreamed it would be. Seems he and Vuffi Raa made have made some enemies on their way to the top, including a certain nefarious Sorcerer of Tund.

Much like the first book, Lando is forced into a mission by mysterious conspirators. This time he and Vuffi must transport two officers of the law through the beautiful but deadly Flamewind of Oseon (a gigantic stellar storm impacting the Oseon system annually) to arrest the richest man in the universe, Bohhuah Mutdah. Of course, all is not as it seems, especially with the mysterious assailants who are stalking our dynamic duo and the fate that awaits them on Mutdah's personal asteroid.

Like the first book, Flamewind of Oseon is a short and easy read. There really isn't too much to the plot, as most of the pages are either concerned with setting up the story or simply getting Lando and Vuffi to the asteroid for the final confrontation. Also like the first book, there is virtually nothing to tie this to Star Wars beyond Lando and the Falcon. Smith does attempt a casual link between Rokur Gepta and the Empire, but there's not much to substantiate it.

Speaking of Gepta, he must be one of the most stereotypical, virtual-mustache-twirling villains in the Star Wars universe. He is purely EVIL and delights in the destruction he causes. Like a classic Bond villain, he also delights in spelling out his EVIL plots to his victims to showcase his incredible cleverness. In a completely ridiculous sequence, he uses his new method of "torture-by-chagrin" on Lando, which forces the recipient to relive bad memories (but they are enhanced to be much worse). This is just silly.

This book and the first one have a large amount of Earth-based terminology sprinkled through them, such as cigarettes, rabbits, and Doppler radar. Of course, Marvel gave us a six-foot tall rabbit in Jaxxon as a main character for a few issues and The Phantom Menace even gave us ducks, but it seems a little too frequent in this book to keep that "galaxy far, far away" feel.

Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon is very much like the first book Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu in style and feel. Since the novelty value is gone for this volume, I'm giving it the two stars I considered giving to book one.

David's Review of Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu

2/5 Rancors - The first tale in The Lando Calrissian Adventures was written in 1983 and apparently is intended to give us an idea of Lando's background and one of his adventures that helped to make him what he turns out to be later on in the Star Wars films. Unfortunately, I don't feel that Mr. Smith did a very good job of handling the adventure. Lando is a wonderful character in the films- charming, clever, resourceful, and a good hand in a fight. Not all of this comes through in this tale.

As usual with Lando stories, this tale is set into motion by a sabacc game that leads Lando to go on a treasure-hunting mission to Rafa, a system that is covered with colossal pyramids built by the ancient Sharu. These pyramids were impregnable and had never been opened or explored. The present natives of the Rafa system were the Toka, who appeared to be primitive and simpleminded. The Sharu seemed to have gone into hiding centuries earlier in cities beneath the giant pyramids, and rumor had it that they had left behind a fabulous treasure, the Mindharp of Sharu. Lando is joined in this quest by the droid Vuffi Raa, an extremely interesting character who plays a valuable role throughout the adventure.

Lando is arrested on trumped-up charges by the colonial governor of Rafa. His only way to escape time in prison is to search for the Mindharp on behalf of Rokur Gepta, the Sorcerer of Tund. Lando and Vuffi eventually reach Rafa V where they unlock the largest Sharu pyramid with a transdimensional key given to them by the sorcerer. There they find the Mindharp. Then they return to the governor and find they have been scammed. The governor only wants the Mindharp for his own greedy purposes. However, when he activates it he sets off a chain of events that leads to a complete reversal of the social order on Rafa.

Mr. Smith uses unusual phrases in places that just did not seem to fit. Plus, he repeats over and over a statement that was amusing the first few times but becomes really tiresome pretty quickly. Lando continually tells his droid not to call him Master. Just tell him two or three times, not twenty. The story also feels very isolated. Nobody else from the Expanded Universe turns up. It's just Lando. I miss the interaction with some of our other favorite characters.

Read the story for a decent adventure and to learn about Lando's early days. Just don't set your expectations too high.

Andrew's Review of Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu

3/5 Rancors - Separating them from most of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the Lando Calrissian Adventures by L. Neil Smith were actually written during the release of the original movies (all three were published in a six-month span right after Return of the Jedi in 1983). They take a sharply different tone from the largely more serious novels that started with Timothy Zahn's trilogy in 1991. Except for the inclusion of Lando and the Millennium Falcon, they barely feel like Star Wars stories at all.

In Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, Lando is the brand-new owner of the Falcon and is just about to win Vuffi Raa, a quirky meter-tall starship-shaped droid who will be his constant companion through these three novels. Vuffi is a fun character and I did enjoy the banter between him and Lando; however, at the same time, Lando speaks in a way I find highly unbelievable and very little like his character in the films. Smith tends to amplify small characteristics of Lando's speech and use them mercilessly. For example, if you noticed Lando saying "you pirate" a couple of times in the films, be ready for dozens of variations on that.

Lando and Vuffi set off for the Rafa System, where they quickly find themselves in hot water with the local authorities and Rokur Gepta, the Sorcerer of Tund, who is to be their primary adversary throughout the three novels. Turns out not all is as it seems and they set out to discover the mysteries behind the legendary Mindharp and the strange disappearance of the Sharu people millennia ago. It's a fine story but doesn't feel like it is a Star Wars story; it could easily have been transplanted from any sci-fi franchise with Lando pasted on top.

Smith writes in a flowing manner that is easy to read and entertaining. He does a particularly good job with a chapter dealing with Lando escaping a deadly life-crystal tree and Vuffi essentially resurrecting himself after being shot with hundreds of arrows. The prose is strong and it's the kind of scene most of these books would blow by without pausing. Smith manages to make it gripping and interesting.

Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu is a quirky and ill-fitting book when taken in context of the entire Expanded Universe. It hovers between two and three stars for me, but I'm rounding it to three for its sheer novelty value and readability.

David's Review of The Han Solo Trilogy Vol. 3: Rebel Dawn

4/5 Rancors - The third book of A. C. Crispin's Han Solo trilogy deals primarily with Han's adventures as two separate Hutt dynasties try to wipe each other out. Chewbacca is back by his side, and Bria Tharen makes a final return appearance. The early part of the book is great fun as Han wins the Millennium Falcon from Lando in a sabacc game. Then Han and Chewie head off for Kashyyyk where Chewie marries his sweetheart Mallatobuck. From there on we are swept up in various Hutt Machiavellian schemes and the efforts of Bria Tharen, now an officer with the Rebel Alliance, to get Han and his smuggler friends to join the rebels. They plan to attack to wipe out slavery on Ylesia and acquire all of the spices and valuable items to fund rebel efforts and to pay Han and his friends.

During part of the book Han moves on to the Corporate Sector where he has numerous adventures that are described in other books. The real focus of this book is to get the characters to the point where A New Hope starts. Ms. Crispin succeeds admirably in getting this done. We understand more and more how Han's personality developed, where his mistrust of authority came from, and why he seems to shy away from serious relationships with women. Clearly we know why he strongly resists all efforts to help the Rebel Alliance after Luke and Leia come along. At the conclusion of Rebel Dawn Han and Bria's efforts have led to a victory against the slavers on Ylesia. In return for his efforts and those of his smuggler friends, Han has been promised compensation in the form of valuable spices and extremely valuable antiques from the High Priest's collection. Bria has to break this arrangement to follow orders from her superiors, i.e., keep all of the spices and antiques solely for the rebels to use in funding an attack on what we know is the Death Star. Clearly this does not sit well with Han, and his friends feel that they have been double-crossed by both Han and Bria. The resultant split between Han and Lando that we see in the films now makes more sense.

You have to love the actual ending of the book. Han and Chewie are in Mos Eisley trying to figure out how to get the money they owe Jabba from a failed spice run. The scene feels very familiar.

"Then he started across the crowded cantina, where Chewie, the old man, and the boy sat waiting....

THE BEGINNING"

Andrew's Review of The Han Solo Trilogy Vol. 3: Rebel Dawn

5/5 Rancors - A. C. Crispin brings the Han Solo Trilogy to a terrifically entertaining conclusion in Rebel Dawn. The many plot threads she began in the first two volumes are neatly sewn together. By the end, we have gained a much deeper understanding of what motivates Han and how he became the wary smuggler we met in the Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope. In addition to concluding her own plots tidily, Crispin weaves in many entertaining elements of the Expanded Universe from both other novels and comic books.

Rebel Dawn gets underway with the story of how Han won the Millennium Falcon from Lando. The two meet up unintentionally in a sabacc tournament held on Cloud City (nicely tied to The Empire Strikes Back). Han is overjoyed at his victory and surprisingly, this is not the event that caused the bad blood we see between Lando and Han in the films - that happens in the novel's climax and wasn't something Han could have easily prevented.

From Bespin the story carries on to a variety of locales much like the first two books. One interesting challenge Crispin faced in this story, which literally takes Han all the way to his entrance in A New Hope, is she had to work in the three vintage-era Han Solo novels in some capacity, since their events would have to take place somewhere in this part of the timeline. She chose to use short interludes to summarize Han's absence from the main storyline and to recap his adventures in the Corporate Sector. These interludes are smart in that they do not make for any significant redundancy between the Han Solo Trilogy and the old Han Solo Adventures.

Many key elements of Han's character that weren't tackled in the first two books make an appearance here. From the installation of the Falcon's smuggling compartments to how Han made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs to the circumstances surrounding the infamous shipment of Jabba's spice Han was forced to dump, Crispin leaves almost no detail untouched. I also enjoyed the numerous cameos and EU tie-ins, such as Xizor and Guri's appearances (along with a somewhat superfluous "dash" of another Shadows of the Empire character), the final connections to the Nar Shaddaa crowd we meet in Dark Empire, and the raid on the Imperial planet of Toprawa to secure the Death Star plans.

Rebel Dawn cruises to an exciting and gripping climax, in which key characters we haven't seen since The Paradise Snare return and the final pieces all fall into place for Episode IV. Crispin did an excellent job with the Han Solo Trilogy, taking a beloved character and adding to his backstory in many memorable and provocative ways.

David's Review of The Han Solo Trilogy Vol. 2: The Hutt Gambit

4/5 Rancors - In this second book of the Han Solo trilogy, Ms. Crispin takes us on Han's journey from his days as a cadet at the Imperial Space Academy through a number of adventures working as a pilot for the Hutts and ending up fending off an attack by Imperial forces. At the Academy, Cadet Solo spends four years preparing for a career in the Imperial Navy and developing his skills as a pilot. He graduates and spends four years as an officer before his career is cut short when he rescues a Wookie slave from ill treatment at the hands of a superior officer. The result is a dishonorable discharge. However, the Wookie, who turns out to be our old friend Chewbacca, swears a life debt to Han and promises to follow him everywhere. Obviously the entire Star Wars experience is much richer because of this incident.

Han and Chewie then move on to Nar Shaddaa, the Smugglers' Moon, where they smuggle shipments of spice to designated locations and make various runs for the Hutts, including Jabba. It is also during this period that the High Priest on Ylesia realizes that Han Solo was in fact the individual who caused them so much trouble several years earlier. He contracts with the galaxy's best bounty hunter, who else but Boba Fett, to capture Solo and return him to Ylesia to be killed. Fett's efforts to capture Han are stymied by a new character, a charming rogue named Lando Calrissian. Such introductions are the most fascinating part of learning Han Solo's backstory. Han, Chewie, Lando, Boba, Jabba - they're all here.

The Empire begins to move against the Hutts' lawless territory by authorizing Moff Sarn Shild to blockade Nal Hutta and turn the Smugglers' moon into molten slag. Through a combination of bribes, devious machinations by the Empire, and heroic deeds by Han and his fellow smugglers, the Empire's forces are thwarted. At the end of the story, Han is trying to figure out how to make money and go on with the rest of his life. His plans include coming up with enough money to go to Bespin and participate in an extremely high-stakes sabacc game. I suspect there in the third book we will run in to Lando again and learn of the acquisition of the Millennium Falcon. All of this is simply great fun as we continue to understand the forces in Han Solo's life that got him to the character he was when we first met him in A New Hope. On to the third book of the trilogy.

Andrew's Review of The Han Solo Trilogy Vol. 2: The Hutt Gambit

4/5 Rancors - The story of Han Solo's life prior to Episode IV: A New Hope continues in Volume Two of the Han Solo Trilogy, The Hutt Gambit. Author A.C. Crispin's second book in the trilogy is a seamless stylistic successor to The Paradise Snare. This book picks up several years after the first one, omitting any real-time recounting of Han's time in the service of the Empire at the Imperial Academy. We garner some glimpses of this time through flashbacks, enough to understand where the experience left Han and probably sparing the reader a fairly cut-and-dried military academy story.

This book takes a major leap toward A New Hope with the introduction of Chewbacca in the second paragraph. Chewbacca's vocalizations are always a challenge for a Star Wars author to recreate, and Crispin uses the approach of having Han paraphrase aloud most of what Chewbacca says to him (essentially how Chewie was handled in the films). Han's initial interactions with Chewie are quite entertaining, and Crispin deftly handles how he quickly grows to accept Chewie as an-almost constant companion while still illustrating Han's growing wariness of relationships with the opposite sex.

Han is still struggling with losing Bria Tharen prior to his entry to the Imperial Academy. He finds solace in the arms of Xaverri, a beautiful traveling illusionist with a deep-seated hatred of the Empire. Sadly, this relationship is doomed to follow the trajectory of his affair with Bria, its failure acting as reinforcement of Han's "every man for himself" attitude he strives to project to the world. Bria herself periodically pops in and out of the book, rapidly rising through the ranks of the Rebellion; her role in The Hutt Gambit feels primarily like a setup for a payoff in the third volume, Rebel Dawn.

In an interesting turn of events, Han is introduced to Boba Fett and Lando Calrissian virtually simultaneously. There's a terrific start to the relationships between the three that were alluded to in The Empire Strikes Back and have later been fleshed out by various novels and comics. Kudos to Crispin for interweaving elements of The Lando Calrissian Adventures into this trilogy, including everyone's favorite starship-shaped droid Vuffi Raa. Fett and Jabba the Hutt also have their first meeting here. There are a couple of minor continuity problems with the Fett descriptions, which use the pre-prequel Jaster Mereel story that was overwritten by Attack of the Clones, but this is inevitable in novels written before Episodes I-III and is easily forgiven.

Much of The Hutt Gambit is set on the Smuggler's Moon, Nar Shaddaa, which orbits the pestilent Hutt homeworld Nal Hutta. Several characters from the excellent Dark Empire comic series, including Mako Spince, Salla Zend, and Shug Ninx, make substantial appearances, and the reader learns far more about them than the comics had room to provide. Nar Shaddaa is presented as a sort of criminal version of Coruscant. It's easy to visualize and provides a compelling setting for the story, including the major climatic battle sequence.

The Hutt Gambit is a compelling continuation of the multiple storylines kicked off in The Paradise Snare. While it's not entirely clear dramatically where volume three, Rebel Dawn, will go, Crispin has done a fine job of laying essential groundwork for the character of Han Solo thus far in the trilogy. The writing is remarkably engaging for a series of books that act entirely as backstory to a character 99% of readers will already feel they know quite well.

David's Review of The Han Solo Trilogy Vol. 1: The Paradise Snare

4/5 Rancors - Ms. Crispin has written a trilogy of Han Solo books to introduce us to the character and give us his background before we meet him in the films in a cantina in Mos Eisley. The first of these books is The Paradise Snare. In this volume we begin with Han's childhood as a street urchin on Corellia when he had no steady source of income, didn't know who his parents were, and survived by foraging for scraps of food. His life changes when the scoundrel Garris Shrike takes him away to join a band of spacefaring criminals. He lives on the ship Trader's Luck and earns his keep by participating in pickpocketing and various types of scams. His only friend on the ship is the Wookie Dewlanna.

However, Han's dream is to become an Imperial Navy pilot. He realizes that after ten years on Trader's Luck he is making no progress towards his goal. He forces his way off of Trader's Luck in a violent confrontation with Shrike and is successful only due to the intervention of his friend Dewlanna. Unfortunately she loses her life in order to help Han get free.

Han then ends up on the planet Ylesia - a steaming world of religious fanaticism where pilgrims are willingly processing spices for the Besadii Hutt crime family. During this period Han becomes an excellent pilot, meets a Corellian pilgrim named Bria Tharen, and plots their escape from Ylesia when they realize that the Hutts are really running a slave trade under the guise of religion. Han and Bria manage an exciting escape from the planet and create chaos as they do it. They end up in love and together on Coruscant as Han attempts to enter the Imperial Space Academy. Of course, as the book ends, things are not going smoothly. But that is what one would expect. After all, The Paradise Snare is the first book of three.

The author has given us an excellent look at the young Han Solo and has created a history for the character where we didn't have one before. Some of his actions in Episodes IV-VI will have more meaning now. I look forward to the next two books.

Andrew's Review of The Han Solo Trilogy Vol. 1: The Paradise Snare

4/5 Rancors - It's time in the Rancors Love to Read program to leave the prequels behind and delve into the stories centered around the original trilogy of films. The journey starts with Volume One of the Han Solo Trilogy, titled The Paradise Snare and written by A. C. Crispin. It's interesting to read a book set during the time immediately before A New Hope, as largely this period has been left clean and will be tackled in several upcoming projects, including a live-action TV series from Lucasfilm and the Dark Horse comic series Dark Times.

Since 1977, Han Solo has been a favorite character of millions of fans worldwide. He's easy to understand and relate to when we first encounter him in the Mos Eisley cantina, and his development through the films is one of the most interesting plot threads in the saga. Crispin definitely took a gamble in accepting the assignment to try and flesh out this character with a detailed three-book backstory. I'm pleased to see how well that gamble paid off.

Crispin perfectly captures Han's attitude and dialogue; her younger version walks like Han and talks like Han as we know him from the films. We join up with Han in his late teens as he seeks to escape his life upon the opportunistic vessel The Trader's Luck. Crispin does a great job of working Han's backstory into the tale via flashbacks and various hints dropped in contemporary conversations. As the book progresses, we learn many things about what forged Han into the hardened rogue we know and love, such as where his loner attitude stems from, why he lives a life on the wrong side of the law but refuses to condone slavery, how he accumulated his comprehensive piloting skills, and who influenced his fondness for Wookiees.

Crispin writes in a very descriptive style and shows a knack for interjecting subtle humor into dialogue. The book is slower paced than many Star Wars novels, taking its time to establish characters both familiar and new (mostly new), and kicking off storylines to take us through the next two books. Crispin's primary new location, the drug-producing planet Ylesia, is evocatively written and she spends the time to flesh it out and make it feel like a real place rather than a thin backdrop for action sequences.

There are several interesting new characters introduced in the book. The two most important are Muuurgh, a huge feline humanoid assigned to keep an eye on Han while he works for the spice lords on Ylesia, and Bria Tharen, a beautiful young spiritual seeker who plays a large role in forging Han's every-man-for-himself ethos. I loved Muuurgh's grammar instruction from Han and his role as a sort of proto-Chewbacca. Bria is a key part of Han's story and their relationship veers in some unexpected directions as the book progresses.

It was fun to revisit Coruscant after spending such significant amounts of time there reading all the prequel novels. Alderaan's inclusion was another nice touch and it inadvertently pairs up well with the time we spent there in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, the novel that chronologically comes right before this one. The introduction of Thracken Sal-Solo is a creepy foreshadowing of the man who will cause the Solo family so many annoyances and frustrations in the years to come.

The Paradise Snare is a promising start to the Han Solo Trilogy. While the story does not present the epic scope of some of the prequel stories I've read recently, it is a very well thought out and smart story that brings an already vivid character to even brighter life.

David's Review of Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

5/5 Rancors - In Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader James Luceno tells an excellent story that I very much enjoyed reading. He takes us from immediately after Revenge of the Sith through Darth Vader's formative stages in his new role as the enforcer for Darth Sidious. Along the way Vader deals with some Jedi who escaped Order 66, and he establishes himself as an extremely powerful force in the Empire.

All of that is well and good, but Mr. Luceno also delves into some extremely interesting questions, many of which had not occurred to me before reading this book. How much trouble does Anakin Skywalker have in adapting to his new role as Darth Vader? What does he need to do in order to make an impression in the various realms of the Empire and how will he be accepted? How difficult is it for Vader to function as an instrument of terror within the confines of the black suit and all of the artificial body parts? Can he overcome the death of Padme, especially after Sidious pins the blame for her death squarely on Vader? How long will it be before he becomes proficient in the Sith dark arts and use of the Force? Can he trust Sidious? Does he even want to trust Sidious or should he just bide his time, improve his skills, and then kill his master as Sidious once did to Darth Plagieus? Fascinating stuff.

We also are treated to a wonderful look at Bail Organa's moment of near-terror when Vader shows up on Alderaan and decides he wants to meet Bail's wife Breha. The main problem is that at that moment Breha is walking around the palace holding baby Leia. Would Vader sense that his child was nearby? R2-D2 has a great sequence in the palace at the same time. R2 is one of the very few entities that understand who all the players actually are and what has happened in the recent past. He is such a good character throughout the Star Wars saga, and this episode only enhances my opinion of him.

Finally we get to the time when Obi-Wan on Tatooine learns from watching HoloNet that Darth Vader exists, that Anakin somehow survived the fight on Mustafar, and that Luke may not be as safe on the desert planet as he thought. He relies on the sudden voice of our old friend Qui-Gon for counseling and reassurance as the book ends. Also near the end of the book we have one of my very favorite pieces of advice in Star Wars. A stranger says to Obi-Wan: "Take care of yourself. These desert wastes aren't as remote as you may think they are." Good advice for the rest of the saga.

Andrew's Review of Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

5/5 Rancors - James Luceno's Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader concludes what I think of as an unofficial trilogy of books (and in fact Lucasfilm has combined the three originally independent volumes into a single omnibus) that began with Labyrinth of Evil and continued in Revenge of the Sith. In the first, we see Obi-Wan and Anakin heroically making their way through the Clone Wars and meet our key players; in the second, the war ends and Anakin falls from grace; and in this conclusion we see the aftermath along with the kickoff of a whole new era.

From my prior reviews, it's no secret that I'm a big fan of Luceno's Star Wars novels, so I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed this one just as much as his others. He is terrific at writing Star Wars action and always invests the feel of the galaxy far, far away into his storylines. His command of the Expanded Universe remains strong and he weaves in various elements of it as usual (for instance, his mentioning Quinlan Vos as a Jedi on Kashyyyk when Order 66 went down, but purposely keeping Quinlan's fate vague meshes seamlessly with Dark Horse’s comics).

I was delighted with the perspective this book offered on Darth Vader. It is amazing to think how far Vader has moved from the cryptic, ominous figure we first saw storm onto the Tantive IV in 1977. Vader is an emotional mess in this novel, wracked with pain, fear, anger, and guilt over the death of Padme and his descent to the Dark Side. He is anxious to put Anakin Skywalker behind him, and indeed, considers Darth Vader to be newly-born. When he revisits key locations from his past, such as the Jedi Temple, his emotional torment threatens to overwhelm him, neatly tying up any questions of why he doesn't visit Naboo or Tatooine ever again.

Vader's tale is interwoven with that of several surviving Jedi on the run, primarily focused on Jedi Master Roan Shryne and Padawan Olee Starstone. Three Jedi are allowed to flee by their clone commandos when Order 66 arrives, a notion I wholeheartedly agree with. It's unrealistic to believe there would not have been any Jedi survivors of the galaxy-wide massacre besides Obi-Wan and Yoda. Leaving some Jedi around for the Dark Times era will certainly enliven the EU tales, so it's a good move. These Jedi try their best to figure out what happened and why the whole universe seems to have turned against them, but only meet with some success. Primarily success could be equated with simple survival at this point. Threads are left open for possible future stories, and I'd like to see where the remaining Jedi end up.

Much like Labyrinth of Evil, we do considerable planet-hopping during the course of this novel. New planets such as Murkhana get in on the action along with welcome return visits from favorites such as Kashyyyk and some especially interesting sequences set on Alderaan, a planet that has not featured much in the EU to date (of course, since most of the books are set post-A New Hope, it’d be hard to get much Alderaan into them).

I thoroughly enjoyed the stories set during the Revenge of the Sith era. Luceno played a critical role in expanding upon the story told during the film. I hope the Dark Times will be equally interesting and that the stories will not immediately make everything into a carbon copy of the Empire we know and love from the original trilogy. There's eighteen years to be played with and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader gets things off to an excellent start.