Friday, April 15, 2016

Chewie. We're home!


Just finished reading this blast from the past trilogy: collectively called the Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley. Han Solo at Stars End (written in 1979), Han Solo's Revenge (1979), and Han Solo and the Lost Legacy (1980) pre-date anything else Star Wars not named Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976) and Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978).

Brian Daley would have been the only other game in town, besides Alan Dean Foster (who wrote one and ghost-wrote the other). 

What a great trilogy, especially for what it added to the canon at this early date: Z-95 Headhunter, Victory-class Star Destroyer, Marauder-class cruiser, the Corporate Sector Authority, Espos, houks, and more. Whole new areas of the galaxy explored and partially defined. Many new alien species, enough to know that you'd never meet them all, even if you were a dedicated space bum like Han.

All three books had a good amount of hijinks, fast paced action, and lots of twists and turns. I was surprised at how well they held up, description-of-technology-wise, being that they are almost 40 years old. 

As for hijinks: blowing up a secret Corporate Sector prison installation is pretty great. And when I say "blowing up", I really mean UP. Having to work with an undercover Corporate Sector agent and a bond company stooge while tracking down the roots of a slavery ring was pretty cool. Finding clues to an ancient treasure while helping out an old pal and evading perhaps the galaxy's best quick-draw artist also makes for a good tale.

The Millenium Falcon gets hot-rod upgraded, partially blown up, and mostly ripped apart. By the end of the trilogy Han needs some money for repairs, and thinks its a good idea to approach Jabba for a loan. All in all a very satisfying read. Better than the Lando trilogy (but Lando's odd tales still rate better than some of the bad Star Wars fare out there, past and present).

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