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A review by jaredkwheeler
Han Solo at Stars' End by Brian Daley
4.0
Star Wars Legends Project #211
Background: Han Solo at Stars' End was written by [a:Brian Daley|105184|Brian Daley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1208193939p2/105184.jpg], and published in April 1979. It is the first of three "Han Solo Adventures" written by Daley, who also adapted the Original Trilogy of Star Wars films for the radio.
Han Solo at Stars' End takes place about 2 years before the battle of Yavin. The main characters are Han Solo and Chewbacca. The story takes place on various planets in the Corporate Sector.
Summary: Facing expulsion from the black-market profits to be had on the margins of the totalitarian Corporate Sector, Han Solo looks to Doc, a skilled outlaw mechanic, for a workaround. Unfortunately, Doc has been vanished by Corporate Sector authorities, and if Han wants his upgrade, he'll have to stick his own neck out to infiltrate an impregnable secret prison.
Review: The first time I read this book, it suffered somewhat by comparison to A. C. Crispin's spectacular Han Solo Trilogy (this series takes place during book 3 of that series). There are a few reasons the comparison isn't fair, but the most important one is this: One of the best things about Crispin's trilogy is the way it fleshes out and pieces together a vast array of established lore about Han Solo to tell a compelling "origin story" for the character. One of the best things about this trilogy is that it's just about the first piece of the Expanded Universe ever, published even before the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Daley was playing a vast, open sandbox, and there's just something really fun about that.
What this book gets most right is Han Solo as a character. This is the Han Solo of the original Star Wars, a cocky anti-hero who doesn't do favors and acts in his own self-interest. This Han always shoots first. This sets up a lot of fun plot dynamics for getting Han involved in something resembling a heroic role without any of the usual heroic motivations, and Daley is good at writing Han into a really tight corner and then writing him back out of it in ways you don't see coming. It gets a bit goofy in spots (particularly an extended sequence at the climax involving something that goes up and then takes a hard-to-believe stretch of time to come back down), but nothing too over-the-top.
At times it may seem unfamiliar because the EU evolved so much in later years, and the pacing is very different from the Star Wars novels of later decades, but this is a really enjoyable nostalgia trip that's well-worth checking out.
B
Background: Han Solo at Stars' End was written by [a:Brian Daley|105184|Brian Daley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1208193939p2/105184.jpg], and published in April 1979. It is the first of three "Han Solo Adventures" written by Daley, who also adapted the Original Trilogy of Star Wars films for the radio.
Han Solo at Stars' End takes place about 2 years before the battle of Yavin. The main characters are Han Solo and Chewbacca. The story takes place on various planets in the Corporate Sector.
Summary: Facing expulsion from the black-market profits to be had on the margins of the totalitarian Corporate Sector, Han Solo looks to Doc, a skilled outlaw mechanic, for a workaround. Unfortunately, Doc has been vanished by Corporate Sector authorities, and if Han wants his upgrade, he'll have to stick his own neck out to infiltrate an impregnable secret prison.
Review: The first time I read this book, it suffered somewhat by comparison to A. C. Crispin's spectacular Han Solo Trilogy (this series takes place during book 3 of that series). There are a few reasons the comparison isn't fair, but the most important one is this: One of the best things about Crispin's trilogy is the way it fleshes out and pieces together a vast array of established lore about Han Solo to tell a compelling "origin story" for the character. One of the best things about this trilogy is that it's just about the first piece of the Expanded Universe ever, published even before the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Daley was playing a vast, open sandbox, and there's just something really fun about that.
What this book gets most right is Han Solo as a character. This is the Han Solo of the original Star Wars, a cocky anti-hero who doesn't do favors and acts in his own self-interest. This Han always shoots first. This sets up a lot of fun plot dynamics for getting Han involved in something resembling a heroic role without any of the usual heroic motivations, and Daley is good at writing Han into a really tight corner and then writing him back out of it in ways you don't see coming. It gets a bit goofy in spots (particularly an extended sequence at the climax involving something that goes up and then takes a hard-to-believe stretch of time to come back down), but nothing too over-the-top.
At times it may seem unfamiliar because the EU evolved so much in later years, and the pacing is very different from the Star Wars novels of later decades, but this is a really enjoyable nostalgia trip that's well-worth checking out.
B