Books Bloodline by Claudia Gray (book spoilers permitted)

It's not like it's not common in the real world to have one member of a couple have a job that takes them far away for long periods.

I like the notion that a loving marriage does not require the couple to remain in the same town as one another at all times.

 

You're not wrong. I suppose I'm just showing my preference for a somewhat more traditional relationship that is again, biased by the countless hours I spent reading about the old relationship.

 

GFFAwakens: You know, I'm not a fan of Absent! Han either. I'n one of those fans who love Han and Leia together forever, happily ever after, so I was needless to say pretty sad and upset that they were separated in TFA and that Han died without ever having a reconciliation with Leia. I didn't like that they were apart so much in Bloodline either, but that's just personal preference rather than the story making sense and having the characters' actions feel properly motivated. In that sense Han's life post ROTJ worked for me.

Maybe not his eventual backslide into smuggling (which is not depicted in the book) but I can definitely see him in the role that he was given in Bloodline. It kind of sucks and is a little sad too, that in New Canon or Legends EU Han and Leia will always have a romance where their beloved seems ever so slightly out of reach (either from Han being on tour in Bloodline, or in Legends EU Han and Leia going off on different missions.) At least they were portrayed as fiercely committed to each other and to letting each other really be themselves. Leia in Bloodline would never think to try to make Han into someone who stays on planet and stops traveling, and Han would never think to ask her to give up her sense of duty. They really had a profound love and respect for each other.

 

Totally with you. What you wrote makes a ton of sense and you've convinced me... a little. Ha. It may not be the Han and Leia I remember, but it certainly does make a sort of sense based on the characters we know from the OT.

 

You don't have to change your mind! GFFAwakens. That's what's so fun about these discussions on the board, having different opinions and ideas, but I do in many ways prefer new canon Han to his portrayal in Legends EU. I just wish some of what transpired in TFA could have been different for my OTP!

 

I'm sorry, but you don't have Casterfo's style.

 

You're saying that when you're not at cons, you dress like Loki? Hmm. For most people it's the other way around.

 

It wasn't that Vote Leia poster was it. Christ Almighty I wish I heard of this earlier, and had Barnes and Noble here.

Sincerely, A Brit.

 

And I.

 

Some Han/Leia fans did some snooping and found fanfic that Claudia Gray used to write Han/Leia fanfic under. Some interesting elements present in the fic that found its way to Bloodline:

1) Han mentoring Luke in the time period of ANH-ESB in flying and taking care of ships, acting as a big brother to him,
2) Han holding Leia the night of the Endor celebration and comforting her after she told him who her real father was,
3) Han teaching Leia how to play Sabaac
4) Leia thinking how she fell in love with Han because he was the only one who tell her to think of herself - fits with Leia thinking about how protective Han is of her
5) Leia envious of Han's lifestyle of being free flying amongst the stars and how she wishes she could have that too if she didn't have duty.

Also, remember in the Bantam books, Han and Leia barely spent any time together either and were always separated by different missions. Leia says in the New Rebellion Han only sleeps by her side a few days every month. That sounds like they're separated even more than they are in Bloodline. It wasn't until all their children were grown up and Leia quit politics that they became an inseparable pair.

I do miss Han and Leia together as an ass-kicking team in the old EU, her as a Jedi and Han as a pilot, co-piloting the Falcon. I feel like that dynamic got passed over in TFA in favour of reverting them back to their familiar ANH archetypes.

 

I hope if I ever achieve my dream of writing a Star Wars novel people don't snoop to find my fanfic, lol.

As for Han and Leia, I never thought their relationship was all that traditional even in Legends, so them being apart didn't bother me.

 

I dunno. What goes on the Internet pretty much stays on the Internet. Most of us (H&L fans) think it's AWESOME that Claudia Gray wrote Han and Leia fanfic. That some of the story ideas in Bloodline had their roots in early fanfic is so interesting and the stories that are out there are this amazing window into the author's process and thinking behind the characters and plot. It's so cool and a great gift for those of us who love the pairing.

 

The whole Han-abducting-Leia storyline tends to support your conclusion.

 

In The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy they're together more than that - possibly because that was Han's "househusband" period. And at the start of the Corellia trilogy - it did seem like Han and Leia had a stable household - even if Leia tended to work late.

 

I never read that book, but that seemed like the most crackpot plot ever. I shudder to think about the message that kind of story sends to young women. If your boyfriend really loves you, but you're unsure you love him back, he'll kidnap you and "convince" you to fall back in love and marry him. Ugh.

 

I think the "unconventional" marriage idea makes a ton of sense given who they are as characters. And never once does it come across that they love each other any less. Perhaps it's just that I personally know quite a few people who have similar types of marriages to Han and Leia in the novel (they love each other but are apart for significant periods of time due to work reasons), so it is more believable to me.

 

Finally finished the book. Great read. Best book of the NEU so far imo. The Post ROTJ era is my favorite era for stories.
Can't wait to see what she writes next.
Liked all of the characters.
Hope to see more out of all of them.

 

Well, I am clearly on the minority. Bloodline was one of the most disappointing books I've read in the new Canon. Which is odd, because I thought Lost Stars was one of the best.

 

What didn't you like about it?

 

A lot of things.
I was trying to write my thoughts on the book but I’m having trouble in summarizing them and I don’t want to serve you a thesis as a reply. Also I don’t want to come across as someone who completely hated the book because I didn’t.

I think I’ll just write my personal review of the book somewhere. Isn’t there a special review thread for Bloodline?

 

Here.
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...-bloodline-by-claudia-gray-spoilers.50040488/

 

^ Thanks.