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Lit Han Solo's Military Career

Discussion in 'Literature' started by TheNewEmpire, Jun 10, 2014.

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  1. TheNewEmpire

    TheNewEmpire Jedi Master star 3

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    Aug 12, 2007
    After reading on the forums for years how great the Han Solo Trilogy is I decided to buy the books.
    I finished book 1: The Paradise Snare recently. I thought it was a good read and I'm looking forward to seeing how Han evolves from the character of that book into the familiar character we see in A New Hope.

    However, I couldn't help feel a little disappointed, indeed CHEATED by the fact that Han's military career in the Empire was glossed over. I was really looking forward to seeing how he got on (I heard once that he flew Tie fighters) and how he met Chewie and ultimately freed him.

    Is there a reason for this? Was it just the author's wish, or was there restrictions placed on her, or perhaps were these events covered in another novel previously?
     
  2. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 3, 2013
    She wasn't allowed to write the actual meeting between Han and Chewbacca. That's likely why she skipped over the parts of his life during which he was in the Imperial Academy.
     
  3. TheNewEmpire

    TheNewEmpire Jedi Master star 3

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    Aug 12, 2007

    Why?
     
  4. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 3, 2013
    I don't remember. They just didn't want the meeting to be depicted in canon. My guess is, we'll finally see what really happened in one of the spin-off movies, if it's true that one will be about Han.
     
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  5. TheNewEmpire

    TheNewEmpire Jedi Master star 3

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    Aug 12, 2007

    But I thought the old EU was never canon. Book 2 begins five years after book 1. That's a HUGE black hole in the Legends continuity.
    Personally I would prefer Han's early life to be told in the books and not on screen. I couldn't accept another actor in the role. Didn't like it with the new Treks films, and I know I won't like it if Disney do a Han Solo movie.
     
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  6. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 3, 2013
    Technically, they used to be. Only as of April 25th are they no longer canon. But even if they aren't, they still have to follow the instructions of whoever gives the orders at Lucasfilm. Remember these books were published in the 90s.

    I don't want to see a new actor in the role either...but I, personally, thought the new Trek films did a great job recasting the main characters; if they do as good a job with Han...well, I won't like it but maybe I'd be okay with it eventually.
     
  7. TheNewEmpire

    TheNewEmpire Jedi Master star 3

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    Aug 12, 2007

    I have NOTHING good to say about the new Trek films. I will say though that I was predisposed to not liking them before I even saw them as soon as I heard they were playing on peoples nostalgia and recasting the original characters.

    I would have preferred a film on a different ship with a new crew, preferably within the existing canon.
     
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  8. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    The Chewbacca comic, set in the NJO era, has flashbacks to various episodes in Chewie's earlier life - one of which was Han rescuing him from death at the hands of a brutal Imperial officer - with this being their first meeting.
     
  9. Grand Admiral Paxis

    Grand Admiral Paxis Jedi Master star 3

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    Sep 2, 2012
    The Essential Guide to Warfare has a military profile on Han Solo that details his time at the academy and expands upon his meeting with Chewbacca depicated in the Chewbacca comic Iron_lord mentioned. It's something of a mixture of a compacted summary of the events depicted in other sources combined with minor new details to fill some things in. It sums it all up quite nicely.
     
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  10. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

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    Feb 9, 2007
    Huh, they said not to show Han's time in the academy? Well, Lucasfilm always did make a lot of random decisions like that.

    Warfare guide covered a bit of Han's history (fortunately), but still, would have been nice to read a short story or comic that focused on that time. We saw a bit of the academy with Baron Fel and then more recently when Biggs Darklighter graduated (then defected), but Han had a unique perspective. Even just some of the things mentioned in the Han Solo trilogy sound interesting, running with a bad crowd but also working on his grades. I think Han graduated valedictorian from Carida? And Baron Fel was in that year too (not that either is that dumb, but was a sign of how much Han dedicated himself to improving his image).

    Though the Solo trilogy books are fine as is, since then it allowed the novel to focus on Han's beginning as a smuggler. Still, given how good the rest of the trilogy is, too bad the books couldn't have covered Han's academy years. I'm... not really optimistic about what would happen if they did try to recast a young Han Solo for a spin-off movie. Depending on the actor, I don't mind recasting, but the nuTrek movies started mediocre and got much, much worse. The fact that the nuTrek director is now handling the sequels only makes it worse.
     
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  11. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

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    Nov 28, 2000
    I thought this was about how General Solo's career was criminally shortened. :(


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
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  12. jasonfry

    jasonfry VIP star 4 VIP

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    Nov 11, 2003
    FWIW, I've always disliked the detail about Han being valedictorian -- it wasn't by accident that it was missing from Warfare's writeup. Han seems like a smart cookie, yes, but a seat-of-the-pants guy who gets through on instincts/luck/talent behind the stick instead of tactical genius. That struck me as a clear case of the folks contributing to the EU getting carried away and running with something a lot further than was wise.
     
  13. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

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    Nov 28, 2000
    I don't have trouble thinking he's smart enough to have been valedictorian -- I just think he'd have gotten enough demerits that somebody less talented but more conventional would've gotten it.


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
  14. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    TheNewEmpire, have you read Brian Daley's Han Solo books? I like those a lot more than Crispin's; they're light, fun adventures, and they do a great job of capturing the atmosphere and characters of old school SW.
     
  15. Parnesius

    Parnesius Jedi Knight star 1

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    Sep 8, 2012
    Shortened, cut up into little pieces, scattered along his timeline at the whim of this or that author, and justified by an unflattering interpretation of his character.

    Han's post-Endor relationship with the military reminds me chiefly of the In-and-Out Cat.

     
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  16. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

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    Feb 9, 2007
    I can see why the valedictorian part wasn't in the Warfare profile, and I can agree with the reasoning. Though there's just something about the idea of an underdog Han struggling with all the studies at Carida (not like he spent that much time at school, aside from that one time he met Bel Iblis in school, forget how they retconned that in). Sorry, I agree with the reasoning, I just like the idea that if Han really put his mind to it, he could ace his classes and probably would have made a good officer. Well, a good leader at least, as the Han Solo trilogy noted, Han probably would have only been able to put up with the idiocy and corruption of the Empire for only so long. Not to mention the slavery, and at least he got a friend when he was discharged.

    Speaking of Han's military career, did anyone ever explain how Han got his Corellian Bloodstripes? In The Hutt Gambit book it was mentioned that they weren't an Imperial award, I think, which is why Han was allowed to keep them, but not sure we ever got an answer for when and how he got that award. Unless that was something else Lucasfilm said not to answer, because they say so (not because they had plans to cover that in the future, since even in hindsight, it rarely looks like they had an overall plan). Not sure if there's an article on Wookieepedia for that.

    Well, its mostly an academic question by now (Legends and all), but then this is the place to argue over details like that. Unless it just turns out to be just a Corellian design that shows up on clothes occasionally (like what the Open Circle Armada symbol ended up as, sorta).
     
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  17. Ackbar's Fishsticks

    Ackbar's Fishsticks Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 25, 2013
    I always wondered why Crispin ignored that, since her trilogy otherwise rounded out Han's past so completely. Did Lucasfilm ever explain why they didn't want to show the meeting? Not really complaining, it allowed much more attention on Han's outlaw life (and, along the way, a hell of a lot of world-building).
     
  18. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

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    Oct 4, 1998
    Daley's books touched on one or two incidents from Han's time in the military, but they were mostly written to give intriguing hints, not answers. Same for the bloodstripes.
     
  19. jasonfry

    jasonfry VIP star 4 VIP

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    Nov 11, 2003
    Not to be too much of a grouch, but I was never a fan of the Bloodstripe thing either. One of Brian Daley's very few missteps. I mean, c'mon -- it's freaking piping on a pair of pants ... and making a sartorial federal case out of it meant they had to come up with ANOTHER Bloodstripe when Han wore slightly different pants a movie later. Sheesh, if Lando had ever worn a paisley shirt the EU would have had to explain how he saved an entire globular cluster from multiple supernovae....
     
  20. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

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    Nov 28, 2000
    You don't approve of the Tanaab Starbursts? Wait, can't call them that, it'll be another Sunrider...


    Missa ab iPhona mea est.
     
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  21. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

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    Oct 4, 1998
    Wasn't that how the Lando trilogy ended? Most of the details have faded from my memory, thankfully.
     
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