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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Books Discussion of the Han Solo Trilogy, by A.C Crispin.

Discussion in 'Literature' started by dylan24601, Mar 23, 2015.

  1. Jeff_Ferguson

    Jeff_Ferguson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2006
    My brother printed out sabacc cards from the internet when we were twelve or thirteen and we bet our Halloween candy on it. Good times.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2018
  2. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2011
    People have asked about music in Star Wars, well, some shows up in one scene. On the cruise ship Queen of Empire there's a lounge called the Star Winds Lounge with a Rughja orchestra-band, Umjing Baab and his Swinging Trio. Rughja have fifteen limbs, so they can pull off a genuine orchestral performance. They're versatile, playing everything from swing-bop to modern jizz. There's a song titled "Mood and Moons", and the band does a "mellow version" of it. I wanted to think of this as "Moon River", but I'm pretty sure there's no non-mellow version of it. Someone come up with an alternative. Bria is undercover as a singer, and is pressured into singing "slowed down version of last year's hit, "Smoky Dreams"" to keep her cover. She's not very good, but she's attractive, so that makes her good and all the males in the lounge are enraptured. Lando asks her to dance, but she doesn't know how to do the margengai-glide, which had been popular for at least five years (who doesn't know how to do the margengai-glide?!). Lando helps her through it. Then the music speeds up, and they do a boxnov three-step, an older dance that Bria had done before. I'm guessing boxnov three-step is just a foxtrot. So there's your songs and dances. Crispin forgets nothing!

    Btw, is jizz still canon? Please tell me it's not. If there was one thing that needed to be left behind for business purposes, it's jizz.

    @Barriss_Coffee
    [gamiel]this may be of interest[/gamiel]


    Back later with some more minor details (Hutts! Weddings!) before we get to the conclusion.
     
  3. The Positive Fan

    The Positive Fan Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2015
    One source, a canon ROTJ junior novelization, still refers to Max Rebo as a "jizz-wailer." Other than that, as far as I'm aware, jizz has indeed been left by the canon wayside. Jatz is still around, though.
     
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  4. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2011
    Let's talk about weddings! *squee*

    *deepens voice* But NOOOoooOOO I'm a guy and I don't want to talk about weddings I want to talk about cool guy stuff* like ships and not girl stuff like romance and love and weddings.

    Okay, my point is these novels are actually very well rounded in terms of subject matter. While Han's cynicism and relationship with Bria are clearly the most significant subjects, Crispin has the sense to mix in plenty of cool guy stuff like ships for cool guys like me and not make it all about luuurrrrrrrrve and Han's pain...yet at the same time fully develop his relationship with Bria and work in relationships with two other (very cool) women, Xaverri and Salla. She maintains a great balance and offers something for everyone, whether you're a cool guy like me who likes ships and not girly romance, or you're a girly girl who just wants to peer into Han's heart and imagine yourself in his arms, or whatever. This trilogy has all aspects of Han and explores them all thoroughly.

    *Okay, I don't actually think in these terms of boy stuff and girl stuff, but I'm using it to make my point. Crispin doesn't just make this some sappy romance novel because obviously there's more to Han than that, but nor does she exclude those aspects in fear of scaring off dudebros who just want to read about Han doing dudebro stuff. I guess the only reason I'm mentioning this is because I've read a lot of criticism about this trilogy drooling on Han and just being too much about Han's love life, and that's simply not true. Crispin does drool on Han, but not too much, and mostly within the realm of her many scruffy, lop sided smile Han-isms, which I enjoy. I feel like mentioning this is a bit of an insult to Crispin and women writers in general, stereotyping them as romance writers only. This is a very well balanced Star Wars trilogy, like the OT itself.

    Since Han has the Falcon now, we stop by Kashyyyk so Chewie can get married. Romantic! After all the play Han has gotten, he kinda owes it to Chewie to help a brother out. Apparently Wookiee males propose by hunting down and killing a rat with quills and a really pungent odor and offering it to the female...and then they both chomp into it raw and share it's blood and guts, and Chewie and Mallatobuck feed each other bits of entrails and lick the blood from each other's faces. So romantic! At the wedding, teenaged Jarik Solo is looking at the Wookiee alcohol because it's a wedding and only the little Wookiee kids are drinking juice and alcohol is for adults like Jarik, but Han warns him off because Wookiee spirits are strong enough to put a human on their ass in a few minutes. Even Han lays off and sticks to lighter stuff. I'm surprised Han didn't hook up with one of the bridesmaids...oh, wait. I guess that's just Corran's thing.

    I haven't really mentioned much about him, but Han letting Jarik hang around him like a little brother was a nice touch. Han may be cynical, but he'll let a good kid who just wants to belong hang around and help with the ship. He was definitely ready to take on Luke as a pal by the time they got to Yavin.

    Since we're on the subject of marriage, let's talk about the other women in Han's life after Bria.

    The first was Xaverri, the stage magician. Imperials killed her family (like Leia) and she lives to make them pay. She's hesitant (like Leia) at first, but she's also lonely. Han works his charm on her and he seems like an okay guy, so eventually Xaverri opens up to him and they hook up. They spend six months on Xaverri's magic tour together, only for her to leave him a Dear Han letter once it's over because she can't afford to get too close to anyone while there's still Imps to kill. That's one woman who leaves Han to kill Imps. (this all happens in Hutt Gambit) Bria would be the second. There's a pattern here but there's no sign in ANH that Han has a history with women leaving him to fight the Empire. It's simply not part of his relationship with Leia.

    After Xaverri, Han is sitting in a bar when he hears an argument between a man and a woman that turns into a fight, and of course he comes to the rescue...but it turns out the woman, Salla Zend, can take care of herself and she judo throws the guy. Han offers her a drink, because of course he likes women with spirit. Salla orders a Mad Mrelf, a drink so strong it can cause a Mad Mrelf spree that often ends in an Imp labor camp. It's reminiscent of Han's meeting with Leia where she grabs his blaster and saves herself, but Salla is basically Han with boobs; she's a fearless smuggler, a great tech, and she just likes to fly casual, so they're just fooling around and having fun sharing the same interests and the same bed. In Rebel Dawn, Salla nearly dies on a run when she tries a crazy microjump through the Maw. The experience transforms her, she wants to settle down and get domestic, asking Han to teach her how to cook (danger! danger! run for it! blast the door!), and she starts planning their wedding right away. Han doesn't have the heart to give it to her square between the eyes, so he cuts and runs for the Corporate Sector and leaves her her own Dear Han letter. It's not his fault! He tried to tell her, but she wasn't listening, trying to bulldoze him into marrying her. You're not tying this guy down, sister (Han calls every woman sister in this trilogy), not when he's at the top of the smuggler heap and he's got the Falcon working just the way he wants it. He's Han Solo and he's flying solo, which is exactly what you'd expect from pre-ANH Han.

    I'm putting on my shades to cover up my eyes,
    I'm jumpin' in my ride, I'm heading out tonight

    I'm solo, I'm Han Solo
    I'm Han Solo
    I'm Han Solo, solo

    Crispin establishes the course of Han's relationships. He likes to take the lead with his charm, but he also wants a woman with some spirit who will challenge him. Leia takes this to eleven. Quick hook ups end in disappointment, so if you count the long gap between ANH and ESB, Han takes his time with Leia.

    Next time, Hutts.
     
  5. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    [​IMG]
     
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  6. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

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    Jan 5, 2011
    Extra note I forgot.

    After he finds Xaverri's Dear Han note, Han is hurt and remembers Bria did the same thing to him, but he quickly reminds himself he's not a kid anymore.

    Crispin has Han analyze Xaverri. Xaverri didn't want love. Xaverri will risk her life more than anyone in everything except love. Love is the riskiest thing in the universe, she says, it makes you vulnerable. She doesn't care about danger because she doesn't care about dying, she doesn't care about life. Love makes you love life, makes you want to hold on to love and life.

    So one lesson he can learn from Xaverri is to not be like her, to not cut himself off, to take a risk on love because it makes life worth living, it makes life something you don't just throw away the way Xaverri would. As cliche as it is, it's a lesson he can store away until he meets Leia, so he doesn't make the same mistake and run away from her once things get serious, and I'm pretty sure Crispin intended it as such because it wasn't subtle at all.

    Still, it's a solid reason for why Han doesn't put himself before Leia post-ANH like one might mistakenly think he would.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2018
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  7. fett 4

    fett 4 Chosen One star 5

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    Jan 2, 2000
    It’s been awhile since I read this book But I remember but that Boba Fett shows up and meets Bria and has a martial arts fight with one of her Troops. I remember thinking that was well described at the time of reading.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2018
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  8. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

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    Jan 5, 2011
    Yeah, the sequence where Boba goes undercover as an Anomid (with the vocalizer mask, fake skin and a hooded robe) to capture Bria on a cruise ship. Because he can't wear his distinctive Mandalorian armor, it would cause a panic. Uh, why not just go undercover as yourself? Why not just use your own face? No one would recognize it, right? Boba's "face" is his helmet, right? So his actual face serves as a disguise. I think that would have been cooler. I wonder if there was a mandate from Lucasbooks/LFL to avoid anything to do with Boba's face.

    Lando tries to put the moves on Bria on the cruise ship, but she only has eyes for Han, so they decide to meet in her suite for just a chat.

    Bria has three members of the rebellion with her in her suite, one of them is a combat troop. Boba hits Bria without a knockout dart and takes the two non-combat guys out with ease, shooting a deadly dart into the neck of one guy, and crushing the other's guy larynx with a forearm blow. The combat troop comes out with a vibroblade and Boba recognizes that this guy clearly knows what he's doing, so he decides to fight him hand to hand for a bit of fun. Boba easily outclasses him, and finishes him quickly by breaking his neck. I thought Crispin made the common mistake of portraying Boba as a sort of Steven Seagal character that no one can even challenge*, but it was a decent scene.

    Lando shows up at Bria's door like right after Boba took out the guards and had Bria tied up. He walks in and sees a mound of sheet covered bodies in the corner. Boba had put them there and covered them with sheets to contain the stench they made after voiding themselves when they died (you'd think his helmet would just filter that out!). It was a gruesome yet funny little narrative to give him.

    They get tied up by Boba and he's walking them off the ship, but Drea Renthal (the merc/pirate who helped them out during the battle of Nar Shaddaa) shows up to plunder the cruise ship and barters with Boba for them, and Lando has to take Drea for some vacation sex to pay her back.

    *I recently read the short story No Disintegrations, Please and it was terrible. It clearly tries to be an over the top Boba Fett as Chuck Norris story, but it's played far too effortlessly and the narration is too self-aware. It doesn't really understand what made those kinds of 80s actions movies great. We're supposed to be laughing at it, it's not supposed to be laughing at itself the entire time, at least not so loudly. Some of it has to be played seriously, it can't just be cakewalk. You can practically hear the writer laughing at his own narrative.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2018
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  9. fett 4

    fett 4 Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 2, 2000
    Arghh the mask I’d forgotten about that. There’s an interesting reference to that in Zahns book Scoundrels, if you consider reading that book (a non OC standalone)

    Anyway back to the fight.
    Your right about it being a Segal style fight scene but it’s the 90’s so the cheese is forgivable :p
    Doesn’t Boba obtain a liking for Bria so is glad he lets her go [face_thinking]. It was an interesting development but it doesn’t actually go anywhere since Boba disappears from the book and we don’t know what Bria thinks of him ?

    Lol to be fair I’m sure they didn’t imagine back in the mid 90’s that unmasked Boba would be Attack of the Clones “Get em Dad Foire” Fett :p
     
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  10. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

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    Jan 5, 2011
    Well....Bria asks Boba for a favor. Tell her dad that she's dead. Just send him a message saying she's dead. That's all. But she forgets to tell him her dad's name.

    Boba doesn't disappear. He shows up several more times (twice, I think), and Bria sees him again.

    Then Bria dies. Since she forgot to tell him her dad's name, Boba shows up on Tatooine and confronts Han at the very end of the book (just before Han meets Ben and Luke) to tell Han that Bria is dead (Boba learns from Imperial reports he has access to). This is how Han learns the news. Han remembers her dad, so he composes a short message and sends it to him.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2018
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  11. Ackbar's Fishsticks

    Ackbar's Fishsticks Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 25, 2013
    Well, at least the prequels nicely take care of that issue - of course he can't use his own face. After the Clone Wars, it's the most famous face in the galaxy.
     
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  12. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 29, 2005
    I always liked the idea that weirdo DKM Fett was just pathologically unwilling to show his face.
     
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  13. The Positive Fan

    The Positive Fan Force Ghost star 4

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    Jan 19, 2015
    I seem to recall a sequence in Twin Engines of Destruction where Boba goes "in disguise" simply by operating without his armor (though I think he might have been wearing bandages or something too). In any event the prequels unintentionally offered a reason for not wanting to walk around unmasked - his face is pretty recognizable, after all.

    By the time of the TFU2 comic adaptation, they had become pretty cavalier about showing Fett unmasked - not that there was a ton of mystery surrounding it anymore, of course.
     
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  14. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2011
    Peecha chakka no wookiee boonowa tweepi Solo...ho ho ho ho.

    Of the adult novels, is this the best the Hutts have been written? They're actually given a major role in the plot, several characters are well defined, and two major families are at war. In my reading experience Hutts are usually little more than disgusting hedonists used to gross out the reader, they rarely get any other characteristics or any actual plotting. Durga's human love and gratitude for his parent and need to avenge Aruk's assassination and Jiliac's transition from scheming male to flamboyantly nurturing mother make for creative, non-standard Hutt characterizations.

    Jabba is a bit too friendly for my tastes, it never sits quite right (though it is amusing at times), but according to Crispin we have the SE to blame for that, as she took her inspiration directly from the SE Jabba scenes in ANH. He possesses Hutt amorality, but it's not particularly malevolent (as he appeared to be in ROTJ, imo), as he doesn't seem to mind being under Jiliac at first, until he grows to resent her for spending too much time coddling her offspring. It was bad for business! There were credits to be made! It's unexpected that his rise to power was simple, sudden and opportunistic instead of some epic, hateful power struggle. Still, I think I like this subversion of expectation much better than making Jabba some hateful Sith apprentice plotting to backstab his master. It's really fun watching him grow to resent Jiliac's little armless offspring, to see him grow to hate a little baby.

    The battle between Jiliac and Durga is actually really good, really savage stuff. Jiliac's crazed, bellowing roars are at the same time savage and hilarious, it almost comes off as camp. Who knew that two fat worms butting chests could be so entertaining? That Jabba uses this death challenge to just let Jiliac be killed off is another interesting twist on mafia family dynamics. Jabba squishing Jiliac's offspring under his own weight serves as a funny little punchline.

    I haven't mentioned Kibbick yet, but he's the total moron who is nominally in charge of Ylesia at this point (the previous Hutt lord of Ylesia was killed during Han's escape in Paradise Snare, got a chunk of a ceiling dropped on him). He's so ******* dumb, both Teroenza and Durga want to punch his face in and can hardly stand speaking to him. There's a part where Kibbick objects to expensive birth control drugs given to the slaves (damn Ylesia is a dark feature for Star Wars EU), and recommends letting the slaves breed and selling their larvae and eggs as foodstuffs...not understanding that the slaves give birth to live young. I guess he's the Fredo of the family? Before his end, he seeks to take charge of Ylesia...because he can handle things, he's smart! He's smart and he wants respect! But not really. Still, he's a funny little fool, and Crispin has the sense to relegate him to a minor role. KJA probably would have made such an idiotic character the leader of a Hutt clan.

    The Hutts are just another feature of the GFFA that Crispin makes exceptional use of; they're a joy to read and really add a lot to the trilogy. Despite some problems I have with her, I think she really gets the spirit of the GFFA and how to characterize it. She understands Star Wars and what makes it fun.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
  15. Ackbar's Fishsticks

    Ackbar's Fishsticks Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 25, 2013
    I agree that this is probably the best the Hutts have been written in the EU. Karen Traviss did some interesting things with them in her Clone Wars novelization, IIRC, but she didn't go nearly as in-depth with it. Nice development of an alien culture into something more than a punchline. Before this, I believe, Hutts just appeared as generic gangsters with a gaggle of multispecies underlings doing their dirty work, but there wasn't much to explain the underlying society, which Crispin fleshed out with the kajidics as this sort of feudal/mafia system. And, of course, she took a fairly generic and one-dimensional character from Darksaber and turned him into a more complex and interesting villain, the same way Allston did for Warlord Zsinj.
     
  16. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    Not just him. Mako Spince from Dark Empire was pretty one-dimensional in his scenes there, and more fleshed out here.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
  17. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

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    Jan 5, 2011
    I've been hesitant to give Crispin credit for inventing/developing things for a couple of reasons.

    1) I hadn't read any Star Wars in years and my memory of what came first is very shaky, especially when it comes to things that came out in the 90s.
    2) She uses sooooooo much previously established continuity.

    I didn't know what came first and who to give credit for what. If she invented the kajidic stuff or is otherwise largely responsible for its development, then yeah she deserves a hell of a lot of credit for it.

    I just have no idea what she's responsible for when it comes to Han's childhood/background. How much of it was hers, how much came from LFL. I just know that she writes Han well, particularly his voice, so I've stuck to that.

    I do remember Durga being a much lesser character in Darksaber and I remember characters like Ana Blue and Wynni from Smuggler's Run in TNR. I remembered Shug, but not Salla (who I really like). I vaguely remember Xaverri being mentioned in The Crystal Star, but hardly anything about it.

    I'd be interested in a little list of things that she created/developed if any of you know. Or just anything you guys feel like noting.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
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  18. Ackbar's Fishsticks

    Ackbar's Fishsticks Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 25, 2013
    Xaverri, too. I read The Crystal Star years later and remember thinking I'd found her more interesting in the HST.
     
  19. Ackbar's Fishsticks

    Ackbar's Fishsticks Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 25, 2013
    I don't think she invented it from scratch, just developed it. Previous stories, like Darksaber, knew that Hutts were often big shots in the galactic underworld, and vaguely knew that there were different Hutt factions rising and falling, but it was pretty vaguely defined.
     
  20. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    Going by wookieepedia's entry - possibly the first source to use the term "kajidic" was the WEG "Tempest Feud" adventure.

    EDIT: Apparently not - Tempest Feud was WOTC, and was too late -2002. Maybe it was Galaxy Guide 11?

    http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kajidic/Legends
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
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  21. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2011
    Time to take on the big OC, Bria Tharen. Heading into Rebel Dawn I didn't have a single problem with Bria, I liked her fine.

    Right away it is a bit jarring to start the book and find that Bria is now a commander, with her own command ship (99% sure it's a Marauder corvette, certainly no ship of the line) and her own troops. But, after the initial jar, it's no big deal. It's really not. This is not a problem. I have zero problem with Bria being a total resistance fighter, even if she has no background for it. I'm totally cool with this direction. More of this is fine.

    But then it's even more jarring to learn that Bria is the one taking the resistance from a bunch of unaffiliated cells to an actual rebel alliance by doing the legwork, giving the speeches and convincing world leaders. It's a bit much, and it's even weirder that this is Han's ex. You can try to downplay it as much as you want, and Crispin certainly does try by giving brief mentions to Garm and Mon Mothma (who shakes Bria's hand and gives her credit for convincing Bail to get violent), but Bria is essentially uniting the rebellion (if you don't want people to think a character creates the rebel alliance, then idk, how about you don't show them uniting the rebellion. just don't. at all. don't show anything that can be seen as such.). I guess the question is, why her? It doesn't fit her background, her experience/development, her abilities or her character in general. She wasn't born for this role (hi Leia), she doesn't grow into this role, and she's not really placed into this role by circumstance. It's not natural. It's entirely unearned. Crispin could have made this type of character...but she simply did not. Bria is not this character, so it's just a weird position for to be put in. I get that Crispin, along with chronicling Han's development, is keeping us up on the rebellion's development so that it leads into ANH. The rebels going from unaffiliated cells to a rebel alliance was set up by showing the Empire crossing the line from strict to intolerable in Hutt Gambit, but Bria just isn't the character for the job. And I'm not sold that we even needed the rebellion to be a major feature of this trilogy, though I know Crispin has her reasons (more later). ******

    Bria's group raids a slave ship and we see how ruthless she has become, taking no prisoners, finishing off any slavers who got hit by stun blasts, referring to them as vermin. She even guns down a spiced up slaver when the slaver gets the drop on her and tries to take her hostage. Bria refuses to be taken hostage, refuses to deal, tells the slaver to make her choice, then Bria dives and shoots her right in the abdomen. She offers a mercy kill, which the slaver declines because she wants to live, so Bria says she's got about five minutes left, walks away and lets her die there on the floor. This is no Luke Skywalker Jesus stuff (nor can I see Leia being this cruel), it's pretty dark, she has no mercy for slavers. Can't say I think her less honorable for it. Her commanding officer does question her on not taking prisoners after the mission, but Bria gives it some justification, and while it doesn't look like her CO buys it...he just sorta accepts it and changes the subject. I guess taking no prisoners against slavers is not exactly unacceptable. It's a dark time, and some of the rebels have a dark side to them. It's just a part of the time they live in. [Dewey Cox]This is a dark ******* period![/Dewey Cox]

    Bria goes to Jabba and Jiliac for funding for a mission to Ylesia. One snag is that they don't have the pilots to get them through Ylesia's atmosphere. It's obvious that Han and other smugglers are the perfect pilots for the job, but Crispin has to drop a thousand hints and beat it to death before she gets to it. I wonder who could handle the Ylesian atmosphere? Idk, maybe the main character of this trilogy that did it a thousand times in the first book? Maybe him?

    [face_thinking]


    Let's get to the battle of Ylesia at the end. There are a ton of plot threads coming together here at the end, it's almost Zahn-esque, with Jabba, Durga, Black Sun, Teroenza, a group of smugglers and Bria/rebels all converging on the planet. Even Muuurgh comes back to fight alongside Han. The battle is set up by the assassinations of the t'landa Til and even Boba shows up at the end to collect on Teroenza and to give the heroes one last close call scare.

    The battle is solid tactical squad stuff, even if a bit anti-climactic. Even though I knew it was dangerous for Jarik to be hanging around Han, I knew he was in over his head and would probably bite it, but I didn't expect him to take one to the face. Lots of brutality in this trilogy, Crispin does not shy away, but nor does it get gratuitous, imo.

    Alright, Crispin's ultimate goal with this trilogy, especially this final book, was to "set the stage" for ANH Han. She says so in the acknowledgements. Well, I think she kinda failed, and presents things that are contradictory, imo. I'll try not to repeat too much of what I said in the Bria thread. Crispin misread Han in ANH and assigned to him an emotional state and background that just isn't there, so she started on a flawed premise. The idea to make Bria a rebel who betrays Han isn't sound because it's based on this flawed premise. Bria's existence should result in certain consequences, but there's just no sign of them in the OT. Bria doesn't fit because of it. And to think of her place in the rebellion and the Death Star plans and know the relationship she had with Han like two weeks before ANH, it's just not believable at all. It just didn't happen. Watch ANH, it's just not there. Big things need to happen for a trilogy of books to get made, but this wasn't necessary, and stems from a fundamental misreading, imo. I really soured here on Bria and the whole relationship in the last couple of chapters, with her painful parting with Han and involvement with the Death Star plans.

    Conclusion: Bria is fine in isolation, but she doesn't work as a major part of ANH Han's past.

    I don't like how Han's relationship with Lando ended. I don't buy the double crossing swindle. Lando is too quick to believe Han screwed him, after the relationship they had built up. It doesn't come off naturally, it comes off as forced by the future. I don't like the way Han's dumping of the spice and his relationship with Jabba went down either, but per Crispin we can blame the SE for that. It's not her fault! Honest!

    ******Here is a post from Crispin herself on these forums.

    1) I don't agree with this conclusion. I don't think he was suspicious of women, I don't think there's any suspicion for those who fight for the rebellion, and I think there's absolutely no sign that he had an unhappy love affair with a woman warrior who was part of the rebellion. It's just not there.

    2) Han is determined to be paid because he always wants to get paid; it's not specific to the rebellion.

    3) He may not have made a "serious move", but he's probably been flirting, considering the wink in ANH. Han doesn't make a serious move because moves happen on screen, not off.

    Despite my opinion that she failed in what she ultimately set out to do, I certainly don't consider this trilogy or even this book, Rebel Dawn, to be a failure. There's just too much to like here to sweat the mistakes too much. I'm giving Rebel Dawn an 8/10, because that gives this trilogy a total of 24/30, which simplifies down to the 8/10 I gave the trilogy a couple pages ago.

    [​IMG]
    Convenient.

    Couple last thoughts.

    There's some really dark **** in this trilogy, a lot of brutal deaths. Kibbick is given a brutal death, Teroenza rams his horn into him at full speed at least five times. In Paradise Snare a Hutt is turned into a smear on the floor by falling rubble. Jiliac gets whacked by Durga until her head is a bloody pulp of flesh and brains and her eyes are nothing but smashed holes. The t'landa Til are assassinated. Teroenza gets his horn taken as a trophy. Aruk is poisoned. The frigging kid Jarik Solo gets it in the face. Bria's troops execute helpless (stunned) slavers, and Bria dies on what was basically a suicide mission to get the Death Star plans on Toprawa. Crispin did not keep things Disney light.

    I've read that some people didn't like that Han was gone for so much of Rebel Dawn. I didn't mind it one bit. Han is off having adventures in the Corporate Sector in Daley's trilogy, and Crispin wanted to stay faithful to that. Good. That's just good team play there.

    And finally, I hadn't read any Star Wars in years...and I really enjoyed it. It's been a lot of fun.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
  22. sidv88

    sidv88 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 22, 2005
    Doesn't this make sense in a sort of bizarre way though? Now that the prequels are out, Boba going as himself could get him mistaken as anyone from Captain Rex to some deserter of the Clone army, to Commander Cody, etc. Better Boba get in disguise rather than be accused of being deserting clone 1538 or whatever.
     
    Iron_lord likes this.
  23. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2011
    Yes, but Crispin didn't know any of that and I was looking at it from a pre-prequels pov (her pov), back when Boba was not a clone.
     
    fett 4 likes this.
  24. sidv88

    sidv88 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 22, 2005
    LFL allowed this once in the 90s http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Boba_Fett_Unmasked_Original.jpg

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
     
  25. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I've been rereading this trilogy (and the Lando trilogy, and the Han Adventures trilogy) and I'd have to say that Crispin's Han speaks more like movie Han than Daley Han does. Daley Han uses "I'm not" and "going to" where Crispin and Movie Han would use "ain't" and "gonna".