Books So... The Courtship of Princess Leia...

You mean you’re not going to review the Survivors Quest and Outbound Flight 2 parter

 

I don't think that's a misinterpretation, and if it IS, it's one that is fairly universal; I don't think anyone has ever mentioned to me that they thought it only involved a dislocated shoulder. It's certainly the impression J. J. Abrams was under when he made this scene, and one I accept just fine as a callback to Han's warning in ANH.

 

What's my opinion?

This is a really good book and I think most fans of Star Wars should enjoy it. Yes, it portrays Leia and Han Solo going through a REALLY TOUGH time but I wonder what movies people were watching since Han and Leia spent the majority of two movies bickering as well as Han thinking Leia was about to dump him for Luke in the third. Yes, Han mind-controlling her with SPACE SCIENCE is awful but I wouldn't be surprised with a grand romantic gesture being Han's Go-To move.

You see, there's a reason the Courtship of Princess Leia is awesome and that's because it's GOOFY AS FRECK. There's Rancors being ridden by witches, beautiful female matriarchies just shy of being the Drow, Princes, Princesses, and evil old crones who shout, "SURRENDER DOROTHY" from their speederbikes (I'm surprised we didn't see more witches on those). Luke even MOONWALKS down from the sky after having his starfighter blown up!

This is what Star Wars is all about!

 

well of course she does, she's a witch

 

I really liked that book. My original hardcover is in the back shed in a file cabinet. From time to time, I get my glass of wine and relive that story. It was truly the best of times for the star wars expanded universe. The golden age. You know, just because its not canon in the official new time line, should this book be ignored. It has everything in it from jedi lore, to marriage, space fleet battle, open ground warfare to the use of the satellite weather weapon. It was a complete high octane story in one complete book.

 

I did not care for it. Han Solo's behaviour was stalkerish and overbearing and no where as endearing Wolverton seemed to think it would be. I also found the scene where Chewie nearly attacks Han when he finds out about the kidnapping is in violation of his life debt and ergo way out of his character.

 

I don't. "Life debt" doesn't give Han free reign to do anything, no matter how bad, without Chewie objecting strenuously.

His offering to give Han a beating, on Leia's behalf, is one of the best moments Chewie gets in this book. It shows that while Han has gone off the rails, Chewie hasn't.

 

Always been intrigued to read this novel someday due to the mixed reviews.

 

I personally disagree, but I suppose all this is open to interpretation

 

I always thought it funny how little I actually cared for this book considering how much I enjoyed Wolverton's entry for Dengar in Tales of the Bounty Hunters. But then again maybe I just remember that fondly since it came off the tail end of the IG-88 story.

 

But seriously, the big appeal of this book is it's not afraid to introduce big galaxy-changing factions to the place.

You may put The Courtship down but how many other authors contributed stuff which appeared as often as Hapes, Danthomir, and Zsjin?

 

I'll admit that CoPL is problematic in many ways. But I have to agree that I greatly enjoyed the Nighsisters part of the narrative. I think the Witches of Dathomir were much more witch-like and cooler in this book than they ever were in TCW. I also regret the lack of the good witches in canon, and the fact that the Nightsisters appear to be a single clan.

 

Honestly, the last time I tried to reread this book, I came to the conclusion that I just plain don't enjoy it. Like, not just in the abstract "problematic/OOC" sense - although that's there - but in the sense of like actually reading it. It's not, like, terribly written, but it feels more weird-weird than weird-fun, even with the craziest pulpy bits. (Also, frankly, I think the huge subsequent EU presence of Zsinj actually makes his appearance here more jarring than a plus, though that's not really Wolverton's fault per se).

 

Well, they needed someone to be THE Big Warlord of the EU before Thrawn. It's kind of fascinating no one else could come up with someone else but I respect Allston for wanting to give continuity across the publications. Mind you, the reverse of his perceived idiocy is kind of bizarre. Not only did he rule a third of the galaxy but he's also a Grand Moff (the only Grand Moff other than Kaine or Tarkin to be any good at his job apparently) and had a ridiculous number of military victories we never heard about.

 

I can't believe that I didn't see this thread until now. I love this book. It is inconsistent in character voice at times, and downright bizarre at others, but it puts most Star Wars books to shame in terms of adventure and for me, pure enjoyment. Even after all these years, it's still a fun read. In a lot of ways, I think that Courtship is one of Star Wars' finest moments, even with a few details that are out of place.

The differing vision of Dathomir that arose when TCW started connecting it to Ventriss and Maul, I took that pretty hard because I think that what Courtship created was fantastic and TCW kind of took the name and the basic idea of 'witches' and did something else with it. But anyway, fun read here.

 

Well, actually the witches of Dhatomir and the nightsisters have gone through many different incarnations before appearing in TCW: as we all know, when they were first introduced in the Courtship of Princess Leia the witches was powerful Force-users who needed to chant and/or gesticulate to work their magic; they seemed to be at an iron age level technological but used piece of scavenged high-tech without problems (even if the items we saw them use were rather simple) or any special reverence. The term nightsister meant a which who was dealing in "dark magic" and seemed to be a synonym with outcast. They were quickly physically marked by their use of the dark side and rancors would not allow them to ride on their back. They had not been organised until mother Gethzerion come along, as I recall.

The witches of Dhatomir returned in the The Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson where the witch Kirana Ti was one of Luke's fist class of students. I have not read The Jedi Academy trilogy (it's on my list) so I can't comment on how she or Dhatomir is precented.

Next time the nightsisters appeared was in the Young Jedi Knight (1995-1998) series were they had been recreated with the help of the "imperial jedi" Brakiss, those new nightsisters were not visibly marked by their use of the dark side, did not need to chant and/or gesticulate to use their magic and could ride rancors - this probably come from adapting Brakiss greater understanding of the Force. They also allow males into their group.
The nightsisters was this time lead by Tamith Kai.


The nightsisters appeared again in the comic Darth Maul (2000) were we have a nightsister, Mighella, who works for the Underlord of Black Sun as his bodyguard and enforcer. She is shown to be able to use Force lightning without chanting or gestures and is the first we see who sports the modern nightsister-look.


The 'sisters were used again in the PT-era in the Republic comic storyline Infinity's End (2000-2001) that takes place on Dathomir. Here we see no other witches then the nightsister, who are organised like a clan (and there seems to be more then one nightsister clan), the only males we see are spacer outsiders. They are able to cast their spells without chanting or gestures and have their hands on technology like Proximity shield, Fire blade, droids, repurposed spaceships and whatever it was that Yongti used as a weapon. They are also shown riding on rancorns and sport a look inspired by Mighella.
B.t.w. there is a very nice shot of a group of 'sisters when Vos meet them for the first time, I have been unable to find a scan of that page and would be glad if somebody posted it.


They were lead by mother Zalem


Later in the Galaxies (2003-2011) MMORPG Dathomir was one of the planets you could visit and you could meet people from the Singing Mountain and Howling Crag clan and the nightsisters who had begun to organize themselves under mother Gethzerion and I understand that it also introduced a some kind of splinter group to Gethzerion's nightsisters called the Spiderclan. I never played Galaxies so I can not really comment on it and how this incarnation was different/the same from earlier.


The nightsisters played a role in the Empire at War: Forces of Corruption (2006) video game. Here they were able to control and ride on rancors and the nightsister group you, as the crimeboss Tyber Zann, dealt with was lead by the energywhip wielding Silri. To my understanding some of the "good" witch clans were mentioned but I don't know if they appeared in the game since I have not played it.


In the Galaxies TCG expansion The Nightsister's Revenge (2009) so did the witches play a prominent role with representatives from both the Singing Mountain clan, Gethzerion's nightsisters, the Spiderclan and the exiled nightsister Kyrisa who was show to use a lightsabre and ride a rancor. They also appeared in the Galactic Hunters (2009) expansion



There is also Charal from Ewoks: Battle for Endor (1985) who was retconed into being a Dathomirian nightsister at some point and we see women from Dathomir dressed like her in the Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide book.

There is also probably some Dathomir/witches representations that I have missed.

 

In-universe, did people know a lot about the Nightsisters? Because, in both Legends and canon, it took them forever to figure out Maul was a Nightbrother despite sporting tattoos that all Nightbrothers wear (Savage, Feral, etc).

In fact, Palpatine must have been quite lucky the Jedi were so stupid. Take TPM's ending--Kenobi can provide a description of Maul, and Yoda and the Council are wondering who the second Sith is. Hmm, well gee--this guy looks like a Nightbrother, has the tattoos--maybe we should go to Dathomir and do some investigating? Especially in Legends, Yoda has been to Dathomir before. But no one seems to have ever investigated Dathomir for Sith clues before the Clone Wars in Legends or canon...

 

Excellent research!

 

Liked it myself, I'm not sure what the issue is. Zsinj is a good warlord and counterpoint to others, fleshes out the Imperial factions some more. Can't wait to start throwing around TIE Raptors in Thrawn's Revenge once it's out, personally. I don't see how the Hapans and Witches are 'anti-women' in their portrayal, I think it introduces some interesting cultures into Star Wars. So what if there's stereotypes? There's all kinds of stereotypes in all kinds of fantasy and sci-fi, and I agree with @Charlemagne19 it's all in good fun.

TCW can still fit in. I just imagine its a different set of Nightsisters led by Talzin on a different part of the Dathomir, one that's all red and corrupt, it doesn't have to be an entire jungle planet-wide. Sure Rebels doesn't fit with it being entirely depopulated but that's NuCanon.

 

I love the idea of COPL and CW Nightsisters coexisting, as they were both rich storylines, and frankly even the comic series with Vos was good. The Nightsisters are scattered throughout the SW universe, and I hope it stays that way. There was at least one canon story / video game which included a Nightsister after the events of CW, but her name escapes me. They will always survive in some form - I hope they are included in more new media as well though.

 

I love the idea of COPL and CW Nightsisters coexisting, as they were both rich storylines, and frankly even the comic series with Vos was good. The Nightsisters are scattered throughout the SW universe, and I hope it stays that way. There was at least one canon story / video game which included a Nightsister after the events of CW, but her name escapes me. They will always survive in some form - I hope they are included in more new media as well though.

 

I get the impression Danthomir is something which the SIth know about and Yoda but is otherwise an obscure piece of Star Wars Force User trivia. There's probably a lot of magical secret societies around the galaxy.

Just usually very small and isolated.

I do admit, I think the Nightsisters were wiped out in the Clone Wars because whoever is running the cartoons worries about there being any force users other than Luke, Vader, and Palps by ROTJ.

 

I wasn't aware of all of the early-00s appearances of the witches. In any event, I'm a fan of the idea that they're rural, matriarchal Force users who use spells because they think of it as magic. The more stylized, mystical form with all the very specific coven/etc terminolgy that it evolved into just feels like something different from what's in the book.

 

One of my favorite bits of Star Wars EU lore was the Sorcerers of Tund were once invited to learn the true ways of the Force from the Jedi, only for the Jedi to find out the Sorcerers of Tund could do everything they could with their spells and rituals.

 

A big one would be a clone wars video game which featured Nightsisters working for the CIS, with a ready supply of red lightsabers. This was before they would appear on the show, but the designs were almost exactly the same. Additionally, one of the Nightsisters from Infinity's End shows up as a source of info for the jedi - apparently after that comic she moved to Coruscant and wrote a book about being a Nightsister, though it wasn't widely believed at the time.