Books Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel by Beth Revis

I will get this book and read it eventually (have like two or three other books that I will want to read prior to this though). I'm still not sure why we need a story about this though. Let these characters just have a normal honeymoon. Hopefully this book focuses more on further developing the immediate aftermath of RotJ and isn't just about Han and Leia being chased by villains while on their honeymoon.

 

I have a copy on the way!

 

My loyal servant, Darth SpeedyHen

 

This book will be a great lead-in to the Jedi Prince Series! Can't wait! Pity it is not illustrated likewise!

 

I second this 100%.

I don't like coming away feeling like Han is more committed and prioritizes the two of them while it feels like for Leia coupleness and family are what you focus on once the cosmic fires are put out. That was some of my gripe with Legends. It was always fixin' to when it came to family time.

 

Delivery due... Monday.

.... I have the day off.

 

Lol what are you going to do if Mr. SpeedyHen wins the lottery and decides to go on a permanent vacation to Skellig Michael?

 

Darth SpeedyHen has executed their role. It is now up to the post.

On that I tend to be more Qui-Gon - it will arrive when it arrives.

There is a post strike 26, 27 and 30 August - I'm backing my local posties, as they're all great.

 

This was an excellent and surprising read.

It also uses the very busy post-Endor period to its advantages. After all, it doesn't need to say too much about what's going in the war because other stories cover it. That frees it up to be its own, far more interesting story.

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If this isn't a war story then what us it? Odd as it may sound, this is a story of vulnerability. Of two people who are used to being anything but.

Culturally, we're told to avoid vulnerability and openness. To be so is to leave yourself open to being exploited. Best to be wary and not trust.... Of course, the problem with this worldview is simple - many people are finding it to be total bollocks. And so it proves for both Han and Leia.

For Leia there are the scars inflicted by Vader being heightened and renewed by the revelation that he was her biological father. For Han there are the scars of his year imprisoned in carbonite. Both come to the fore as they embark on this next step relationship.

Ravis also sketches out just how intertwined with the galaxy the Empire was and what its collapse means for it. There are subtle nods to the Aftermath trilogy and Operation Cinder, to the Alphabet trilogy's concept of the Empire being built on morally compromising all it encounters, and finally to the corrupt plutocrats of Canto Bight, with companies that will see no diffence between Empire and New Republic.

It all makes for a very smart and, in a way, grown-up novel that can be read by anyone. It balances out its serious and fun aspects, dark and light, to great effect.

This is another good one.

 

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May I ask - were this companies named ?

 

Nope. It's more my reading of it than anything else.

 

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So, Kes and Shara make an appearance in one or two chapters. What really surprised me though, is that Holdo, Leia's supposed bestie and most trusted confidant doesn't appear at all.

 

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I saw Thane Kyrell's name on Wookieepedia. How's my most favourite new canon character??!!

 

https://ew.com/books/han-leia-wedding-star-wars-princess-and-the-scoundrel/

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The tree the temple was built into was called the Great Tree, according to C-3PO's translation, and it was something of a god itself to the Ewoks.

"The Great Tree is a part of their origin mythology," C-3PO had explained when Han and Chewie had arrived there that morning. "It gives life and connects them to their land. They say the roots of all the trees in the forest intertwine with the Great Tree's roots. Each tree on the entire moon is both a unique individual and a part of the Great Tree." C-3PO had seemed to consider his translation for a moment. "It is rather confusing," he allowed.

But it made for a great spot to get married, Han had to admit. Separated from the main village, the Great Tree had an air of solemnity to it that didn't really exist anywhere else on the forest moon. And the Ewoks had outdone themselves in decorations. Flower garlands wove around the entire outer perimeter of the temple built high into the Great Tree. C-3PO had tried to explain what each flower symbolized, but Han hadn't even known how to distinguish the different varieties, much less that the yellow bloom wrapped around the pink one was supposed to be a blessing of the forest for many children. Or much food. One of those. C-3PO wasn't exactly clear on the distinctions.

But the furballs really had gone above and beyond, tucking tight little buds of flowers between each wrung of the ladder Han had climbed to get to the temple. And it was even better inside.

Not only was the temple the biggest building in the entire village, it incorporated the Great Tree into its design. Standing in the center of the open space, the Great Tree's branches spread wide. Below the temple, stretching to the ground, there was one solid trunk, but behind the walls, the trunk split off into three different directions. Han wasn't sure if the tree had grown like that naturally or if some patient Ewok had bent the branches to form the interlacing design. The three different splits curved around, intertwining and creating a hollow space in the middle of the trunk before they shot off in three different directions, forming the main beams that supported the temple's roof.

------

Luke looked between Han and Leia at the crowd gathered in the temple, then turned to Leia.

"Ready?" he asked softly. She nodded, and then Han did.

Luke started speaking. His words were soft, but everyone in the temple heard him. It was a simple speech really—about love and unity and trust. But truth lay in simplicity. He spoke sincerely, and Leia felt everything fade away as her brother's words wrapped around her and Han, a comforting promise that they—all of them—were a family, and that this moment would last well beyond this day.

"When I saw Leia for the first time, she spoke of hope," Luke said. "And that is what she has always embodied for me."

Leia almost laughed aloud. That message had been sent to Obi-Wan, a formal, yet desperate, call into the void that she had no idea her long-lost twin brother would find. He labeled her the symbol of hope? No—she did not embody it.

She had been seeking it.

And, somehow, she had been heard.

Leia's hands tightened in Han's, and he met her eyes. Okay? he mouthed. She nodded silently, smiling.

Maybe Luke was right. Maybe, to be the embodiment of hope, all she had to do was seek it.

 

My Barnes and Nobel exclusive copy will be here Friday!

 

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At least he gets something. I've missed him and Ciena and Nash and Corona Squadron.

 

I enjoyed the novel, which presents a more complex picture of the galaxy after Endor. There are mentions of the Empire trying to control

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fuel sources and the threat of galactic recession looming, which feel eerily close to what's happening in the real world. The destruction of the second Death Star and Palpatine's first death is dismissed as "fake news" by some commentators on the Holonet and people who lived well under the Empire.

Along with the darker aspects of the book, there's also some great comic relief, such as

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Ewoks gate-crashing a party, a grumpy Ugnaught engineer and a hapless stowaway.

The description of Han and Leia's wedding is beautiful and moving.

The last third of the book, which is more action-heavy, felt a little rushed in comparison to the slower-paced, earlier parts of the story. The solution to the crisis also feels a bit like technobabble, but overall it's a good read.

 

Not expecting much from this at all but about a quarter of the way in and I've loved it so far. Been surprisingly in depth and interesting. Hope it continues in this vein.

I've just about given up on new canon SW lit but more writing like this and Brotherhood could turn that around

 

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Well, no wedding gift from Qi'ra( At least Leia spared Han the details about his time in carbonite, including auction.

Liked that economic issues were mentioned, although the dominant topics were once again the Empire strip mining planets and
people in military industry losing their jobs. Hope that some day there will be a SW book focusing on more sophisticated economic issues.

 

SW barely survived the introduction of tax disputes. It's nowhere near to handling the story of the Banking Clan flogging a load of dodgy mortgages to Tatooine moisture farmers. They then sold the debt to the Corporate Sector, who routed it through the Jawas to Qi'Ra's Hidden Empire, who then sold it all back to the Banking Clan in a fire sale and that crashed the galactic economy.

 

Because of presentation, not the subject itself.

Well, a story should not necessary be that complicated) For example, showing that someone is making a fortune via speculation during the war or shipping companies going bankrupt because of economic crisis and being bought cheaply by Xizor is quite enough.