TO LFL - Stop abusing Han and Leia's Romance!

I've just got caught up reading the last posts and I totally agree with what everyone is saying. The situation of L/M vs H/L is one big contradiction. I really can't think of anything else to add. You all have already hit the nail on the head.


In regard to the NJO, I feel like an abused puppy. I keep getting kicked by the EU authors, but I'm so desperate for a treat or decent H/L scene that I come back and buy more EU books and get kicked again and again and again.........

 

I know how you feel Leia. We shell out seven bucks a book just hoping things will improve, but when they don't we just go on hoping things'll be better in the next book. I have a great respect for those people who don't buy the books.

Thank you for posting those comments on the poll, Sologal. It really shows that despite how vocal the L/M fans are, Han and Leia are far more popular.

 

Well, in the spirit of accentuating the positive, here's the letter I sent to Shelly Shapiro:

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Dear Ms. Shapiro:

Recently, I have heard rumors through the Internet grapevine that upcoming books in Del Rey's New Jedi Order series may include an adventure focusing on the characters of Han Solo and Princess Leia. I'd like to take a moment to encourage such an endeavor in the most enthusiastic terms possible.

I'll be honest with you: I have neither purchased nor read a single book in the NJO series. In fact, I have not purchased a Star Wars Expanded Universe book since 1997, when Bantam still held the franchise. As a Han/Leia fan, I became weary of spending between $7 and $30 a pop for perhaps a page and a half of interaction between my favorite characters, especially after the execrable execution of the one entry in the series that could reasonably have been expected to be about these characters ("The Courtship of Princess Leia"). Therefore, I decided to vote with my pocketbook and stopped partaking of them altogether.

However, the news that you are considering a new Han/Leia story has me experiencing genuine excitement about the Star Wars books for the first time in at least eight years. A well written, well characterized Han/Leia adventure, one that captures the personalities that came across so vividly on screen, could bring back a virtual legion of fans like me. Given the right story and the right author, we might also gain the confidence and trust we now lack to give future stories a trial.

Please consider this a ringing endorsement for more Han and Leia in the Expanded Universe. Thanks for your time.

Regards--
Penn

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There. Now if THAT doesn't work, nothing will. [G]

 

Very nice Penny. Please tell us when you get the response. I only that if they do write that book, that it is written by a good author with accurate characterizations as you suggested. I don't think I could stand it to get excited about this book and then have it wind up being another CoPL.

 

Hello to Romio-and-Juliet.

PennyCentury, that's a really nice letter. Thanks so much for writing it.

 

Excellent letter PennyCentury! Hopefully, knowing there is an untapped market out there will inspire DR to encourage future authors to write more and better Han and Leia interaction.

 

Great letter PennyCentury! Maybe *finally* they might get the idea that there are people out there who have given up on the books because they are so *bad*.

 

While I agree that there are issues with the EU (one namely being the treatment of H/L), it's not all bad. BP was good minus the fact its L/M to H/L ratio was off, and while I would have liked to see more people in Conquest, what was done with Anakin's character was good. They just need to include more H/L and the EU would improve tremendously.

 

I agree Adi Gallia. So far anyway, there seems to be a disparity in the way these two couples have been handled. Of course, I guess we need to keep in mind that Han and Leia were estranged for a good part of this series. Still, since they have gotten back together, we have seen very little of them together. I think as their fans we deserve more. Maybe this book series has been as depressing for other fans as well, but it seems to me that the Han and Leia fans have had more to be depressed about. I think it's time for us to have something to look forward to.

 

Exactly, Sologal. The Mara fans feel they have been abused in the NJO, but minus the disease, she's fine and with Luke all the time. They have been the main characters in nearly all the books and even appeared in Conquest, though that was an Anakin story. While Rebirth will offer the H/L some improvement, M/L are still going to be the main characters. Hopefully, though, the number of scenes in which the two couples appear in will be more balanced in our favor.

 

I must have done something wrong when I sent my e-mail to Del Rey because I didn't get a reply. Maybe I typed my e-mail address wrong on the form or something. My friend sent an e-mail a few days after I did. She got back a response yesterday. The response was real vague. It just said that Han and Leia will be seen together more in future books and that they will be on better terms with each other. They also said that there are a lot of stories to be told so that Han and Leia cannot be in every book and the center of attention all of the time.

 

That's odd. The always send replies. You probably did type your e-mail address wrong. That's okay, though, as long as they got the letter, read it, and know another fan is unhappy, that's all that matters. The replies all say basically the same thing anyway.

 

I told my friend about the Rebirth excerpt at the Random House web site. When she tried to find it, it was gone. The audio book excerpt is still intact. I wonder why they remove the excerpt.

 

Nice name huh, LovelyLeia. I don't post very often anymore, but I am posting just to let others know that there is now a LovelyLeia as well as LovelyLea and not to get confused. I also agree with every thing being said. Thanks to all for keeping my hope up for more Han and Leia.

 

I thought that I was seeing double for a minute. Those two names are so alike.

I'm glad we are giving you hope LovelyLea, sometimes I feel so discouraged over this myself.

For some strange reason I just looked back and reviewed page 1 of this thread. I noticed a post there by Boushh 2187 requesting a action story revolving around Han and Leia. I thought that was encouraging because some of the responses to our letters and e-mails have said that Han and Leia will be getting there own adventure in the future. Maybe they are listening to us. Well at least they're listening to Boushh. If there is anything else that you would like Boushh, you should speak up.

 

TFN posted a story about the Rebirth excerpt being pulled; they're not sure why. Why would they do that?

 

I have read all that you people have been writing (I feel for you, I really do), and I agree that Han and Leia?s relation ship is taking a big hit by the NJO, but you have to remember that Han and Leia have never been the most romantic couple. That particular couple thrives on action. The most romantic seine they ever got in the movies was when Leia said, ?I love you,? for the first time, and Han said, ?I know.? The only time this couple ever improves their relationship is when they beat up some bad-guys. Nether Han, nor Leia, are the type of people to sit on the side lines and whisper sweat nothings into each other?s ears while there is a war going on.

Luke and Mara aren?t the type to do that either, and I agree that their romance might have been over done a little, but they have simply had more time for romance recently. Mara was ill for a lot of the NJO, and especially now that she is pregnant, she and Luke couldn?t just run of and fight in the war on the front lines like I know they would much prefer doing.

I would like to see more Han and Leia rushing into battle together, fighting for the good of the galaxy, because that is what they do best.

Just my opinion.

 

I could defiantly use some more Han/Leia interaction. The only real time their together is in the films and COPL and thats just not fair. I liked Penny's letter and hope that they take the time to consdier it.

 

I agree JediSolo that Han and Leia are people of action, but even in war there is down time, so to speak. I disagree, however, that they are not romantic. If you read both the ESB and ROJ novelizations, you will find reference to a number of openly affectionate moments between these two passionate people. Also, there has been some implied romance between them in several EU books as well. I do not believe it is out of character for them to share such moments.

I do agree with you that romance between Luke and Mara has been over done. I'm not saying there should be no romance between them, it's just that I think it's not in either of their characters to be as mushy, lovey, dovey as they have been portrayed.

 

I understand what you mean about them being people of action, Jedi Solo, and I agree, but I don't agree with the statement about them not being so affectionate. As Sologal said, if you read the novelizations, there are some very tender scenes between them. Plus they didn't have that much time for romance since it was the middle of a war.

And yes, Mara/Luke's romance has been overdone lately. I can't see her sitting around cuddling with Luke while there's a war going on, even if she is pregnant.

I was just thinking last night about the NJO, and they're hasn't been a book where H/L are themselves and normal since VP really. Over a year and a half ago. I'm dying for Rebirth to come out.

 

I always think of Han and Leia as one of the most romantic couples in fiction. They are thought of this way by many movie watchers as well. Han and Leia have the type of romance that Hepburn/Tracy had. Hepburn/Tracy were a very popular romantic team of films from the 40s, 50s and even the 60s. Their films are full of bantering, even agruments, constant action, the characters rarely stop talking and moving about, but there were also a lot of flirting and kissing and touching. That's how I see Han and Leia.

I really don't want the type of lovey-dovey scenes for Han and Leia that they have been giving to Luke and Mara. Those types of scenes are overdone, not very romantic, or realistic. Of course, that's just my opinion.

However, they seriously need to allow the love Han and Leia feel for each other to shine through more in these NJO books.

 

You said it Adi Gallia. Han and Leia and their fans have been the hardest hit with this book series. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm so tired of being depressed and discouraged every time I read a NJO book. It's time for something good to happen for Han and Leia and their fans. I want to read about them working together as a team and being shown as a truely devoted couple who love each other deeply.

 

Hopefully we don't have to wait much longer. Rebirth has them on some mission and if we're lucky, they will not be shown as just business partners as they were for the most part throughout the Bantam books.

But then again, that excerpt makes me worried we're going to see more L/M scenes that do little for the plot but keep her fans happy. And if they continue to insult Leia, whether that was intentional or not, I won't be able to stand it. I'm sure Mara will come up with the *perfect* name for their son.

 

I actually wrote a second e-mail to DR where I pointed out that there has not been any good H/L interaction since VP came out in Oct 1999. That's a long wait for us to see some good things between them. I got back the same response that everyone has been getting. There are many stories to tell, etc.

 

Thanks for trying Ginger. Even if we get back the same responses, at least they're reading these letters and know we're unhappy.

But if they're so many stories to tell, why have we only read the L/M love-fest story? They're contradicting themselves if they say they have so many tales to tell, yet one topic is featured so prominently in nearly all the books.