Reviews

Back with another early relic among Star Wars novels, The Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley was published 1979-80, and this isn’t my first encounter with it. I attempted to read this collection for the first time years ago, and honestly all I remember about it is thinking that it was very retro and cheesy, and I gave up on it pretty quickly. Since I’m in the process of rethinking my Expanded Universe collection, I decided I should give this one another shot, and so here I am again.

Both The Han Solo Adventures and The Lando Calrissian Adventures set their three stories in states that are client, allied, or independent of the Empire, I assume because the authors didn’t have the go ahead at this early stage to mess with the lore of the Empire itself. But they try to evoke the underdog feel of the original films by making these interstellar bodies just as greedy, ruthless, and corrupt as the Empire. It’s this impetus that enables Han to perform his role of law-defying scoundrel with a heart of gold as he and Chewbacca set out to make some illicit credits in the Corporate Sector.

In the first story, Han Solo at Star’s End, the two smugglers are roped into their do-gooding, as they often are in pre-Battle of Yavin days, by necessity and a severe cash flow problem. The Millennium Falcon urgently needs an upgrade, and Solo lacks the credits to cover all the work. Urgency is added by the local authority bearing down, and they don’t care who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. Leading a truly precarious existence and barely scraping by, Han’s initial truculence to any suggestion to stick his neck on the line is driven by the need to protect what little he already has – his own life, the life of his best friend, and the preservation of their home and livelihood, the Falcon. But once he gets going, and faced with enough callous selfishness from the authorities, and nothing will stop him from helping old friends and even complete strangers to earn their freedom and deliver payback. The Lando Calrissian stories were much more focused on wit, cunning, and exploration of sci fi themes and concepts like outlandish alien technology and the mysterious disappearance of ancient civilisations. Han Solo Adventures are less about discovery and exploration, and more about thrilling action sequences. Oh, they too contain wit and cunning, but Han’s brand is of the fast-thinking, shoot-first variety.

Considering that each story is shorter than a standard novel, I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of plot and character development, but Daley manages to stick the landing, in my opinion. The plots are surprisingly complex, with Han and Chewie having to deal with sudden reversals, unknown traitors, and unexpected reveals often enough to keep things exciting and unpredictable, and there’s just enough page space to give decent development to new characters with their own clearly defined agenda. I liked Jessa, Atuarre, Pakka, Fiolla, and even warmed up a little bit to Bollux and Blue Max, annoying and cutesy though I thought them to be upon first introduction.

The second story, Han Solo’s Revenge, is unusual in that Han and Chewie aren’t roped into things, but decide to seek vengeance against a slaver ring. It’s a mix of motivations; of course Han and Chewie don’t stand for this sort of thing, it’s at the core of both characters and their lifelong friendship. But it’s mixed in with much more selfish sentiment – the need to pay back those who would seize the Millennium Falcon, and a huge credit pay-out. The second masks the altruistic first, which again is classic Han Solo. There’s a lot of interested agents and double crosses to keep this one interesting, but on occasion certain plot twists seemed a little too convenient. Overall a decent story though.

For me it was the third story, Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, which lost me, in which Han and cohorts seek the long-lost treasure of Xim the Despot in the Tion Hegemony. I didn’t feel the urge to pick it up as often, so it’d be two or three days between reading sessions, and I quite frequently forgot the details of what was happening and where things had left off. The initial pitch of the main quest, so to speak, was rather confusing and just didn’t grab me. I did feel that there were echoes of Return of the Jedi here, in the ‘sacrifices of a primitive tribe’ section, but given when the book was written it’s actually more likely that the influence was the other way around and the film took inspiration for that scene from this book.

Han Solo at Star’s End: 7 out of 10.

Han Solo’s Revenge: 6 out of 10.

Han Solo and the Lost Legacy: 5 out of 10.

A mixed bag of decently enjoyable and slightly subpar tales, resulting in an overall mediocre score. Honestly, in the end the final story brought the whole experience down for me, and I just can’t see the necessity of holding on to this book, both in terms of essential events/character arcs or in terms of fantastic writing. It’s just okay. And in the end that’s why I’m letting it go.

6 out of 10

bjarot96's review against another edition

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Waiting for the new reprint in November 2024

jtashoff's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

kb_208's review

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4.0

I feel like I'm one of the few that actually enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was written just a year or two after the first film came out, so I find it rather neat the authors perspective of the Star Wars universe before there really was one. You don't read too much about the characters and species mention here in other books, but there are a lot of little things that continue to be used in the SWU. This book is three short novels of Han and Chewy's exploits before they became involved with the rebellion. They spend most of their time in the Corporate sector and there isn't much mention of the empire and whatnot. The stories are entertaining and I like reading about Han and Chewy, so it made for a good read.

milzer's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.0

made_in_dna's review

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5.0

When I first read these as a kid, I was enthralled. Reading them again as an adult, and I was excited all over again. Not only does Daley touch the heart of the Star Wars universe with his writing, he imbues with with an innate understanding of adventure.

All three interconnecting stories are family-friendly fare that can make reading nights with the kids enjoyable for all, or just provide some awesome thrills for those in love with SW. Thrills, battles, bad guys, lost armies of robots, and thugs abound, what's not to love about the roguish Han Solo and his faithful companion Chewbacca?

Clean transition from paper to digital copy.

srlemons42's review

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3.0

I liked these stories well enough. I don't have much experience reading the Star Wars EU books, so I can't judge these stories as compared to the rest. I felt these were solid, yet run of the mill adventure stories. The biggest (and some may say only) thing they have going for them is Han Solo. He is pretty close to how I think he should be portrayed in the book, with no major out of character moments that I can recall.

I'll give it 3 stars because it wasn't anything special but I still enjoyed reading them.

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