Star Wars - The Han Solo Trilogy (1997-1998)

 Star Wars - The Han Solo Trilogy (1997-1998)

The Han Solo Trilogy consists of three novels first published between 1997-1998 by A.C. Crispin. They are well-regarded by fans and cover some of the same ground as the Solo movie.

In The Paradise Snare (1997), nineteen-year-old Han Solo escapes from the control of villainous Garris Shrike who found him on Corellia as a street urchin and used him in scams. Solo is cared for by an older female wookiee called Dewlanna. Solo goes on to be hired to transport spice by the priests of the planet Ylesia. Here he meets Bria Tharen, another Corellian, with whom he falls in love - but loses. A great deal of the novel involves Solo turning against the priests and incurring a bounty on his head. Solo has cosmetic surgery to alter his appearance and graduates from the Imperial Academy as a pilot. This all takes place over a period of five months.

At the start of The Hutt Gambit (1997), Solo has been discharged from the Imperial Navy and Chewbacca the Wookiee has sworn a life-debt to him. Solo and Chewbacca travel to Nar Shaddaa, the Smugglers' Moon where he operates as a smuggler - eventually being hired by Jabba the Hutt and Jiliac the Hutt to smuggle spice. It is at this point that Solo makes the Kessel Run. The novel follows Solo's adventures involving the Hutts and encountering both Boba Fett and Lando Calrissian. There's a great deal of gangster to and fro, a re-encounter with is first love, Bria Tharen, and a sub-plot involving the Imperials (at one point Solo sees Darth Vader!).

After a gap - supposedly in which the 1979-80 Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley take place - in Rebel Dawn (1998) Solo wins the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a sabbacc game on Bespin. Chewbacca gets married on his homeworld of Kashyyyk. Solo meets Bria Tharen, who now s part of the Rebel Alliance and planning an attack on the slave colonies of Ylesia. This adventure ends up with Tharen double-crossing Solo and Lando punching him. Solo and Chewbacca return to working for Jabba and loses a shipment of spice. Bria Tharen goes on to be involved in actions that transmit the plans for the Death Star to Princess Leia - and is killed. On Tatooine, Solo encounters Dash Rendar from Shadows of the Empire as well as Boba Fett (who informs Solo of the death of Bria Tharen and that Greedo is looking for him and might try to kill him). At the end of the novel, Solo meets Ben Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in a Mos Eisley cantina.

While there's a lot to enjoy about The Han Solo Trilogy, it isn't part of my reconstructed timeline. This is for the following reasons:

• We have an unnecessary origin story for Han Solo in The Paradise Snare. Solo is better having a shadowy past.
• Important background references are depicted. For instance, the Kessel Run. It's not possible to describe or show what the Kessel Run is without disappointment. Similarly, we witness the scenes where Solo wins the Millennium Falcon from Lando, Lando's punch, etc - for some reason we don't see Chewbacca's first encounter with Han Solo.
  
• There are too many coincidences that feel contrived and awkward: Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Bria Tharen involved in stealing the Death Star plans.
• There are awkward elements like the marriage of Chewbacca to Malla - presumably to tie into The Star Wars Holiday Special.