Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel

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Bewertung am 02.06.2023
Bewertungsnummer: 1953607
Bewertet: Buch (Gebundene Ausgabe)

I think we all were a little heartbroken and maybe still in denial (I know I am) when we sat down to watch The Force Awakens in cinemas and had to learn that the OG couple HanLeia was no more. To be honest, I thought they would always stay together and I was upset JJ Abrams decided that there was never really a chance for those two to be in a long-term relationship. Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel acts as balm for a wounded fan's heart but can also be seen as the beginning of an explanation why, canonically, it didn't work out between our beloved princess and scruffy scoundrel. The novel picks up immediately after the Battle of Endor at the end of The Return of the Jedi and gives its readers a lot of insight into the workings of the Rebellion in the early days after the death of the Empire. I never really thought about what would happen after the end of RotJ. I think most of us thought that naturally, the galaxy would start healing and everything and everyone would be fine. While the legends novels explored the idea of a post-Empire conflict and wars very early on and in the case of Zahn's novels, very extensively, I never really thought about it in canon terms. But it sure isn't all sunshine and roses for Leia, Han, Mon Mothma, Lando, and the other rebels. Only days after the explosion of the second Death Star, there are rumours that the Empire isn't completely defeated yet. After all, lots of governments and worlds profited from the constant war the Empire was raging and they would have an interest in hiding and secretly supporting leftover battalions and remnant Empire officers. The Rebel leaders know this just as well as they know that remaining Empire supporters would benefit immensely from a galaxy-wide Mangel of fuel that – if in the hands of the wrong people – would cause worlds still doubtful about joining the burgeoning Republic to look for fuel and support from other sources. Leia knows all this and would like to tackle every one of those problems at once but she has also just been proposed to by Han and he can't think of anything less appealing than spending their upcoming honeymoon on the new and gleaming luxury cruiser Halcyron talking politics. Listen, you know it, I know it, my dog knows it. This book was written, at least in parts, to promote Disney's Galaxy’s Edge starship hotel Halcyon. The insanely expensive hotel that needed to be heavily advertised came first, and the book came after. When the book was announced I tried not to let it trouble me too much but while I was reading it I couldn't help but wonder how different the book would have turned out if the Galaxy’s Edge destination didn't exist. Is this book full of praise for the actual star cruiser Han and Leia honeymoon on? Yes. But not as much as you might think and at least it makes it fun. On his first day, Han discovers the Engine Room where a secret sabacc game is going on. He also endlessly grumbles about how the Falcon would definitely be faster than the cruiser and that he is not interested in all the activities and entertainment the Halcyon has to offer. So if you're worried about this book reading like an ad, don't be. Some more or less obvious passages highlight how beautiful, just how comfortable that ship is and it also plays a kind of saviour role at the end but I'd say that if you didn't know about the link between this book and Galaxy’s Edge, you wouldn't notice anything amiss. Now, what made this book so interesting was the exquisite insight into post-Empire Leia and where she sees herself as someone who throughout the war was the public face of the Rebellion. She is Han Solo's wife but she is also a politician, an ambassador, and a princess. It's hard for her to merge both versions of her into a single one and she doesn't know how to go about that. I feel like this novel really understood Leia because she is so complex and too often reduced to just "the Princess" or just "the badass rebel" while actually, she is all of those things and more. This novel also lays the groundwork for Leia being force-sensitive as there are a few moments where she reaches out to the Force and connects with it. It's still a long way off from The Rise of Skywalker’s flashback of her practicing with her own lightsaber but it's a beginning. Not only Leia, but Han as well struggles with being married to someone whose previous life's responsibilities are so different from his own. His struggle with not fitting in with the political elite or with not having as much money and wealth as he thinks Leia deserves is well done. The novel shows how far he's come since A New Hope while also paying tribute to his origins (the novel even mentioned Qui'ra!). You get why Leia fell in love with him. In this book he continues to smirk, smoulder and kick ass (oh, and threaten to lock someone into an escape pod and shoot off into space). Han and Leia work so well together, despite all their differences but I think the seeds that grow into their existing separation in The Force Awakens are also planted in this novel. There are several instances in which Leia puts her work before Han, their honeymoon, and everything else while for Han, Leia will always be the most important thing in his life. On top of all that, this book FINALLY explores Leia having to deal with the knowledge that Darth Vader is her father which was literally never discussed in the films. Did anyone else think that this should have been at least a talking point?? After all, Leia realises that she was tortured by her OWN father but naturally the films only ever gave us Luke having to grapple with the knowledge that he is Darth Vader's son. At first, the novel made it seem like an unimportant trifle that Leia can put behind herself pretty quickly but it's picked up multiple times throughout the second and third half of the book and the author makes an interesting case for why Leia never really fully immersed herself in the Force and went down the same path Luke did. Regarding the rest of the book, it feels like a proper Star Wars novel. The wedding on Endor is beautiful though the preparations are not without Ewok-induced trouble. Revis really gets that special Star Wars humour that sometimes simply consists of Han bullying C-3PO, Lando being extremely flashy and over-the-top, Ewoks causing everyone a headache and stoic droid faces. All of that combined plus some much-needed final act action made for an entertaining Star Wars novel that comes with a lot of OT nostalgia. Reading it made me want to rewatch the whole Original Trilogy and I think that any OT fan will get something out of Star Wars' latest canon novel.