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yak_attak's review against another edition
2.0
Substantially better than people claim, and yet still pretty bad. Honestly the laughable set-up to the plot is actually done pretty well, but once the heroes are all assembled on Dathomir, it's sorta a hurried confusing mess sorting out the plot. Has some really neat and fun bits, and just as many Eye-rolls. In the end that it's unexciting is its biggest weakness.
rachel_abby_reads's review against another edition
1.0
You couldn't set out to craft a book better designed to extinguish my Star Wars obsession than this particular offering. Blech.
First, Wolverton has no clear concept of who Leia is and what makes her tick. He tries to pretend that Leia could not love Han after the ending of Jedi, and even seriously consider marrying someone else. Hogwash.
Second, he spends more time in the heads of Han, Luke, and the would-be wooer (even C-3PO!) than he does in Leia's head, although given his already stated inadequate understanding of her character, it's just as well.
I finished it because I wanted to ensure that I would never be tempted to read it again. It sucked, and there is no other way to say it.
First, Wolverton has no clear concept of who Leia is and what makes her tick. He tries to pretend that Leia could not love Han after the ending of Jedi, and even seriously consider marrying someone else. Hogwash.
Second, he spends more time in the heads of Han, Luke, and the would-be wooer (even C-3PO!) than he does in Leia's head, although given his already stated inadequate understanding of her character, it's just as well.
I finished it because I wanted to ensure that I would never be tempted to read it again. It sucked, and there is no other way to say it.
jjjohnsonauthor's review against another edition
4.0
Don’t get me wrong: this book is terrible. But I’m giving it four stars because my housemate in college bought it for me (the just-released hardcover, light blue with Fabio-Isolder and Leia in a wedding gown) as a joke because I was - and still am - such a Star Wars nerd. And while this book was REAL BAD, it alerted me to the existence of Star Wars novels, some of which are great, and in the pages of which I (mis)spent my twenties.
rhganci's review against another edition
3.0
It was as fabulous as I remembered it to be. I’m not sure how old I was when I read it for the first time (maybe 12? 13?), but being re-introduced to Luke was by far the best part of the novel. He’s such a different character since Truce, and I like the changes in his personality. I’m really excited to get to the Han-Leia and family books, because I suspect that Uncle Luke will make a very awesome Jedi Master.
katnordholm's review against another edition
1.0
LAME! (also spoilers) I've been enjoying reading my way through Star Wars books, and I love Leia, so I was excited for this one. Unfortunately, Leia was such one-dimensional character in this book it made me sick. She is written so wishy-washily throughout the whole book. She doesn't love Han; she likes this other guy, she's going to go back to his planet with him, she doesn't know what she's going to do. We get very little insight into the thought processes going on in her head and it ultimately seems like there are no thoughts there. Her and Han have been together for three years at this point, wouldn't you think that she would have some strong feelings about maybe breaking it off and marrying this other guy?
Han is a jackass. Seeing that Leia might marry someone else his first thoughts "I need to become rich so she likes me again." Way to reduce the woman you love to a gold digger. Again, you've been with her for three years; you should maybe know her better than that and be less surprised when it doesn't work. Having failed at that he kidnaps her. Not just tricking her into going away somewhere private with him. He uses The Gun of Command, which disables her thought processes, eliminates her of her own free will, and forces her to follow his commands. Classy.
Hypocrisy: Han and Leia end up on a planet where women rule society and kidnap men to become husbands. This is portrayed as completely barbaric. Again, Han literally just did the same thing, and it's way less accepted in his society.
There is a host of other characters who do about faces at the end of the book and end up behaving in a completely different manner than their personalities up to that point would indicate that they should, but they certainly don't matter as much. This book was about the relationship between Han and Leia, but it totally failed to do either of them justice as characters.
Han is a jackass. Seeing that Leia might marry someone else his first thoughts "I need to become rich so she likes me again." Way to reduce the woman you love to a gold digger. Again, you've been with her for three years; you should maybe know her better than that and be less surprised when it doesn't work. Having failed at that he kidnaps her. Not just tricking her into going away somewhere private with him. He uses The Gun of Command, which disables her thought processes, eliminates her of her own free will, and forces her to follow his commands. Classy.
Hypocrisy: Han and Leia end up on a planet where women rule society and kidnap men to become husbands. This is portrayed as completely barbaric. Again, Han literally just did the same thing, and it's way less accepted in his society.
There is a host of other characters who do about faces at the end of the book and end up behaving in a completely different manner than their personalities up to that point would indicate that they should, but they certainly don't matter as much. This book was about the relationship between Han and Leia, but it totally failed to do either of them justice as characters.
blacksentai's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, so. This particular story feels like the writer got confused maybe part way through it. It's one of those problems where I feel like they didn't know what the core focus of the story was supposed to be.
bums's review against another edition
2.0
This was... Interesting.
I never really intended to read this book, I'd heard it was weird and it was classed as a romance novel so I never really thought about reading it. That was until reaching the end of Solo Command and coming to a message reading "The story of Han Solo and Warlord Zsinj continues in 'The Courtship of Princess Leia' by Dave Wolverton". After the first four X-Wing books hinted at Zsinj's power and finally getting to see him in action in the Wraith Squadron Trilogy I desperately wanted to know how Han took him down and I guess I found out.
The book revolves around Leia considering a marriage to Prince Isolder of the Hapes Consortium (which may be known to fans of the New Jedi Order and Legacy eras of Star Wars Legends), a matriarchal society which is incredibly sexist towards the men of the Hapes Cluster and while men aren't treated terribly they are just dismissed as "mere men".
Han gets jealous of this and decides to 'convince' Leia (kidnap) to come on a romantic getaway with him to his newly won planet, Dathomir (which may be familiar to fans of The Clone Wars as were all those Witches live) alongside Threepio and Chewie. Dathomir also has a matriarchal society due to only the women being able to use the Force.
Luke and Artoo track down Han with help from Isolder and they are all shot down over Dathomir by Zsinj and we now have a plot.
Characters. Everybody is mischaracterised in this book, everybody. Han is a crazy kidnapper who won't take no for an answer (he also has some really weird comments and jokes "I've seen so much darkness lately"), Leia jumps between stuck up and arrogant, being genuinely useful and a sobbing emotional wreck within the same page, Luke is probably the most accurate of the big three but still he occasionally reverts from episode VI Luke to whiny farmboy Luke, Threepio is annoying as ever and even sings at one point ("What a man Solo!"), Chewie is a massive coward, Lando is never mentioned and Artoo beeps occasionally to remind us he's there.
The new characters are a little strange too. Isolder is a sexy hunk that listens to your feelings and will defend you to the death, Zsinj and Melvar are incompetently evil, all the Dathomirians and Hapains don't understand why everyone is so angry that they treat men terribly.
A lot of weird stuff happens too. Threepio starts singing, Han kidnaps Leia, Han wrestles a hundred metre long Wuffa Worm out of the ground, Luke goes into a strange acid trippy Force hallucination, Rancors start using armour and weapons etc.
Admittedly some of the stuff with Luke and the Force is quite interesting and learning about the old Jedi Order (before the Prequels decided to go in a different direction) was good.
Overall though I liked it. I wouldn't say it's good but it's strange and if you go in not really expecting much and ready to laugh at the weird bits then you should have a good time.
P.S. The fact that the kept calling the Iron Fist a Star Destroyer instead of a Super Star Destroyer in some of it's appearances really annoyed me.
I never really intended to read this book, I'd heard it was weird and it was classed as a romance novel so I never really thought about reading it. That was until reaching the end of Solo Command and coming to a message reading "The story of Han Solo and Warlord Zsinj continues in 'The Courtship of Princess Leia' by Dave Wolverton". After the first four X-Wing books hinted at Zsinj's power and finally getting to see him in action in the Wraith Squadron Trilogy I desperately wanted to know how Han took him down and I guess I found out.
The book revolves around Leia considering a marriage to Prince Isolder of the Hapes Consortium (which may be known to fans of the New Jedi Order and Legacy eras of Star Wars Legends), a matriarchal society which is incredibly sexist towards the men of the Hapes Cluster and while men aren't treated terribly they are just dismissed as "mere men".
Han gets jealous of this and decides to 'convince' Leia (kidnap) to come on a romantic getaway with him to his newly won planet, Dathomir (which may be familiar to fans of The Clone Wars as were all those Witches live) alongside Threepio and Chewie. Dathomir also has a matriarchal society due to only the women being able to use the Force.
Luke and Artoo track down Han with help from Isolder and they are all shot down over Dathomir by Zsinj and we now have a plot.
Characters. Everybody is mischaracterised in this book, everybody. Han is a crazy kidnapper who won't take no for an answer (he also has some really weird comments and jokes "I've seen so much darkness lately"), Leia jumps between stuck up and arrogant, being genuinely useful and a sobbing emotional wreck within the same page, Luke is probably the most accurate of the big three but still he occasionally reverts from episode VI Luke to whiny farmboy Luke, Threepio is annoying as ever and even sings at one point ("What a man Solo!"), Chewie is a massive coward, Lando is never mentioned and Artoo beeps occasionally to remind us he's there.
The new characters are a little strange too. Isolder is a sexy hunk that listens to your feelings and will defend you to the death, Zsinj and Melvar are incompetently evil, all the Dathomirians and Hapains don't understand why everyone is so angry that they treat men terribly.
A lot of weird stuff happens too. Threepio starts singing, Han kidnaps Leia, Han wrestles a hundred metre long Wuffa Worm out of the ground, Luke goes into a strange acid trippy Force hallucination, Rancors start using armour and weapons etc.
Admittedly some of the stuff with Luke and the Force is quite interesting and learning about the old Jedi Order (before the Prequels decided to go in a different direction) was good.
Overall though I liked it. I wouldn't say it's good but it's strange and if you go in not really expecting much and ready to laugh at the weird bits then you should have a good time.
P.S. The fact that the kept calling the Iron Fist a Star Destroyer instead of a Super Star Destroyer in some of it's appearances really annoyed me.
paulinabemu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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
4.0
gothicgunslinger's review against another edition
3.0
Heather's Epic Star Wars EU Novel Reread
Book Two: The Courtship of Princess Leia
Read as a kid?: Maaaybe, partially. I definitely remember my friend had it. She may have told me the majority of the plot, or I read about it in other Star Wars sourcebooks I had as a kid. Parts of it seemed familiar, but the rest was a mystery, so who knows.
My opinion then: Considering I knew it was the book where Han and Leia officially got together, I was pretty for it.
My opinion now: It's mixed. There was definitely a lot I shamelessly loved, especially in the first half of the novel. The world-building was top-notch, adding a bunch of iconic elements to the Star Wars universe I remember and love. The Hapes Cluster is a pretty fascinating place, and I unabashedly loved the courtship plot between Leia and Isolder that forced Han to make increasingly absurd moves to win Leia's heart. I also appreciated that the New Republic was locked in a series of skirmishes with fallen Imperial leaders who had declared themselves warlords over different parts of the galaxy. That felt rather realistic in terms of what the newly formed government was trying to accomplish in the wake of the war with the Empire. I enjoyed Dathomir, and thought the witch clans and the Nightsisters were a neat twist on Force users.
However, when the disparate plot lines converged on Dathomir about halfway through, the story got pretty muddled. The chapters went from two to three important characters in a scene together to five plus – Luke, Han, Leia, Isolder, Teneniel, Chewie, the droids – it was hard to keep track. And the POV shifts work when the characters are doing separate things, but when everyone was together, I often got the feeling we were in the POV of a less interesting character than we should have been. I liked Teneniel and Isolder fine, but considering the premise of the novel was the fight to win Leia's heart, I thought that focus often got sidelined for actiony sci-fi shenanigans more than it should have. There was a lot of early back and forth between Han and Isolder about how they planned to compete for Leia – and then didn't really do much of it. This was further complicated by Teneniel and her weird love triangle between Luke and Isolder that also wasn't very developed. That plus the fact that these five characters spent much of the latter half of the book together created some very convoluted romantic drama that I had a difficult time following. Han, Leia, Isolder and Isolder, Luke, Teneniel – what does that make it? A love hexagon? I'm confused. In the end, it wraps up rather neatly, too, with Leia of course choosing Han; the other characters are okay with it without a fight . Eh. I dunno how I feel about it.
Also, the time spent on Dathomir almost feels too long. It's a backwater planet in the middle of nowhere, taking the main characters away from the political intrigue of the core worlds, which honestly was the more compelling plot for me. There was all this setup about the many worlds of the Hapes cluster, but then we never go there. That's sixty-four guns on the wall that never go off. At least make Dathomir one of the Hapes worlds, so that the impact of what happens there has more immediate plot significance. Instead, it feels like Han, Luke and especially Leia - an ambassador with a lot of responsibilities – get waylaid out in the wilderness for the rest of the book. The fact that the main over arcing conflict regarding Warlord Zsinj ends up getting resolved on and around this little nothing world feels somewhat anti-climactic, too.
All in all, I like the disparate parts of this one, but they come together in a rather clunky manner, often forcing well-known characters to act inconsistently. It reminds me of how I felt about The Last Jedi, to be honest. But it's still a decently fun romp, and worth it for the larger EU world-building.
Book Two: The Courtship of Princess Leia
Read as a kid?: Maaaybe, partially. I definitely remember my friend had it. She may have told me the majority of the plot, or I read about it in other Star Wars sourcebooks I had as a kid. Parts of it seemed familiar, but the rest was a mystery, so who knows.
My opinion then: Considering I knew it was the book where Han and Leia officially got together, I was pretty for it.
My opinion now: It's mixed. There was definitely a lot I shamelessly loved, especially in the first half of the novel. The world-building was top-notch, adding a bunch of iconic elements to the Star Wars universe I remember and love. The Hapes Cluster is a pretty fascinating place, and I unabashedly loved the courtship plot between Leia and Isolder that forced Han to make increasingly absurd moves to win Leia's heart. I also appreciated that the New Republic was locked in a series of skirmishes with fallen Imperial leaders who had declared themselves warlords over different parts of the galaxy. That felt rather realistic in terms of what the newly formed government was trying to accomplish in the wake of the war with the Empire. I enjoyed Dathomir, and thought the witch clans and the Nightsisters were a neat twist on Force users.
However, when the disparate plot lines converged on Dathomir about halfway through, the story got pretty muddled. The chapters went from two to three important characters in a scene together to five plus – Luke, Han, Leia, Isolder, Teneniel, Chewie, the droids – it was hard to keep track. And the POV shifts work when the characters are doing separate things, but when everyone was together, I often got the feeling we were in the POV of a less interesting character than we should have been. I liked Teneniel and Isolder fine, but considering the premise of the novel was the fight to win Leia's heart, I thought that focus often got sidelined for actiony sci-fi shenanigans more than it should have. There was a lot of early back and forth between Han and Isolder about how they planned to compete for Leia – and then didn't really do much of it. This was further complicated by Teneniel and her weird love triangle between Luke and Isolder that also wasn't very developed. That plus the fact that these five characters spent much of the latter half of the book together created some very convoluted romantic drama that I had a difficult time following. Han, Leia, Isolder and Isolder, Luke, Teneniel – what does that make it? A love hexagon? I'm confused. In the end, it wraps up rather neatly, too, with Leia of course choosing Han
Spoiler
after his failed attempt at becoming a suicide bomber – WHOASpoiler
because Isolder and Teneniel hook up in another way that doesn't feel very earnedAlso, the time spent on Dathomir almost feels too long. It's a backwater planet in the middle of nowhere, taking the main characters away from the political intrigue of the core worlds, which honestly was the more compelling plot for me. There was all this setup about the many worlds of the Hapes cluster, but then we never go there. That's sixty-four guns on the wall that never go off. At least make Dathomir one of the Hapes worlds, so that the impact of what happens there has more immediate plot significance. Instead, it feels like Han, Luke and especially Leia - an ambassador with a lot of responsibilities
Spoiler
who was reportedly kidnapped by Han, no less! The official manhunt for them never comes up again, eitherAll in all, I like the disparate parts of this one, but they come together in a rather clunky manner, often forcing well-known characters to act inconsistently