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awishman's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure how to rate this book, because I did enjoy it, but it was more in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way; like MST3K. I enjoyed the character of Teneniel, but I thought Space Fabio/Isolder was silly and both Han and Leia acted out of character. But, it was entertaining, and I had fun reading it. But this isn't a good book.
graff_fuller's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I enjoyed this story, but I would've enjoyed it a LOT more...IF I had not been so connected to the Star Wars Disney Canon, in novels, TV and the movies.
I was thrown by the major differences on the planet of Dathomir. In Legends, the planet looks basically like Earth. In the Disney Canon, it is a wasteland planet that is steeped in the Dark Side...looks more like Mars (IF Mars was more RED than orange).
Also, there was no mention of Zabrak on Dathomir...which was another head shaker. What?
That aside...the actual Courtship of Princess Leia was fun. I didn't like the Isodore (kept thinking of The Lord of the Rings) at every mention of his name. His focus on Princess was understandable, but for us longtime lovers of the contentious relationship of her and Han Solo...were having NONE of this upstart.
Also, Han Solo seemed (to me, at least) to be a little thicker in the head. Yes, he was a scoundrel...but it seemed he was an oar short at times, which was frustrating. I know that his plans don't always work, but come on!
The Luke parts were fairly good, but it felt shoehorned in...to me. I can see that he was building the connection through the Force between him and Leia, but it was a little heavy handed at times. We get it.
Also, for Princess Leia to be in any way interested in Isodore...seemed odd. BUT, I love how she was her own person. She spoke for herself and had agency throughout the story...which I appreciated.
All the above may seem overly critical, but I'm hear to say...I enjoyed it. I just wish that I had read it BEFORE I had invested all that I have in the New Canon. It was just a little too much for me.
A valiant effort...for sure, but just wasn't a hit for me.
Hopefully this doesn't make me a Disney shill, for I'm not.
Oh, yes...this was my second book read in the Space Opera September 2023 readathon.
This was a Stage Three challange completed:
By walking in the room, you accidentally insulted the most beautiful alien race in the galaxy (quick distract them by reading a book featuring some romance)
1) 👍🏻Dave Wolverton (Farland) - Star Wars: Legends: The Courtship of Princess Leia (ePub) 402 pgs
This is romantic, but not in the way that I think the makers of this challenge meant it to be. No spicy scenes, but it was still romantic.
I was thrown by the major differences on the planet of Dathomir. In Legends, the planet looks basically like Earth. In the Disney Canon, it is a wasteland planet that is steeped in the Dark Side...looks more like Mars (IF Mars was more RED than orange).
Also, there was no mention of Zabrak on Dathomir...which was another head shaker. What?
That aside...the actual Courtship of Princess Leia was fun. I didn't like the Isodore (kept thinking of The Lord of the Rings) at every mention of his name. His focus on Princess was understandable, but for us longtime lovers of the contentious relationship of her and Han Solo...were having NONE of this upstart.
Also, Han Solo seemed (to me, at least) to be a little thicker in the head. Yes, he was a scoundrel...but it seemed he was an oar short at times, which was frustrating. I know that his plans don't always work, but come on!
The Luke parts were fairly good, but it felt shoehorned in...to me. I can see that he was building the connection through the Force between him and Leia, but it was a little heavy handed at times. We get it.
Also, for Princess Leia to be in any way interested in Isodore...seemed odd. BUT, I love how she was her own person. She spoke for herself and had agency throughout the story...which I appreciated.
All the above may seem overly critical, but I'm hear to say...I enjoyed it. I just wish that I had read it BEFORE I had invested all that I have in the New Canon. It was just a little too much for me.
A valiant effort...for sure, but just wasn't a hit for me.
Hopefully this doesn't make me a Disney shill, for I'm not.
Oh, yes...this was my second book read in the Space Opera September 2023 readathon.
This was a Stage Three challange completed:
By walking in the room, you accidentally insulted the most beautiful alien race in the galaxy (quick distract them by reading a book featuring some romance)
1) 👍🏻Dave Wolverton (Farland) - Star Wars: Legends: The Courtship of Princess Leia (ePub) 402 pgs
This is romantic, but not in the way that I think the makers of this challenge meant it to be. No spicy scenes, but it was still romantic.
jarichan's review against another edition
3.0
Von diesem Buch hatte ich bisher noch gar nichts gehört; bis der Hexenmeister es mir in die Hand drückte. "Du magst doch Star Wars" - aber sicher doch!
Diese Geschichte wird sozusagen als Episode 7 beworben (bevor Episode 7 existierte) und so liest sich das Buch auch. Ich könnte mir dieses Buch wirklich als Fortsetzung vorstellen. Vor allem Fans von Han und Leia werden sich freuen, dass hier mehr auf diese interessante Beziehung eingegangen wird.
Aber auch Luke kommt zum Zuge und zeigt, wie sehr er über sich hinausgewachsen ist. In seiner Rolle als Lehrer kommt er hier voll zum Zuge und zeigt, was er alles im Verlaufe der letzten Handlungsstränge gelernt hat.
Leider fehlte der Handlung insgesamt der Spannungsaufbau. Es passiert zwar immer wieder etwas, aber die Beschreibungen bleiben grundsätzlich eher oberflächlich, auch wenn sich Wolverton bemüht, immer wieder etwas Tiefe in sein Buch einfliessen zu lassen. Für die leichte Lektüre zwischendurch durchaus geeignet - das war wohl auch das Ziel dieses Titels.
Alles in allem eine unterhaltsame und kurzweilige Geschichte, kein Highlight im Star Wars-Universum, aber dennoch für Fans lesenswert.
Diese Geschichte wird sozusagen als Episode 7 beworben (bevor Episode 7 existierte) und so liest sich das Buch auch. Ich könnte mir dieses Buch wirklich als Fortsetzung vorstellen. Vor allem Fans von Han und Leia werden sich freuen, dass hier mehr auf diese interessante Beziehung eingegangen wird.
Aber auch Luke kommt zum Zuge und zeigt, wie sehr er über sich hinausgewachsen ist. In seiner Rolle als Lehrer kommt er hier voll zum Zuge und zeigt, was er alles im Verlaufe der letzten Handlungsstränge gelernt hat.
Leider fehlte der Handlung insgesamt der Spannungsaufbau. Es passiert zwar immer wieder etwas, aber die Beschreibungen bleiben grundsätzlich eher oberflächlich, auch wenn sich Wolverton bemüht, immer wieder etwas Tiefe in sein Buch einfliessen zu lassen. Für die leichte Lektüre zwischendurch durchaus geeignet - das war wohl auch das Ziel dieses Titels.
Alles in allem eine unterhaltsame und kurzweilige Geschichte, kein Highlight im Star Wars-Universum, aber dennoch für Fans lesenswert.
thepurplepixel's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
danielpf1's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
mal8181's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
pushingdessy's review against another edition
1.0
INSTAGRAM | BLOG
A Star Wars book so bad it makes all other Star Wars books look like Pulitzer nominees.
Dave Wolverton’s “The Courtship of Princess Leia” has a couple of things going for it that make it a beloved nostalgia read for many. At the time, back in May 1994, the number of adult Star Wars novels that had been published could be counted with the fingers of one hand plus a couple more. The Timothy Zahn trilogy had concluded just a year earlier, acting as the unofficial sequel to the OT and establishing Han and Leia as a married couple expecting their first children. This opened a pathway for innumerable stories to be told beyond Return of the Jedi. One of them was: how and when did Han and Leia tie the knot?
Unfortunately, the person chosen to answer that question was Dave Wolverton. But the thirst for more Star Wars content and the appeal of the plot made COPL into a must-read, and read it was. Many remember this book fondly as one of their first Star Wars reads, especially if they were young readers at the time. And who could fault them for that?
Well, *I* can, if in 2023 they look me in the eye and claim that it’s a great Star Wars book and the only Han/Leia wedding story we need.
THIS ISN'T THE PLOT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR
The plot is bad because it hinges on the premise that women are flighty, frivolous creatures who need a man to tell them what they really want and how they really feel.
Han and Leia have been in a relationship for several years at this point. There's nothing to indicate their relationship is in trouble, except they just spent five months apart while Han was on a mission for the New Republic. Suddenly, a "hot" rich prince appears asking for Leia's hand in marriage. Even though she literally gave up her planet for the rebellion, everybody in the New Republic is pressuring her to marry Isolder. And although the incentive is as big as several planets, and could give her diaspora a home and put an end to the war, Leia says she's not going to do it... and then she falls in love with him. After two days. So after acting like a giant asshole to Han, Leia finally decides to break things off with him. ✨ROMANCE✨
This drives Han insane with jealousy, so he uses a powerful mind-control gun to kidnap Leia and take her to a planet he won in a Sabacc game, which is not how things should work. On their way there, he gives her an ultimatum: she has to spend 7 days on Dathomir with him (plus 8 days of travel... also not how things should work), and if he makes her fall in love with him again, Leia has to marry Han. If she doesn't, Han will let her marry Isolder and go to jail for the kidnapping. ✨ROMANCE✨
Of course, by the end of the book, Leia realizes that Han was right to not give up on them, and she's so glad that he kidnapped her. She was never in love with Isolder! Gotcha! (She literally said she loved Isolder at one point, though...) ✨ROMANCE✨
So basically the foundation of the plot is abduction, kidnapping, gaslighting, ultimatums, all of which can be summed up as domestic abuse because it was done in the context of a relationship, and a lot of verbal abuse from Leia (no, that's not the same as their movie bickering).
Is this the great romantic story we want about how one of the most iconic couples of cinema decided to get married? Fuck no. What is wrong with all of you five and four star raters?
HOKEY RELIGIONS AND ANCIENT WEAPONS
Let's talk about all the other omgsoamazing plot threads that people praise about this book. They're bullshit, okay? Wolverton is a lot like George Lucas, but not in a good way. He had a lot of ideas he thought were cool, but no skill to make them make sense. Did you know that the X-Wing novels were written *after* COPL and they're largely responsible for making sense of the thrown to the wall spaghetti that was the Zsinj subplot?
And there is, of course, the witches of Dathomir. A cool concept, for sure... that was done in the most nonsensical, sexist way possible. Wolverton's idea of a matriarchal society is basically a pamphlet about "the dangers of feminism": men are treated as inferiors, they don't have a voice, they're enslaved for procreation. AKA, men fear what they do. This is also the case for the Hapan society, minus the slavery - but their own unsavory story involves eugenics. Yikes.
The explanations on how these witches came to be and what makes one a Nightsister are rambling, contradictory, confusing. And for all people praise the #girlpower of this book, these powerful man-hating witches who have been doing this for millennia or decades, depending (I don't think Wolverton even knew), end up taking the advice of... Luke. Who has been a Jedi for all of 3-4 years, depending (the timeline of this book was later changed). The white saviourism is strong with this one. And if that wasn't enough, the story is ripe with settler colonialism as well.
UNLEARN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED
Oh, you want to read this book to get another look at our beloved characters? You won't find them here.
Han is a sweaty dumb rude loser who can't possibly have anything to offer Leia, even though she literally took a break from her life mission to rescue him, he was made a General due to his competence, and has just come back from leading a 5-month mission. And is literally played by Harrison Fucking Ford in his prime. Somehow, he goes to Threepio for romantic advice instead of, I don't know, Chewie or Luke, his actual friends. And did I mention he gets into Leia's home, shoots a gun at her, and kidnaps her? Yeah, that's a big one.
Leia is a flighty airheaded bitch. Yes, she was made into a bitch, and this with the sole purpose of having a man be on the right. It took her over three years to admit her attraction to Han, and a near death experience to admit her love for him, but she falls for Isolder after a few meetings. All of her intelligence and skills are gone. She's belittled in public, and she takes it. Han's actions are unquestionably worse overall, but the reader is made to sympathize with him, the poor scorned lover, over Leia, who is just being unreasonable.
Luke is a powerful wizard who can pilot and shoot all by himself and come back from death with the power of the Force, which is accessed through lizard breath, apparently. He also can "smell" traces of people with the Force, and he goes around evangelizing folks and trying to get pupils, even if they're not Force-sensitive.
Threepio is annoying... but in the wrong ways!! How do you fuck up Threepio, you ask? Well, first off by having him be BFFs with Han. Then, by having him "discover" that Han is the "King of Corellia" and proceeding to have him refer to Han as "Your Majesty" at every turn. And making up a song about it.
Chewbacca could be painted background, for all his participation. So many things that Threepio said or was asked about should have been said by Chewie if authors weren't so afraid of translating what he's saying.
THAT'S NO WEDDING
I'm tired and this has gone on for too long already, so let's end with this: "COPL is the only book about Han and Leia's wedding we need!" Bold claim for something that takes up about two paragraphs. Oh, the section is maybe a full page and a half, told from Luke's POV, who is running very late, and he runs into Threepio, who has discovered Han is not, in fact, the King of Corellia, and wants to stop the wedding. But all we see of the wedding fits in two paragraphs. Han is mentioned once. All we get is a description of the room and that Luke thinks Leia is joyful and not mad at him for being an hour late. Woohoo.
This book is not a good Han/Leia book; it's not a romantic book; the plot isn't good; the characterization isn't good; the worldbuilding is barely held together with tape and only later built on by much more talented authors; the lore is based on sexist crap; the relationships and Luke's role as a Jedi are greatly influenced by Mormonism... IT'S JUST NOT GOOD, OKAY?
If you're truly looking for a book about Han and Leia's engagement, wedding and honeymoon, a book that has both romance and action, with coherent worldbuilding, and that doesn't ignore the existence of three movies... read The Princess and the Scoundrel.
The only thing I'm glad I read this book for is that now I can confidently tell people it sucks, because it's so much worse than I thought before.
A Star Wars book so bad it makes all other Star Wars books look like Pulitzer nominees.
Dave Wolverton’s “The Courtship of Princess Leia” has a couple of things going for it that make it a beloved nostalgia read for many. At the time, back in May 1994, the number of adult Star Wars novels that had been published could be counted with the fingers of one hand plus a couple more. The Timothy Zahn trilogy had concluded just a year earlier, acting as the unofficial sequel to the OT and establishing Han and Leia as a married couple expecting their first children. This opened a pathway for innumerable stories to be told beyond Return of the Jedi. One of them was: how and when did Han and Leia tie the knot?
Unfortunately, the person chosen to answer that question was Dave Wolverton. But the thirst for more Star Wars content and the appeal of the plot made COPL into a must-read, and read it was. Many remember this book fondly as one of their first Star Wars reads, especially if they were young readers at the time. And who could fault them for that?
Well, *I* can, if in 2023 they look me in the eye and claim that it’s a great Star Wars book and the only Han/Leia wedding story we need.
THIS ISN'T THE PLOT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR
The plot is bad because it hinges on the premise that women are flighty, frivolous creatures who need a man to tell them what they really want and how they really feel.
Han and Leia have been in a relationship for several years at this point. There's nothing to indicate their relationship is in trouble, except they just spent five months apart while Han was on a mission for the New Republic. Suddenly, a "hot" rich prince appears asking for Leia's hand in marriage. Even though she literally gave up her planet for the rebellion, everybody in the New Republic is pressuring her to marry Isolder. And although the incentive is as big as several planets, and could give her diaspora a home and put an end to the war, Leia says she's not going to do it... and then she falls in love with him. After two days. So after acting like a giant asshole to Han, Leia finally decides to break things off with him. ✨ROMANCE✨
This drives Han insane with jealousy, so he uses a powerful mind-control gun to kidnap Leia and take her to a planet he won in a Sabacc game, which is not how things should work. On their way there, he gives her an ultimatum: she has to spend 7 days on Dathomir with him (plus 8 days of travel... also not how things should work), and if he makes her fall in love with him again, Leia has to marry Han. If she doesn't, Han will let her marry Isolder and go to jail for the kidnapping. ✨ROMANCE✨
Of course, by the end of the book, Leia realizes that Han was right to not give up on them, and she's so glad that he kidnapped her. She was never in love with Isolder! Gotcha! (She literally said she loved Isolder at one point, though...) ✨ROMANCE✨
So basically the foundation of the plot is abduction, kidnapping, gaslighting, ultimatums, all of which can be summed up as domestic abuse because it was done in the context of a relationship, and a lot of verbal abuse from Leia (no, that's not the same as their movie bickering).
Is this the great romantic story we want about how one of the most iconic couples of cinema decided to get married? Fuck no. What is wrong with all of you five and four star raters?
HOKEY RELIGIONS AND ANCIENT WEAPONS
Let's talk about all the other omgsoamazing plot threads that people praise about this book. They're bullshit, okay? Wolverton is a lot like George Lucas, but not in a good way. He had a lot of ideas he thought were cool, but no skill to make them make sense. Did you know that the X-Wing novels were written *after* COPL and they're largely responsible for making sense of the thrown to the wall spaghetti that was the Zsinj subplot?
And there is, of course, the witches of Dathomir. A cool concept, for sure... that was done in the most nonsensical, sexist way possible. Wolverton's idea of a matriarchal society is basically a pamphlet about "the dangers of feminism": men are treated as inferiors, they don't have a voice, they're enslaved for procreation. AKA, men fear what they do. This is also the case for the Hapan society, minus the slavery - but their own unsavory story involves eugenics. Yikes.
The explanations on how these witches came to be and what makes one a Nightsister are rambling, contradictory, confusing. And for all people praise the #girlpower of this book, these powerful man-hating witches who have been doing this for millennia or decades, depending (I don't think Wolverton even knew), end up taking the advice of... Luke. Who has been a Jedi for all of 3-4 years, depending (the timeline of this book was later changed). The white saviourism is strong with this one. And if that wasn't enough, the story is ripe with settler colonialism as well.
UNLEARN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED
Oh, you want to read this book to get another look at our beloved characters? You won't find them here.
Han is a sweaty dumb rude loser who can't possibly have anything to offer Leia, even though she literally took a break from her life mission to rescue him, he was made a General due to his competence, and has just come back from leading a 5-month mission. And is literally played by Harrison Fucking Ford in his prime. Somehow, he goes to Threepio for romantic advice instead of, I don't know, Chewie or Luke, his actual friends. And did I mention he gets into Leia's home, shoots a gun at her, and kidnaps her? Yeah, that's a big one.
Leia is a flighty airheaded bitch. Yes, she was made into a bitch, and this with the sole purpose of having a man be on the right. It took her over three years to admit her attraction to Han, and a near death experience to admit her love for him, but she falls for Isolder after a few meetings. All of her intelligence and skills are gone. She's belittled in public, and she takes it. Han's actions are unquestionably worse overall, but the reader is made to sympathize with him, the poor scorned lover, over Leia, who is just being unreasonable.
Luke is a powerful wizard who can pilot and shoot all by himself and come back from death with the power of the Force, which is accessed through lizard breath, apparently. He also can "smell" traces of people with the Force, and he goes around evangelizing folks and trying to get pupils, even if they're not Force-sensitive.
Threepio is annoying... but in the wrong ways!! How do you fuck up Threepio, you ask? Well, first off by having him be BFFs with Han. Then, by having him "discover" that Han is the "King of Corellia" and proceeding to have him refer to Han as "Your Majesty" at every turn. And making up a song about it.
Chewbacca could be painted background, for all his participation. So many things that Threepio said or was asked about should have been said by Chewie if authors weren't so afraid of translating what he's saying.
THAT'S NO WEDDING
I'm tired and this has gone on for too long already, so let's end with this: "COPL is the only book about Han and Leia's wedding we need!" Bold claim for something that takes up about two paragraphs. Oh, the section is maybe a full page and a half, told from Luke's POV, who is running very late, and he runs into Threepio, who has discovered Han is not, in fact, the King of Corellia, and wants to stop the wedding. But all we see of the wedding fits in two paragraphs. Han is mentioned once. All we get is a description of the room and that Luke thinks Leia is joyful and not mad at him for being an hour late. Woohoo.
This book is not a good Han/Leia book; it's not a romantic book; the plot isn't good; the characterization isn't good; the worldbuilding is barely held together with tape and only later built on by much more talented authors; the lore is based on sexist crap; the relationships and Luke's role as a Jedi are greatly influenced by Mormonism... IT'S JUST NOT GOOD, OKAY?
If you're truly looking for a book about Han and Leia's engagement, wedding and honeymoon, a book that has both romance and action, with coherent worldbuilding, and that doesn't ignore the existence of three movies... read The Princess and the Scoundrel.
The only thing I'm glad I read this book for is that now I can confidently tell people it sucks, because it's so much worse than I thought before.
legxleg's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
IDEK what to say about this. It's half hilarious Star Wars fun, and half incredibly cringey/problematic stuff that I cannot believe I was so into when I read this as a kid.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Kidnapping
bbtbridge's review against another edition
3.0
A neat romcom with snarky conversation (great!) and neat exploration (even better!) of a world often seen but not talked about in The Clone Wars.