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A review by mastersal
The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton
3.0
A reread after many years - not sure that was a good idea to be honest. Ah well... 3.5 stars overall
I remembered a number of plot points of this book and even specific scenes - which I guess is a testament to the book. However, I had forgotten the tone of the relationship here, which has not aged well. This is ostensibly a romance triangle between Han, Leia and a new male character. When I was young, I enjoyed reading about the adventure and found Han charming. On the reread I was surprised at how annoying I found the central premise. The cracks in Han and Leia relationship really came across from nowhere and needed a little bit more set up than allowed in the book. As a result, Han and Leia both come across as annoying - and Isolder is a bit of a non-entity. Shrug !
The romance is actually pretty shallow and the author rushes it to get to the action near the last third. Which was fine as a Star Wars adventure - in fact, the book picks up when it is a straight adventure where our characters are saving the galaxy from the evil empire. Luke did get a bit of an OTT power-up which made the adventure a bit convenient but I still had fun with his Jedi-sections.
I enjoyed the book overall and I am giving it an extra 1/2 star for the sheer nostalgia of the book - so 3.5 stars. I am knocking down the rating from 4 stars as this did not hold up on the reread. Not the best EU book but I liked it overall. I am also glad I got the new legends paperback. The extra half star for that too.
I remembered a number of plot points of this book and even specific scenes - which I guess is a testament to the book. However, I had forgotten the tone of the relationship here, which has not aged well. This is ostensibly a romance triangle between Han, Leia and a new male character. When I was young, I enjoyed reading about the adventure and found Han charming. On the reread I was surprised at how annoying I found the central premise. The cracks in Han and Leia relationship really came across from nowhere and needed a little bit more set up than allowed in the book. As a result, Han and Leia both come across as annoying - and Isolder is a bit of a non-entity. Shrug !
The romance is actually pretty shallow and the author rushes it to get to the action near the last third. Which was fine as a Star Wars adventure - in fact, the book picks up when it is a straight adventure where our characters are saving the galaxy from the evil empire. Luke did get a bit of an OTT power-up which made the adventure a bit convenient but I still had fun with his Jedi-sections.
I enjoyed the book overall and I am giving it an extra 1/2 star for the sheer nostalgia of the book - so 3.5 stars. I am knocking down the rating from 4 stars as this did not hold up on the reread. Not the best EU book but I liked it overall. I am also glad I got the new legends paperback. The extra half star for that too.