When the “Episode VII — The Force Awakens” teaser trailer came out a couple months ago, it wasn’t Rey or Finn or Poe or the Sith lord who got the most buzz. The “character” people were most excited about was the Millennium Falcon, because – without any of the old heroes in the teaser — it was the touchstone to the original trilogy. The “Star Wars” book series tapped into the lore of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy in James Luceno’s 2008 novel “Millennium Falcon.”
OK, the Falcon isn’t really a character, in the sense of it being a person – even though everyone refers to the ship as “she” and, on page 335 of the paperback, Han wishes the Falcon did react like a sentient being:
For a time following Chewbacca’s horrible death on Sernpidal at the start of the invasion, Han had secretly wished that the Falcon would refuse to function. He knew that a ship was incapable of missing its pilot the way a pilot could miss his or her ship, and yet he wanted the Falcon to mourn the loss of the Wookiee’s special touch, or at least to perform poorly without him.
Luceno achieves a nice balance between chronicling all those decades before Lando (and soon thereafter, Han) owned the Falcon while also showing the Solo family spending time on the ship in the present-day story, set just before “Fate of the Jedi,” which turned out to be the last major arc of the Legends books. We understand why even Leia shows affection for the Falcon: It’s essentially the Solos’ home, and home (regardless of how aesthetically nice it is) is where the heart is. Wisely, the author doesn’t spend too much time repeating the familiar exploits from the films or the nine Han and Lando novels (three each by Brian Daley, A.C. Crispin and L. Neil Smith) — although I do appreciate parallels to things like the treasure hunt from “Han Solo and the Lost Legacy.”
Instead, we get new – yet plausible — surprises about the ship’s past. We learn that the Falcon was once piloted by Jadak, a member of the Republic Group, a proto-Rebellion from around the time of “Episode III” stemming from the Delegation of 2,000. And we learn that the vessel – and a device Allana finds hidden in the bulkhead — is the key to uncovering a treasure that could help topple the tyrannical Empire that was starting to form at the time.
While the reveal of the “treasure” is a bit of a letdown – it’s just a sculpture of the old Republic symbol that resided in the Senate chambers (for better or worse, I had forgotten this reveal from my initial read) — the hunt is a lot of fun. It features the still-young Jadak, who recently woke from a 62-year coma where he didn’t age much; Oxic, a lawyer who paid for Jadak’s care and experimental treatments; and the Solo family. We also get short stories within the larger story from previous owners of the Falcon – from a circus owner to a benevolent doctor who stumbles across a fountain of youth.
As much as “Millennium Falcon” recalls the old days – both in literal flashbacks and the throwback nature of the yarn – it also looks forward. Han and Leia are initially inspired on the quest by 7-year-old Allana’s interest in the ship’s history; like a lot of new parents and grandparents, they find the youngster’s curiosity and enthusiasm infectious.
Although Allana – the daughter of Tenel Ka and the now-deceased Jacen Solo — had been a plot device in the “Legacy of the Force” books, she is a full-fledged character here, presaging her role in the “Fate of the Jedi” books. As a teenager coming to grips with her Force powers and her father’s dark legacy, Allana would’ve been a great screen character if “Episode VII” had decided to use, rather than disregard, the Expanded Universe.
“Millennium Falcon” also gives us other “Fate” elements like the rift between the Galactic Alliance government and the Jedi Order, and a potential rogue Jedi. And it hints about how Chief of State Natasi Daala’s GA is inching toward Palpatine’s Empire, as on page 140:
There was a time … when Nar Shaddaa’s spaceport officials couldn’t have cared less who arrived on the moon, or for what purpose. Sixty-two years later, human visitors had to submit to retinal and body scans.
But a reader gets a sense that the serious galactic politics and dangerous Force users are a story for another day. Minus the grand scale and big ideas, “Millennium Falcon” is refreshing and laid back. Sure, blasters get pulled out and speeders got shot out of the sky here and there, and there are self-centered characters such as Oxic. But the book doesn’t have a terribly threatening bad guy. I like to think of it as an honorary 10th entry in the spirit of the classic dime-store novels in the “Lando Calrissian Adventures,” “Han Solo Adventures” and “Han Solo Trilogy.”
Comments
Coming from one of this novel’s rare fans, I must say this review was a pleasant surprise. I see this novel get ragged on a LOT- but I really enjoyed it, especially the vignettes of the past owners.# Posted By Andrew Gilbertson | 12/17/15 11:08 AM
I also noticed this book gets a lot of negative reviews. I like almost everything Luceno does. He’s not a perfect writer — he struggles with battle scenes and military strategy — but he has a feel for SW where it counts: With characters. And this is a good character piece. A small one, and not consequential to the bigger story, but sometimes those are refreshing.# Posted By John Hansen | 12/17/15 12:08 PM