The “Empire and Rebellion” series was supposed to delve into the minds of Leia, Han and Luke, respectively, in three very loosely connected novels set between Episodes IV and V. 2013’s “Razor’s Edge” dropped the ball with Leia. “Honor Among Thieves” (2014), now in paperback, does a better job with Han, but doesn’t break any new ground. I’m holding out hope for “Heir to the Jedi,” the Luke entry that was released this week in hardcover.
While the Luke novel has been adopted into the new Disney/Lucasfilm Story Group canon, “Honor Among Thieves” is the last novel of the old Expanded Universe. While I’m not a fan of the cancelation of the EU, this novel by authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (writing under the pen name James S.A. Corey) illustrates some of the EU’s flaws. In this book set between the Yavin and Hoth bases, the Rebellion is considering Hoth as a potential Rebel base, but in the Goodwin/Williamson comic strip “Iceworld,” Luke, C-3PO and R2-D2 stumble upon Hoth’s potential as a base by accident.
This was later contradicted by Blackthorne’s “Star Wars 3-D” Issue 2, where Han knows about Hoth due to it being a smugglers’ hideout. Both stories imply that the Rebels set up camp on Hoth soon after they learn about it. “Honor Among Thieves” tells us the Rebels mull it over for a while. File it under a “sort-of” contradiction, but one that shouldn’t happen if authors and editors are keeping up on the lore.
Another thing that bugs me about some EU stories in this era is that Han has so many old acquaintances, yet we rarely see the full story of any of these relationships. Notable exceptions are the linkages A.C. Crispin’s “Han Solo Trilogy” provides to “Dark Empire,” the Marvel comics and “Crystal Star.” But Han’s “old pals” in the Goodwin/Williamson strips are contained to those pages, and “Honor Among Thieves” again introduces people who seem to have a richer backstory with Han yet are contained to these pages.
Baasen is Han’s old friend who is forced by financial problems to try to capture Han and bring him to Jabba – he’s similar to Raskar from the Goodwin/Williamson strips. And Scarlet Hark is a Rebel who serves as the femme fatale of this story kind of like Silver Fyre did in the newspaper strips. So why not use Silver instead of inventing a new, similar character? Granted, it’s a fine line to walk: You don’t want everything to connect to everything else, otherwise the galaxy seems too small. But in my opinion, the EU in the “A New Hope”-to-“Empire” era feels too much like a series of false starts.
The strength of Abraham and Franck is their dialogue. The way Han banters with Scarlet, Chewie and Leia, I can hear an early-1980s Harrison Ford saying the lines. But, as with “Razor’s Edge,” the hook of getting into a main character’s head is overhyped. Han goes through the familiar internal conflict of whether he should fully join the Rebellion or remain a mercenary. He takes payment from the Rebels on this particular mission, which contradicts a lot of other EU stories in this time, but fits with his state of mind at the start of “Episode V.”
I would’ve liked more of Chewie’s thoughts on this matter, since in Brian Daley’s “Star Wars” radio drama, he is totally on board with the Rebellion whereas Han isn’t. “Honor Among Thieves” should’ve used Chewie as a sounding board. As it turns out, Timothy Zahn’s unofficial post-“Episode IV” trilogy of “Scoundrels,” “Allegiance” and “Choices of One” – particularly the middle entry – is your best bet for getting into Han’s head as he weighs his allegiance.
That doesn’t mean “Honor Among Thieves” is a complete waste. Heck, you can never have too many Han Solo novels, and even though this one ranks nowhere near the intricate work of Crispin or the pulpy charm of Daley (and later, James Luceno, channeling Daley’s “Han Solo Adventures” in two “New Jedi Order” books), it’s not embarrassing. While “Honor Among Thieves” is a rapid-fire page-turner with serious galactic stakes, it feels light and inconsequential. Han gets caught up in one little mission after another, and while it’s not a confusing story, the authors don’t give us many clues about the big picture. In one part, Scarlett knows why it’s important to acquire a certain piece of data from an Imperial post, but Han and us readers are dragged along for the ride.
There’s a nice hint of political debate between Han and Leia about a superweapon that could stop ships from entering hyperspace, trapping them in a system. Han believes it should be destroyed, because it won’t be good for anyone to have the weapon, whereas Leia believes it will be good if the Rebellion has the weapon. Han eventually sways her: “I trust you, Princess. But the guy who’s elected after you? I don’t know him.”
Speaking of people who we could stand to know better: How about post-“A New Hope” Luke Skywalker? In “Honor Among Thieves,” Han says “He’s a farmboy who loves flying his fast ship. You don’t get much simpler than that.” But Leia counters with: “He won’t stay that way. No one does.” Now it’s up to Kevin Hearne’s “Heir to the Jedi” to live up to the promise of this three-book series.