Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)"The Han Solo Adventures" is a Three-in-One novel that takes three novels about Han Solo and brings them together in one volume. These novels are set before "Star Wars: A New Hope" and feature a younger Han Solo than we see in the movies. While these books were written before the Original Trilogy had even finished, they fit in very well into the Extended Universe, mostly because nothing that happens in these books has any bearing on the rest of the Star Wars story. The title for this collection is perfect, these are just three Han Solo Adventures.
Unlike most of the other Star Wars novels, the main villain here is not the Empire but rather a completely unrelated entity called the Corporate Sector Authority. Being short on credits again, Han and Chewie take on a job to find a missing mechanic. That sounds simple enough, but this mechanic is one that made many of the major modifications to the Falcon and he operates outside of the law like many smugglers. This search for the mechanic takes Han into the Corporate Sector, an uninhabited section of the galaxy which is used for mining and is controlled by the Corporate Sector Authority. "Han Solo at Star's End" covers this story. Han fights the Espos (the military/police force of the Corporate Authority), rescues prisoners, and gets into tight situations.
"Han Solo's Revenge" has Han and Chewie taking on a smuggling mission, but the cargo ends up being slaves. Since Han refuses to have anything to do with the slave trade, what follows is double-crosses by the slavers and then by Han as he tries to fight back and get himself out of this mess. This is also a bit of a revenge novel with Han's grudge against slavers of all kinds.
The final novel in this collection is "Han Solo and the Lost Legacy". This novel takes Han and Chewie on an adventure to find a mythical treasure hidden on a new planet. Comparing this to Indiana Jones would not be out of the question as this is the type of adventure it is, even set in the Star Wars Universe. At times, this novel seemed to be just a bit too silly because of the treasure hunting aspect of it.
Brian Daley did a good job writing these stories. This was before there was an Extended Universe (except for "Splinter of the Mind's Eye") and we get to see Han and Chewie go on three new adventures. We seldom get to see a younger Han except as he relates to Luke and Leia, so these books are nice for that reason. They are also fairly well written (especially compared to the 3-in-1 Lando Calrissian book). My biggest problem is just that these aren't connected to anything else in Star Wars. The Corporate Sector, while a good villain and a change of pace from the Empire, is never re-visited again (though I understand that the New Jedi Order series finally mentions it), and while the stakes are high for the characters, we know that the two important characters are going to make it. A.C. Crispin does a very good job tying these three books into her Han trilogy (which she wrote some 15 years after Daley), but does a better job at telling an interesting story and explaining Han Solo. Brian Daley just has Han being Han. These are well written, but not quite as interesting or exciting as I had hoped. The first book is best and the quality drops throughout each story. Still, there are only 6 books that deal with a younger Han Solo, so if that is an era you are interested in, this is one of your only chances to visit with a younger Han and go on an adventure.
-Joe Sherry
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