C
Title: The Courtship of Princess Leia
Author: Mark Wolverton
Publication Info: Spectra 1995
ISBN: 978-0553569376
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
It could have been worse.
When people ask me if I’m “Into Star Wars”, I say, “Yes, absolutely”. But when I say “Star Wars”, I mean, “Star Wars: A New Hope”, “The Empire Strikes Back”, and “Return of the Jedi”. I saw the first two prequels but am convinced they were a hallucination brought on by bad popcorn. I’ve never seen the Clone Wars. And I’ve never read a Star Wars novel. But for you, dear bitches, I braved the novelization world to review The Courtship of Princess Leia. I figured a novel about Han and Leia’s romance would either be the best thing since hyperdrive or the worst thing since Jabba the Hut’s personal appearance. Turns out I was wrong on both counts. This novel wasn’t irredeemable. It had good action sequences, a fast pace, and a few hilarious moments. But, as a romance novel, it was a big fail, because the most critical component – believable, well-developed, exciting romance – was absent.
To be honest, I’m grading this novel pretty harshly, mostly because it dangled so much potential in front of me and then whisked it away. At the start of the book, Han and Leia are both exhausted and overwhelmed. They are mourning the losses brought on by war and facing the realities of the struggles yet to come. Han has just returned from five months in combat, and Leia is preparing for a major diplomatic mission in another star cluster. They have a very brief time to try to reconnect. But, before they can do more than say, “Hi”, Leia receives a marriage proposal from Prince Isolder from the Hapes Consortium. This marriage would greatly strengthen the Alliance, and Isolder is quite a hottie. What will Leia do?
Well, I’ll tell you what Leia will do. Leia will be greatly charmed by Isolder (as who wouldn’t). Leia will then follow the men of the book around as they initiate all the action. Han, who has never been a paragon of maturity, will have hissy fits not unlike those of a thirteen-year-old girl. Luke will utter calm, wise words of wisdom and peace whenever he isn’t busy turning his enemies into barbeque. Chewie rips off arms, Artoo chirps, and Threepio is surprisingly awesome. Readers get a lot of adventure, but not a searing examination of the costs of war, or the difficult realities facing a couple who experience long separations and conflicting demands on their time and energies. Nor will the ethical implications of Leia’s choice have any but the most superficial treatment. Initially, it looks like this story will deal with the question of how much one can put one’s own personal happiness ahead of the well-being of others. A character explains the benefit of the marriage to Isolder in this way, “With the wealth of Hapes to help fund the war, Leia could overthrow the last remnants of the Empire quickly, saving billions of lives in the process”. Hear that, people? Not dozens, not millions, but billions of lives. What difference does it make whether Isolder is cute or repulsive? What difference does it make whether Han is the love of Leia’s life? Why are they fighting for her affections? This is a royal, political marriage, like many others, and normally affections would be beside the point. If the author is going to set such high stakes, those stakes should be seriously debated. That would make a compelling story about two kids who fell in love in wartime, and now have to make things work as adults with major challenges in their lives.
We don’t get that story, but we do get a fun romp, albeit not one that makes a lot of sense. I’ll let Han explain what happens once he realizes that Leia may very well leave him for Isolder:
“Well, see, it happened this way: I won a planet in a card game and really wanted to see it badly. Meanwhile, the woman I love was planning to run off with another man, so I convinced her to take a short trip with me. Only when we got here, I found the skies full of warships that shot me down – because no one bothered to tell me the planet was interdicted – and after we crashed, a bunch of witches decided to start a war over who gets the wreckage of my ship. So I’ll tell you, Luke, I’ve had a really bad week so far. Now, to top it off, I suppose you’re going to lecture me, or arrest me, or beat me up. So tell me, how is your week going?”
That plot summary is pretty complete, except where Han says, “convinced”, read, “kidnapped”. There are also various side plots involving extraneous characters who appear to be fully, um, compatible, despite originating from different planets. Sadly, the romance aspect really falls short. In a good romance novel, the relationship between the couples grows before our eyes, and the moment when they realize they love each other and decide to be together is a satisfying conclusion to that growth. The mood of the novel may be light and comic, or ridden with angst, but the happy ending has to be earned. We have to believe (at least, I have to believe) that this couple is in love, respects each other, balances each other, and is committed to each other. Sadly, without being too specific with the spoilers, it seems like the only reason romances in The Courtship of Princess Leia come to fruition is that the author is running out of pages and has to wrap things up. In one case, two characters go from showing no significant romantic interest in each other to professing undying love in the space of one page. I don’t mean that we know they liked each other all along, but they were blind to their true feelings, etc, etc. I mean the book was almost over and no one else was eligible, so the author gave these characters total reversals so they could be an item.
On the upside, the characterizations in the novel aren’t bad. Han and Leia bicker just as they did in “A New Hope” and “Empire”. There is some truly clunky dialogue, but some good lines too. The action zips right along, there are plenty of explosions, and one remarkable scene in which Luke experiences the Force on new levels (Not THOSE levels. Jeez, I can’t take you guys anywhere!). Above all, there is a song from Threepio. Yes, a song. Bitches, I’m not saying you should read this book, but I do think you should buy it, just to send a thank you donation to the author for coming up with this:
“He’s got his own planet
Although it’s kind of wild.
Wookies love him.
Women love him.
He’s got a winning smile!
Though he may seem cool and cocky,
He’s more sensitive than he seems,
Han Solo!
What a man! Solo!
He’s every princess’s dream!”
In closing, let me just say that nowhere will you find a more devoted Leia/Han shipper than myself. Han Solo was my first crush, and Princess Leia was my first female role model. Having invested all this energy in the two of them since the age of eight, I’m a little picky. In fact, I can tell you the exact moment when the Star Wars franchise jumped the shark. It’s in “Return of the Jedi”. Han is staring out the window, and instead of smacking him upside the head and making a sarcastic comment, Leia gently embraces him and says, adoringly, “Hey…you awake?” My God, people. They’ve shared great sex, not full frontal lobotomies. Can no one write for this couple anymore? Their fans deserve bickering! We deserve passion! We deserve the joy of watching them work as a team – her levelheadedness balancing his impulsiveness, his bravado balancing her emotional caution, and their two strong natures ensuring that no one gets pushed around. Since this book consists of people randomly running around and then pretending that some sort of emotional journey took place, I’m giving it a C. However, in fairness, Threepio’s little ditty by itself deserves an A. Beware readers, the book looks promising, but “IT’S A TRAP!”
The Courtship of Princess Leia is available at Amazon, as an Audible audio book, from Book Depository It is not available digitally that I can find, anyway.
Yay! Star Wars! *fangirlish squeals*
…
Now I want to watch the whole original trilogy again, but I am WAY too busy for that, and I promised someone that I’d watch Inception when I have free time. Sigh.
I’ve read some of the young Obi-Wan series (even though I finally realized Hayden Christensen’s monologue in Ep. II after he kills everyone in that village is utterly ridiculous and can no longer watch the prequel triology, I love Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon!), and they’re not so bad. He kind of had a girlfriend among the Padawans, and they gave Qui-Gon a girlfriend of sorts too, but I don’t think that either of those ended well (obviously).
The name “Isolder” reminds me not of Isildur (Although I love LOTR, too! … Something else I want to watch again. Dangit!) but of “Isolde”, which Wikipedia tells me is a variation on “Iseult” from the “Tristan and Iseult” courtly love/adultery legend. Yeah, Isolde is the girl, which makes it a weird connotation for a space prince.
But the political marriage idea is there! (Just not in space. And not the same genders. And…yeah.)
Carrie S, please write more reviews!s
Glad to see some attention for Star Wars books. Men can write good novels with romance, but they are hard to come by in the Star Wars realm.
Zahn’s books are great. Visions of the Future ends like you’d want a romance to end.
CoPL is not one of the best examples of romance in SW. Anything by Aaron Allston always has a nice touch of it. I highly recommend the X-wing Series. They are not romance novels though. In the middle of the New Jedi Order there is a nice romantic arc for Jaina (Han and Leia’s daughter) with a love interest that resonated with a lot of female fans. Those books are Dark Journey by Elaine Cunningham, the Rebel Dream and Rebel Stand by Allston.
For some reason the powers that be don’t seem interested in going there – as in producing books aimed at any romantic storylines. In fact the Legacy of the Force series was devoid of romance. I’m hoping they come around to seeing that female fans would like a dash of romance in our space opera and will buy it. The one hope for a book with some romance – Blood Oath – was cancelled. It’s got a great romance-style cover and no book to go with it.
I’ll be glad to see there will be more reviews of this type of book.
Another one coming out of lurkdom…lol
(To be fair I just found this site recently…still I resided until lurkdom until the geekgirl in me got excited over this review ).
I would totally like to see more cross-over reviews. I think the ideal book for a cross-over would be one that combines the best of both world elements. So I don’t think it’s too much to ask for some romance in a sci-fi book, it should do it well and not feel like an afterthought. Same with a romance book that has sci-fi elements to it.
Oh, no, I guess it’s too late to yell DON”T DO IT!!”
I’m sure there are at least half a dozen people ahead of me saying this but If you’re going to read Star Wars novels, just read Tim Zahn, or at least start there, then work through Micheal Stackpole. (I am a bit bias, Tim Zahn is all time my favorite sci-fi author. ) Also the short story Tales Of… are usually pretty good.
If it’s by Kevin J Anderson burn it. (I don’t normally advocate burning books, but I’d happily throw him on a pile of his own books and then toss a match)
Try the X-wing series, they’re fun and fluffy and not mind numbingly stupid like so many of the SW novels.
I faintly remember reading this—I read all of the Star Wars tie-ins before Phantom Menace came out. To be fair, though, despite the title, tie-ins are pretty much targeted to guys. I didn’t get the impression from any of the ones I read that they were really interested in romance or a female readership. (Well, maybe Children of the Jedi).
If you want good Star Wars tie-ins, though, read the Hand of Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn. Then stop. Remember, I read all of them. Those were the only ones I remember fondly.
I’ve never read any of the SW books, but I cannot stop my mind circling around the concept of NPR dramatizations. I read that comment out loud to Mr. Richland (interrupting his perusal of our tax situation), and he destroyed my concentration with this: Susan Stamberg as Princess Leia offering Darth Vader’s cranberry relish recipe over the radio. Now I am picturing her desperately trying to program a cranberry relish recipe into R2D2 while Congressmen board her starship to axe NPR financing. Would Carl Castle be Han Solo or Darth Vader?
Might I also say I am quite excited at the idea of more reviews of SF/romance crossover novels? I am first and foremost an SF/F reader, but the books I get happiest about are the ones with awesome love stories to go with the SFnal plot.
And if Carrie S wants to do a review of Julie Czerneda’s A Thousand Words for Stranger, I might have to make fangirly noises I normally reserve for Great Big Sea concerts. 😀
Also recommended: Sharon Shinn (her Samaria novels, but also her standalone Jenna Starborn, which is her science fiction version of a Gothic romance), Linnea Sinclair!
So my writer friend Kinsay Holly sent this review to me today with the comment that there is a lot of overlap between women who read romance and sci-fi. She’s been telling me about this place for a while…I think this might be the best comment thread I’ve ever seen. Y’all can talk plot points of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye! And the whiny Leia that was in the NPR series. (Remember her breaking down in tears when she first fired a gun and killed that Imperial officer who was at the palace for some political alliancing of the marriage kind?) I’m in geek heaven.
Carrie, generally agree with your review except a C is far too high. The book is supposed to be about the courtship, yet that is the worst part, for reasons stated and many others. This was the book that put me off of the extended universe for years.
After 10 years then 4 babies in another 5, I picked up Death Star. That is a good extended universe book. Adds more to the universe and more, and consistent, understanding to existing characters, specifically Leia.
If you are writing a book on existing characters, you can flesh them out, add something new, but you can’t change them. Same goes for the world they inhabit. Most of the Star Wars extended universe fails for those reasons. Hell, the anniversary editions fail too. Han Shot FIrst, baby.
(Kinsay, I know you are in here. You’re in trouble. I had other things to write today and now all I can think about is how the novels tried to add a modern-Earth woman’s gloss to the character of Princess Leia. Grrrr. Arrggg.)
@AHLondon: Welcome to Smart Bitches! Glad you like it!
I, too, read every single one of the EU books right up until Phantom Menace came out and the EU started getting ambitious about various things (certain characters being killed, certain other characters going evil, romantic relationships I liked being broken up, Timothy Zahn being crowned continuity king and Michael Stackpole his prime minister, etc.).
My favorites were any books that harkened back to the wise-cracking tone of Han Solo the original movies, either courtesy the man himself or by proxy: in particular, Wraith Squadron, The Correllian Trilogy, and Young Jedi Knights. Every one else can rag on KJA all they want, but I loved those silly knock knock jokes he’d work into plot courtesy of Jacen.
Oh god. I wish the Internet had been around when I was 12. If I’d known that there were so many other girls reading Star Wars novels, then I might have actually checked the things out from the library. Instead, I hid my shame by reading them at the library, in the back corners where no one could see me, and hiding them so nobody else could check them out while I came back every day and read.
Once, I actually hid a Star Wars novel behind another book while I read it.
And now, I’m ashamed of having been so ashamed.
@Maggie, I hear ya, sister. I went so far as to get two pen pals from letters on the back of some of the comics. Is Faye Green in here? Long shot, but I can’t find her on FB.
Anyway, this post killed my day yesterday. I’d had this rant in my head for a long time, and yesterday it had to come out.
The writers needed something for romantic tension since they set the story 5 years after Han and Leia actually fell for each other, so they unceremoniously threw in another suitor who’s attractive and rich.
Actually, I think the writer did this because he was trying to connect Leia and Han to the modern romance, so that women would get it. Of course Han and Leia would date for years on end. Wouldn’t the modern woman freak out if they got married right after the Battle of Endor? (That was in the early drafts of Return of the Jedi.) The stories in the Timothy Zahn novels get better but still make this mistake. One of the threads in those works has Leia worrying about being a working mother and about Uncle Luke not helping out with the kids. Zhan and his editors assume that for modern women to relate to Leia, they need her to be like them.
This is insulting pandering, but sadly excusable given the debates among many modern women. Modern women constantly equate their struggles as comparable to the struggles of the poor. Check out Caitlin Flanagan, How Serfdom Saved the Women’s Movement. So of course when faced with a crumbling Republic, war breaking out, an increasingly isolated Jedi who is too scared to train anyone, baddies attempting to kidnap your children for their Force abilities…and Leia is worried about Luke helping with the kids more? It makes no sense.
(I just realized part of my post is missing. Kids must have played with my computer while draft was up and deleted part of a paragraph. Great.)
@Anna “I’m Diana Rehm. Many Bothans died to bring you this programming.”
Ah, balls. Diane Rehm. A single vowel and it messes up the whole illusion of Diane Rehm’s shaky voice. Sigh.
Too funny. My mom bought (and therefore I also read) a Star Wars trilogy by Timothy Zahn when I was in HS (early 90’s), and then brought home this book. I loved the Zahn books and was far less than excited about this one. I never tried any of the other Star Wars spinoffs after this one (I have gone back and looked for other stuff by Zahn, though).
So yeah, what everyone else said.
I wish this review had been around when I bought the book! Han was my first crush too, and I still adore him and Leia with such great fervour. Was so excited to buy this book back then, and so disappointed. (It’s still lying around somewhere – I really should go find it and have a look again after reading this!)
Han just seemed to act like a whiny jerk from what I remember – sure there was friction between him and Leia, but it wasn’t the clever banter laced with mutual respect they had in the movies. The whole Isolder thing (err the whole plot really) seemed a massive contrivance to pull Han and Leia apart, but then was so overwhelming that by the end I didn’t really care if they got back together or not. (Probably cos in my head they WERE together anyway by inarguable movie canon, so it was a sure thing.)
As I said, this is based on recollection as can’t find the book atm, but really seemed like the romance and the adventure just didn’t end up working together in this case. Shame.
For all of you interested in the original Timothy Zahn books, this year is the 20th anniversary, and they are being released. There will be a new Thrawn Novella in there….and you can never get enough Thrawn (or if you are like me Paelleon!). But I digress. Perfect time for those who haven’t read the series to pick them up! Enjoy!
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This book always has a special place in my heart! I read it for the first time when I was 12 or 13 and LOVED it. Teneniel Djo is okay but her daughter Tenel Ka Djo is one of my favorite Star Wars girls so I also like the book because it’s the story of her parents getting together. I’m a huge Star Wars nerd and I’ve read lots of the books but this one is probably my favorite!
Hey, I just wanted to say, there’s an even trashier cover for The Courtship of Princess Leia out there! The cover you have is the paperback. The official hardcover truly looks like something.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060127170130/starwars/images/2/2d/Courtship2.jpg
WOW. That’s quite the “bitch, PLEASE!” expression Leia’s got on her face, isn’t it? 😀
Frighteningly enough, I think I remember this cover.
jedifreac hehe, that’s the copy I have! love the contrast between her wonderfully floofy hair and her no-nonsense expression …! XD
Nice. Thanks for information.
Thanks for the review. I can honestly say that there was a time in high school/college when I was obsessed with the star wars books (okay, I still read them on occassion).
Anyway, right around the time I read them, they actually had a series called the Young Jedi Knights and it just so happens that prince that tries to marry Leia is in it—as a father…
Yeah, the Lucas empire is ever exapnding, this wasn’t a FANTASTIC book—but I remember liking it as a teen, LOL.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
They had sex in RotJ?
Somehow that’s a fact that forever evaded me, I will never be able to look at this movie again with same eyes. *shocked*
@jedifreac:
Oh, I completly forgot about the HC cover, always preferred it to the paperback cover.
@Gerd D – I assume they had sex but tragically we never actually see it happen. But sometime between the rescue of Han and the flight to Endor, I’m pretty darn sure the sex was had. Or maybe it’s just me. If I had just rescued Han, and then he had just rescued me, and we finally had 5 minutes of relative calm and privacy, oh yes, there would be sex!
Who said they had sex in RoTJ? Actually, they had sex in ESB. Kershner said that in the SW universe, kissing was a metaphor for sex and that we only see the kissing because of the young audience, and I’d say because we don’t always need to. Makes sense when you think about it. Since they were moving at sublight speed and since Luke improved drastically in training, many weeks must have passed between floating away with the rest of the garbage and landing on platform 327. I wonder if I can find support for that? Heading into the bowels of the SW cyber-universe now. If I don’t report back in a few hours, someone send in a rescue team, please.
Well I found this, not on point, but interesting: http://cinemaroll.com/cinemarolling/gone-with-the-wind-vs-the-empire-strikes-back/?38711#comment-38711&reload;
Well, I didn’t find anything specific on the bit about kissing scenes as sex in Star Wars, but did see that it was Lucas, not Kershner, that said it. The premise is all but common knowledge among hard core SW fans, usually taken far too literally, i.e. that every kiss=sex, hence the topic comes up in threads about the lack of homosexuals in the Star Wars universe. But here is a thread about sex, specifically pre-martial sex, in the extended SW universe.
http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/28232361/p2