With Disney’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story” about to hit theaters, fans might be interested in digging into the Legends source material. It dates back quite a ways: Six of the first seven “Star Wars” spinoff novels chronicled these rogues during their early days with the Millennium Falcon, in “The Han Solo Adventures” (1979-80) and “The Lando Calrissian Adventures” (1983).
A.C. Crispin then penned the landmark “Han Solo Trilogy” (1997-98), which tells his backstory from orphan to freelance pilot sitting in a booth at the Mos Eisley Cantina. (Sadly, the Expanded Universe never told Lando’s full origin story.) A few other Legends books are focused enough on Han and/or Lando that I consider them to be “Han and Lando novels.”
Here is a countdown of Han and Lando’s (and Chewbacca’s and the Millennium Falcon’s) adventures on the printed page, from worst to first:
15. “The Black Fleet Crisis” by Michael P. Kube-McDowell (1996-97) – OK, I’m cheating a bit with this entry, as it is actually three books. But within this trilogy, Kube-McDowell pens a covert Lando novel that is sectioned off from the rest of the narrative. It returns him to his Arthur C. Clarkean sci-fi adventure days of the “Lando Calrissian Adventures,” minus political overtones. Our hero interacts with the android Lobot (introduced in “The Empire Strikes Back” but mostly ignored by other books), C-3PO and R2-D2. Also, Chewbacca fans might enjoy his son Lumpy’s coming-of-age journey in “Tyrant’s Test.” (“Before the Storm” review) (“Shield of Lies” review) (“Tyrant’s Test” review)
14. “Empire and Rebellion: Honor Among Thieves” by James S.A. Corey (2014) – A lot of Han stories have a problem of alluding to his rich relationships with all kinds of people, but those people are only found in one story. This book is a prime example: The shifty Baasen is similar to Raskar from the Goodwin/Williamson newspaper strips, while Scarlet Hark is a femme fatale like Silver Fyre. Han’s inner conflict of whether or not to join the Rebels is a little too familiar at this point, and could’ve been enhanced by Chewie’s perspective on the issue. On the plus side, I can hear an early-1980s Harrison Ford delivering the banter. (Full review)
13. “Scoundrels” by Timothy Zahn (2013) – A rare misfire from Zahn, “Scoundrels” hews closely to “Ocean’s 11” as 11 operatives team up to pull off a heist from Black Sun, which had itself stolen the credits. Clocking in at nearly 400 pages, this yarn can’t be compared with the brisk “Han Solo Adventures,” but in one way it’s a tighter story: All of the action takes place in one neighborhood on one planet. Zahn shoehorns this story right after “A New Hope,” imagining that Han and Lando have an encounter between their falling out in the “Han Solo Trilogy” and reunion in “The Empire Strikes Back.” It works – barely. (Full review)
12. “The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse” by James Luceno (2000) – This is a less robust Han novel than the first of the duology, but when Han and his Ryn friend Droma are chased through a grain field by a corrupt agricultural corporation on Ruan, it has definite echoes to a chase in “Han Solo at Stars’ End.” Also, Han meets a droid named Baffle, whom he mistakes for Bollux because he is the same model. Han’s cousin, “Corellian Trilogy” villain Thrackan Sal-Solo, comes back into play as he tries to manipulate Han’s children to his way of thinking. (Despite its evocative title, the “Corellian Trilogy” isn’t Han-centered enough to make this list. Also, it’s not very good.) (Full review)
11. “The Lando Calrissian Adventures Book 3: Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka” (1983) – Smith serves up a spot-on parody of big militaries and the way politics determine tactics as the fleet of the Centrality (the overarching villains of the “Lando” trilogy) aims to take out the peaceful oswaft, ethereal creatures who drift through space. Lando is in vintage form as he infiltrates multiple ships, posing as a trader bearing cigars and entertainment. He trusts that the soldiers’ human need to not be bored will trump their discipline, and indeed, he’s playing sabacc with them before long. I wonder, though, if Lando is too heroic too soon, considering that he only joins the Rebellion when he’s left with no other choice in “The Empire Strikes Back.” (Full review)
10. “Millennium Falcon” by James Luceno (2008) – Luceno achieves a nice balance between chronicling all those decades before Lando 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,” the last 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 Han and Lando novels — although I do appreciate parallels to things like the treasure hunt from “Han Solo and the Lost Legacy.” Instead, we get new surprises about the ship’s past. (Full review)
9. “The Lando Calrissian Adventures Book 1: Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu” by L. Neil Smith (1983) – Under Smith’s pen, Lando is a gambler, an average schmo, and a sci-fi adventurer who treats even the extreme violence done to him with a shrugging, just-brush-it-off tone. Lando has a hint of the self-confident ladies man we’ll later see in the movies, but ultimately, he’s a loner at this point in the timeline. The Falcon’s droid pilot, Vuffi Raa, is Lando’s sounding board and, ultimately, his best friend, although Lando sends a lot of humorous banter the droid’s way, namely “Don’t call me Master.” (When Vuffi Raa obliges, Lando quips: “Don’t call me Lando.”) (Full review)
8. “The Lando Calrissian Adventures Book 2: Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon” by L. Neil Smith (1983) – Smith appropriately presents Lando as the GFFA’s most libertarian hero as he gets into a legal scrape in the ultra-authoritarian Oseon system. The book is not all political lectures, though, as we get more banter between Lando and Vuffi Raa, plus the barest hints of our hero’s young life: He was misplaced by his mother when he was 3, and he once owned a dog (as Luke also did, according to the “A New Hope” novelization). I’ll take these scraps of Lando’s backstory, since it’s all we got from the EU. (Full review)
7. “The Han Solo Adventures Book 3: Han Solo and the Lost Legacy” by Brian Daley (1980) – In his Solo swan song, Daley blends a treasure quest and colorful characters on a remote planet. Our heroes encounter corrupt docking officials, feuding sentient sea creatures who pull people across a big lake on rafts, rival treasure-hunters and the gunman Gallandro, seeking revenge for being shown up in “Han Solo’s Revenge.” Despite being released in 1980, the book almost ties into the Clone Wars’ droid armies, and we learn how Han gets the scar on his chin. (Full review)
6. “The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos I: Hero’s Trial” by James Luceno (2000) – In his “Star Wars” debut, Luceno channels his late friend and collaborator Daley. Han gradually emerges from a well of grief over Chewbacca’s death (in the “New Jedi Order” launcher “Vector Prime”) with the perfect ticket: a relatively small adventure and a new sidekick with whom he can trade insults and sardonic observations. Droma is upbeat despite the persecution his Ryn species has endured, and he influences Han to rediscover his own passion for life. Luceno proves a hero is never too old for a call-to-adventure yarn. (Full review)
5. “The Han Solo Adventures Book 1: Han Solo at Stars’ End” by Brain Daley (1979) – Daley perfectly characterizes Han, Chewbacca and even the Millennium Falcon while adding droid sidekicks (Bollux and Blue Max) and a potential love interest (Jessa) who fit right in. The Corporate Sector (the leaders of which are the overarching antagonists of this trilogy) is rough-and-tumble – as is Han, who at one point murders an enemy in cold blood – yet this is a page-turning debut for our hero in his written-word adventures. This book was adapted into a comic, which is interesting but not quite as good. (Full review)
4. “The Han Solo Trilogy Volume 1: The Paradise Snare” by A.C. Crispin (1997) – It’s tempting to think Han Solo was born cool, suave and 30 years old. But he was once a determined orphan who works his way up the ranks of a shipping company toward a piloting career. The fact that Chewbacca and the Millennium Falcon aren’t in this novel only makes Han’s backstory feel more epic as he earns respect in his chosen field; befriends his first alien sidekick, Muuurgh; and meets his first love, Bria Tharen. (Full review)
3. “The Han Solo Trilogy Volume 2: The Hutt Gambit” by A.C. Crispin (1997) – The second book of the trilogy chronicles Han in his glory days, with Chewbacca, Lando and the Millennium Falcon – plus underworld figures such as Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett – present and accounted for. While this book doesn’t precisely show Han and Chewie’s first meeting (which is in Issue 2 of the “Chewbacca” comics), it does show the development of their friendship. In his first instance of rallying to a cause bigger than himself (albeit one he very much has a stake in), he gathers together his friends – many of whom were introduced in the “Dark Empire” comics – to defend the Smuggler’s Moon Nar Shaddaa. (Full review)
2. “The Han Solo Adventures Book 2: Han Solo’s Revenge” by Brian Daley (1979) – This is pure dime-store deliciousness, as Han Solo and Chewbacca are in their prime as smugglers, but also fall upon hard times in part because of their innate goodness (Han refuses to transport slaves). In a book that could’ve inspired “Firefly,” Daley’s prose sings as Han travels to diverse planets while juggling temporary teammates, dealing with the Falcon’s “damn fluidics,” dodging gun-slinging rival Gallandro and engaging in the saga’s first swoop bike race – all for the sake of tracking down the 10,000 credits he’s owed. (Full review)
1. “The Han Solo Trilogy Volume 3: Rebel Dawn” by A.C. Crispin (1998) – A Han Solo novel isn’t the most obvious place to find a key thread of the Rebels’ capture of the Death Star plans. But even as we follow Bria’s arc, we’re thinking about her past relationship with Han – and we know the exes are thinking of each other as their life paths poignantly diverge. What’s more important: people or rebellions? Bria makes her choice, and Han makes his – at a time when it’s a binary choice. This contrasts with Han’s later relationship with Leia, for whom people and rebellions are so intertwined that Han can’t escape. (Full review)
How would you rank the Han and Lando books from “Star Wars” Legends? Share your thoughts below.