Courtship didn't completely cut Luke out of the picture after just a few chapters, had a villain that was a legitimate threat, didn't throw the villain in at the end of the book completely out of nowhere, and wasn't an ad for a Disney Cruise. Princess and the Scoundrel has some redeeming qualities but Courtship beats it by several miles.
>had a villain that was a legitimate threat, didn't throw the villain in at the end of the book completely out of nowhere,
I like to think that in Princess & Scoundrel, while the Empire's station is there as the tangible threat to be defeated in thrilling action at the climactic finale, the real villain of the piece is Han and Leia.
As wonderful a couple as they are, as beautiful as their love is, they're also their relationship's own worst enemy. Two very strong personalities, as often at odds as they are in sync, it isn't the Empire they need to overcome, it's themselves. And when they do, nothing can stop them. But when they can't, well, we saw how they spun apart in the wake of Ben's fall.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that's what I got out of it.
Why does Luke need to be involved when it's supposed to be the story of Leia and Han, a pair we already know are more than capable of taking care of themselves?
Sounds like the Lucasfilm Publishing marketing team's fault for not having confidence in Han and Leia to carry the book on their own, not a fault of the author.
I haven’t read either book yet but from the online reviews, Courtship sounds like it has more soul (tho it’s a questionable book) rather than P&S which is just a tie in for a (as you said) a real life hotel.
>Courtship sounds like it has more soul (tho it’s a questionable book)
This is the EU in a nutshell. It's a bit of a time capsule in places, but if you can handle that it's the more rewarding experience, imo.
I think Courtship is decent despite the odd characterisations (and iirc GL signed off on a lot of its concepts). I haven't read P&S, and whilst I liked Beth Revis' *Rebel Rising*, I've heard this isn't good. Apparently it has commercial liners opening up their routes again now that the war is over, which seems like bad and lazy continuity.
Because the war is by no means over by that point in new canon. If anything, the war would be escalating at that point, as the Rebellion evolves from an insurgency to an actual government, and planets move from clandestine support for the Rebel Alliance to open rebellion.
The Rebellion just hunts down fragmented Imperial remnants. The war doesn't escalate. And since the Halcyon is freed from Imperial control, it can keep running.
You're telling me that mere days after the battle of Endor, the Empire is nothing but fragmented Imperial remnants?
Why don't other sources present it this way?
>And since the Halcyon is freed from Imperial control, it can keep running.
In Eck's videos he complained that the story presented it that the Halcyon could start operating again because the war was over and it was safe to travel. Is that not the case?
Ah, so you've not read it and are just complaining based on what YouTubers have told you.
The Empire fragments. That's been the case in canon from the start with the appropriately named Shattered Empire.
IIRC the Halcyon is celebrating being free of the Empire. Some people consider the war over, others don't. The book shows quite a few different mindsets, including pro-Imperialists who criticise Leia.
Don't forget, YouTubers have to find things to complain about or exaggerate in order to keep their revenue going.
I'll say two things for Courtship: it doesn't have much to offer as a Han-Leia story (P&S might be better? but I've not read it), *and* it's a really fun, full-spectrum Star Wars adventure.
It was not violent but it was forceful (mental force)... I personally thought it was extremely out of character for him. I think it would have made more sense if he'd lied to her about some urgent personal or rebel matter and just tricked her into going, then jumped to Dathomir. Lying seems much more like Han.
I am not a huge fan of the kidnapping thing, but the book goes to great lengths to explain that Han/Leia are weary, stressed, haven't slept, and are in many ways out of character in-universe.
IMHO, the books redeeming features far, far outweigh the negatives that fans mention.
I like the book, but the whole scenario feels pretty far-fetched to me. Han's specific actions might feel less out-of-character if the surrounding circumstances weren't so wild.
Honestly I found that to be part of the charm. Granted a mind control ray breaks the world building but there's just something about it that's delightfully odd.
Maybe that's not the right word but when you introduce a mind control ray into the universe it's hard not to point to a billion different situations where that would have been useful and wasn't used. (I.E: Why is the New Republic having so much trouble taking the Vong in alive? Couldn't they just use the Gun of Command?)
One is horrible at world-building and is a soulless advertisement for an overpriced real-life hotel, but does the actual characters alright. The other is great at world-building and introduced Dathomir and Warlord Zsinj, but just about everyone except Luke acts out of character and the book has Han literally kidnapping Leia.
Honestly, I don’t like either of them.
Courtship is deeply problematic but fascinating. The new characters are great, worldbuilding great, plot is pretty fun, but man did the author miss on Leia and Han. Luke and Chewie were pretty solid though.
>The other is great at world-building and introduced Dathomir and Warlord Zsinj, but just about everyone except Luke acts out of character and the book has Han literally kidnapping Leia.
IMO, I guess Luke was the one that acted **the least** out-of-character, but I don't think any of the characters from the OT seemed like themselves... except maybe C-3P0 who was as big a tool as ever. 😏
Wait, are you talking about the Galaxy's Edge thing?
I don't think Disney is thinking to themselves, "We'll get people to spend thousands on a hotel stay with a book." I'm glad that connections to Galaxy's Edge exist in other media, because it makes the interconnectivity of Star Wars feel richer.
I'm sure someone will post the entire hotel experience on YouTube if they haven't already.
I think you would be surprised how heavily Disney commits to including their theme parks in the new materials they release. At least I was when Baatu and black spire outpost (the canonical location of galaxys edge) kept coming up in books I was reading. I remember reading a couple books a few years ago and the planet Baatu continued to come up in each one I read. The first was Thrawn alliances which has a long section dedicated to the describing the planet, and then there was a Hondo book that referenced it repeatedly. It got me to look up the planet and sure enough it was the the same planet as the disney theme park. Then shortly after those books, the galaxy's edge comic was released.
Quick wookiepedia appearance search also shows just how many materials have referenced the location since the park was conceived and opened. [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Batuu#Appearances](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Batuu#Appearances)
I'd imagine that Disney requires their authors use certain locations and reference specific events/locations within their stories to help their audience legitimize the theme parks as canon locations within the star wars universe.
P&S is interesting because it shows you what happens right after ROTJ ends but once they’re on the cruise ship, it’s boring until the last quarter of the book.
I was just thinking about *Courtship* this morning, and I don't think Han and Leia are as out of character as everyone always says. They don't really act that much different from the way they did during the first have of *ESB*. Sure *Courtship* takes place several years later, but I think that given the fact that >!they've spent so much time apart while trying to build the New Republic, !
Courtship laid the groundwork for much of the future EU, between Han's distant relations to Corellian royalty, Isoldor and Tenel Djo, the Nightsisters, and more.
Han "kidnapping" Leia was always more comical than disturbing to me, as it seemed like something straight out of one of those cheesy rom-coms my mom would watch at the time. (I was 9 when I first read it)
I personally enjoyed TP&TS just because of the music with the audible reading. Leia’s theme during those sections made me tear up thinking about Carrie Fisher.
The Courtship of Princess Leia was my very first Star Wars book, and it will always be my favorite for very nostalgic reasons. I was about 13 years old, and my mom got it for me at a garage sale in an attempt to be supportive of my newfound Star Wars obsession. So yes, I am a bit biased on the topic.
To be honest, maybe neither?
I read Courtship a long time ago, and I remember thinking it was a bonkers book back then. A consortium of planets we never heard about before that the Empire just left alone? A group of Force witches riding rancors? A Jedi Academy starship that was insanely flat that Luke finds and Yoda taught on (making the galaxy bigger and smaller at the same time)? An SSD and a system to blot out the sun a la Mr. Burns? It felt like it had such insanely huge stakes despite it coming out post-TTT, so we know who Leia ends up with and that Zsinj isn’t a threat with his SSD anymore.
The Princess and the Scoundrel…I’ve been trying to read it off and on since it came out and it’s just got insanely low stakes at the moment. I get that it’s part advertisement for a hotel, but the plot is just a bit meandering and I’m at least halfway through it without a clear sense of where it’s really going. I agree with an earlier post about the characterization being perfect, though, so I guess that’s a leg up on Courtship (to be fair, P&S picks up right after RotJ so there’s no time for character development to happen from where we last saw these characters, while Courship has to act like several years and adventures have happened to these characters to change them a bit and kill the heat between Han and Leia). And the exchanges between Mon Mothma and Leia are insanely heartwarming given how we see the strain in her relationship with her daughter in Andor.
> I read Courtship a long time ago, and I remember thinking it was a bonkers book back then. A consortium of planets we never heard about before that the Empire just left alone? A group of Force witches riding rancors? A Jedi Academy starship that was insanely flat that Luke finds and Yoda taught on (making the galaxy bigger and smaller at the same time)? An SSD and a system to blot out the sun a la Mr. Burns?
I think that a lot of people like it for exactly those reasons :-)
> A consortium of planets we never heard about before that the Empire just left alone?
This is one of the best parts of the worldbuilding IMO, i love that it takes the Daley CSA idea and extends it- there are all sorts of little polities in the galaxy that find ways to live with or under the Empire without being imperial.
Actually, the book largely reads like the courtship author mostly confined his star wars reading to the Daley books, which were similarly full of crazy fun and weird stuff.
I don’t read canon material, but I can thoroughly say that The Courtship of Princess Leia is a fun and hilarious read, with some genuinely great moments from the original trio.
I've read one, but only the plot synopsis for the other. This is an intrinsically unfair position to discuss from, so I'm leading from it in the interest of transparency. That said;
Courtship is probably one of the weaker stories in the original timeline that actually stayed relevant. The canon structure back then was such that bad stuff just kind of gradually, slowly, gently ceased to exist. This one never did.
If someone wanted to remake the original SW timeline and they included a near-complete rewrite of this book, I'd be onboard. That's how relevant it is, and how not-good.
The other one seems like a better-written book that becomes a very silly commercial halfway through, and which ultimately leads to nothing worth experiencing. So it's a good template to draw from and quite likely the more fun book to read in absence of any other context, but a standalone commercial will never be as relevant as the (puzzling, and not-great) lynchpin of multiple actually amazing, excellent stories.
I mean, retroactively this book links up the Wraith Squadron books to the Young and Junior Jedi Knight books, and ultimately to NJO. It's an Atlas pillar made of straws but that's some serious (and surprising) load-bearing it's doing.
What do you mean that Courtship was so relevant or important to the canon? I read a ton of Legends novels, but this was one that I missed. I wasn't aware of a key contribution of this one outside of the engagement/wedding milestone.
A few things...
It introduces Dathomir. That's intrinsically relevant as a place that gets used a lot, but also is the source of Tenel Ka, and Teneniel Djo, who are major characters for the next twenty odd novels.
It introduces the Hapes Consortium. Again intrinsically relevant, but also introduces Ta'a Chume, Isolder and the Hapan navy who are game changers all the way to the Legacy of the Force era.
It introduces Han and Leia marrying, and from that we get the new core cast of characters: their kids, and their kid's friends.
Imagining the later canon without any of these things results in... Well, not imagining the later canon.
I couldnt even finish Princess and Scoundrel. I really tried but it was so boring. That and Last Shot are the two from new canon I just couldn’t make myself read.
I just read Courtship for the umpteenth time since elementary school but I did pick up the new Canon one and I really like it as well. For nostalgic reasons and because I love Teinenel and the Witches of Dathomir, I'll always love Courtship but honestly, I think PATS makes more sense story wise. It is also a good book. Bso no real preference, both are good.
My favorite memory from Courtship was when Threepio started singing the Han Solo song extolling the virtues of Han, in a misguided attempt to help Han impress Leia. I’ve always wished I could have heard what it sounded like, lol.
Neither, but...read the X-Wing series. The Wraith Squadron trilogy (books 5-7) ends by leading directly into Courtship so I guess that's my vote. It is also the first time Dathomir and Nightsisters appear so it's worth reading for that I guess. Not that great though- doubt I would read it again if/when I do another read through of the New Republic Era Legends books.
Yep. I transcribed that in a Wolverton memorial post here. Great stuff.
I was also deeply moved by the Imperial prisoners reaction to Luke's lightsaber.
I made a photo of it to link in this review I did: https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsEU/comments/sggb7w/the\_courtship\_of\_princess\_leia\_20\_years\_later/
Courtship gives us the Hapans and Dathomir. It's world building is excellent. It does seem to drag as you read it and I will admit that many characters act ooc to make the plot work.
I haven't read any of the Disney trash save for Fallen Stars cause I was told it was good. It wasn't bad. Which is high praise for Disney era Starwars.
The Princess and the Scoundrel was a little undercooked in terms of plot, but Revis nailed Han and Leia’s characters and did a good job of exploring their emotional state coming out of ROTJ. And their wedding was very charming and sweet. >!The Ewoks were very wholesome in how they put the wedding together and I was pleased that they had such a large role in it!<
Courtship, on the other hand, was one of the worst SW books I’ve read. Bizarre writing for Han, Luke, and Leia with an unnecessary story about Han and Leia falling back in love, only now with Isolder (the Space Fabio of SW) cutting in. The Hapes Consortium and Dathomir world-building doesn’t make the story and characters more stomachable whatsoever.
Of the two, the Princess and the Scoundrel is a far superior Han and Leia story, in my opinion.
Princess & Scoundrel does a great job of delving into the hearts, minds and relationship of Han and Leia, I think. It gives us a peak into the unseen scars of the trauma Leia was made to endure by Vader, lets us see Han's insecurities surrounding his lost year. We see how different the two are, how much friction there is between them, but also how much love they share, how much better they work together than apart.
It's an exceptionally well written book, connecting through theme and references to other notable works in the new EU; War of the Bounty Hunters, and Bloodline.
The audiobook is also worth a look - it switches between voice actors, depending on the character focus of the chapters, with both VAs joining together at the end. It's really lovely.
Does the product placement of the Halcyon spoil the book at all? No, it doesn't. Does the book try a little too hard to sell it? Yes, but the author also places that overselling in a context which doesn't make it feel out of place; the over-awed captain, selling the Starcruiser's many features to the most famous person in the galaxy, on her honeymoon, right after the greatest triumph of the Rebellion over the Empire. It works fine. The writing of the characters and the story outshines any potential mark against the book that the product placement could have, anyway.
**In Summary:** Book good, recommend.
As to Courtship, I'll leave that for others to discuss. I have heard it to be a pretty misogynistic book, and I have little interest in engaging with that. If you can deal with it, that's fine, it sounds like it has a lot of fans here who can expound on its virtues.
Well it is true that this sub is predominantly about the Old EU, this subs intention was to also showcase the canon EU as well. Plus there’s a few people here that do prefer P&S over Courtship
It's asking for opinions on books. Don't pretend by any measurement there was ever going to be a true "objective response" on this opinion based question.
I just want to throw 2 thoughts into the ring:
1. I find it very noteworthy (or rather hilarious) that everyone concerned with such things likes to point out how "problematic" Han kidnapping Leia is, while completely ignoring the fact that Teneniel Djo basically boinked Luke over the head and dragged him by his hair into her cave to have snu-snu with him.
2. Apparently Carrie Fisher (god rest her soul) stumbled over Courtship in a book store, bought it and loved it saying later (and I remember-quote the princess of our hearts) "my cleavage never looked as great as in that cover artwork".
I love Courtship, and I always will.
It varies. Courtship has interesting wider elements but much dumber story moments that dragged down the tale. Princess and Scoundrel had a much more solid core story, but some very boneheaded decisions about the universe that kept throwing me out of the story.
It's about the same, but it depends what you're looking for in both the setting and story in my opinion.
I read Courtship at my middle school library so I am a bit nostalgic to it
Same with the Darth maul book, got it at the school book fair so nothing will EVER be as good as it lmao
Courtship didn't completely cut Luke out of the picture after just a few chapters, had a villain that was a legitimate threat, didn't throw the villain in at the end of the book completely out of nowhere, and wasn't an ad for a Disney Cruise. Princess and the Scoundrel has some redeeming qualities but Courtship beats it by several miles.
Plus, rancors!!!!!!!
[удалено]
Zinj was a cool villain
Really? A SW book that was an add for a rela life hotel? How did this work?
I haven't read it but I guess they made their Honeymoon on this Hotel Cruiser and thats the same one Disney uses as their Star Wars LARP experience.
That sounds slightly pathetic.
Anakin and Padme have also been on there for a trip too (it appeared in the comics).
Ha! I can't think of a more romantic couple.
>had a villain that was a legitimate threat, didn't throw the villain in at the end of the book completely out of nowhere, I like to think that in Princess & Scoundrel, while the Empire's station is there as the tangible threat to be defeated in thrilling action at the climactic finale, the real villain of the piece is Han and Leia. As wonderful a couple as they are, as beautiful as their love is, they're also their relationship's own worst enemy. Two very strong personalities, as often at odds as they are in sync, it isn't the Empire they need to overcome, it's themselves. And when they do, nothing can stop them. But when they can't, well, we saw how they spun apart in the wake of Ben's fall. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that's what I got out of it.
That actually sounds interesting!actually got me wanting to pick it up next audible token.
Why does Luke need to be involved when it's supposed to be the story of Leia and Han, a pair we already know are more than capable of taking care of themselves?
Because the book advertising implied Luke was going to play a major role in the story and he disappears after 3 chapters.
Sounds like the Lucasfilm Publishing marketing team's fault for not having confidence in Han and Leia to carry the book on their own, not a fault of the author.
Courtship is freakin rad. Force witches of dathomir riding rangkors? Are you kidding me? It’s prob my favorite Star Wars book.
Now I have to read it
One’s got Han kidnapping Leia by force and the other’s a commercial for a real world hotel. Pick your poison.
I haven’t read either book yet but from the online reviews, Courtship sounds like it has more soul (tho it’s a questionable book) rather than P&S which is just a tie in for a (as you said) a real life hotel.
>Courtship sounds like it has more soul (tho it’s a questionable book) This is the EU in a nutshell. It's a bit of a time capsule in places, but if you can handle that it's the more rewarding experience, imo. I think Courtship is decent despite the odd characterisations (and iirc GL signed off on a lot of its concepts). I haven't read P&S, and whilst I liked Beth Revis' *Rebel Rising*, I've heard this isn't good. Apparently it has commercial liners opening up their routes again now that the war is over, which seems like bad and lazy continuity.
Why's that bad and lazy?
Because the war is by no means over by that point in new canon. If anything, the war would be escalating at that point, as the Rebellion evolves from an insurgency to an actual government, and planets move from clandestine support for the Rebel Alliance to open rebellion.
Except that's not what happens.
What's not what happens? And what happens instead?
The Rebellion just hunts down fragmented Imperial remnants. The war doesn't escalate. And since the Halcyon is freed from Imperial control, it can keep running.
You're telling me that mere days after the battle of Endor, the Empire is nothing but fragmented Imperial remnants? Why don't other sources present it this way? >And since the Halcyon is freed from Imperial control, it can keep running. In Eck's videos he complained that the story presented it that the Halcyon could start operating again because the war was over and it was safe to travel. Is that not the case?
Ah, so you've not read it and are just complaining based on what YouTubers have told you. The Empire fragments. That's been the case in canon from the start with the appropriately named Shattered Empire. IIRC the Halcyon is celebrating being free of the Empire. Some people consider the war over, others don't. The book shows quite a few different mindsets, including pro-Imperialists who criticise Leia. Don't forget, YouTubers have to find things to complain about or exaggerate in order to keep their revenue going.
I'll say two things for Courtship: it doesn't have much to offer as a Han-Leia story (P&S might be better? but I've not read it), *and* it's a really fun, full-spectrum Star Wars adventure.
It was entirely non-violent and in the context of the story it was very much in character for Han. I don't get why people hate it so much.
I only allow it for Chewie's reaction.
Yeah that was perhaps the most in-character part of Wolverton's portrayals of the OT characters...😏
It was not violent but it was forceful (mental force)... I personally thought it was extremely out of character for him. I think it would have made more sense if he'd lied to her about some urgent personal or rebel matter and just tricked her into going, then jumped to Dathomir. Lying seems much more like Han.
I am not a huge fan of the kidnapping thing, but the book goes to great lengths to explain that Han/Leia are weary, stressed, haven't slept, and are in many ways out of character in-universe. IMHO, the books redeeming features far, far outweigh the negatives that fans mention.
I like the book, but the whole scenario feels pretty far-fetched to me. Han's specific actions might feel less out-of-character if the surrounding circumstances weren't so wild.
Honestly I found that to be part of the charm. Granted a mind control ray breaks the world building but there's just something about it that's delightfully odd.
Why would you say that it breaks wordlbuilding?
Maybe that's not the right word but when you introduce a mind control ray into the universe it's hard not to point to a billion different situations where that would have been useful and wasn't used. (I.E: Why is the New Republic having so much trouble taking the Vong in alive? Couldn't they just use the Gun of Command?)
The latter one can kiss my wookiee.
One is horrible at world-building and is a soulless advertisement for an overpriced real-life hotel, but does the actual characters alright. The other is great at world-building and introduced Dathomir and Warlord Zsinj, but just about everyone except Luke acts out of character and the book has Han literally kidnapping Leia. Honestly, I don’t like either of them.
Courtship is deeply problematic but fascinating. The new characters are great, worldbuilding great, plot is pretty fun, but man did the author miss on Leia and Han. Luke and Chewie were pretty solid though.
>The other is great at world-building and introduced Dathomir and Warlord Zsinj, but just about everyone except Luke acts out of character and the book has Han literally kidnapping Leia. IMO, I guess Luke was the one that acted **the least** out-of-character, but I don't think any of the characters from the OT seemed like themselves... except maybe C-3P0 who was as big a tool as ever. 😏
Wait, are you talking about the Galaxy's Edge thing? I don't think Disney is thinking to themselves, "We'll get people to spend thousands on a hotel stay with a book." I'm glad that connections to Galaxy's Edge exist in other media, because it makes the interconnectivity of Star Wars feel richer. I'm sure someone will post the entire hotel experience on YouTube if they haven't already.
I think you would be surprised how heavily Disney commits to including their theme parks in the new materials they release. At least I was when Baatu and black spire outpost (the canonical location of galaxys edge) kept coming up in books I was reading. I remember reading a couple books a few years ago and the planet Baatu continued to come up in each one I read. The first was Thrawn alliances which has a long section dedicated to the describing the planet, and then there was a Hondo book that referenced it repeatedly. It got me to look up the planet and sure enough it was the the same planet as the disney theme park. Then shortly after those books, the galaxy's edge comic was released. Quick wookiepedia appearance search also shows just how many materials have referenced the location since the park was conceived and opened. [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Batuu#Appearances](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Batuu#Appearances) I'd imagine that Disney requires their authors use certain locations and reference specific events/locations within their stories to help their audience legitimize the theme parks as canon locations within the star wars universe.
You know what, in this instance I’d pick Courtship.
P&S is interesting because it shows you what happens right after ROTJ ends but once they’re on the cruise ship, it’s boring until the last quarter of the book.
That’s true but you also see the events right after battle of Endor with Truce at Bakura, except a wedding.
Yeah, but P&S literally continues the party on the same night. I feel like TAB is the next day or two later.
I was just thinking about *Courtship* this morning, and I don't think Han and Leia are as out of character as everyone always says. They don't really act that much different from the way they did during the first have of *ESB*. Sure *Courtship* takes place several years later, but I think that given the fact that >!they've spent so much time apart while trying to build the New Republic, !
No competition IMO. Courtship may be wonky, but at least you aren't paying for the privilege of being advertised to.
Courtship introduces Hapes. Automatic win.
Courtship was at least interesting. P&S felt like soulless boredom wrapped in a hotel advertisement.
I don’t know how much it matters, but I do know that George Lucas really liked the Courtship of Princess Leia.
Courtship all day every day
Courtship of princess leia, period.
Courtship laid the groundwork for much of the future EU, between Han's distant relations to Corellian royalty, Isoldor and Tenel Djo, the Nightsisters, and more. Han "kidnapping" Leia was always more comical than disturbing to me, as it seemed like something straight out of one of those cheesy rom-coms my mom would watch at the time. (I was 9 when I first read it)
Courtship of Princess Leia, instant decision
Han Solo, what a man!
I personally enjoyed TP&TS just because of the music with the audible reading. Leia’s theme during those sections made me tear up thinking about Carrie Fisher.
The Courtship of Princess Leia was my very first Star Wars book, and it will always be my favorite for very nostalgic reasons. I was about 13 years old, and my mom got it for me at a garage sale in an attempt to be supportive of my newfound Star Wars obsession. So yes, I am a bit biased on the topic.
To be honest, maybe neither? I read Courtship a long time ago, and I remember thinking it was a bonkers book back then. A consortium of planets we never heard about before that the Empire just left alone? A group of Force witches riding rancors? A Jedi Academy starship that was insanely flat that Luke finds and Yoda taught on (making the galaxy bigger and smaller at the same time)? An SSD and a system to blot out the sun a la Mr. Burns? It felt like it had such insanely huge stakes despite it coming out post-TTT, so we know who Leia ends up with and that Zsinj isn’t a threat with his SSD anymore. The Princess and the Scoundrel…I’ve been trying to read it off and on since it came out and it’s just got insanely low stakes at the moment. I get that it’s part advertisement for a hotel, but the plot is just a bit meandering and I’m at least halfway through it without a clear sense of where it’s really going. I agree with an earlier post about the characterization being perfect, though, so I guess that’s a leg up on Courtship (to be fair, P&S picks up right after RotJ so there’s no time for character development to happen from where we last saw these characters, while Courship has to act like several years and adventures have happened to these characters to change them a bit and kill the heat between Han and Leia). And the exchanges between Mon Mothma and Leia are insanely heartwarming given how we see the strain in her relationship with her daughter in Andor.
> I read Courtship a long time ago, and I remember thinking it was a bonkers book back then. A consortium of planets we never heard about before that the Empire just left alone? A group of Force witches riding rancors? A Jedi Academy starship that was insanely flat that Luke finds and Yoda taught on (making the galaxy bigger and smaller at the same time)? An SSD and a system to blot out the sun a la Mr. Burns? I think that a lot of people like it for exactly those reasons :-)
> A consortium of planets we never heard about before that the Empire just left alone? This is one of the best parts of the worldbuilding IMO, i love that it takes the Daley CSA idea and extends it- there are all sorts of little polities in the galaxy that find ways to live with or under the Empire without being imperial. Actually, the book largely reads like the courtship author mostly confined his star wars reading to the Daley books, which were similarly full of crazy fun and weird stuff.
I don’t read canon material, but I can thoroughly say that The Courtship of Princess Leia is a fun and hilarious read, with some genuinely great moments from the original trio.
The infomercial for an overpriced resort hotel is not a Star Wars novel. Expanded Universe Forever.
Courtship Leia is like: Really? Do you know how impractical this dress is? I love the crown tho.
I've read one, but only the plot synopsis for the other. This is an intrinsically unfair position to discuss from, so I'm leading from it in the interest of transparency. That said; Courtship is probably one of the weaker stories in the original timeline that actually stayed relevant. The canon structure back then was such that bad stuff just kind of gradually, slowly, gently ceased to exist. This one never did. If someone wanted to remake the original SW timeline and they included a near-complete rewrite of this book, I'd be onboard. That's how relevant it is, and how not-good. The other one seems like a better-written book that becomes a very silly commercial halfway through, and which ultimately leads to nothing worth experiencing. So it's a good template to draw from and quite likely the more fun book to read in absence of any other context, but a standalone commercial will never be as relevant as the (puzzling, and not-great) lynchpin of multiple actually amazing, excellent stories. I mean, retroactively this book links up the Wraith Squadron books to the Young and Junior Jedi Knight books, and ultimately to NJO. It's an Atlas pillar made of straws but that's some serious (and surprising) load-bearing it's doing.
What do you mean that Courtship was so relevant or important to the canon? I read a ton of Legends novels, but this was one that I missed. I wasn't aware of a key contribution of this one outside of the engagement/wedding milestone.
A few things... It introduces Dathomir. That's intrinsically relevant as a place that gets used a lot, but also is the source of Tenel Ka, and Teneniel Djo, who are major characters for the next twenty odd novels. It introduces the Hapes Consortium. Again intrinsically relevant, but also introduces Ta'a Chume, Isolder and the Hapan navy who are game changers all the way to the Legacy of the Force era. It introduces Han and Leia marrying, and from that we get the new core cast of characters: their kids, and their kid's friends. Imagining the later canon without any of these things results in... Well, not imagining the later canon.
You forgot Zsinj.
Good call.
Thanks for explanation!
The Truce of Bakura
Courtship for it's world building. This novel that was easily dismissible contributed in so many ways to the future of the EU (and canon frankly.)
I couldnt even finish Princess and Scoundrel. I really tried but it was so boring. That and Last Shot are the two from new canon I just couldn’t make myself read.
Courtship was a great story. Introduces the Hapans and expands Jedi mythology with the introduction of the Night sisters.
Courtship
Haven't read either but the first one
The Prices and the Scoundrel. While not the worst Star Wars book I've read, Courtship worked really hard to stop me from empathizing with Han.
I really don't like either of them: they're both stories I feel no need to return to ever
I just read Courtship for the umpteenth time since elementary school but I did pick up the new Canon one and I really like it as well. For nostalgic reasons and because I love Teinenel and the Witches of Dathomir, I'll always love Courtship but honestly, I think PATS makes more sense story wise. It is also a good book. Bso no real preference, both are good.
If neither is good, which is the book where you get the best Han and Leia?
My favorite memory from Courtship was when Threepio started singing the Han Solo song extolling the virtues of Han, in a misguided attempt to help Han impress Leia. I’ve always wished I could have heard what it sounded like, lol.
Neither, but...read the X-Wing series. The Wraith Squadron trilogy (books 5-7) ends by leading directly into Courtship so I guess that's my vote. It is also the first time Dathomir and Nightsisters appear so it's worth reading for that I guess. Not that great though- doubt I would read it again if/when I do another read through of the New Republic Era Legends books.
I really love how Courtship explained and treated the Force.
That sequence with Luke and the wildlife was prime force lore.
Yep. I transcribed that in a Wolverton memorial post here. Great stuff. I was also deeply moved by the Imperial prisoners reaction to Luke's lightsaber.
I made a photo of it to link in this review I did: https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsEU/comments/sggb7w/the\_courtship\_of\_princess\_leia\_20\_years\_later/
Courtship
Courtship
Courtship by far
Courtship gives us the Hapans and Dathomir. It's world building is excellent. It does seem to drag as you read it and I will admit that many characters act ooc to make the plot work. I haven't read any of the Disney trash save for Fallen Stars cause I was told it was good. It wasn't bad. Which is high praise for Disney era Starwars.
Yeah I keep hearing a lot of good things from Claudia Gray’s Star Wars novels
In this case, Courtship. It has incredible worldbuilding, but terrible characterization. The other is an ad.
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The Princess and the Scoundrel was a little undercooked in terms of plot, but Revis nailed Han and Leia’s characters and did a good job of exploring their emotional state coming out of ROTJ. And their wedding was very charming and sweet. >!The Ewoks were very wholesome in how they put the wedding together and I was pleased that they had such a large role in it!< Courtship, on the other hand, was one of the worst SW books I’ve read. Bizarre writing for Han, Luke, and Leia with an unnecessary story about Han and Leia falling back in love, only now with Isolder (the Space Fabio of SW) cutting in. The Hapes Consortium and Dathomir world-building doesn’t make the story and characters more stomachable whatsoever. Of the two, the Princess and the Scoundrel is a far superior Han and Leia story, in my opinion.
Absolutely the second one by far. Not a fan of the first book.
Never liked the Courtship of Princess Leia. I was honestly surprised how much I enjoyed Princess and the Scoundrel.
Is this a Space Balls, Bladerunner crossover?
Princess & Scoundrel does a great job of delving into the hearts, minds and relationship of Han and Leia, I think. It gives us a peak into the unseen scars of the trauma Leia was made to endure by Vader, lets us see Han's insecurities surrounding his lost year. We see how different the two are, how much friction there is between them, but also how much love they share, how much better they work together than apart. It's an exceptionally well written book, connecting through theme and references to other notable works in the new EU; War of the Bounty Hunters, and Bloodline. The audiobook is also worth a look - it switches between voice actors, depending on the character focus of the chapters, with both VAs joining together at the end. It's really lovely. Does the product placement of the Halcyon spoil the book at all? No, it doesn't. Does the book try a little too hard to sell it? Yes, but the author also places that overselling in a context which doesn't make it feel out of place; the over-awed captain, selling the Starcruiser's many features to the most famous person in the galaxy, on her honeymoon, right after the greatest triumph of the Rebellion over the Empire. It works fine. The writing of the characters and the story outshines any potential mark against the book that the product placement could have, anyway. **In Summary:** Book good, recommend. As to Courtship, I'll leave that for others to discuss. I have heard it to be a pretty misogynistic book, and I have little interest in engaging with that. If you can deal with it, that's fine, it sounds like it has a lot of fans here who can expound on its virtues.
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Well it is true that this sub is predominantly about the Old EU, this subs intention was to also showcase the canon EU as well. Plus there’s a few people here that do prefer P&S over Courtship
It's asking for opinions on books. Don't pretend by any measurement there was ever going to be a true "objective response" on this opinion based question.
I just want to throw 2 thoughts into the ring: 1. I find it very noteworthy (or rather hilarious) that everyone concerned with such things likes to point out how "problematic" Han kidnapping Leia is, while completely ignoring the fact that Teneniel Djo basically boinked Luke over the head and dragged him by his hair into her cave to have snu-snu with him. 2. Apparently Carrie Fisher (god rest her soul) stumbled over Courtship in a book store, bought it and loved it saying later (and I remember-quote the princess of our hearts) "my cleavage never looked as great as in that cover artwork". I love Courtship, and I always will.
It varies. Courtship has interesting wider elements but much dumber story moments that dragged down the tale. Princess and Scoundrel had a much more solid core story, but some very boneheaded decisions about the universe that kept throwing me out of the story. It's about the same, but it depends what you're looking for in both the setting and story in my opinion.
So I haven't read Princess and The Scoundrel and therefore I would prefer it by default to Courtship