*All posts in the Star Wars Canon series contain minor spoilers
“Han wished he could go back to simpler days when he just had a giant space tentacle beast to worry about. Because ahead of him lay the Maw, a planet-sized gravity well. It glowed a faint amber, swirling and sucking and inviting all area debris to fall in and be crushed inside of it. Solo: A Star Wars Story
Written by: Mur Lafferty
Published: September 4, 2018
When does Solo: A Star Wars Story take place?
The opening scenes take place in 13 BBY with the rest of the story taking place in 10 BBY.
Synopsis:
After a miserable childhood and teenage years with the White Worms gang on Corellia, Han finally seizes his chance at escape. He partners up with Qi’ra as they make a run for it, leaving behind a life of crime and poverty, and dreaming ahead of adventure. Despite their best efforts, Han makes it out while Qi’ra is left behind on Corellia. Han enlists in the Imperial Navy with the intention of becoming the best pilot in the galaxy—and with the hope of returning one day to his home planet to rescue Qi’ra.
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The novelization of Solo: A Star Wars Story was not my favourite Star Wars book, but it wasn’t half bad either, which is pretty much how I felt about the film. Check out my review of the movie Solo as well as some fun facts about it here.
This book is marketed as the Expanded Edition, and it has extra scenes which weren’t in the film. What I really enjoyed about this book was how much more detail it gave on Qi’ra’s background after Han left her on Corellia and before they met up again on Dryden Vos’s yacht. There is hardly on information given in the film. Asides from Qi’ra’s backstory, the rest of the extra scenes did not really add too much to the story. The chase scene at the beginning when Han and Qi’ra are trying to get off planet is expanded, including their running through a stinky fish market. There are also some extra scenes about Han’s time as an Imperial pilot before being transferred to Mimban for insubordination.
However, the epilogue was very interesting! It featured Saw Gerrera and Jyn Erso which I thought sets up the next book on my list, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, nicely.
The book was also written from more than just Han’s point of view so we got into the heads of other main characters. This was especially powerful with the loss of L3-37 and knowing just how strongly Lando reacts to it, even if he doesn’t necessary show all his emotions.
Overall, the book was kind of slow and flat. It wasn’t different enough from the movie to be motivating to read. There were other books published around the time of Solo to promote the movie, Most Wanted and Last Shot, and I would recommend reading these books instead for any Solo fans.
The hardcover copy, and possibly the paperback but I’m not sure, did have some really nice artwork of the characters and the Millennium Falcon. There were also photos from the movie included.
Have you read the Solo novelization? Who’s your favourite character?
Next Star Wars post: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Complete list of Star Wars Canon novels
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