So before I deployed, I bought a Kindle and loaded it with all sorts of books. I had a variety of History, Classics, Educational, Non-Fiction, Bestsellers, and Fun. I am a semi-Star Wars fan (so you don't think that I am that big of a nerd) so my fun books that I bought were various Star Wars Novels. I haven't really read a Star Wars book in eleven years, so this is really reliving my childhood. Note: At home I do read a lot of comic books, but those are really hard to get in the far-away Hindu Kush...so I have embraced E-Readers. I hated my first encounter with an E-Reader (Aerospace Basic Course) but now I realize that the have some value through portability and the extensive library you can possess in the palm of your hands.
Back to real subject...do you readers feel that I go off topic a lot? Maybe its because I blog in stream of consciousness style. Hoh-Kay. Millennium Falcon. (focus, JoJo, focus) So I decided to read a novel about one of my favorite characters in the Star Wars universe, and that is the Millennium Falcon. I know that it is hard to believe that a ship can be a character, but I consider the Falcon to have a vital role in the Star Wars stories. Who doesn't give their car a name, or think that their respective vehicle sometimes talks to them? Not in the Knight Rider sense....but in the sense that there are some things that your car does or doesn't do that gives your car "character" Well this is how that Millennium Falcon is to Han Solo (he is captain of the ship...but if you didn't know that...or that the Millennium Falcon is a spaceship....then stop reading now to avoid future headaches for you and disappointment on my part). Even though sometimes...most times...he is fixing some sort of mechanical problem with the ship, the Falcon always seems to turn on allowing the characters to narrowly escape danger.
This book explores the Millennium Falcon's history through the adventures of two groups of characters. One group (of course) is an older Han Solo and Princess Leia and their grand daughter. This was a little odd for me at first, because I know nothing of the events that happened after Return of the Jedi. So this was a crash course history lesson of the events in the thirty years after the explosion of the second Death Star (feeling nerdy yet? I will tone it down...maybe) The other group is actually one character named Jadak who is a former pilot of the Falcon, which was then named the Stellar Envoy, who has been in a coma for forty or so years that was caused by an unfortunate accident with the ship.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you kept reading, then whoops....because this will ruin some aspects of the story which is not my problem at this point.
So Han's family is relaxing after a brutal fight in from two years before where their son had turned to the darkside and he was killed by his own sister. (I haven't read those books yet, but those are in the future) This is how they acquired their grand daughter. But she is about elementary school age and very adventurous. In her romps around the ship she discovered an artifact embedded in the ship. It was some sort of communicator from the times of the old republic. This peaks Han's imagination because he thought that he knew every inch and bump on that ship. Thus they set out on an adventure to delve into the history of the Millennium Falcon. Throughout their adventure you discover the various roles the Falcon played in the Star Wars history before the rebellion.
Jadak's story is one where he is from the past, but he is working his way to the future. He was on a secret smuggling mission when all of a sudden the Stellar Envoy (Millennium Falcon) turned off and unfortunately he was left on a collision course with a frigate. In the last minute (like always) his ship turned on, but not before being sideswiped (if that could happen in space) leaving him in a coma....for 62 years. He was given a message that left him feeling guilty that the mission was not accomplished. Jadak wondered why he was kept alive for so long. There was a doctor from the medical facility he was in who happened to be a collector. This guy was somewhat of a bad guy but not really.
Eventually Han and Jadak end up on the same planet through their journey. Initially Jadak pretended to be the pilot that Han was looking for and sent his assistant to steal the ship. The was foiled because Han had installed an anti-theft device on the Falcon. Jadak did not care about how famous of a hero Han was, but he did care about completing the mission he was on 62 years before.
They pair up and travel to a planet that was victim to some sort of alien plague from earlier novels....like I said...I haven't really read these books EVER. They end up finding some seal that the Old Republic had hidden away before the hostile take-over of PalpatineJadak barely made it out of the dying planet alive (like always). Han and Jadak then spend time reliving old stories that they had with their ship. The ending of the novel leads on to another series of novels regarding a side story.
Despite all of the cliche's in the story. I really enjoyed it. Can you tell from the really long blog? I love the fact that the book made me nostalgic about the Original Star Wars Trilogy. This story had many elements that the new trilogy lacked. It was also very interesting seeing how the Falcon had various roles throughout its existence. I also liked how this was a novel that integrated some of the past stories of the Star Wars universe that a reader might not have had the opportunity to read (like me) I recommend this to any fan of the old Star Wars movies....before they were revamped.
Stay Frosty,
JoJo
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