Choose Your Destiny: A Han & Chewie Adventure
Choose Your Destiny: A Han & Chewie Adventure written by Cavan Scott, illustrated by Elsa Charretier
This book was so much fun! And it gives us...the story...of when Han dropped Jabba's cargo and ran from the Empire right before A New Hope!!! How cool is that??? It's certainly an interesting tale and worthy of being canon...but how can it be canon if you the reader make choices throughout? Well...turns out the canon ending was an easy one to spot. All the non-canon endings say, "The end. Can you go back and help Han make a better decision? Where will the adventure lead next time?" The one canon ending says, "The end. Congratulations! You helped Han and Chewie make it through their latest adventure!" I was so worried going into this that you wouldn't be able to differentiate which was the canon ending but there we go--a perfect way to parse it out.
Now I will say this, in one instance there were two ways to get to the canon ending and in two other instances there were three ways to get to the canon ending. So there's a little bit of wiggle room on which of these aspects are canon and which are legends. But they're simple things like "Does Han get caught while stealing the heat exchanger?" and "Does Han take the TIE fighter or the troop transport?" and "Does Han use Azmorigan's codes or blast through the blockade?" When the wrong choice is picked on these three questions it just takes you back to the correct answer after a short little jaunt. So really it's all pretty much the same.
This book also had some wonderful canon connections! We have Azmorigan from Rebels providing codes to Han to bypass Imperial blockades...and perhaps saving him from danger. We have talk of Mimban (the planet where the Imperials were having their trench battle in Solo) and comparisons to Han and Chewie's current situation and their situation upon their first meeting on Mimban. And Han notices a speeder bike he comes across is the same as that of Enfys Nest's marauders!! I <3 Enfys Nest so hard! There is also a brief mention of coaxium which we wouldn't know the name of except for Solo and a brief mention of Dryden Vos from Crimson Dawn's star-yacht.
New species: Hoopaloo: An avian sentient species covered in feathers with warty beaks.
So I want to relay the canon story here just so I have it in writing. If you don't want to know and want to try out the book for yourself, then SKIP to the very end of this post. SPOILER ALERT!
1. Han and Chewie are carrying Jabba's cargo.
2. They come out of hyperspace upon a flotilla of Imperial ships!
3. They blast through the blockade (possibly attempting to use Azmorigan's codes first).
4. Han gets hurt so Chewie uses the canons. The hyperdrive blows!
5. Han dumps the cargo in space to create a distraction! (The plot point we all know and love.)
6. Chewie fixes the hyperdrive and they shoot away from the Imperials.
7. The hyperdrive malfunctions halfway through their flight and they end up at a planet with clouds the color of molten lava.
8. They crash land in dense jungle.
9. As they are repairing the ship, a noise sounds in the distance and Han goes to check it out.
9. It's a Twi'lek named Meecha Odon or Meech for short. Han fires at her, knocking her rifle away.
10. Meech tells him that Nodo's shipyard is not too far away, a chopshop for stolen ships.
11. Han steals her speeder bike to go find a heat exchanger to help fix the Millennium Falcon.
12. Han finds the shipyard and sees a beautiful star-yacht that he decides to steal a heat exchanger from.
13. He takes the part (possibly being discovered while taking it...or not). He either rescues Meech from a droid and comes across Nodo or gets caught stealing the part and comes across Nodo.
14. Han proclaims he is Jabba the Hutt and Nodo believes him, offering to fix his damaged ship.
15. Han is provided luxury treatment and delicious food and has a personal talk with Meech during which she divulges that she is a slave to Nodo.
16. Meech shows Han where prisoners are being kept for ransom in an old troop transport shuttle. The prisoners are covered in filla-foam and thus unable to move at all.
17. Han steals the remote to the transport but doesn't use it yet.
18. Lallani, a Quarren, shows up, expecting to capture and get revenge on Jabba! How sorely surprised she is when she sees Han is not a Hutt.
19. Chewie gets foamed and Han uses a welder to melt him out of it.
20. The Rhydonium fuel surrounding the shipyard explodes and all hell breaks loose!
21. Han either takes a TIE fighter...only to take the troop transport later...or takes the troop transport to get back to the Millennium Falcon.
22. They blast their way through a mountainside to avoid and detain Lallani's Mandalorian mercenaries.
23. Once arriving at the Falcon, they see more Rhydonium and Han gets all the prisoners to help him roll it onto his ship.
24. They blast into hyperspace. Once arriving at an acceptable spaceport, Han gives the fuel to Meech to help her and the other prisoners escape.
25. Han and Chewie await the "benevolence" of Jabba...
A wonderful story where Han shows true heart and we see his interior hero begin to emerge. I can't wait for the next Choose Your Destiny book to come out!
Now I will say this, in one instance there were two ways to get to the canon ending and in two other instances there were three ways to get to the canon ending. So there's a little bit of wiggle room on which of these aspects are canon and which are legends. But they're simple things like "Does Han get caught while stealing the heat exchanger?" and "Does Han take the TIE fighter or the troop transport?" and "Does Han use Azmorigan's codes or blast through the blockade?" When the wrong choice is picked on these three questions it just takes you back to the correct answer after a short little jaunt. So really it's all pretty much the same.
This book also had some wonderful canon connections! We have Azmorigan from Rebels providing codes to Han to bypass Imperial blockades...and perhaps saving him from danger. We have talk of Mimban (the planet where the Imperials were having their trench battle in Solo) and comparisons to Han and Chewie's current situation and their situation upon their first meeting on Mimban. And Han notices a speeder bike he comes across is the same as that of Enfys Nest's marauders!! I <3 Enfys Nest so hard! There is also a brief mention of coaxium which we wouldn't know the name of except for Solo and a brief mention of Dryden Vos from Crimson Dawn's star-yacht.
New species: Hoopaloo: An avian sentient species covered in feathers with warty beaks.
So I want to relay the canon story here just so I have it in writing. If you don't want to know and want to try out the book for yourself, then SKIP to the very end of this post. SPOILER ALERT!
1. Han and Chewie are carrying Jabba's cargo.
2. They come out of hyperspace upon a flotilla of Imperial ships!
3. They blast through the blockade (possibly attempting to use Azmorigan's codes first).
4. Han gets hurt so Chewie uses the canons. The hyperdrive blows!
5. Han dumps the cargo in space to create a distraction! (The plot point we all know and love.)
6. Chewie fixes the hyperdrive and they shoot away from the Imperials.
7. The hyperdrive malfunctions halfway through their flight and they end up at a planet with clouds the color of molten lava.
8. They crash land in dense jungle.
9. As they are repairing the ship, a noise sounds in the distance and Han goes to check it out.
9. It's a Twi'lek named Meecha Odon or Meech for short. Han fires at her, knocking her rifle away.
10. Meech tells him that Nodo's shipyard is not too far away, a chopshop for stolen ships.
11. Han steals her speeder bike to go find a heat exchanger to help fix the Millennium Falcon.
12. Han finds the shipyard and sees a beautiful star-yacht that he decides to steal a heat exchanger from.
13. He takes the part (possibly being discovered while taking it...or not). He either rescues Meech from a droid and comes across Nodo or gets caught stealing the part and comes across Nodo.
14. Han proclaims he is Jabba the Hutt and Nodo believes him, offering to fix his damaged ship.
15. Han is provided luxury treatment and delicious food and has a personal talk with Meech during which she divulges that she is a slave to Nodo.
16. Meech shows Han where prisoners are being kept for ransom in an old troop transport shuttle. The prisoners are covered in filla-foam and thus unable to move at all.
17. Han steals the remote to the transport but doesn't use it yet.
18. Lallani, a Quarren, shows up, expecting to capture and get revenge on Jabba! How sorely surprised she is when she sees Han is not a Hutt.
19. Chewie gets foamed and Han uses a welder to melt him out of it.
20. The Rhydonium fuel surrounding the shipyard explodes and all hell breaks loose!
21. Han either takes a TIE fighter...only to take the troop transport later...or takes the troop transport to get back to the Millennium Falcon.
22. They blast their way through a mountainside to avoid and detain Lallani's Mandalorian mercenaries.
23. Once arriving at the Falcon, they see more Rhydonium and Han gets all the prisoners to help him roll it onto his ship.
24. They blast into hyperspace. Once arriving at an acceptable spaceport, Han gives the fuel to Meech to help her and the other prisoners escape.
25. Han and Chewie await the "benevolence" of Jabba...
A wonderful story where Han shows true heart and we see his interior hero begin to emerge. I can't wait for the next Choose Your Destiny book to come out!
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