Solo: A Star Wars Story novelization by Mur Lafferty
Solo: A Star Wars Story novelization by Mur Lafferty
This book was wonderful! So many extra scenes and deeper emotions. It was very heartfelt and tugged at my heartstrings more than once. The format was super intriguing, giving us the POVs of each character in turn but never overlapping. So we got to see the thoughts of everybody at different points throughout the story. Sometimes I felt like perhaps the wrong person was highlighted during a certain scene or I was being greedy and wanted the thoughts of both people or more, but overall it was a fantastic way to give us a well-rounded and full picture!
We get the scene before the start of the movie where the deal goes wrong. So glad they included this because I felt out of the loop when watching the movie and not getting that information. Apparently Han is trying to sell 7 vials of coaxium to a guy named Kilmo...but he only produces 5. That's why everything falls apart. He then hotwires Kilmo's speeder, the M-68 we see in the film, to hightail it back to the White Worms den.
This book makes it very clear that Qi'ra was only looking out for herself the entire time no matter how much she cared for or trusted Han. They didn't have a true romantic relationship and were really just friends. Although Han certainly thought they had more than they did. Her actions and thoughts in Most Wanted certainly make her intentions all the more clear. One quote in this novelization that really kills me is this: "She could run. She could take the vial, leave this planet, and never look back. But Han had returned when he had a speeder and coaxium. […] The coaxium was her ticket to freedom now. Her fingers stroked the cool metal in her pocket and she sighed and turned around. She owed him. She hated owing people." So she didn't stay because she loved him...she stayed because she owed him. Later, Qi'ra admits that when she kissed Han in the White Worms den earlier in the story, it was just impulsive...not an indication of a relationship.
Major continuity error with Most Wanted: "Syke handed one leash to Rebolt, who flinched as he took it. Syke seemed to be the only human who liked the hounds." In the book Most Wanted, it is made very clear that the hounds are Rebolt's and that he loves them more than anything. So it's a little frustrating that somehow that was missed in the editing process for this book.
We get a ton more on Falthina Sharest, the officer who takes the coaxium and lets Han through before sounding the alarm. The Empire has been increasing her hours but not increasing her pay and that makes her happy to take "presents" as she calls them...she refuses to think the word "bribes." She takes her job very seriously and loves Corellia. You kind of understand where she's coming from and don't begrudge her actions with these details. When Qi'ra says about the coaxium hand-over, "As we're going through. Not before." Falthina thinks, "They didn't trust her. She didn't appreciate that. She was not calling the troopers on them; she was doing them a favor!" I hate to admit that I feel her here. The book makes it clear that she doesn't call for security until Moloch and Rebolt grab Qi'ra and she becomes afraid that her other "presents" will be discovered if she doesn't do something. She was only looking out for herself...not being vindictive.
Korso is mentioned--a man shown in the Solo: A Star Wars Story Ultimate Sticker Collection but not in Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide. He had been a member of Beckett's crew for a very short time before he appears on the battlefield on Mimban. He is tall and silent and carries a rotary blaster canon. As Beckett thinks it, "they'd had a deal: He'd get Beckett access to uniforms and help him infiltrate the army, and he'd get Korso off this miserable mudball when they left." So it's not clear if Korso came from the ranks of the Imperials or just knew how to steal from them. Either way, I find it odd that Beckett teamed up with this outsider so readily but it took him forever to team up with Han solidly. Strange...
Before Val triggers the blast that ends her life, she flashes back to some meaningful times she's had with the crew. They are all very touching and show just how much Rio and Beckett mean to her. She makes it clear they were her family.
The way the scene is written where Han and the Cloudriders both have cables on the loot and they are headed straight for the peak of a mountain is written very clearly so as to leave zero doubt that Han had any choice in dropping the coaxium. The scene in the movie always made me feel uncomfortable like maybe he could have managed and made Val and Rio's deaths not-in-vain but it looks like he really did do the best he could. And of course I also completely understood when Beckett smacks Han across the face--I mean, he just lost two of his family members for goodness sake! But I feel less angry at Han after reading all these bits in narrative form.
Apparently Qi'ra has a thing for Lando that is not made entirely clear in the movie itself. As one of her lines states in response to Han saying Lando's got an interesting style, "'I'll say,' she said, not trying to disguise the hunger in her voice." Well goodness girl. And the following line is telling both in regards to her feelings for Lando and in regards to the way she does things in general, "Qi'ra reached out and touched his face, running her finger along his jaw. He half closed his eyes like a satisfied pet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Han wince. He would never understand her way of doing things. Probably because he had been on the wrong end of her ways far too often to recognize when they were used as a tool." Harsh!
It is made clear that the Millennium Falcon was in an impound lot and not just locked up for safety. I probably should have discerned that from it having restraining locks on it, but somehow I never made the connection to L3 having to cut their way through the gate and it not actually being a gate...
OMG! The scenes with Chewie taking a shower in Lando's refresher are absolutely hysterical!! He makes a huge mess and uses some of Lando's priciest products leaving the smuggler beyond furious. But Chewie is super clean and super happy (apparently his time in the shower on the AT-hauler didn't get all the matts out from his undercoat).
L3 asks Qi'ra about her story and Qi'ra flashes back to after she got caught by Moloch and Rebolt. In this flashback she again makes it very clear that she resented Han for getting free and leaving her behind. She didn't pine for him like a lover but was upset that he got the ticket out. She then details her exploits after being caught: 1) she was sold to a slave dealer (whom she later killed) and 2) she was sold to Dryden Vos where she fought and fought to escape, getting beaten every time, only to eventually kill her guard and gain respect in Dryden's eyes. After hearing Qi'ra's story, L3 asks a super poignant question, "What if your restraining bolt were removed?" And this question really sticks with Qi'ra until she finally kills Dryden at the end of the story--"Qi'ra's 'restraining bolt' lay on the ground before her, blood pooling under him." Along with Qi'ra's story, we also get L3's story. She talks about how her previous owner once left her restraining bolt off her and she began modifying herself, creating a bipedal body and increasing her memory banks. She then left and sought work at the nearest spaceport, finding Lando after many failed attempts at being hired as an independent contractor. That droid just gets cooler and cooler.
I find it super funny that Lando says, "Mining colonies are the worst" when he ends up being administrator of just such a colony. Haha!
The droid rebellion is fantastic in this novelization!!! L3 is so deadpan about it to begin with, not realizing what she is unleashing and then she just goes whole hog into joyous rapture over the situation. Such a great moment!
The process of L3 becoming one with the Falcon is long, drawn out, and absolutely heartbreaking. You see her slowly losing herself and melding with the ship. She at first doesn't understand what is going on, then freaks out about it, then is resigned to her fate. Truly horrific for a droid that just wanted freedom! Her last words to Lando show up as a readout on a screen of the Millennium Falcon's dashboard and she converses with him until she can't anymore--"HARDER...TALK. WAS FUN...YOU." So sad!
I love this line as Chewie hits the hyperdrive lever in the Maw, "Chewie hit a lever, and space stopped then spread before them in a long road, until they winked far, far away from Kessel and its cursed Run."
I have to admit, I still don't get how Han's plan with double-crossing Dryden was supposed to work out. Was he planning on killing him from the get-go? Especially since the real coaxium was already in Dryden's ship? I feel like things ended up turning out in a best case scenario sort of way even though everything did not go according to plan. This book does not explain the plan and I'm left wanting to know what exactly it was...*sigh*.
And then we get to Maul's reveal!! Qi'ra is clearly surprised by the reveal of Maul's lightsaber. She thinks, "Only Jedi summoned things with the Force. Jedi and Sith Lords. She suddenly understood from where Dryden's paralyzing fear of his master originated." So the lightsaber grab was not fan service but was a show to Qi'ra of what she was truly dealing with when according to this book she had only seen the hooded figure once before.
The death of Beckett is super touching as Han keeps referring to him as his mentor and takes him into his arms to soothe him as he dies. So sad that Han had no choice but to kill the man. And this leads to my favorite passage from the novel, "Chewbacca moaned something that he was pretty sure weren't even words in Shyriiwook, but more of an emotional indication: sadness, support, brotherhood. Then he said the word that meant either 'tribe' or 'family.' Or both." Ahhh!!! *tear* Despite Beckett telling Han to not trust anybody and that everyone will betray him, Chewie proves that he will not and that he is in for the long haul.
And...the Epilogue!! Jyn and Enfys Nest meet! Jyn is 11 and Enfys is 18. Enfys warns her that people will underestimate her because of her age. She then says, "Make them regret it." Jyn ends up turning this back on Enfys saying that Saw will underestimate her. The narrative then says, "Enfys smiled to herself. The girl learned fast. They might be in good hands after all." Again, ahhh!! I love it so much. Not to mention that I just rewatched Rogue One tonight and Jyn's courage and bravery is so evident and so beautiful!
Trivia:
-Sabetue are gaunt, skeletal sentients whose skin color indicates their gender. Pure white indicates that they are genderless. They also have scary claws.
-Sergeant Triosa Broog wants Han to succeed at The Carida Imperial Academy. Captain Whain does not.
-Onyx 2 who Han saves in the deleted scene where he's flying a TIE fighter is Cadet Lyttan Dree. And they're actually friends...turns out Han didn't make many friends in the academy.
-Commodore Almudin is the officer who sentences Han to the infantry on Mimban.
-Tag and Bink's full names are Lieutenants Tag Greenley and Bink Otauna. Han had tried to befriend them but it turned out they were screwups he wanted to avoid for looking any worse than he already did.
-The officer who leads Han into battle on Mimban (the crazy guy who charges forward and gets blasted to hell) is Major Staz.
-The Conveyex is headed for the Crispin Imperial Depository.
-Val mentions the Xan Sisters and Bossk as people Beckett's crew could possibly have teamed up with instead of Han and Chewie.
-Val grew up on Solarine where there are vast oceans and gigantic sea creatures.
-Kod'yoks were large horned beasts with great shaggy coats that lived in the mountains of Vandor.
-The Lando Return of the Jedi armor that Beckett wears on Kessel is Tantel armor with a gondar tusk mask.
-Coaxium must remain at a temperature above 35 degrees or it will destabilize and explode. So it must remain hot to stay stable...weird.
-The tropical planet where Han wins the Millennium Falcon in the game of Sabacc is Numidian Prime.
So I said a lot but in no way covered it all. You should absolutely go out and get this book because it fills in so much in the way of thought and story that you just can't get from a film. The multiple POV thing really works and makes this book something truly special. Go read it already!!
We get the scene before the start of the movie where the deal goes wrong. So glad they included this because I felt out of the loop when watching the movie and not getting that information. Apparently Han is trying to sell 7 vials of coaxium to a guy named Kilmo...but he only produces 5. That's why everything falls apart. He then hotwires Kilmo's speeder, the M-68 we see in the film, to hightail it back to the White Worms den.
This book makes it very clear that Qi'ra was only looking out for herself the entire time no matter how much she cared for or trusted Han. They didn't have a true romantic relationship and were really just friends. Although Han certainly thought they had more than they did. Her actions and thoughts in Most Wanted certainly make her intentions all the more clear. One quote in this novelization that really kills me is this: "She could run. She could take the vial, leave this planet, and never look back. But Han had returned when he had a speeder and coaxium. […] The coaxium was her ticket to freedom now. Her fingers stroked the cool metal in her pocket and she sighed and turned around. She owed him. She hated owing people." So she didn't stay because she loved him...she stayed because she owed him. Later, Qi'ra admits that when she kissed Han in the White Worms den earlier in the story, it was just impulsive...not an indication of a relationship.
Major continuity error with Most Wanted: "Syke handed one leash to Rebolt, who flinched as he took it. Syke seemed to be the only human who liked the hounds." In the book Most Wanted, it is made very clear that the hounds are Rebolt's and that he loves them more than anything. So it's a little frustrating that somehow that was missed in the editing process for this book.
We get a ton more on Falthina Sharest, the officer who takes the coaxium and lets Han through before sounding the alarm. The Empire has been increasing her hours but not increasing her pay and that makes her happy to take "presents" as she calls them...she refuses to think the word "bribes." She takes her job very seriously and loves Corellia. You kind of understand where she's coming from and don't begrudge her actions with these details. When Qi'ra says about the coaxium hand-over, "As we're going through. Not before." Falthina thinks, "They didn't trust her. She didn't appreciate that. She was not calling the troopers on them; she was doing them a favor!" I hate to admit that I feel her here. The book makes it clear that she doesn't call for security until Moloch and Rebolt grab Qi'ra and she becomes afraid that her other "presents" will be discovered if she doesn't do something. She was only looking out for herself...not being vindictive.
Korso is mentioned--a man shown in the Solo: A Star Wars Story Ultimate Sticker Collection but not in Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide. He had been a member of Beckett's crew for a very short time before he appears on the battlefield on Mimban. He is tall and silent and carries a rotary blaster canon. As Beckett thinks it, "they'd had a deal: He'd get Beckett access to uniforms and help him infiltrate the army, and he'd get Korso off this miserable mudball when they left." So it's not clear if Korso came from the ranks of the Imperials or just knew how to steal from them. Either way, I find it odd that Beckett teamed up with this outsider so readily but it took him forever to team up with Han solidly. Strange...
Before Val triggers the blast that ends her life, she flashes back to some meaningful times she's had with the crew. They are all very touching and show just how much Rio and Beckett mean to her. She makes it clear they were her family.
The way the scene is written where Han and the Cloudriders both have cables on the loot and they are headed straight for the peak of a mountain is written very clearly so as to leave zero doubt that Han had any choice in dropping the coaxium. The scene in the movie always made me feel uncomfortable like maybe he could have managed and made Val and Rio's deaths not-in-vain but it looks like he really did do the best he could. And of course I also completely understood when Beckett smacks Han across the face--I mean, he just lost two of his family members for goodness sake! But I feel less angry at Han after reading all these bits in narrative form.
Apparently Qi'ra has a thing for Lando that is not made entirely clear in the movie itself. As one of her lines states in response to Han saying Lando's got an interesting style, "'I'll say,' she said, not trying to disguise the hunger in her voice." Well goodness girl. And the following line is telling both in regards to her feelings for Lando and in regards to the way she does things in general, "Qi'ra reached out and touched his face, running her finger along his jaw. He half closed his eyes like a satisfied pet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Han wince. He would never understand her way of doing things. Probably because he had been on the wrong end of her ways far too often to recognize when they were used as a tool." Harsh!
It is made clear that the Millennium Falcon was in an impound lot and not just locked up for safety. I probably should have discerned that from it having restraining locks on it, but somehow I never made the connection to L3 having to cut their way through the gate and it not actually being a gate...
OMG! The scenes with Chewie taking a shower in Lando's refresher are absolutely hysterical!! He makes a huge mess and uses some of Lando's priciest products leaving the smuggler beyond furious. But Chewie is super clean and super happy (apparently his time in the shower on the AT-hauler didn't get all the matts out from his undercoat).
L3 asks Qi'ra about her story and Qi'ra flashes back to after she got caught by Moloch and Rebolt. In this flashback she again makes it very clear that she resented Han for getting free and leaving her behind. She didn't pine for him like a lover but was upset that he got the ticket out. She then details her exploits after being caught: 1) she was sold to a slave dealer (whom she later killed) and 2) she was sold to Dryden Vos where she fought and fought to escape, getting beaten every time, only to eventually kill her guard and gain respect in Dryden's eyes. After hearing Qi'ra's story, L3 asks a super poignant question, "What if your restraining bolt were removed?" And this question really sticks with Qi'ra until she finally kills Dryden at the end of the story--"Qi'ra's 'restraining bolt' lay on the ground before her, blood pooling under him." Along with Qi'ra's story, we also get L3's story. She talks about how her previous owner once left her restraining bolt off her and she began modifying herself, creating a bipedal body and increasing her memory banks. She then left and sought work at the nearest spaceport, finding Lando after many failed attempts at being hired as an independent contractor. That droid just gets cooler and cooler.
I find it super funny that Lando says, "Mining colonies are the worst" when he ends up being administrator of just such a colony. Haha!
The droid rebellion is fantastic in this novelization!!! L3 is so deadpan about it to begin with, not realizing what she is unleashing and then she just goes whole hog into joyous rapture over the situation. Such a great moment!
The process of L3 becoming one with the Falcon is long, drawn out, and absolutely heartbreaking. You see her slowly losing herself and melding with the ship. She at first doesn't understand what is going on, then freaks out about it, then is resigned to her fate. Truly horrific for a droid that just wanted freedom! Her last words to Lando show up as a readout on a screen of the Millennium Falcon's dashboard and she converses with him until she can't anymore--"HARDER...TALK. WAS FUN...YOU." So sad!
I love this line as Chewie hits the hyperdrive lever in the Maw, "Chewie hit a lever, and space stopped then spread before them in a long road, until they winked far, far away from Kessel and its cursed Run."
I have to admit, I still don't get how Han's plan with double-crossing Dryden was supposed to work out. Was he planning on killing him from the get-go? Especially since the real coaxium was already in Dryden's ship? I feel like things ended up turning out in a best case scenario sort of way even though everything did not go according to plan. This book does not explain the plan and I'm left wanting to know what exactly it was...*sigh*.
And then we get to Maul's reveal!! Qi'ra is clearly surprised by the reveal of Maul's lightsaber. She thinks, "Only Jedi summoned things with the Force. Jedi and Sith Lords. She suddenly understood from where Dryden's paralyzing fear of his master originated." So the lightsaber grab was not fan service but was a show to Qi'ra of what she was truly dealing with when according to this book she had only seen the hooded figure once before.
The death of Beckett is super touching as Han keeps referring to him as his mentor and takes him into his arms to soothe him as he dies. So sad that Han had no choice but to kill the man. And this leads to my favorite passage from the novel, "Chewbacca moaned something that he was pretty sure weren't even words in Shyriiwook, but more of an emotional indication: sadness, support, brotherhood. Then he said the word that meant either 'tribe' or 'family.' Or both." Ahhh!!! *tear* Despite Beckett telling Han to not trust anybody and that everyone will betray him, Chewie proves that he will not and that he is in for the long haul.
And...the Epilogue!! Jyn and Enfys Nest meet! Jyn is 11 and Enfys is 18. Enfys warns her that people will underestimate her because of her age. She then says, "Make them regret it." Jyn ends up turning this back on Enfys saying that Saw will underestimate her. The narrative then says, "Enfys smiled to herself. The girl learned fast. They might be in good hands after all." Again, ahhh!! I love it so much. Not to mention that I just rewatched Rogue One tonight and Jyn's courage and bravery is so evident and so beautiful!
Trivia:
-Sabetue are gaunt, skeletal sentients whose skin color indicates their gender. Pure white indicates that they are genderless. They also have scary claws.
-Sergeant Triosa Broog wants Han to succeed at The Carida Imperial Academy. Captain Whain does not.
-Onyx 2 who Han saves in the deleted scene where he's flying a TIE fighter is Cadet Lyttan Dree. And they're actually friends...turns out Han didn't make many friends in the academy.
-Commodore Almudin is the officer who sentences Han to the infantry on Mimban.
-Tag and Bink's full names are Lieutenants Tag Greenley and Bink Otauna. Han had tried to befriend them but it turned out they were screwups he wanted to avoid for looking any worse than he already did.
-The officer who leads Han into battle on Mimban (the crazy guy who charges forward and gets blasted to hell) is Major Staz.
-The Conveyex is headed for the Crispin Imperial Depository.
-Val mentions the Xan Sisters and Bossk as people Beckett's crew could possibly have teamed up with instead of Han and Chewie.
-Val grew up on Solarine where there are vast oceans and gigantic sea creatures.
-Kod'yoks were large horned beasts with great shaggy coats that lived in the mountains of Vandor.
-The Lando Return of the Jedi armor that Beckett wears on Kessel is Tantel armor with a gondar tusk mask.
-Coaxium must remain at a temperature above 35 degrees or it will destabilize and explode. So it must remain hot to stay stable...weird.
-The tropical planet where Han wins the Millennium Falcon in the game of Sabacc is Numidian Prime.
So I said a lot but in no way covered it all. You should absolutely go out and get this book because it fills in so much in the way of thought and story that you just can't get from a film. The multiple POV thing really works and makes this book something truly special. Go read it already!!
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