Rebel Dawn is Han’s first real brush with the Rebellion. Other than occasional mentions it hasn’t really been an issue up until now. Well, there was this girl and you know Han…

Our story begins at Cloud City where Han is looking to win a ship at sabacc tournament. Gee, I wonder what ship it is. And I wonder who he wins it from. (Read the book and you will know.) There are no hard feelings (which puzzle me at first considering what happened in Empire, but it works out) and Han and Chewie set off for high adventure in in the Corporate Sector in their trusty rusted scow. The reason they hie off to the Corporate Sector is …(surprise) a woman. Specifically a woman who decides she and Han are getting married. Woven throughout the story here are the 3 Brian Daley novels, Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, Han Solo at Star’s End, and Han Solo’s revenge. That in itself is a very neat trick because when they were written (between the time Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back hit theatres) this was all going to disappear in a couple of years. All was going well and good until that girl gets in the way again.

Han gets in dutch with the Hutts over dumped spice (and we live the whole story) and in an attempt to redeem himself gets mixed up with the Girl again. She’s joined the Rebellion and needs his and his buddy’s help in a major strike. This is the part of the trilogy I hate most. This is where we find out why Lando should have been mad at Han when they landed at Cloud City in Empire, but it’s all so weird and contrived that it left a bad taste in my mouth and sullied the entire trilogy for me. This is the spot where Han says "It’s not my fault!" and it isn’t, so why don’t his friends see it that way? They can’t, not without wrecking the greater plot line of the main trilogy. Without this would have been a very happy camper indeed. This volume leaves us on Tatooine, right outside the cantina in conversation with Boba Fett (that alone should send you out in search of) just before the fateful meeting. I felt that a fast on was pulled here as well. The message that Fett delivers just smacks of being too contrived and convenient from an over all plot stand point. Sorry if I’m not making my self clear here, but if I go for clarity I’ll reveal the whole plot.

I felt that this book was the weakest of the 3 and mostly because you could hear the author counting how many pages she had left before she had to resolve everything. One of the things that really upset me here was the disappearance of Mako Spince. Mako, according to the plot, bumped into some pirates who damage him so badly that he lands in a hospital. Mako, for some reason, decides that he would prefer to be a bed bound invalid than to go through some therapy and get going again. First, I know this happens in real life, but Mako was the guy who blew up a moon, got kicked out of the academy, has been disowned by his family, and still pulled himself up to become a successful smuggler (all things being relative.) How likely is it then, that he's going to let this get him? Second, Han, Lando, Salla Xend, Shug Nix, these people are supposed to be his friends and they’re going to just let him lay there, bonding with a hospital bed? Friends like those you don’t need. I really liked Mako. He was like Han’s older brother, a little cleverer, little rougher, a little less cocky. But he vanishes, as far as I can tell, after this book.

The writing is still quite strong. The characters sound like they’re supposed to and they sort of act like they’re supposed to. The world, which was set up in advance of this book is entirely "real." Han, walking into the fateful meeting having recently been alienated from his friends and annoyed his boss to the point of a big bounty for his capture, becomes a much more rich character. And Boba Fett in that one conversation at the end of the book becomes a more believable soul. Still, that awkward wrench to get the plot twisted around so that when Han et al landed on Cloud City Lando would have a reason to be mad really bugged me. If you read the first 2 curiosity alone will force you to read this one, just don’t expect it to be as good.


Recommended: Yes