This story by Dave Wolverton features Han and Leia and the reasons for their long delayed marriage in spite of what seems an overlong courtship. General Solo has been off battling Warlord Zsinj while Leia has been on the home front running diplomatic missions. On return he finds that one of those missions has led to what may be the downfall of their relationship, a proposal of marriage for political expediency to gain allies and wealth for the New Republic. But Han’s desperate measures to counter Isolder’s courtship lead to a wild adventure on the mysterious world of Dathomir, and a final showdown between Zsinj, the challenging suitor, and a group of evil force users.
Courtship of Princess Leia was published originally in 1994. It was number 6 on the New York Time fiction best sellers list.
Overall, I loved the world building and the challenges that both Han and Luke faced in this. Leia seemed more out of character than the others to me. I found it to be an enjoyable adventure with a satisfying ending. I was left with some questions however.
The Original Trilogy Characters
Leia was confusing to me, given her reactions to the courtship. I can easily believe she would self sacrifice her own happiness to marry for the Republic’s political good. It’s falling in love with him and forgetting her intense love and connection to Han that I cannot fathom. Also just how much did the Hapans know of her lineage? They seemed to think bred for royalty important, yet later the Queen expresses anti Jedi prejudice which makes it clear anyone related to Luke Skywalker wouldn’t be a welcome addition to the family.
Han’s own version of courtship to Leia is appropriately inappropriate. The man he was had been a reckless, act first and apologize later guy. But defending people as General Solo is all very well, but he draws the line at being yanked around for someone’s political convenience. While his actions go too far, they are understandable. These foes he face are far more deadly than a rival suitor and before the end his courage and self sacrifice do shine once again.
Luke handles the whole situation by sensibly refusing to take sides (its not like he can win!) But in the course of seeking lost knowledge of the Jedi. This was written before the prequels and it’s unlikely the Emperor left any usable information in the Jedi Temple in any case. He is definitely outmatched here with a whole new type of Force user. and an army of them at that. In Luke’s case, whenever he fails he learns, and he learns a great deal here and comes out all the stronger.
Chewbacca doesn’t do much in this besides just be present and assisting and Lando is entirely absent. Han’s relationship to 3PO seems off, as he was never fond of him. To be fair though, he knows Leia is fond of the droid and is trying to win her so that may have figured in. Also some of his dealings are drunk.
The Worldbuilding
I thought the worldbuilding for courtship very well done. Both Dathomir and Hapes are matriachal societies, but one is relatively primitive and the other sophisticated. Yet they both share a common lack of respect for those powerless in them. It’s an interesting contrast. We do get to see the new characters grow as well as the old and I like that.
As for the planet, well that is just plain fun, with its Blue Mountain People and the ridable rancors.
The Continuity
I have a whole post about how Courtship affected continuity here. I will make a few points right now however that left me puzzled or nodding.
This story is set after the Shadows of Mindor and before Heir to the Empire. It came out long before Shadows and after Heir to the Empire. The Dark Forces Novella Rebel Agent is set before it, but calls Leia “Leia Organa Solo”. This is because of a kids series in which Han proposed. This series was dropped before it could ‘interrupt’ the wedding. It came out right around the time the decision to make continuity consistent across age groups and media was decided, and failing the test of time was largely relegated to S canon, but not before the novella reference.
Obviously as it’s written before the prequels came out, no one knew the Jedi trained primarily on Coruscant. Afterward however it is mentioned the Jedi had satellite temples. And it’s a safe bet the Emperor left no training data there. There are plenty of stories of Vader hunting Jedi just as Luke follows the trail that he once did in hopes he missed something.
Luke’s abilities seem a bit different than the earlier released Thrawn trilogy in that he is able to communicate with the Blue Desert People with the Force. This is in keeping with other Jedi lore such as Tales of the Jedi however, which used Lucas’s approval. As the RPG’s by West End Games also used this its safe to say that the species and context may matter. Luke was only communicating a need to travel, whereas discussions of commerce (as with the Rodian in the Thrawn Trilogy) would be harder.
It’s difficult to tell exactly when the word trickled out Leia was adopted, or if it was ever really a secret. Later released stories suggest it was not really a secret at all. But it’s also hard to tell when word got out to the galaxy in general who she was related too. One would think this would affect the Queen Mother’s initial public reaction to her. She clearly sees Jedi blood as a threat, even if she knew nothing of her relation to Darth Vader.
As a trivia bit, Courtship of Princess Leia isn’t the first time 3PO wore clothes as a disguise, nor the first time he and R2 rode a living steed. They did so in the Droids cartoon and there is no indication he’s had a memory wipe since then. And speaking of rancor riding in particular, the game Star Wars The Old Republic does allow you to buy your own rancor steed and ride it!
The witches of Dathomir have members join the Jedi Order in Jedi Academy and Young Jedi Knights. During the Old Republic, Quinlan Vos visited this world when the Nightsisters tried to gain an ancient weapon that could threaten planets. Darth Maul took on a nightsister who was guard for a leader of Black Sun. This happened in the comics and resulted in the nightsisters gaining some elaborate makeup.
The Dathomiri as presented by the Clone Wars TV show were vastly different and basically affected every story told about them afterward. Dathomiri as originally envisioned in Courtship has a blue sky, and the witches, all human, are separate entirely from the Nightsisters. The men are merely humans, and rarely have the Force gift. The world has been off limits since the days of the Old Republic due to the witches and therefore, neither Maul nor Ventress came of this world.
