Ann Crispin set a very high standard with the Han Solo trilogy. She proved that a universe full of characters and stories was an opportunity for creativity, not an annoyance to be rebooted. She was one of the most creative writers of the Expanded Universe. While early writers had at most a framework from the movies and some west end game book sources, she had a virtual mindfield of information to keep track of. The later a Star Wars writer came into the universe, the more continuity there was to keep track of and stick to. She may not have had to reference all of it but she did have to stay consistent and not overright it. A character like Han Solo has a whole lot of backstory already available.
Ann Crispin’s Masterpiece
Ann Crispin masterfully took the opportunity to interweave events from many stories into her trilogy. Han Solo Adventures, Lando Calrissian Adventures, as well as characters and events from The Crystal Star, The Thrawn Trilogy, Dark Empire, even Chewie’s family from the Holiday Special became part of the tapestry. Xaverri seemed a minor character in a much maligned story until she became a real fleshed out piece of Han’s history in the new trilogy. The briefest mention of how Han Solo broke his casual girlfriend’s heart (Salla Zend) in Dark Empire gets a full expansion. Han’s first meeting with cousin Thracken (and his reason for dislike) gets expanded on. And that is a mere sampling!
Some of Han’s story was already in George Lucas’s notes. Academy training, raised by wookiees and gypsies, fit in as he made one wookiee Dewlanna, into his mother figure, while the gypsies became a bunch of ne’re do wells with a leader like the one in Oliver Twist.
We meet Han’s earlier girlfriends and find how he became the wary, cynical man who had abandoned ideas of respectability and didn’t risk himself for ideals. It was a difficult road and not all of his own choice.
We also got an amazing image of Hutt society. Hermaphrodites which change sex and can birth their own young (which makes sense as they are essentially giant sentient slugs). Their culture of cartels, criminal enterprises, conquest of spice and slave trading and sheer selfishness is revealed in full. We also got a look at the their Ylesian cousins.
The Star Wars The Old Republic storyline has never contradicted the established Hutt culture. It did mention further backstory that the Hutt’s were first conquerors and this is mentioned in the Guide to Warfare.
Smuggler society of course features many notable characters and types, from the more noble to the downright hostile anything goes sorts. And we get a look into Kashyyyk and oddly even Wookiee mating rituals as well.
There are some things that might need explaining: for instance, those who only saw Revenge of the Sith might wonder about Chewie saying he hadn’t been home in so long. Or about the description. In reality this isn’t a contradiction but rather an expansion. The stories involving Kashyyyk, written before the movies, established Chewie’s home high up deep in the forest. This is similar to what we explored in Knights of the Old Republic as well as read in the Thrawn trilogy. The movie however showed the coastal regions of the world. Chewie saying he hadn’t been ‘home’ could well mean he hadn’t been to his village. He was instead on the front lines of the battle. And he was soon forced to leave his homeworld completely when Vader led an invasion in force. The author herself felt later stories contradicted hers. I’m not sure which however, the interview doesn’t mention it. Certainly none come to mind.
Other Stories by A.C. Crispin
Ann Crispin also wrote Play it Again: Figrin D’an The Tale of Muftak and Kabe for the Tales of Mos Eisley. Skin Deep: The Fat Dancer’s Tale was in Tales of Jabba’s Palace. In the former she introduced the Talz and Chadra Fan species. In the latter, she introduced the Askajian people.
She also proposed a Leia book set between Episode 3 and 4. They rejected this since they were considering a TV series. I think this is kind of a shame. We only got a few glimpses in comic books and some young adult books (Rebel Forces) about what her life was like back then. source: https://boards.theforce.net/threads/author-analysis-ann-c-crispin.23943853/page-2#post-23997999
In some ways, it seems Ann Crispin was one of the last of a line of truly great authors who deeply loved the universe she was playing in. This is not to insult other Expanded Universe authors that came later. It was a team effort and it’s just as possible not all the team was playing on catching the little things in lore. But it takes immense creativity to pull it off the way she did. That puts makes her a great Star Wars author, not merely a good one. It’s a shame she didn’t write more Expanded Universe stories. I for one am unclear what she felt negated her continuity at the time of the interview. I think she’d have done a fine job writing a prequel era novel.
