Star Wars
Crucible is a 2013 Stars Wars Expanded Universe novel written by Troy Denning.
It was released on 9th July 2013 by Lucas Books with an ISBN of
0345511425.
PLOT
Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and Luke Skywalker
return in an all-new Star Wars adventure, which will challenge them
in ways they never expected—and forever alter their understanding of life and
the Force.
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When Han and Leia Solo arrive at Lando Calrissian’s Outer Rim mining operation to help him thwart a hostile takeover, their aim is just to even up the odds and lay down the law. Then monstrous aliens arrive with a message, and mere threats escalate into violent sabotage with mass fatalities. When the dust settles, what began as corporate warfare becomes a battle with much higher stakes—and far deadlier consequences.
Now Han, Leia, and Luke team up once again in a quest to defeat a dangerous adversary bent on galaxy-wide domination. Only this time, the Empire is not the enemy. It is a pair of ruthless geniuses with a lethal ally and a lifelong vendetta against Han Solo. And when the murderous duo gets the drop on Han, he finds himself outgunned in the fight of his life. To save him, and the galaxy, Luke and Leia must brave a gauntlet of treachery, terrorism, and the untold power of an enigmatic artifact capable of bending space, time, and even the Force itself into an apocalyptic nightmare.
WHY I BOUGHT IT
I am a long
time fan of Stars Wars Expanded Universe and I was eagerly anticipating the
next chapter after Apocalypse. I wasn’t sure which direction it would go in but
I was happy to see a story involving Luke, Leia and Han. Although it seemed
clear at first that it would not be a direct follow on from the previous
series.
WHAT I THOUGHT
I think
Crucible was a really good way to pass on the torch; the only unfortunate thing
is that we don’t know where the torch is being passed to. If you are unsure of
what I mean then you should check out this interview with the author which
explains thing well.
To summarise
now that Disney has bought up the rights for Star Wars and are releasing at
least one new film and there is more than a question as to whether this might
be mean a retconning of the Expanded Universe.
Now onto the
book itself, it is clear from the outset that this is one for long standing
fans of Star Wars, I mean we start out with a good old fashioned bar shootout
and there are numerous Easter eggs like that packed in that I will just leave
you to find for yourselves.
The story is
an interesting one and ties together enough of the threads left dangling after
the end of Apocalypse while still establishing its own story and even taking
the time to introduce a new character that looks like they will be around for
awhile.
One of the
things that really allowed me to feel like I was in the world of the Expanded
Universe is the depth of the characters personalities , thanks to the 45 in
universe years we really do know what to expect from these three who have been
there since the beginning of Star Wars. Luckily this manages to stay on the
right side of things as even though we know the characters so well the
interactions and the story doesn't ever begin to feel like we have seen it all
before it all feels new and fresh.
Although
this book is in the majority about the Big Three so to speak there is space for
other characters including an interesting snippet about a young and arrogant
Jedi youngling who I hope we will see again in a juicier role. We also get
introduced to a cocky young miner whom I hesitate to Han Solo II (Han Yolo?
Sham Solo) who looks like he might be sticking around for awhile.
After
Crucible I can only hope that this is not the end of the Expanded Universe and
that Disney won’t let greed and pandering to film studios effectively destroy
45 years of in universe history.
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