Legendary Adventures: Han Solo – The Paradise Snare

The legacy of the Jedi is long dead, and the galaxy now lives in the shadow of the Emperor’s long reach. Join the Legendary Adventures as we join young Han Solo as he escapes servitude and finds himself in The Paradise Snare!

Yeah, we’re reading an origin story this week. And the thing is, it’s not entirely that bad! This was written at a time when Legends was in a tough place: with no movies on the horizon, the galaxy was wide open. But with only three films and a handful of novels, there wasn’t a lot of precedent for writing a Star Wars novel. In reality, this book feels like a Han and Chewie adventure, but with a feline side-kick rather than the Wookiee we all know and love. The thing is, though, there are some benefits to writing a story this way. First, putting Han in a familiar setting, but changing it up slightly, allows for a better understanding of his character. When the context feels familiar enough, it saves us pages of reading and allows us to cut to the core of who Han is. Second, in a way, Han acts as an “everyman” for this new Dark Times era, and we see the galaxy through the eyes of a regular guy. Really, who would be better to act as a guide to the effect of the Empire on the common person and to see the galaxy’s use and views of religion?

Though the Empire has only stood for a few years, it has taken over the imagination of the galaxy. No one can remember a life before the Empire, especially forgetting the heroic Jedi who defended the Republic. In the age of social media, where everything is recorded in the annals of history forever, we might find it hard to forget events of only a decade ago. Unfortunately, this has generally happened across the galaxy after the rise of the Empire as people forget the legacy of the Jedi. The horrors of the Clone Wars (just years prior!) have dissipated as the common people of the galaxy must learn to live under the new regime. Despite how much good the Empire has promised to do for the galaxy, far too many people are still living in poverty and squalor. For a young Han Solo, that means growing up as a street urchin, scamming people from their money, if not stealing it outright. Unfortunately for Han, but fortunately for the galaxy at large, Han is discovered by the captain of the Trader’s Luck, Garrison Shrike.

Shrike grooms Han into the perfect thief, someone who would be unnoticeable as he helped line Shrike’s pockets. Han is already somewhat proficient in skills that would aid him in becoming the man we know from the Battle of Yavin. Growing up on Corellia, he’s able to pick-pocket and to con his way out of any bad situation, but this situation is borne out of a need for survival, not because he enjoyed it. Life under Shrike threatens to change him from a good kid to a hardened criminal: Shrike is a cruel boss, forcing Han to go on dangerous missions with no thought of Han’s ability to survive. Thankfully, Han makes a friend on the ship, who keeps the spark of the light alive in him: a Wookiee chef named Dewlanna. A skill that would become helpful later, his time with Dewlanna taught him how to speak and understand Shyriiwook. Unfortunately, Dewlanna is killed as Han organizes an escape from the Trader’s Luck, but Han secures a job as a pilot.

Slavery and religion are tricky topics in any government/world/ideology. Some would have expected that a galaxy-wide Empire would be able to shut down slavery, but it seems like the Empire has allowed for more organizations to take slaves. The t’landa Til, an insectiod race that lives on Ylesia, have found a way to work with both religion and slavery to line their pockets, and the pockets of their Hutt overlords. The t’landa Til are an extremely religious species, and Han’s employer is himself a High Priest in the Ylesian religion. While study of the Force is officially illegal (as we learned in the Coruscant Nights trilogy), the Empire can’t stop every cult from spreading their message of religion, for whatever end they are using that religion. This gives the spicers a window to work in: t’landa Til have a special ability where they can cause vibrations emanating from their bodies to give their hearers/slaves a sense of titillation. They call this feeling The Enlightenment, giving it an air of official religious business, despite the dark reason the t’landa Til use this ability. You see, this feeling of jubilation is addicting to the slaves working on Ylesia. They continue to come to religious services to receive the Enlightenment, making them more and more willing to work. In the eyes of the t’landa Til, their continual return to the Enlightenment and their continued desire to work, to receive more Enlightenment, blurs the line between “work” and “slavery”, letting the Ylesians continue to use forced labor in their mines. Leading to his skepticism toward the Force later, Han is able to avoid the mind-control powers of the Enlightenment, giving him clarity to see the realities of the Ylesian workload.

The mines themselves are run by the Hutts, who are being given a long arm in the galaxy. After teaming with the Republic in the Clone War, the Empire is willing to work with these Hutts a bit more closely than they would with other organizations. Han finds out halfway through his contract that he is secretly working for Hutts, leading him to question what exactly the nature of his work is. He questions it again when he meets a slave known as Bria Tharen, who is herself addicted to the spice. He is also assigned a bodyguard/watchbeing named Muuurg, a Togorian. These relationships help push Han beyond his grooming from Shrike, unlocking the good man that he used to be that still lives in his heart. Han, as we know from many different sources, seriously, we hear it a lot, is a good man at heart. (And, honestly, I am glad that this is the first impression we have of Han in the Legends timeline.) Just because the galaxy is in Dark Times, that doesn’t mean that people can’t be heroes. Han organizes Bria’s escape from the t’landa Til and sets a plan in motion to help Muuurgh reunite with his lost lover. As Han and Bria escape from Ylesia, they destroy High Priest Teroenzea’s personal collection of goods and artifacts, creating a new enemy for Han Solo. Unfortunately for both of them, Teroenza’s Hutt overlords are even more mad about the disruptions to the process, which causes a desperate Han to try a dangerous gambit in next week’s Legendary Adventures….

Legendary Travel Tips:
-This book is preceded by young children’s reader A New Hope: The Story of Luke Skywalker (don’t ask how, because I’m not entirely sure, either!) and is followed by the second book in the trilogy, The Hutt Gambit.
–Sometimes, reading in chronological order creates some oddities. When reading Legends in chronological order, you won’t read this trilogy straight through – there are almost a dozen books between books 2 and 3 in the trilogy!

You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!

Movie Reviews:
The Last Jedi