The Courtship of Princess Leia

"Nightsisters" redirects here. For the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode, seeNightsisters (Star Wars: The Clone Wars).

The Courtship of Princess Leia

Author	Dave Wolverton
Cover artist	Drew Struzan
Language	English
Series	CanonC
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Bantam Spectra
Publication date	May 1, 1994
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover & paperback)
Pages	327
ISBN	0-553-56937-6
Preceded by	Solo Command
Followed by	A Forest Apart

The Courtship of Princess Leiais a 1994 science fiction novel by American writerDave Wolverton,part of theStar Warsfranchise. It continued the streak ofNew York TimesBestsellers, which started with 1991'sHeir to the Empire.The Courtship of Princess Leiais set in theStar Warsexpanded universe,and deals with the downfall of Warlord Zsinj and the circumstances leading to the marriage ofHan SoloandPrincess Leia,characters that originated in the 1977 filmStar Wars: A New Hope.

Plot

Background

Though theBattle of Endorresulted in the destruction of theEmperorandDarth Vader,along with the best of theImperial Starfleet,the remnants of the Empire are still a danger. One of the recently formedNew Republic's most dire foes is a splinter faction of the former Empire, led by Warlord Zsinj. Zsinj is a cunning strategist whose skills have earned him the allegiance of almost a full third of the entiregalaxy.Both theImperial Remnantand the New Republic have dedicated considerable forces to end his reign. But Zsinj has possession of one of the fewSuper Star Destroyersleft, and whenever nearly cornered, slips away to a secret stronghold where the SSDIron Fistis repaired.

Summary

At the opening of the novel,Han Solo,who from aboard theMon Remondahas been prosecuting the search for this hidden fastness, wearily returns to the recently capturedCoruscantexpecting an end to the long separation between him and his beloved, Princess Leia, head of the New Republic. To his great surprise, when his vessel drops out ofhyperspaceand into the Coruscant system, what appears are a number of fearsomeImperial Star Destroyers,Hapan Battle Dragons,andHapes Nova Class battle cruiser.Eventually, Han learns that theHapescluster had sent a delegation of some manner to the New Republic. He lands and enters theImperial Palace,where, with the help ofC-3PO,who translates and comments on the formal diplomatic reception, he watches the Hapes delegation present to Leia a number of stunning gifts: the dozen Star Destroyers Han had seen, aHapan gun of command,a small plant resembling abonsaiwhich promotes longevity and intelligence, and the hand of the Hapes cluster's ruler Ta'a Chume's son,Prince Isolder,in holy matrimony.

The effect is devastating; Leia nearly accepts, driving Han into a frenzy of fear and jealousy. Han eventually wanders into acantinain the lower reaches of Coruscant, where he participates in a high-stakes sabacc game. One of his opponents runs out ofliquid financial instrumentsand instead proffers real estate: a deed to an entirehabitable planet,Dathomir.Han thinks he has found a gift which would prove his worthiness to Leia and compare favorably with the gifts of Isolder (and provide a place to resettle the expatriates ofAlderaan). When Leia examines his gift and points out that he has been conned (since Dathomir was in the section of the galaxy controlled by Zsinj), Han is further devastated. Isolder compounds insult with injury by denigrating theMillennium Falconand offering Han a Nova battle cruiser if he abandons his quest to win Leia's heart. Han snaps. He abducts Leia using the Gun of Command, and flees with her andChewbaccaaboard his recently refittedMillennium Falconto Dathomir. Prince Isolder pursues him with his Hapan fleet. He arrives at Dathomir shortly after Han despite Han's headstart, as Isolder is aided by theJediMasterLuke Skywalker,who uses his Force powers to navigate a shorter (but still safe) path throughhyperspace,shaving time off accepted conventional routes. There they both discovered that Zsinj had truly laid claim to Dathomir—in orbit around it was theIron Fist,a number of other capital ships, and the complete orbital shipyard Han had hunted for so long.

TheMillennium Falconhad been forced to land on Dathomir itself, where it is captured by the Imperial garrison Zsinj had marooned on the surface years ago. Isolder sets out in his Miy'til fighter accompanied by Luke'sX-wing fighterwhile the Hapan fleet fights a covering action before it retreats into hyperspace to inform the New Republic, Imperial Remnant, and the Hapes Consortium of the whereabouts of Zsinj heretofore secret redoubt.

On the surface, Isolder and Luke discover the remnants of the star-borne Jedi training academy, theChu'unthor.Luke had seen recordings noting howYodaand a number of other Jedi knights had failed to retrieve the library of theChu'unthor,due to interference by the Witches of Dathomir. The best they had been able to do was seal the vessel thoroughly, so thoroughly that only centuries later the first intruder would need alightsaberto gain access. As they peruse the vessel, however, Isolder and Luke are captured by a Dathomiri witch, who enslaves them and takes them to her village.

Having learned about Han Solo's presence on the planet, Zsinj had dictated a combination of ultimatum and deal with the head of the Nightsisters,Gethzerion:they would give him Solo to torture and execute as he liked, and he would give them anImperial shuttleto pilot where they like. If they did not, he would keep his "nightcloak" (an interconnected network of geostationary satellites, which reflected all solar emissions back into space) intact, which would slowly freeze Dathomir, ending all life on the planet.

Eventually, they infiltrate the Imperial garrison and steal theFalcon,piloting it out into the ongoing Battle of Dathomir. Solo allows theIron Fistto acquire theFalconwith atractor beam;once it is within thedeflector shields,he breaks it free of the beam lock, piloting his vessel over the superstructure of the gigantic vessel. Arriving upon the main bridge, he launches twoconcussion missiles,destroying the bridge, killing Zsinj, and knocking out the ventral shields. WithIron Fistso exposed, the Hapan Battle Dragons move into position with theirion cannons,disablingIron Fist.Defeated, Zsinj's empire soon crumbles. Shortly thereafter, Solo and Leia marry, having realized during their intrepid journey together that they loved each other. Isolder is consoled by the fact he has fallen in love with his captor, Teneniel Djo.

Reception

Reception forThe Courtship of Princess Leiawas predominantly positive and the book was aNew York TimesBestsellerin both its hardback and paperback formats.BothThe Hamilton Spectatorand theMilwaukee Sentinelhave given positive reviews for the novel and the reviewer for theMilwaukee Sentinelcommented that the book continued the "stellar tradition of George Lucas'Star Warsmovies ".Trade reviews were also mostly positive,andPublishers Weeklyopined that although parts of the book were disappointing, "the novel [raised] expectations for Wolverton's future works once he moves on to other things".Torincluded the book in a list of "Where to Begin withStar WarsBooks ", as they saw it as" one of the craziestStar Warsnovels ever written "and that" after you read it you won’t be able to think of any other way that Han and Leia’s relationship could have progressed towards marriage ".

Legacy

TheChu'unthorwas mentioned in the 2010 reference bookThe Jedi Path,although in 2014, following the acquisition ofLucasfilmbyDisney,all spin-off works up to that point (excludingThe Clone Wars) were made non-canon. Dathomir became a major location in The Clone Wars, retroactively established as the homeworld of bothDarth MaulandAsajj Ventress(replacing Rattatak). Dathomir, and the witches, were both referenced inThe Book of Boba Fettwhen Fett receives a Rancor. Fett mentions wanting to ride the rancor, "Like the witches on Dathomir."

External links

• The Courtship of Princess LeiaonWookieepedia,aStar Warswiki