Star Wars Book Review: Rebel Dawn (1998) by A.C. Crispin

“Wait’ll I tell Chewie! The Millennium Falcon is mine! At last! A ship of our own!” (20).

The triumphant, celebrated conclusion to the Han Solo Trilogy, A.C. Crispin’s Rebel Dawn is a truly impressive work that successfully manages to stitch together many unresolved plot threads lingering from the previous two novels, and it ends with Han Solo on Tatooine moments before he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in the film Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). Rebel Dawn shows how Han won the Millennium Falcon in a sabacc tournament from Lando Calrissian, why Chewbacca left behind his family on Kashyyyk, why Han is so jaded about women, and also why Jabba the Hutt has a bounty out on Han. Needless to say, there are so many references and connections to other Star Wars pieces of literature in Rebel Dawn, it may as well be on par with a James Luceno book –for example, Prince Xizor and Black Sun play a key role in the novel (both featured prominently in the novel Shadows of the Empire) as well as a brief appearance by Dash Rendar (also from Shadows of the Empire), Chewbacca’s family is vividly depicted (an amusing nod to The Holiday Special film), and there are a great many characters who make minor appearances that were originally found in the Dark Empire comics. Fan favorites like Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett are wonderfully featured, but as a cautionary note, there are several extended interludes in this novel wherein Han simply departs from the book entirely in order to account for his adventures in Brian Daley’s Han Solo Adventures trilogy. During this stretch, Han’s ex-lover Bria Tharen takes center stage (after being mostly absent in The Hutt Gambit) and it yields somewhat mixed results. Yet Rebel Dawn still manages to stitch together the complex continuity of this trilogy and end the series on a terrific high note.

It begins after the scrappy Battle of Nar Shadaa as portrayed in the previous novel (The Hutt Gambit), Han Solo has returned to his smuggling work for the Hutts, flanked by his Wookiee companion Chewbacca and young Jarik Solo (who first joined up with Han in The Hutt Gambit). Han takes a commission from a short, stocky, dark-skinned female named Jadonna Veloz to pilot her ship the “Wayward Girl” along with her to Bespin so they can deposit a shipment of prime nerf tenderloin steaks from Alderaan (for this mission, Chewbacca is left behind on Nar Shadaa). While there, Han enters a huge sabacc tournament at Cloud City (Han’s first trip to Cloud City). The city is nicely described in the book: “It hung in the clouds like some kind of exotic wine glass, topped with a jeweled crown of rounded towers, domed buildings, communication spires, and refinery stacks. In the last wash of sunset, it glowed like a corusca gem” (5).

At the sabacc tournament, Han runs into his old friend Lando Calrissian, whom he had last seen headed for the Oseon system where Lando won and lost several fortunes of gem stones (as detailed in The Lando Calrissian Adventures trilogy by L. Neil Smith). Now, Lando proudly displays a mustache like a pirate and he seems generally more prosperous. Han also runs into a female Barabel named Shallamar who loudly accuses Han of being a cheater for using skifters at sabacc (she previously appeared in The Hutt Gambit). However, after an investigation, Han is vindicated and allowed to compete in the tournament. In fact, after facing off against many different species like Twi’leks, Sullustans, Biths, Rodians, and Bothans, it comes down to just Han and Lando. Amidst a great deal of impressive exposition about the rules to playing sabacc, A.C. Crispin describes the famous hand which leads Han to win the Millennium Falcon from Lando! Han manages to pull “pure sabacc” (as opposed to an “idiot’s array”) and Lando makes a huge bluff, offering Han any ship on his lot. Naturally, when Han wins the pot, he chooses the Millennium Falcon. At first, Lando is reticent to give away his own personal ship to Han (Lando left it behind on Nar Shadaa, The Smuggler’s Moon orbiting Nal Hutta), but eventually he relents. Lando had traveled to Bespin this time on the large luxury liner Queen of the Empire (the Queen of Empire luxury liner appears in other Star Wars novels, such as the New Jedi Order series and James Luceno’s Millennium Falcon). From here, Han regroups with Chewie aboard the Millennium Falcon, which they promptly begin work on –overhauling the hyperdrive, adding a lower getaway blaster, a cannon under the nose, and quad laser turrets, in addition to installing secret smuggling compartments and salvaging better armor plating from the derelict imperial Liquidator (a bulk cruiser that was a casualty of the Battle of Nar Shadaa and has been left floating around the moon). Then Han, Jarik, and Chewie fly off to the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk (an Imperial slave world) where we are given an extraordinary portrait of the Wookiees –including Chewbacca’s family, Dewlanna’s son Utchakkaloch, or “Chakk” (Dewlanna was the maternal Wookiee figure who helped raise Han in the first book The Paradise Snare), and Chewbacca’s paramour Mallatobuck “Malla” whom he later marries and she gives birth to his son, Lumpawaroo “Lumpy.” This is the first time Chewbacca is back on Kashyyyk in over 50 years, yet both Malla and Chewie still insist that he leave his homeworld and honor his life debt to Han, as is the Wookiee custom. Notably, there is a hilarious scene of the Wookiees carrying Han and Jarik in quulaar baby baskets up the towering Wroshyr treetops.

At any rate, also watching the sabacc tournament at the start of the novel is a disguised Bria Tharen, Han’s long-lost lover from the first book in the trilogy The Paradise Snare. Last we saw her, Bria was struggling with addiction to the Exultation from her enslavement on Ylesia before she abruptly abandoned Han. Now, Bria is a key figure in the underground rebellion against the Empire, a leader of the Corellian Resistance. She has come to Bespin attempting to build a covert Rebel Alliance where she is joined by her Corellian aide, Jace Paol. She also meets up with Princess Leia’s Alderaanian attendant with a perfect memory, Winter (who previously appeared in The Thrawn Trilogy). While all of this is fascinating, I found Bria to be a frustratingly unbelievable character for much of the novel. She comes across as a simplistic young idealist, always spouting off platitudes about slavery and so on, and somehow we are supposed to believe she is a top rebel warrior, a key player in the rise of the Rebellion, even helping to transmit the Death Star plans to Princess Leia which sets up the beginning of the film A New Hope? It is all just a little too convenient. And unfortunately, there are vast stretches in the middle of this novel wherein Bria becomes the central character and Han simply leaves entirely to partake in his quests depicted in Brian Daley’s Han Solo Adventures. At least there are a handful of gripping adventures in these segments –Bria and her rebel Red Hand Squadron capture the Imperial vessel Helot’s Shackle, and in one of the best plotlines in the book, Boba Fett is commissioned to track down Bria on behalf the slavers on Ylesia, trailing her to the planet Teth before eventually capturing her on Nar Shadaa where she is working undercover as a cabaret singer and meets Lando Calrissian (from Lando, Bria learns what has happened to Han Solo). But before Boba Fett can deliver her to Ylesia, their ship the Queen of Empire is suddenly pulled out of hyperspace by a pirate attack led by Drea Renthal (an old friend of Lando’s) who managed to bring the ship out of hyperspace by towing an asteroid’s gravity shadow into the ship’s hyperspace path (this typically would have been accomplished by an Imperial Interdicter Cruiser). Anyway, Lando somehow convinces Drea and her comrades that Bria is Han’s girlfriend and he asks them to fulfill their debt on behalf of Han for winning the Battle of Nar Shadaa. So Drea and her crew pay Boba Fett and Lando and Bria escape (this marks the second time Lando has stood up to Boba Fett, the first being in The Hutt Gambit when Lando rescues Han). They are then taken aboard the Pirate Queen’s flagship called Renthal’s Vigilance and head back to Nar Shadaa where they eventually meet up with Han again when he returns from his adventures in the Corporate Sector. This whole sequence with Boba Fett offers some fantastic, gripping Star Wars writing.

Rebel Dawn is also a wellspring of lore for the Hutts –their culture, politics, and traditions. There is plenty of drama and political maneuvering within the Hutt Council. Following up from all the details in The Hutt Gambit, Rebel Dawn portrays a tenuous situation emerging within the Hutt clans as Durga the Hutt of Besadii clan is seeking revenge on the killer of his father Aruk the Hutt. He makes a fateful bargain with Prince Xizor of the Black Sun criminal syndicate (the main villain in Shadows of the Empire) to secure the Besadii clan (Durga hires Black Sun to simply eliminate all of his rival claimants as leader) and then he further employs Prince Xizor to investigate if his father Aruk was murdered. Before long, Durga learns that his father was indeed slowly poisoned (using the rare X-1 poison which was expensively crafted by the Malkite Poisoners). The poison was administered via his snackquarium by none other than Teroenza, the t’landa Til high priest on Ylesia (the one who had previously enslaved Han and Bria on Ylesia in the first book The Paradise Snare) with the help of the Desilijic clan. Meanwhile on Ylesia, Teroenza continues to grow disillusioned with his Hutt overlords and violently assassinates Kibbick the Hutt (Durga’s cousin) by impaling the Hutt with his horn. At the same time, Jabba the Hutt and his relative Jiliac the Hutt (newly a mother) of Desilijic clan (or “kajidic” in the Hutt terminology) begin growing dissatisfied with Durga and his control of spice production on Ylesia, in particular his plan to build a new Ylesian colony. Jabba wants to strike against Durga (especially after meeting with the young rebel Bria who requests assistance from the Hutts in attacking Ylesia) but Jiliac urges caution. This greatly angers Jabba and privately turns him against his cousin, however, when Durga discovers Jiliac’s involvement in his father’s murder, he invokes the ancient custom (or “Old Law”) of combat between clan leaders. He brutally battles her in a violent scene, eventually pinning her with her own repulsorlift and bashing her face in repeatedly until she is nothing more than a huge bloody corpse. Then Jabba, focused on securing his role as unquestioned leader of Desilijic, decides to smother and kill Jiliac’s newborn Huttlet to prevent any future conflicts. Afterward, Jabba immediately makes a deal with Bria in an effort to destroy Ylesia.

In the end, all parties converge on Ylesia. A pack of bounty hunters hired by Jabba (assassins like Noy Waglla, Aiaks Fwa, Tuga SalPivo, and Sniquux) infiltrate Ylesia and assassinate all the high priests; then Han, Chewie, Jarik, Bria, and her Red Hand Squadron team of rebels land on Ylesia, destroying much of what is left. The slaves on Ylesia are all rescued (there are rumors of an antidote the Exultation). But when Han and crew enter the treasure room to confiscate all the spice, Teroenza (their former enslaver) suddenly appears out of the shadows with his gun drawn. He is irate with them both for the rebellion and escape plot they staged all those years ago in The Paradise Snare. Before he can fire at either of them, a hidden Boba Fett suddenly shoots Teroenza dead (Boba Fett was hired by Durga to kill Teroenza as vengeance for the poisoning plot against his father Aruk). Thus ends the reign of terror of Teroenza on Ylesia. Han now expects to collect his payment of the treasure, however he is tragically betrayed by Bria. She turns on him and claims all the spice for the rebellion, leaving a sorrowful Han to shred the love note she once wrote to him years ago when she first abandoned him (he has been carrying it around this whole time). Han promises never to fall for another woman again. He and Chewie are then abandoned inside Teroenza’s palace where they search for vials of leftover glitterstim and unwittingly find a pack of enslaved orphan children whom they quickly rescue aboard the Falcon before the whole place detonates in a massive explosion. At the end of the Battle of Ylesia, Durga arrives with a band of Black Sun mercenaries only to find that the whole operation on Ylesia has been decimated. In order to fulfill his pledge to Prince Xizor, he must now subordinate himself and become the one thing he never wanted –one of Xizor’s lieutenants (or “vigos”).

Sadly, during the battle young Jarik Solo dies along with several of Han’s smuggler friends. And the remaining smugglers and pirates (including Lando) who were all recruited by Han and Bria for the mission, all leave angry. They blame Han for seeming to claim the treasure for himself and not fulfill his payments to them (they are unaware that Han was, in fact, betrayed by Bria). Han is distraught after losing a great many friendships. We later find that Bria is continuing her work as a soldier for the rebellion. She and her Red Hand Squadron take on a top secret mission, seizing control of the Imperial Comm center on Toprawa and they hold it while communicate techs transmit stolen plans about an Imperial super-weapon, which are dispatched to a Corellian corvette Tantive IV (secretly a Rebel courier ship) which is “accidentally” passing through this highly restricted star system. But despite succeeding in transmitting the plans, the Comm center is surrounded by Imps, leaving Bria and her troops trapped with few choices. They all die fighting while the Imperials advance on their position.

In a brief coda to the story, one that feels somewhat wedged into the end of the novel, Han returns to smuggling work for Jabba. He is sent off to pick up a load of spice from Moruth Doole on Kessel (a nod to the Jedi Academy Trilogy) and transport it back to Jabba on Tatooine (the spice costs twelve thousand four hundred credits). However, after picking up the supply and narrowly avoiding the Maw, the Falcon is quickly picked up Imperials which forces him to dump the glitterstim load in a covert location. Throwing the Imps off the scent, Han and Chewie claim they are merely transporting all the orphan children to Corellia (amidst much celebration) but once they return to the spot where Han deposited the spice, famously making the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs, the spice has mysteriously vanished. In shock, Han contacts Jabba who is furious. Jabba warns Han that he will be given ten days to recoup the losses, but with all of his friends still angry at him over the Battle of Ylesia, Han has nowhere to turn for the credits. As the days slip by, Jabba stops responding to his communications and so Han travels to Tatooine in an effort to speak to Jabba in-person, docking the Falcon inside docking bay 94. Han learns that Jabba has sent the Rodian bounty hunter Greedo after him (merely as a warning) –Greedo has been hanging around bounty hunter Spurch “Warhog” Goa (a character from the comics and the Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina anthology). Anyway, Han heads into the Krayt Dragon Lounge in Mos Eisley and randomly bumps into his smuggling doppelgänger, Dash Rendar playing at the sabacc table (Dash Rendar is the flyboy pilot and Han Solo stand-in from Shadows of the Empire). Dash says he heard about the Ylesia raid from Zeen Afit (a smuggler who was first introduced in the novel The New Rebellion) and Katya M’Buele (a character who first appeared in the first Marvel Star Wars comic). Dash memorably says he doesn’t like to get mixed up with rebel groups (an ironic statement considering his activities in Shadows of the Empire). After this brief encounter, Han then runs into Boba Fett one last time, though Fett is not hunting him. Instead, he is merely trying to honor a promise he made to Bria earlier in the novel –to inform her father if she ever died. This is how Han learns of Bria’s death. Rather than mourning the woman who betrayed him, Han simply tells Boba Fett that he will inform Bria’s father, Renn Tharen. Boba Fett thanks Han and heads off (Boba Fett is portrayed as a duty-bound honorable figure in this novel). Han finds an open comm unit and sends a terse message to Renn Tharen about Bria’s death. Then Han strolls into Chalmun’s Cantina, nods to Wuher the bartender, and speaks with Chewie about transporting a few unusual people to Alderaan… thus Rebel Dawn ends with Han Solo right where we are first about to meet him in the film A New Hope!

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Rebel Dawn is another superb Star Wars novel from A.C. Crispin –the Han Solo Trilogy is a true delight for fans. There are so many allusions and connections to other works throughout the Expanded Universe in this novel it’s impossible to track them all, and the rich lore explored here is second to none, from the Hutts to the Wookiees and the smugglers to the bounty hunters. However, my one quibble with Rebel Dawn is the large middle section of the book wherein Han and his girlfriend Salla Zend nearly get married (imagine that!) after Han risks his life to rescue her after a friendly race goes awry. It’s all a bit ridiculous and boring, and unfortunately it leads to Han departing for the Corporate Sector after breaking up with Salla (she comes across as a deluded character who is desperate to marry Han, while he cares very little for her romantically). It is at this point that Bria becomes the sole protagonist for a stretch and, as mentioned previously, I struggled to believe Bria is a key rebel soldier, who builds the nascent Rebel Alliance and even helps transport the Death Star plans to Princess Leia… all of this is a bit too grandiose and convenient for a random character like Han’s ex-lover. Still, in spite of these complaints, Rebel Dawn is an exceptional Star Wars novel. It hits all the right notes and is sure to be a crowdpleaser.     

“It says we actually shortened the distance we traveled, not just the time. Less than twelve parsecs!” (370).

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Notes:

• Bespin was famous even before the resort was built. It has one sun (unlike Tatooine).
• Tibanna gas is mined on Bespin (as has been mentioned elsewhere in the Expanded Universe, notably in the Thrawn Trilogy). Tibanna gas is used to power starship engines and blasters. Before it was discovered in Bespin’s atmosphere, it was found in stellar chromospheres and nebular clusters which made harvesting it hazardous.
• There is a creature called a “Beldon” that flies around Bespin’s sky. A Beldon is a mammoth creature; it resembles some of the gelatinous ocean creatures as seen on other worlds. It has a huge dome-like top, and many small feeding tentacles hanging down beneath it.
• The Bespin sabacc tournament is held at the Yarith Bespin hotel.
• Vuffi Raa – Lando’s former droid which is actually a “baby starship,” which are gigantic droid ships that roam the stars. They are sentient but not biological life forms.
• At one point, Han says: “Lando , you been sniffing ryll?” Ryll is a highly addictive but weak form of spice.
• Rebel Dawn features an extensive and detailed explanation of the game of sabacc. Sabacc is an ancient game dating back to the early days of the Old Republic. It is the most unpredictable and thrilling game of chance. The game is played with a deck of 76 card chips, the value of any card chip can alter via electrical impulses through the “randomizer.” In less than a second, a winning hand can change to a “bomb out.” There are four suits in the deck: sabers, staves, flasks, and coins. It can be won with “pure sabacc” or an “idiot’s array.” In the center of the table is an “interference field.” Sabacc is not traditionally a spectator sport like mag-ball or null-gee polo. These and other complex details to the game of sabacc are explicated in Rebel Dawn.
• We are reminded of the Alderaanian tradition of discussing philosophy.
• Han describes some of the colorful cast of characters he meets in the Han Solo Adventures Trilogy while he is in the Corporate Sector and dealing with the Tion Hegemony. While there, Han met many “lovely ladies” like Jessa, Fiolla and Hasti; bad guys like Ploovo, Two-for-One, Hirken, Zlarb, Magg, Spray, and Gallandro; and many friends like Roa and Badure and droids like Bollux and Blue Max left in the care of Skynx.
• Nar Shadaa, or The Smuggler’s Moon, means “Glorious Jewel” in Huttese. The moon orbits the Hutt homeworld of Nal Hutta.
• Shug Ninx’s spacebarn makes an appearance in this novel and serves a role in the new life of the Millennium Falcon (Shug Ninx first appeared in the Dark Empire comics).
• The giant, sprawling trees on Kashyyyk are called Wroshyr trees.
• The capital city of Kashyyyk is Rwookrrorro.
• The Quillarat are native creatures on Kashyyyk with long needle-sharp quills. When Chewbacca proposes to Mallatobuck he gives her one he caught with his bare hands.
• Quulaar – Wookiee sacks on Kashyyyk used to carry humans up the trees; Wookiees use them as “baby sacks.”
• Salporin – Chewie’s best friend who was enslaved by the Empire
• There are seven levels of ecology on Kashyyyk, and most Wookiees have not ever visited the bottom level (it remains a mystery).
• Chewbacca explains there are different types of Wookiees and languages: Xaczik is the traditional indigenous language spoken by Wookiees native to the Wartaki Island, it is used as secret code to get around Imperials, and it is different from the language Shyriiwook.
• Potent Wookiee liquor is compared to accaragm, cortyg, garrmorl, grakkyn, and Thikkian brandy.
• Boba Fett reflects on his past identity “Journeyman Protector Jaster Mereel” an identity that was apparently stolen by his father Jango Fett.
• “Umjing Baab and his Swinging Trio” is the Rughja orchestra-band Bria plays with while undercover on Nar Shadaa.
• Ephant Mon is a Chevin male and associate of Jabba on Tatooine.
• Guri – Xizor’s human replica droid (as introduced in Shadows of the Empire).
• Lieutenants of Prince Xizor are called “Vigos.”
• The Blue Light – Han’s favorite tavern in the Corellian Section on Nar Shadaa.
• We are reminded that Han’s weapon of choice is the BlasTech DL-44.
• Mako Spince (a character from the Dark Empire comics) is described as being badly injured by pirates in this novel.
• ZZ-4Z, or “ZeeZee,” makes an appearance in this novel as Han’s household droid who cares for his apartment on Nar Shadaa while Han is away.
• Many other characters make a minor appearance in this novel like Tedris Bjalin (defected from the Imperial Navy to the Rebellion), Jalus Nebl (an old Sullustan friend of Han’s, a fellow smuggler for the Hutts, who becomes a rebel), and Muuurgh and Mrrov from Togoria (Mrrov is severely wounded at the Battle of Ylesia, he loses an eye and possibly a hand).
• Decicred piece – also called a dime, is one tenth of a Galactic Republic credit.
• Willum Kamaran, Nova Force Commandant, is the leader of Prince Xizor’s mercenary force on Ylesia.
• The Chadra-Fan is a sentient species of meter-tall, rodent-like humanoids from the Outer Rim world of Chad.
• The Trader’s Luck reappears again at the end of the novel. It is used to transport slaves on Ylesia and is housed on Togoria. The Trader’s Luck was Garris Shrike’s ship at the beginning of the Han Solo Trilogy.
• It is established that Jabba’s snackquarium is inherited from Jiliac (perhaps the same snackquarium featured in Return of the Jedi).

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Crispin, A.C. Rebel Dawn. Del Rey, New York, NY, 2015 (originally published in 1998). Rebel Dawn was dedicated to the memory of Brian Daley who died in 1996.