Star Wars: Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka (Book Review)
Welcome my next read of the Star Wars Expanded Universe/Legends:
Cover image by William Schmidt. Image courtesy of Goodreads
Here we are on the last of the pre-Thrawn trilogy era novels that kicked the Expanded Universe into high gear. As such, I’m going to do the next few reviews a little differently, but we’ll see that as we go along. The cover again shows an Empire Strikes Back/Return of the Jedi Lando Calrissian, but the coloring definitely speaks RotJ. I believe it hints at the StarCave, which is really a nebula bounded by a string of close stars, but Schmidt takes it far too literally. Rokur Gepta is here as well, though he looks more like Doctor Doom than a sorcerer of Tund. Still, it’s an evocative image, both distinct from the pair of novels that came before it and yet tonally familiar.
“What do they think this is, the Clone Wars?”
In this last installment of the Smith’s Lando Calrissian series, it’s a few months after the events of Flamewind. Lando encounters a massive manta-ray like creature who can intuitively hyperjump. We’re introduced to Lehesu, a young curious Oswaft, who is saved from starvation by Lando and his droid companion Vuffi Raa. Rokur Gepta, a growing background character in Mindharp and Flamewind, is now the main protagonist, with control of a fleet of ships harassing the Oswaft into the StarCave and destroying their source of interstellar food. It’s a unique story and pulls you along. Smith’s writing is confident and strident, though the overall story is not as interesting as his sophomoric effort Flamewind.
“A long time ago, a machine of my acquaintance pointed out that a person who believes that violence is the first or only alternative is morally bankrupt.”
Smith also ties up many loose threads with the last novel between both Gepta and Vuffi Raa. Vuffi Ray’s wrap-up feels sprinkled throughout, though that does not prevent the ending from having a deus ex machina feel to the ending. We’re fortunate that we don’t get a final scene where Lando meets Han and loses the Millennium Falcon (some lore is best left unwritten, though I’m sure it’s probably in a later EU novel), but Smith places Lando in a position where the reader can transition Lando into being the con artist administrator of the Cloud City of Bespin. There’s also a lot of new Star Wars lore sprinkled throughout. Gepta and the Sorcerers of Tund is one of the first non-Force magic-users in the Star Wars universe—before the Nightsisters of Dathomir even. The Oswaft are the first interstellar species we see in Star Wars outside of the Exogorth space slugs in ESB. They harken (to me) as ancestors to the hyperspace traveling Purrgil in Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka, though the Oswaft are more than sentient and communicative. To them, any sort of mechanical transmission is communication to them.
“Save your parlor tricks, old man! We stopped doing what we were told when your precious Navy destroyed anything we had to lose by disobeying.”
On display is Lando’s growing confidence in his piloting skills. He was quite inept in Mindharp, but now we see him confident and competent. The Millennium Falcon, more so than even in the Han Solo Adventures, is as much of a character here. She’s definitely portrayed well as a souped up and tricked out hotrod disguised as a freighter. Vuffi Raa also makes a fair amount of modifications to the ship, most having to do with her shielding and speed. Smith builds further with his Star Wars lore by adding small fighters tractor-beamed through hyperspace (this happened in Flamewind with a modified starship engine, now with a repurposed pinnace), showing both a cleverness in storytelling and building lore where not all one-manned fighters are interstellar capable (something we see much later with the prequel trilogy with the Jedi Starfighters that required a hyperspace ring).
“But some folks seemed to be missing from his life, missing from places they’d carved for themselves only recently.”
I enjoyed delving into the non-Jedi aspects of Lucas’ Star Wars universe. Daley’s work had a fast-paced pulp feel, whereas Smith injected Lando with more nuance, contemplation, and the cleverness of a Sabacc playing con artiste. It is a shame that either Smith’s work or the relationship between him and Lucasfilm did not hold up. Outside of the smaller dated issues—Lando referring to Vuffi Raa in every 20th century way (“Old Toaster!” “Old Telephone!”), Smith’s writing is better than Daley’s. Smith conveys character thought and emotion better than Daley. Unlike Daley, Smith didn’t give Lando a large character arc. He changes subtly from novel to novel, but like the archetypes, Calrissian’s cleverness, luck, and heart carry him through to ultimate victory. I would’ve enjoyed another Lando Calrissian tale, perhaps something post-RotJ where we see an older, wiser Lando surrounded by a growing network of friends. If I were to rank Smith’s work, I would say:
Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon
Lando Calrissian and the StarCave of ThonBoka
Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu
To rank the novels of the EU I’ve read so far, purely based on my enjoyment and the author’s skill in telling a gripping yarn, here’s where I sit:
Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon
Lando Calrissian and the StarCave of ThonBoka
Han Solo’s Revenge
Han Solo and the Lost Legacy
Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu
Han Solo at Star’s End
I’m certain this will be upended once we enter into the Thrawn trilogy and the dozens of novels that expand both the universe and the lore of Star Wars. Next up, a revisit to a series that I read many years ago…
May the Force be with you.