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A review by kanissa
The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton
2.0
TLDR: I'd definitely say anyone who is not a total nerdy Star Wars completionist can easily skip this novel. Save yourself the brain cells.
I first read this book a few years after it was released, when I was about 12 and spent my free time daydreaming that I was a young Princess Leia sent to boarding school. (Yeah, I've always been a nerd.) So this seemed perfect - a novel centered on Leia, AND with romance! I don't really remember any specific thoughts I had about the novel at the time, but it's safe to say I loved it just because it existed. (Compare: at the same age, my undying love for [b:Black Trillium|616475|Black Trillium (The Saga of the Trillium, #1)|Marion Zimmer Bradley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1297920644l/616475._SY75_.jpg|900424] and its sequels, which upon rereading are also not great. In other words, don't trust a 12 year old.)
But now that I've reread it.... hooo boy. Well, let's start by saying it's not particularly good. The characters are all pretty flat and unlikable. Any of the scenes involving "romance" are painful. Leia is suddenly madly in love with Isolder, but we're never told why, aside from the fact that he's incredibly beautiful. To me, it seems very uncharacteristic of Leia to fall head over heels for no reason, and then also to turn into a total shrew around Han! In turn, Han loses all of his roguish charm and turns into a sniping bully. Why? Because the plot requires it! It's almost enough to make one give up on the story. Then throw in the witches on Dathomir and you have a love..... pentagon? No part of which makes any sense.
If you totally ignore the 50% of the story that is "romance" and focus instead on the action, the writing warms up to "tolerable". The escapade of breaking into the jail, the starfights, these are not half bad. (Not great, mind you, but they saved the book from a one star rating.) Of course there has to be a quibble here, too, and that is Luke. He thinks repeatedly about how he is not yet a Jedi Master, but he uses an astounding amount of Force powers all in one go without seemingly any effect on his body. He performs feats that are way past anything he'd done up until this point, and no one found it strange. I found myself willing to write this off with a shrug, though, just because it wasn't as badly written.
I first read this book a few years after it was released, when I was about 12 and spent my free time daydreaming that I was a young Princess Leia sent to boarding school. (Yeah, I've always been a nerd.) So this seemed perfect - a novel centered on Leia, AND with romance! I don't really remember any specific thoughts I had about the novel at the time, but it's safe to say I loved it just because it existed. (Compare: at the same age, my undying love for [b:Black Trillium|616475|Black Trillium (The Saga of the Trillium, #1)|Marion Zimmer Bradley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1297920644l/616475._SY75_.jpg|900424] and its sequels, which upon rereading are also not great. In other words, don't trust a 12 year old.)
But now that I've reread it.... hooo boy. Well, let's start by saying it's not particularly good. The characters are all pretty flat and unlikable. Any of the scenes involving "romance" are painful. Leia is suddenly madly in love with Isolder, but we're never told why, aside from the fact that he's incredibly beautiful. To me, it seems very uncharacteristic of Leia to fall head over heels for no reason, and then also to turn into a total shrew around Han! In turn, Han loses all of his roguish charm and turns into a sniping bully. Why? Because the plot requires it! It's almost enough to make one give up on the story. Then throw in the witches on Dathomir and you have a love..... pentagon? No part of which makes any sense.
If you totally ignore the 50% of the story that is "romance" and focus instead on the action, the writing warms up to "tolerable". The escapade of breaking into the jail, the starfights, these are not half bad. (Not great, mind you, but they saved the book from a one star rating.) Of course there has to be a quibble here, too, and that is Luke. He thinks repeatedly about how he is not yet a Jedi Master, but he uses an astounding amount of Force powers all in one go without seemingly any effect on his body. He performs feats that are way past anything he'd done up until this point, and no one found it strange. I found myself willing to write this off with a shrug, though, just because it wasn't as badly written.