Han Solo at Stars' End (Classic Star Wars) [Mass Market Paperback]

Brian Daley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 1980

Searching the galaxy for a rogue shipbuilder to repair the Millenium Falcon, Han Solo and Chewbacca battle fierce enemies and travel to the desolate asteroid known as Stars' End, a planetary prison. Reissue."

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 183 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (December 12, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345296648
• ISBN-13: 978-0345296641
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Inspiration is my specialty!", February 10, 2001

By 

Nathan (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Han Solo at Stars' End (Classic Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

Han Solo at Stars' End was the third Star Wars novel ever published, after the original film novelization and Alan Dean Foster's lively Splinter of the Mind's Eye, and yet it remains today, nearly a quarter of a century later, one of the best pieces of Star Wars literature ever published. This book is the first of a trilogy that has since come to be known as the Han Solo Adventures (not to be confused with A.C. Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy), which tell of some of Han Solo's greatest adventures in the years before A New Hope. In these books, Brian Daley has really captured the essence and character of Han, Chewie, and the Falcon as they were at the start of the first film.

The plot of this book is fairly simple and straightforward. After a run-in with the Corporate Sector Authority (basically the equivalent of the Empire in this sector of space), the Millennium Falcon needs some repairs, so Han heads to an "outlaw tech" base to get her fixed up. When he arrives, he finds out that Doc, the head of the techs, has gone missing, and that the price of the Falcon's repairs will be to find and rescue him. Along the way, Chewbacca too is captured, making the whole affair personal.

Brian Daley has really written an action-packed whopper of a Star Wars book here. There are no subplots to bog down the pace of the book, no Luke and Leia to follow around on their own quests. This is pure Han Solo adventure start to finish. There are original and inspired firefights, sometimes in zero-G, and we get to see why Han has his reputation as an excellent pilot and a quick-draw marksman to be feared. There's a dogfight in here that puts to shame most of what Mike Stackpole has written, some unprecedented maneuvers with the Falcon, buildings getting blown off the face of planets (literally!), and several very interesting characters are introduced, including a fellow named Rekkon who I'd like to see more of someday. Han and Chewie are always perfectly in character as well, and there is a droid duo introduced here that is even more unlikely, and - dare I say it? - at times even more amusing than Artoo and Threepio.

Brian Daley, in this and his other books has I believe done more for the Star Wars Universe than any other author since. In this volume he introduced the Z-95 Headhunter, dinkos, the Fondor shipyards, several of Han's future friends, enemies, and companions, the Corporate Sector, and many themes and sequences that future Star Wars authors will attempt to emulate with varying degrees of success.

In Han Solo at Stars' End, Brian Daley has created a masterpiece. Short but concise and relevant, this is one of the most fun, action-packed, and ultimately most satisfying Star Wars novels that I have read in a long time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Han Solo At Star's End is a Grand Adventure, March 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Han Solo at Stars' End (Classic Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

Han Solo at Star's End is a grand, rousing action adventure. I truly can say that it has influenced me greatly. The courageous Solo rescues his friend Chewbacca and the other prisoners of Star's End in one of the most exciting and enjoyable action sequences ever written. One of the best works of fiction I've ever read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing, February 3, 2010

By 

JMack (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Han Solo at Stars' End (Classic Star Wars) (Mass Market Paperback)

As noted, "Han Solo at Stars' End" was among the first Star Wars novels to be published. At its time, this was an exciting and unique landmark in Star Wars as the characters began developing outside the movies. Presently, the Star Wars Universe has expanded to a place where a location in book stores is devoted to this separate genre.

This novel may seem decidedly one sided because of the focus on one character. Chewbacca almost seems secondary at times in the plot. Though Han Solo is an interesting and complex character, the plot is somewhat thin with him as the total focus. This is not to suggest that the plot is bad. It just seemed as though the plot was not developed to its full potential. The subplots seems far less important to the point of being trivial until Chewbacca's problem. Little is even noted about the villian known as "the Authority".

Han Solo is a younger scoundrel in this book, but his smuggling operation needs assistance from the best illegal ship builder in the galaxy. Unfortunately, that ship building is imprisoned at the Authority prison known as Stars' End. A colorful list of characters accompany Han Solo on his mission, though details on their origins are somewhat vague.

The other books in this series may make this book seem better rounded in the end. Though I do intend to read the other books in the collection known as The Han Solo Adventure, I have lowered expectations. Still I expect that I will enjoy them to some degree.