The Princess and the Scoundrel releases on August 16, giving Star Wars fans a look at the iconic heroes in the immediate aftermath of Return of the Jedi – and a love story of Leia Organa and Han Solo.
The book, written by Beth Revis, is about Han and Leia’s wedding and honeymoon, as they get married right after the Battle of Endor and wind up going on their honeymoon aboard the Halcyon Starcruiser (the site of Disney’s Star Wars hotel, because, well, lol). And as should be expected, things don’t go according to plan.
The first excerpt from the book told of Luke Skywalker talking to Leia about Vader – Anakin – and what Leia’s initial reaction to it was. A second excerpt was recently released by Inverse, and it tells another key moment in the immediate moments after Endor: Han’s proposal to Leia.
It happens the day after the celebration on Endor seen at the end of Return of the Jedi, with the Rebellion getting back to business. Han is busy in his role as a general, and he continues to promise to Chewbacca that they’ll liberate Kashyyyk too. But more than anything, Han’s thoughts drift to Leia. And he realizes that he can’t let her go. As the excerpt says,
Han had meant it when he’d told Leia he’d exit her life if she wanted. Of course, that was before he knew Luke and Leia were siblings, before he knew a lot of things. But he’d meant his words. He would have left, not for his own benefit, but for hers. Every other time in Han’s life, when he walked away, he did it for himself. But not that time.
Instead of letting him leave, though, she’d come to him.
And Han didn’t know if he could let her go again.
Especially not after how much time he’d already lost. He’d been frozen on Bespin and by the time he’d woken up again — blind and disoriented with hibernation sickness—so much time had passed. Leia had loved him for nearly a whole year, and Vader had stolen that year from him. Han wasn’t going to let more time slip through his fingers.
And so, when talking with Leia, he asks her to marry him – and she, at a loss for words, manages to say yes.
This is the latest example of Star Wars telling stories about our original heroes in the time following Return of the Jedi, and I’m really happy about it. I can’t wait for this book, and so far the two excerpts that have been released have both been about some pretty pivotal moments that happen in this time period. We’ve read about Luke and Leia’s conversation after Anakin’s redemption, and we’ve read about Han’s proposal to Leia. It’s interesting that both of these moments have been released via excerpts instead of being saved for the book, but I suppose they take place near the beginning and therefore it makes sense. But it also might be a good sign that the rest of the book is strong enough to still carry things even with some of the suspense over these important moments already revealed.
Star Wars Thoughts 