- Smith, L. Neil.
The Lando Calrissian Adventures.
New York: Del Rey, [1983] 1994.
ISBN 0-345-39110-1.
-
This volume collects together the three
Lando Calrissian
short novels:
Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu,
Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon, and
Lando Calrissian and the StarCave of ThonBoka,
originally published separately in 1983 and now out of print (but readily
available second-hand). All three novels together are just
409 mass market paperback pages.
I wouldn't usually bother with an item of Star Wars
merchandising,
but as these yarns were written by one of my favourite science fiction
authors, exalted cosmic libertarian L. Neil Smith,
I was curious to see what he'd make of a character created by the Lucas organisation.
It's pretty good, especially as a gentle introduction for younger readers
who might be more inclined to read a story with a Star Wars hook
than the more purely libertarian (although no more difficult to read)
The Probability Broach
(now available in a comic book edition!)
or Pallas.
The three novels, which form a continuous story arc and are best
read in order, are set in the period after Lando has won the
Millennium Falcon in a card game but before he
encounters Han Solo and loses the ship to him the same way. Lando
is the only character in the Star Wars canon who
appears here; if the name of the protagonist and ship were changed,
one would scarcely guess the setting was the Star Wars
universe, although parts of the “back-story” are filled in here
and there, such as how a self-described interstellar gambler and con
artiste came to be an expert starship pilot,
why the steerable quad-guns on the Falcon “recoil” when they fire like
World War II ack-ack guns, and how Lando laid his hands
on enough money to “buy an entire city” (p. 408).
Lando's companion in all the adventures is the droid Vuffi Raa, also
won in a card game, who is a full-fledged character and far more
intriguing than any of the droids in the Star Wars
movies. Unlike the stilted and mechanical robots of the films, Vuffi
Raa is a highly dextrous starfish-like creature, whose five
fractal-branching tentacles can detach and work independently, and who
has human-level intelligence, a mysterious past (uncovered
as the story progresses), and ethical conflicts between his built-in pacifism
and moral obligation to his friends when they are threatened. (The
cover art is hideous; Vuffi Raa, an elegant and lithe
creature in the story, is shown as something like a squared-off R2-D2
with steel dreadlocks.) Now that computer graphics permits bringing
to film any character the mind can imagine, Vuffi Raa would make a
marvelous addition to a movie: for once, a robot fully as capable as
a human without being even remotely humanoid.
The first novel is more or less straightforward storytelling, while
the second and third put somewhat more of a libertarian edge on
things. StarCave of ThonBoka does an excellent job
of demonstrating how a large organisation built on fear and coercion,
regardless how formidably armed, is vulnerable to those who think
and act for themselves. This is a theme which fits perfectly with
the Star Wars movies which occur in this era,
but cannot be more than hinted at within the constraints of a
screenplay.
August 2005 