Review: Star Wars: The Crystal Star (1994)

★★½

I've been collecting and reading a lot of the books in the Expanded Universe. I praised and criticized each novel I read, but even with the few stinkers I've read, it didn't stop me from continuing my journey of reading Expanded Universe novels. Vonda N. McIntyre's "The Crystal Star" is a novel which I've heard many terrible things about, so I put this off for a while, not even purchasing a copy until earlier this year. However, I decided, what the hell, and give it shot. I was surprised that I was able to finish it in one day.

As the opening chapters divulge, the Solo children have been kidnapped, and Leia is worried sick about them, so she spends the majority of the novel searching for them. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker go to Crseih Station and learn of a secret cult (formed around Waru, a being from another dimension) that influences the crystal star.

And that's where the main criticism comes in. This novel is called "The Crystal Star," but it doesn't focus much on that plot point. It instead focuses on the Solo twins and how they were kidnapped. The name "The Crystal Star" is mentioned only 18 times, and most of it was from the later chapters. This is what I didn't understand. That subplot felt like filler — a shallow B-story that didn’t match the title’s promise.

Another criticism I have is how each character is handled and written. None of our favorite characters from the films act like they normally do; none of them seem to care about what's actually happening. Apparently, Leia thinks traveling around different worlds is more important than finding her children. Han and Luke don't seem to take their mission seriously and hardly seem concerned about Threepio's disappearance. I understand he was bullied a lot in the films, but not to the point where they would just forget about him. Luke also tends to lose his connection to force randomly, with no clear explanation as to why that even occurs. Han is said to have a beard, but on the cover, he's clean-shaven. Did he shave his beard before the photo was taken?

Despite some criticisms, there were several aspects of the book that I enjoyed. I enjoyed the interactions among the Solo children and the time they spent together. Their kidnapping by Hethrir created a genuinely frightening situation, especially since they weren't the only kids held captive in that prison. Another character I liked was Lusa; she befriends Jaina, and the two develop a strong friendship.

I think the main issue with this book was the writing style and approach. The author, Vonda N. McIntyre, is known for writing different kinds of science fiction novels, like Star Trek. I think she confused the two universes because most of these elements feel like a Star Trek novel rather than a Star Wars novel. But that's just my speculation.

Overall, "The Crystal Star" is not a terrible book, but it falls short when compared to the other novels that followed it. The story could have been improved if Vonda N. McIntyre had portrayed the characters more like they were in the films, made some changes to the plot, and focused more on the actual "Crystal Star" plot point.