In the Fall of 1983, Del Rey published
the last of the Lando Calrissian Adventures, Lando Calrissian and
the Starcave of ThonBoka. Like
the rest of L. Neil Smith's trilogy, it mixes gambling, comedy, Lando
trying to find peaceful solutions to problems, Libertarian themes,
and a hefty dose of weirdness.
This
time, Lando and his astrogator/flight instructor Vuffi Raa meet and
befriend a giant space manta that can naturally fly through
hyperspace. His name is Lehesu and he's an Oswaft. Lehesu wanders
innocently through the Centrality sector, but in doing so he draws
the attention of the Centrality and Imperial Navies, who follow him
to his home nebula of ThonBoka (literally “Starcave” in their
language) and blockade it, slowly starving the Oswaft.
Deciding
to help them, Lando runs food through the blockade by conning and
gambling his way through the fleet, and plot threads draw to a
conclusion. The strange renegades with a grudge against Vuffi Raa are
fully explained, Rokur Gepta's origins and the fate of the Sorcerers
of Tund are revealed, and we finally get to meet Vuffi Raa's parents.
All this, and Lando teaches space mantas how to play Sabacc.
Its a
weird, wild ride that takes place almost exclusively in space.
There's a brief side trip to Tund, but that's a dead world thanks to
Rokur Gepta. Lando is either onboard spaceships or is floating around
in a space suit. The banter between Lando & Vuffi Raa remains a
huge part of the series' charm and even their goodbye is handled with
bittersweet wit.
Much
like Han Solo and the Lost Legacy,
there's a melancholy edge to this story. Lando's adventures in the
Centrality are coming to an end, and he's going to go off with enough
treasure to buy himself a city and an urge to settle down and become
a legitimate businessman. The party's over and Lando needs to return
to the Galaxy at large for the movies to take their course.
Its a
satisfying conclusion to a fun ride. Not quite as quick-paced as The Han Solo Adventures, but Lando's
a different kind of scoundrel. Han's general solution to problems is
to shoot his way out, and Lando only kills two people in this entire
trilogy. Instead, this trilogy hammers home the theme that Lando is a
weirdness magnet, which would carry through into later stories.
I
recommend it, but its not essential tier like Daley's Han Solo trilogy or Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. In the 90s this trilogy was also reprinted as an omnibus, which is a good way to get it.
2 comments:
Man, I'd still prefer a Lando movie (especially one with space manta rays) over the upcoming Solo movie.
And for like you pointed out: he's a charming fellow that talks his way out rather than shoots his way. It would feel rather refreshing since we haven't had that in a SW film yet.
Absolutely! Even in later stories/books, Lando goes for the "talk first" option that sets him apart from Han's "guns a'blazin'" It makes their stories work slightly differently.
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