The Legends of Han and Lando

[Whill]

The Han Solo Trilogy by A. C. Crispin
The Paradise Snare
The Hutt Gambit
Rebel Dawn

The Lando Calrissian Adventures by L. Neil Smith
Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu
Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon
Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka

The Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley
Han Solo at Star's End
Han Solo's Revenge
Han Solo and the Lost Legacy


Here is the chronological reading list (recommended as the best option)...

The Paradise Snare
The Hutt Gambit (Ch. 1-7)
Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu
The Hutt Gambit (Ch. 8-16)
Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon / Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka
The Hutt Gambit (Epilogue)
Rebel Dawn (Ch. 1-7)
Han Solo at Stars' End
Rebel Dawn (Interlude 1 - Ch. 8)
Han Solo's Revenge
Rebel Dawn (Interlude 2 - Ch. 9)
Han Solo and the Lost Legacy
Rebel Dawn (Interlude 3 - Epilogue)

The Han Solo Trilogy was written and published last. The Lando novels happen completely during The Hutt Gambit, and the Han Solo Adventures happen completely during Rebel Dawn. The above may look confusing, but this will actually make the most sense since the older two "adventures" series are completely accounted for within the larger narrative of the Han Solo Trilogy. By intentional design of the HS Trilogy author, the six older novels are intentionally not split up into parts - They take place in between two chapters or during a single chapter of THG or RD. For the RD chapters during the HSA books, the narrative focuses on what other characters in the novel are doing while Han and Chewie are off having the HSA adventure.


Suggested reading order without splitting any books up...

The Paradise Snare
The Lando Calrissian Adventures (all three)
The Hutt Gambit
The Han Solo Adventures (all three)
Rebel Dawn

This way, you will read the LC and HS Adventures before they take place, but when reading the HS Trilogy book after it will still show you were the "adventures" novels come in the larger narrative as you are reading the final two books of the HS Trilogy. This still simulates how they read when they were new (presuming you already read the older two series) but this way the older series will be fresher in your memory and the HS Trilogy narrative puts the older books into context of the "framing" story.
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[CRMcNeill]

Good to know. I'm pretty sure I've got copies of all those books in one form or another.
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[garhkal]

I've got the han trilogy, by crispin.. Loved the 2nd and 3rd..
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[Whill]

Little known story... I actually inspired the Han Solo Trilogy.

I read the HSA and LCA books a few years before the HST came out, and after I finished reading the HSA I wrote a letter to Bantam books suggesting a new trilogy of novels called "The Millennium Falcon Chronicles" that had a big overarching narrative that put the HS and LC adventures into a greater context and included the events like how Lando lost the Falcon to Han, and what Han had done that Lando might still be mad about in TESB. I included a very basic outline of the three books with some plot points for each.

I did include some ideas that weren't used in the HST, like how Nien Nunb was an old friend of Lando's and showing the Battle of Taanab that Lando had mentioned in RotJ. And the HST also glazed over established continuity of Han rescuing Chewie and being kicked out of the Imperial military (which I think shows that even Lucas forbade that being portrayed because he was considering there someday being a movie that would portray these events).

So what is the proof that the HST was inspired by my novel trilogy idea without acknowledgement or compensation? I don't have proof. But I do have some evidence. I do still have the letter Bantam sent me in reply to my proposal. The letter was from the office of the president of Bantam. 'Thank you for your interest but due to our license contract with Lucasfilm we cannot accept any unsolicited material.' It's a dated acknowledgement and proof that they did receive an unsolicited proposal from me. I think I may still have the old word processor file with my letter to them but that wouldn't serve as proof of when it was sent to them or explicitly connect it to their reply. I honestly didn't know how the business worked, and I wasn't offering to write the series or expecting any compensation - I just gave them ideas for three novels I'd like to read and hoped they would hire a professional author to write it. And I doubt the HST author or Lucasfilm even knew about my letter. Someone at Bantam probably took credit for my ideas and proposed to Lucasfilm a trilogy of books focused on Han, and Lucasfilm approved so Batman then solicited the author to write them.

I'm not disgruntled and I did enjoy the final product despite it not using all my ideas. I haven't bothered mentioning this a lot over the years because I figure most people wouldn't believe me and it doesn't really matter anyway. And I suppose it is possible that my letter was just trashed and everything that happened was mere coincidence. I have observed over the years other ideas I've had about some aspect of this franchise did end up later appearing in an official product, and some of those I never told anyone. I've felt that there is a collective superconsciousness that people can unknowingly tap into. But in this case, since I did write the letter, they replied they can't accept my ideas, and a few years later they used some of them. My intuition tells here me they got the idea for the trilogy from me.

So if you enjoyed the books, you're welcome.
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[Yora]

A lot of creative work is about discovering ways how you can draw lines to connect already existing dots. And in the end everyone is using a human brain to do it. Multiple people seeing similar things in the same ink blots is nothing unusual. And when different people think about how a story could logically continue, they are all drawing on the same storytelling traditions that determine what appears plausible or contrived. (Which is why originality is totally overrated.)
People coming up with the same ideas completely independently certainly is something that happens.

Yet on the other hand, how can you possibly hear about an idea and then decide to not let that idea influence your own creative process? Inception calls it the most resilient parasite. You can't remove it from your mind. Once you read a suggestion and think it's interesting and cool, and something that would be fun to try, it remains interesting and cool and fun to try. You could forget where you got the idea, but it remains in your head as a good idea.

And as I think Brandon Sanderson said a couple of times, ideas are cheap. Ideas are not really something that can be stolen. To become a good story requires to put a lot of work into it, and each writer's own approach will lead to hugely different results. I think it's silly both when people worry that their idea has been used somewhere else before, and when they worry that someone could steal their idea if they share it. Plagiarizing results certainly is a thing, stealing ideas is not.

I think sharing even unfinished ideas is a win for everyone. You're not losing anything if someone uses your ideas, because they will be making something very different with it than you would. And when the idea is great, it will give us all a great story, book, movie, or whatever.
This is even more obvious when talking about Star Wars. The whole first movie that started everything really was just a clean remake of a collage of other movies. (Star Wars minus Star Wars is an amazing video worth watching.) Sharing ideas is what it's all about.
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[Whill]

I made no accusations of theft. I only used the phrase, "without acknowledgement or compensation" in relation to my admission to not having proof. If I had gotten acknowledgement that the books were inspired by my suggestion, that would be proof I inspired the books. If I had gotten compensation, that would also serve as proof. I don't have those things, so I was admitting I have no proof. They couldn't give acknowledgement because if they did, that would show they had violated their contract with Lucasfilm for accepting unsolicited ideas. The acknowledgement they did send me is only proof that I sent them ideas, not what the ideas were. They wisely put no specific details about what I had submitted to them in the letter they sent to me.

I fully appreciate that the hard work is in the writing of the novel and the author did a great job. As "cheap" as they are, ideas are the beginning of any product. No ideas, no hard work and no final product. I was only accepting gratitude for the inspiration for the novels that the author, Bantam books, and Lucasfilm put the work into creating. I deserve nothing more. I do not feel I lost anything because I gained a Han Solo Trilogy of novels and I enjoyed the final product. A lot of other people enjoyed it too. I asked Bantam to make novels I would want to read, and that is exactly what happened. They secretly granted my wish.
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[TauntaunScout]

Yeah. Ideas ARE cheap. Nothing is scarier than when a job applicant or new hire tells me they have lots of great ideas for the organization. All I hear is "I want to leave a wake of unfinished projects which destroy systems that already work OK". Seeing inspiration in action really drives home the "99% perspiration" thing.

[Whill]

Yes, not all ideas are necessarily good ideas. That's why I said, "if you enjoyed the books..." I've heard a lot of people say they like these books.

I just looked on Amazon for a couple editions of the trilogy, and the only reviews I found with a less than 4-star rating were idiots that confuse feedback with review (they posted transaction feedback as a review).
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