Chat corner 42: Romance

[annathecrow]

Welcome to this week’s chat corner!

Optional prompt

Are you sick of Valentine’s Day marketing yet? This week’s topic is supposed to come from Legends, so lets talk about “Courtship of Princess Leia“, AKA one of the most memetically bad EU books ever.

I have no idea whether it’s actually bad or not. I’ve also read somewhere that for such a terrible book, it’s the source (or at least inspiration) of a huge amount of current background worldbuilding. (I know Dathomir was mentioned…) Anybody here who has read it and can report?

Comments

[annathecrow]

(The Dark Side post link, as usual, if you need to yell about something.)

[kittywhite]

I have read it but it was years ago so don’t remember all the fine details except Leia and Han both being rather out of character. There are some hilarious 1 star reviews out there if you want a rundown on it.

You are correct in that it’s the first time we learn about the Witches of Dathomir and the backstabbing matriarchal society of Hapes who will produce Tenel Ka, a future student of Luke’s who must balance being a Jedi and heir to a throne where everyone is trying to kill you.

[yourlibrarian]

Huh! I am just about to read about a visit to Dathomir in a fanfic and I wouldn't have guessed it came out of a tie-in novel. But then there seems to have been more canon content in SW auxiliary sources than is typical for most canons, right? I gather a lot of book and comic stuff ended up in one of the TV series.

Also, as a side note, soooo tired of Valentine's Day stuff. My partner and I years back decided to stop marking it at all because I figure we already have our anniversary for that, and it's just an opportunity for stuff to get jacked up in price.

[astromech1138]

Maybe I have awful taste but I don't think this is the worst of the EU books :P Sure, Han kidnaps Leia so she doesn't fall in love with SW Fabio, but there are witches riding Rancors! And Luke's out there doing....something. It was interesting to see Force users who weren't Jedi, and the book was fun enough I'd read it again (which I wouldn't say about all the EU books I've read), although yes, it is totally ridiculous and I'm glad I paid $1 for a used copy.

[kaasknot]

i first read it when i was a kid, so that probably skews my perception, but it was my favorite of all the EU books i'd read. dathomir is completely different in TCW, it's like GL took the concept of "witches of dathomir" and went completely in another direction with it. honestly, i prefer courtship's version. sure, the book's a little goofy, but i still love it. they had some interesting worldbuilding about the jedi, too.

[annathecrow]

If anybody wants to talk about the finale of The Book of Boba Fett, I made a post for that.

[astromech1138]

I'm slowly making my way through a list of "essential episodes" from TCW, and I just got to the ones where Ventress returns to her homeplanet -- of Dathomir! I think this is my first sighting of it outside of Legends books.

What a missed opportunity not to have the witches ride rancors. Why on earth did they cut that out?!