Whether or not you liked Solo: A Star Wars Story, Rae Carson’s Most Wanted is an excellent young Han adventure, featuring Qi’ra as well.
Warning: There will be some discussion of Solo: A Star Wars Story here, since Most Wanted is a prequel novel.
It’s already pretty clear that Solo: A Star Wars Story is going to be a bit polarizing. Even yours truly hasn’t always been the most optimistic about anything regarding the film — with the notable exclusion of Lando Calrissian. However, even without Lando, Rae Carson’s Most Wanted, sent my way by Lucasfilm Press, is actually a pretty decent read — even if you didn’t like the movie it’s meant to lead into.
It’s fast-paced, full of fun, and actually contextualizes Han’s youth on Corellia more than the opening paragraphs Solo uses. While it may not always have the loveliest or most groundbreaking writing, Carson has a solid adventure on her hands.
If you’re still not convinced, though, here are three reasons to give this YA novel a try.
Qi’ra
Qi’ra may be the most interesting character introduced in Solo, and I say that as someone who not only pretty much called her final plot point but worried about her ability to stand out. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s one of the few newbies still alive by the end of the film. Carson actually writes a portion of the novel from her perspective, ably capturing her voice and different demeanor.
Most Wanted takes place before Han and Qi’ra kick off their romance; they don’t even like each other very much at the start of the book. But with that changing attitude comes plenty of room for development.
While we still don’t know how she ended up working with Dryden Vos, this novel does a lot to further expand on the person we met on the film.
Han
To be fair, I still pictured a young Harrison Ford throughout this novel, not Alden Ehrenreich. Some things just won’t change overnight. Carson’s a little weaker with Han’s voice compared to Qi’ra’s, as she gives him this motto: “When in doubt, brazen it out.” It’s not that that doesn’t accurately summarize Han; it’s that Han would probably laugh at that motto. Carson also plays a little too much with the idea of the odds.
While it’s an iconic line for a reason, one reference would have sufficed, not the multiples we see. However, Carson’s Han seems to lead pretty well to the Han we meet in the original trilogy, perhaps better than the Han of Solo. Most Wanted certainly explains a bit about how Han speaks Shyriiwook (and Huttese) without putting a big flashing light there to mark it.
Corellia
The scenes on Corellia feel like they fly by, and while they have an excellent chase scene, ultimately feel a bit unnecessary to the plot (mostly because they don’t take up much time, noted in our review of the film as well). But Carson keeps the action pretty much set on the planet, adding in more chases and more color, able to sharply contrast all of the different locales, from the sewers to the wealthy sections of the planet that get visited. No, we won’t spoil how or why. But her Corellia feels worthy of this story — and more stories, too. (Seriously, Lucasfilm: Qi’ra stories, please.)
Next: A look inside the Solo Smuggler's Bounty box
Giving Most Wanted a shot might seem like a big ask if you didn’t enjoy Solo, but it feels like it pulls off the criminal story better than the film, and hey, if you did like Solo, you’ll find more of Han here.