Ambush at Corellia

Star Wars: The Corellian Trilogy #1

by Roger MacBride Allen, Anthony Heald (Narrator)

This first episode of an exciting new trilogy continues the Star Wars adventure. A trade summit on Corellia, Han Solos home planet, reveals a sector on the brink of civil war, and the peaceful co-existence of three species threatened. Han and Leia find themselves trapped on a world about to explode in violence

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera, Adventure

Audio Cassette

First published February 1, 1995

About the author

Roger MacBride Allen is a US science fiction author of the Corellian Trilogy, consisting of Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. He was born on September 26, 1957 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He grew up in Washington D.C. and graduated from Boston University in 1979. The author of a dozen science-fiction novels, he lived in Washington D.C., for many years. In July 1994, he married Eleanre Fox, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service. Her current assignment takes them to Brasilia, Brazil, where they lived from 2007 to 2009.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first volume is an exciting start to the trilogy. Lando has one mishap after another while searching for a wealthy mate, while Han and Leia get into a serious pickle thanks to Han's cousin, Thrackan Sal-Solo. Amusing at times, thrilling at others, this is what I've come to expect from Star Wars. If only Disney had chosen to make stories like this into films instead of relegating these books to "Legends" status...

[Scott Rhee · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, of the Star Wars Expanded Universe post-Episode VI books that I have read since Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn" trilogy, Roger MacBride Allen's "Corellian Trilogy" comes closest to the fun and excitement of the original trilogy. Of course, I have only just read the first in the series, "Ambush at Corellia", but if it can maintain the momentum in the next two books that makes this first book so riveting, then Allen has a winner.

The story centers around Han Solo in this one, as he prepares for a family trip to his home planet of Corellia for a trade summit. Prior to leaving, Han is approached by a New Republic Intelligence officer with a warning. The NRI has apparently been watching Corellia for some time now. There has been chatter among members of the Human League (imagine the Klu Klux Klan crossed with the Taliban, on a galactic scale), which may be planning something for the trade summit. The what and the when is unclear, so Han is asked to keep his eyes and ears open and report anything to the NRI.

Han, weary and nervous for the safety of his wife, Leia, and their three kids, ultimately decides to go on the trip. Besides, he has Chewbacca at his side, and he's always been good at looking over his shoulder for trouble makers.

Meanwhile, Luke decides to tag along as Lando's "chaperone" for Lando's latest and craziest get-rich-quick schemes: he's made a list of the galaxy's most eligible (rich) bachelorettes, and he plans to find the perfect one to marry him, so that he can mooch off them for the rest of his life.

After arriving on Corellia after a few weird mishaps (the Millennium Falcon is caught in a "staged" space battle between Corellian warships and space pirates, and, later, Han is caught by a group of rioting Human Leaguers), Han, Leia, and the kids begin to discover that things are coming to a head on Corellia. Before they know it, they are caught up in planet-wide riots and inter-species violence.

Luke and Lando discover an interdiction field surrounding the entire Corellian Sector, a virtual scientific impossibility. This anomaly makes any ship incapable of using hyper drive within its borders, essentially leaving the sector cut off from any off-worlders trying to get in. It also, however, makes it impossible to leave the sector.

"Ambush at Corellia" sheds some interesting new light on Han's past and enlightens SWEU readers about the fascinating history of the Corellian Sector. It also provides Allen with some interesting social commentary, relating the events on Corellia with the socio-political unrest and racial tensions of war-torn areas in recent history. Allen's description of the interplanetary unrest between humans and the other interplanetary species on Corellia and the other planets in the Corellian Sector are meant to bring to mind the imagery of places like Bosnia, Chechnya, Somalia, the Middle East.

Irrational hatred of Otherness is, sadly, universal, and it may be somewhat disturbing to see it played out in the Star Wars universe, but Allen manages to balance the entertainment with the social commentary quite well.

[CB Stormblessed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 21 in my EU read through!

I really enjoyed this one despite the lower rating. I think, like a lot of book 1's in series and trilogies, the plot just really gets going at the end of the book. I did enjoy pretty much everything about the book, I just needed more (so I'm going right into book 2 today). The characterization was really on point in this. I will say the sort of meandering plot did provide some much needed slice of life sections that let us just sit with the characters for a while. Lando's plot may have leaned a little to far into being goofy but at the end of the day it was fun for what it was. It sort of felt like some of the more bizarre and fun clone wars or rebels "side quest" episodes. There's really only one brief action sequnence but it was really good and so I think the next two books have really big potential. The Organa-Solo kids continue to elevate the EU.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own this book.

This book takes place 18 years after A New Hope and when it opens, we find Han and Chewie doing what they do best...Making sure the Millennium Falcon will live to see another day. They are planning a trip to Han's homeworld of Corellia, bringing Leia, Han, their three children and Chewie too. As if going home isn't daunting enough, Han is approached by a New Republic agent who asks him to draw attention in Corellia in an effort to highlight whatever secrets the government of Corellia is hiding. This worries Han as a father, what about his kids? Speaking of his kids, they're a great asset to this book, Jacen, Jaina and little Anakin, all strong in the force in different ways but continuously proving that the force can sometimes get you in more trouble than it's worth. I'm going to distract from the plot summary a little here because when I say Anakin Solo is my new favourite non-canon character, I wouldn't be lying. He is so like his namesake, even as a young child.

"Anakin marched to the beat of a drum that no one at all was playing."

I know some of what his future holds in the later installments of the Star Wars Legends books but for now, he's my favorite Solo kid. Their strength in the force worries Leia for one who can see every bad day, every tantrum, every fleeting mood as a pathway to the dark side, and considering who her father was, it is a worry anyone would have in her position. This book really tugged on my Leia-loving heartstrings a lot, particularly when Luke and Mon Mothma were discussing everything his sister has done and everything she may never do. Leia never got to be a jedi like her brother, but her brother never got to be the leader his sister was. Leia's journey in the force was different than Luke's but it made it no less valid. This leads to Luke giving her a new lightsaber, despite her already owning one, though spoiler alert, it's red. Which uh, I can't say didn't shock me a lot. I think it's probably just to do with the kyber or something but it was just a very strange moment in the book and I hope we go back to it as this trilogy continues. Overall, I adored this entrance to this trilogy in the Star Wars universe and I cannot wait to finish it.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than average SW novel, but with a hokey set up: no government would let it's Head of State "vacation" in a remote, recluse system where all recent agents of that government have disappeared. Okay, it's Star Wars. Our heroes try to do stupid stuff all the time, but the set up is as unreal as the star-destroying gravity wave projectors. (Shouldn't have mentioned that.)

Too many typographical errors. Someone didn't read the proofs.

[Bryan Hugen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly entertaining and everything landed for me.

The politics surrounding the dilemma on Corellia was both intriguing and introduced some back story to the planet.

Lando and Luke share an arc which I didn't think they would meld together, but it did work out and I enjoyed their development and found their situations comedic.

The book ends with a cliffhanger that makes me want to dive into the second book right away.

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Meggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.

This week’s focus: Ambush at Corellia by Roger MacBride Allen.

SOME HISTORY:

Despite my personal opinion of the Jedi Academy trilogy, it was clearly a success, and Bantam had stumbled on a winning formula. 1995 saw the release of two hardcover novels--one in the spring and one in the fall--the first of the “tales” collections of short stories, and the Corellian books, another paperback trilogy. Roger MacBride Allen had published a number of sci-fi novels in the 1980s and 1990s, but this marked his entry into the Star Wars universe. Ambush at Corellia made it to number seven on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of February 26, 1995, and was on the NYT list for five weeks total.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

Not to sound like a broken record, but I only remembered the major plot points. Han and co. go to Corellia, yes, very familiar. But Lando’s wife search? I always say that Lando is my favorite character, and yet I have remembered very little of his plotlines in these books. Can I still call him my favorite if I have this pervasive amnesia about his adventures?

PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:

Really only one outstanding example: during the welcome reception for the trade summit on Corellia, Leia wears a royal blue, off-the-shoulder gown. Han thinks she looks very nice.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the Solo children head to Corellia both for a trade summit and to tour Han’s homeworld. But they quickly realize that they’re smack-dab in the middle of a bad situation, and things only get worse. Meanwhile, Lando is looking for a wealthy wife, and Luke Skywalker and the droids accompany him on this quest.

THE CHARACTERS:

I really liked Leia in this book! Past installments have struggled with how to use Leia, and how to integrate her political role with her family life. Jedi Search in particular focused excessively on Leia’s frustrations with her career, and very little on the actual logistics of her job. So I thought Allen did a good job here; Leia is the Chief of State, with all its attendant responsibilities, but she’s still an active parent. I also felt like her relationship with Han was both realistic and healthy. Han’s keeping secrets from her, but she trusts him and knows that he’ll fill her in when she needs to know. And he does! This is the most functional depiction of their relationship since the Thrawn trilogy.

Han’s more of a mystery. He sounds like Han, he thinks like Han, he acts like Han, but I expected a lot more insight into his upbringing and family than we received. This will probably come out more in the other two books, but the only revelation we received was at the very end, when we discovered that the Hidden Leader of the Human League is Thracken Sal-Solo, Han’s cousin. For a book focusing on his homeworld, Corellia, I wanted a little more emphasis on Han.

Chewie is good. I just wish that he wasn’t so obviously set up as the Solo kids’ chaperone for books 2 and 3--at one point, Han has a talk with Chewie and tells him that if things go to hell in a handbasket, he needs to take care of the kids and not worry about Han and Leia. So it’s not a surprise that Chewie escapes in the Falcon with the kids, because that ending was telegraphed early on.

Poor Lando is apparently a gold digger now, and wants a rich wife. He keeps losing money and making money and losing money, so he thinks the best way to prolong that cycle is to find something to bankroll him. OK?? I’m not diametrically opposed to Lando’s wife search, but the way it unfolds felt completely superfluous to the overall plot. Tendra Risant seems like a smart, kind lady who’s interested in Lando--but we barely meet her, and before we get to her, Lando visits two other possible brides. The first is a LIFE WITCH. The second is already married. I don’t know, the long stretch before we even get to Tendra makes this storyline feel like unnecessary padding.

Luke is at a crossroads in his life: he’s not needed 24/7 at the Jedi Academy, Mon Mothma wants him to step up and be a leader, so he runs off with Lando on his wife search. Hopefully we’ll find him taking on a more prominent role in the next two books, because right now he’s Lando’s sidekick.

The Solo kids are fine, although their personalities don’t seem as clearly delineated as in The Crystal Star. There, Jacen was the animal lover while Jaina was the techy, handy one. Now, it almost feels as though Anakin has usurped her role, because he clearly has some sort of Force talent for technology. And on a weird note, Anakin felt far, far younger than his stated age of 7.5 years. The twins are nine years old, and act like it; Anakin acts like a toddler, and his vocabulary seems surprisingly limited for someone old enough for elementary school.

Mara Jade reappears! She seems more like Zahn’s depiction of her than the Mara we met in Dark Apprentice, even if her physical description felt a little jarring to me. She’s described as tall and slender and beautiful, and one of the Solo children calls her a “pretty lady.” After Anderson described her hair as reddish-brown or auburn, I’m glad to see that Allen used the proper color of “red-gold.” I never got the sense from the Thrawn trilogy that Mara was conventionally attractive, so my mental image of her did not quite mesh with her appearance in this book. (At least now I can trace where “pretty Mara” originated from!)

Of the new characters introduced, I liked the little we saw of Tendra. Belindi Kalenda, NRI agent, was a neat addition, and I was really rooting for her to make it. Ebrihim the Drall has an interesting perspective on things, and his droid Q9-X2 is like R2 on steroids. I am a little fuzzy on what the native Corellian races look like, though: I picture the Selonians as being giant otters, and the Drall as being like Ewoks but more intelligent-looking, but I have no idea if that’s correct.

We don’t know much about the baddies at this point, other than the Human League hates aliens and wants to kick them all off Corellia. Their leader is Han’s cousin, who was presumed dead and worked for the Empire (I guess). I am likewise a little fuzzy about the state of Corellia’s economy; they were hugely influential in trade, but the Empire (?) shut that down (?) and now they’re stuck in a Great Depression. I don’t need a treatise on the Corellian economy, but I’m not clear on how they got to this point.

ISSUES:

My main issue with Ambush at Corellia is that it feels unnecessary. I’ve complained before about second books that are basically filler for the final book in the trilogy, but it’s strange to encounter a first book full of filler. We know that things are bad on Corellia, but it’s not until the closing riot that things explode. Perhaps if the sense of unease and unrest were emphasized more, but as it stands Han stumbles into one mob and the Solos do touristy things for most of the book. The end is exciting--a star in an uninhabited system explodes, the Human League secedes from the New Republic and demands the removal of all non-humans from the planet, and a massive interdiction field surrounds the Corellian system and prevents hyperspace travel both in and out-system--but you have to wade through an awful lot of nothing to get there.

It wasn’t as much of a slog as I found Jedi Search to be, but it wasn’t fast-paced. Would the Corellian trilogy have worked better as a duology? I think Allen could have condensed a lot of the events of book 1, and ended up with a tighter plotted, faster flowing story. And maybe if Lando had met Tendra from the beginning, instead of wandering around trying other options first?

IN CONCLUSION:

Ambush at Corellia is a perfectly serviceable Star Wars story. The trio aren’t wildly out of character, it’s not incredibly bizarre, and it seems to be building towards some interesting developments. Not a lot happens, though, so that it reminds me a little of padding your essay to reach the required word count.

Next up: the first book in the informal “Callista trilogy,” Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/ID7YKzv5BNo

[Raoul · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ambush at Corellia is an exciting entry in the Star Wars Expanded Universe and a strong start to the Corellian Trilogy. Han Solo returns to his home planet with Leia and their children, expecting a routine diplomatic mission, but instead finds rising tensions and the threat of rebellion across the Corellian system’s five worlds. The pacing is solid, though the story leans heavily on setup for the books to come, which slightly slows the momentum. One of the highlights for me was seeing Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin begin to show their personalities. This was the first EU book I’ve read where they truly felt like developing characters.

8 out of 10

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fun with good characterization but occasionally boring and confusing

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even if the small text on the cover didn't tell you this book is the first in a trilogy, you'd know by reading the book. It takes a long time to get to the plot, it's chock full of subplots that have nothing to do with the central story, and it ends so suddenly that you can't help but feel like this entire book is nothing but exposition. It's not a bad plot, but it always bugs me when the first book in a series isn't also a self-contained story. I'm not sure why that is.

Allen is a decent writer, and he seems to know his science enough to make this book actually feel like science fiction. He doesn't just come up with some new-fangled tech and just have it work; he looks at the possible limitations and explains why it works and when it doesn't. Considering that I've only ever considered the Star Wars universe to be science fiction in the most limited terms, that's pretty impressive.

The book gets a knock for having a ridiculous amount of typographical errors, though. It's not just the occasional typo, either; you can see turns of phrase that change in the middle of the thought, or clear misused grammar, and as you near the end of the book, they become more frequent. Whoever copy-edited this book failed in a big way.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get through it...and believe me, I tried. I found the writing style dull, and the story completely unengaging. The main characters were bland wallpaper, compared to their depiction in other novels in the series. A great pity, as I would have enjoyed a more thorough exploration of Han Solo's home planet.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging start to the trilogy, with a surprising ending.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very little plot to speak of. Mishandling of legacy characters. Not a good book. Hope the rest of the trilogy is better.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stars: 4
Re-read? Yes
Recommend to: So far it seems like it would appeal to a wide variety of fans.

My opinion of this book will be heavily dependent on how the rest of the trilogy plays out. It functions well as an introductory book to the plot, but there were some problems with unnecessary fluff. Certain aspects of the plot were pretty forced for reasons I presume we will discover in the next book. The Luke/Lando portion of the plot is very weak. For some unknown reason, Mon Mothma thinks it is important for Luke to accompany Lando as a chaperone while he searches for a sugar momma to marry. Why would she even know about this? And why would she think this is important for Luke to do? She never gives a relevant explanation. This portion of the plot is by far the most drawn out and pointless. The first woman they approach is, unknown to them, a life-witch who is going to suck the life out of Lando. Way too long is spent on the droids being locked up and having to take a cab ride to the mansion because they don't have comlinks so C3PO can save Lando at the last minute. They show up at the next one and the woman had just gotten married, so they leave. It would've been far better if Allen had just written a paragraph that the first two were failures and gotten on to Tendra. The entire thing seems like a weak excuse to get Lando/Luke into the Corellian system.

A big portion of the book is focused on the Solo children, which is never my favorite. Allen does about a good of a job as possible to make the POV of three young children bearable.

The best part of the book is that, other than the Luke/Lando stuff I mentioned earlier, it is pretty streamlined. It's just over 300 pages, and there is quite a bit of action. Some stuff doesn't make a lot of sense to me (like how the New Republic can have so little information about what's going on in Corellia when they have an elected representative government there.), but the problems are mostly minor that are easy to overlook.

It's a bit of a trope in Star Wars to have another system destroying super weapon. This one can destroy systems anywhere in the galaxy and can apparently have a system-wide interdictor field.

I was laughing at this: New Republic Intelligence can't keep a single spy alive in the Corellian System, but they are fine with the head of state travelling there for a vacation with no security outside of Han/Chewie. Absolutely ludicrous but in a way you can shrug it off.

First Reads: 5 Stars (2001/2004)

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, this would be 3.5 stars. *sigh*

I think one of the strongest things about this book is not the delving into the politics of Corellia or even the ways that Allen sets up some great commentary on how utterly unhelpful prejudice is (although that's really good), but rather showing the quartet of Han, Leia, Luke, and Chewie as family people. It's freaking adorable to watch Han be a dad and to see the way that that Han and Leia's kids interact with Uncle Luke and Chewie the hardcore nanny. The dynamics come through really well here, shining brightly against the darkness of the plot.

And the plot is interesting, nailing the political intrigue that the EU does so well. I also like the subplot of Lando's failed romantic adventures as a sort of comical interlude. The book overall felt a little clunky, as though Allen were describing too much or the various pieces weren't clear in their importance (I mean, outside of the fact that you aren't *supposed* to understand everything yet--there were some scenes that it feels like Allen forgot his own set-up). But I'll definitely be finishing the trilogy.

[L. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not in the mood to show this book any mercy. I'm not going to say I hate it because there is nothing, absolutely nothing, here to make me feel anything. The book opens with Han Solo planning to take Leia and the kids to his home planet of Corellia. It then takes a little more than half the book to actually get to the planet for the titular ambush. A new character (at least for me), Belinda Kalenda, is introduced. She's crash landing... crash landing... crash landing... crash already! Once she does, Kalenda is watching... watching... watching. Riveting stuff. So what's the rest of our cast doing? Chewbacca has been reduced to babysitter duties. (Can't help but notice he spends more time with the kids than Han and Leia do.) Sadly, I was trying to remember what Leia's part in the story was and all that came back to me is she interviews some tutors for the kids. Meanwhile, Lando and Luke are off starring in their own version of How I Met Your Mother. Really, if you couldn't think of anything to do with these characters, don't do anything at all with them.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another boring EU book. I don’t find Corellia all that interesting but the star system having 5 habitable worlds is very cool, and the implication that an ancient race (the Celestials) manually made the star system is interesting, but for the actual story it is very boring. I hope it picks up.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first instalment in the Corellian trilogy, this book really packs a punch. It includes the usual cast of Star Wars characters, mainly Luke, Leia, Lando, Han and the three Solo children. The plot revolves around recent unrest on Corellia, and the doings of a group called the Human League. The group claims to have a weapon capable of making a star go supernova. The group threatens to use this weapon unless their demands are met. I enjoyed this series, even though I read them in reverse order. It was a very good series of books.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I confess, I skimmed. There is a lot of excess in this book that is unnecessary, such as Lando hunting for a wife and the kids needing a tutor on what is a vacation for them. There was also excess descriptors and what I believe was supposed to be character development. This book could easily be cut to a fourth of what it is.

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I enjoyed most: the scenes of Han and Leia’s everyday life as parents.

[Marcus Coffey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars: Ambush at Corellia immerses you into the smuggler-type lifestyle of former Captain Han Solo and his Wookie pal Chewbacca. Taking place 14 years after the fall of the Empire, Captain Solo and his sidekick Chewbacca are informed by New Republic Intelligence Agent Belindi Kalenda that there is an unknown situation on Solo’s home planet of Corellia. Solo and his family had planned a visit to Corellia for the last couple of months, and once they heard the news, they did not take a raincheck. They continued their scheduled course of visiting Corellia, though of course with more precaution. Before they went on the trip, Leia Organa Solo was sent on an emergency to spearhead the Coruscant delegation. Captain Solo saw this as a good opportunity to bring his kids along for the trip to show them where their father grew up. The story doesn’t completely center around Corellia, however; it also includes Corellia’s brother planets Selonia, Drall, Talus, and Tralus. They continued their planned trip to Corellia, only with the exception of Leia Organa Solo having to attend an emergency meeting instead. When the Solo, Chewbacca, and his children reached Corellia, they got into more trouble with the NRI. New Republic Intelligence operative Lieutenant Belindi Kalenda warned them that six previous NRI operatives had been dispatched to Corellia to assess its “political climate”. This caused a foreseeable issue to Captain Solo due to his distrust of the NRI operatives. He and Chewy suspected that the NRI operatives were not going to Corellia to assess its political climate, but rather to spy on Solo and his family instead. This would explain an earlier attack by a reprogrammed imperial probe droid while Solo and Chewy were working on the Millennium Falcon. Later on, during the family’s time on Corellia, matters got more complicated, as other agencies from different brother planets of Corellia were discovered spying on the family as well. Luke Skywalker, brother of Leia Organa Solo, mentored Solo’s children often. Solo’s children could be very sneaky at times, but could not fool their uncle Luke. For example, early in the novel, the children were building a robot, which ended up exploding. Uncle Luke happened to walk in a few minutes after, and the children didn’t even try to argue. They knew Luke would figure it out nearly immediately. Overall, this book is a good read. I would recommend it to other Star Wars lovers out there, though I wouldn’t hold your standards too high. The book is good, but can be slow at times, which is why I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

[Declan O'Keeffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book, that was dragged down by the stupidest, most boring B plot, which I just didn't care for whatsoever.

I really enjoyed the Correllian story and seeing Han and his family go back to his childhood home. I loved seeing the Kids as more than just kidnapped babies, and their antics were fun. I enjoyed the tension and nazi-political drama, and I loved the buildup to the cliffhanger. All of that was really fun, and made me eager to read book 2.

I really didn't care for Lando's Galactic Tinder escapades at all. It just felt like a dumb plot just to get Luke and Lando out of the way but still get them to Corellia on time for the cliffhanger. It was stupid and cringy, and didn't age well for me.

Overall, a fun opening book of the trilogy, interested to see more, but a book with solid potential was dragged down by its meaningless B plot.

[Mikki Bunnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow... I love this book. This is the first Star Wars book that I’ve read, and I honestly haven’t seen much of the movies either, just enough to understand who some of the main characters are. And I still loved this book!

[Raymond Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent so far. We'll see how the rest of the trilogy goes.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

light , fun and fast. This has a joy that modern Star Wars seems to have forgotten.

The characiact the way they should and it's enjoyable.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I've just been away from reading Expanded Universe books for too long, but this was amazing. The focus is primarily on Han and Leia and Chewie and their three kids, and secondarily on Lando and Luke. But guest appearances of Mara Jade and Mon Mothma are also well done (although Mon Mothma did not feel like how I normally imagine her character). The action was intermittent, but nicely done. The multiple plots were well woven to create a conflict that will be expounded in book 2. All in all excellent Star Wars Book focusing on the original trilogy characters!

[CS · Rating 4 out of 5]

The time has come for Han Solo to go home to his homeworld of Corellia. He along with Leia, Chewie, and his children go for an important trade summit. But a New Republic Intelligence agent, Belindi Kalenda warns him of the unknown situation on Corellia. Once there, the situation escalates, as none of the major species (human, Drall, and Selonian) can stand each other.
Meanwhile, Lando (with the aid of Luke) has a different mission in mind...one that could make him comfortably rich for the rest of his life.
NOTE: This is a review based on the audio book and what I remember from reading the actual novel years ago.

I Liked:
The new characters. To be honest, earlier Star Wars novels (minus the Thrawn Trilogy and the X-Wing series) have generated mediocre or lousy characters, some of which include Prince Isolder, Admiral Daala, and Kueller. Here, I found I loved the new characters, particularly Belindi Kalenda, Ebrihim, and Tendra Risant.
Belindi initially struck me as a woman that was good to look at but far from drop dead gorgeous. So that, and the fact she gets a part of the action, means I was instantly drawn to her. I love how we get to be with her for her crash landing, how she is part of the NRI, and how Han helps her escape Corellia to send an important message to Coruscant.
Ebrihim is one of the few aliens I've actually enjoyed. Maybe it's because I don't understand most aliens, maybe it's because most aliens feel too human or maybe it's because aliens tend to be written too boring. Anyway, Ebrihim is cool because A) he is a mini-Wookiee (Okay, so a skinnier Ewok, but I'll just pretend Han said shorter Wookiee), B) he is no-nonsense, and C) he isn't intimidated by either Leia's popularity or her kids' wise cracks. I almost envision him as a hairier (if that is even possible) Gimli.
Lastly, Tendra Risant. Another woman I can relate to! She is slightly overweight (despite how she is drawn with perfect curves in her Wookieepedia profile) but very kind, and generous. I am very glad that Lando found her. She was a perfect doll.
The main characters come off very well as well. Han and Leia in particular are excellent, namely Han. It was enjoyable to watch him return to Corellia, to see him roam the streets. And you can really feel the romance, the love between these two, which is sometimes sorely lacking in these books.
Lando and Luke are present too (I absolutely adore the conversation Mon Mothma has to Luke), but I want to focus on someone else not seen often enough: Mara Jade. She reappears in this book, to deliver a message to Han and Leia. I love how she comes back (even if I am not fond of the idea of her having her own business--I just don't like how "hasty" and "slipshod" it feels, but that would be Anderson's fault, because he introduced that idea first in his Jedi Academy trilogy).
As for the story, I was stunned. It is so interesting! Initially, Han and Leia are going to Corellia for a trade summit, but then they run into a huge conflict between the species of the Corellian system. This is such a unique story, such a cool conflict! And yeah, it ends up including a stupid superweapon, but somehow, that isn't so annoying at this point. At least the enemy isn't the Empire! And who could hate a story set on a planet where Han was born?

I Didn't Like:
The wallbanger moments in this book are pleasantly few and far between. The only noteworthy one was Lando's mission. You see, Lando's latest scheme is to marry into money. Yeah...that's...nice. While it is interesting to see a man try it instead of a woman, I still was a bit perturbed at how it takes away from an otherwise amazing story. And would Luke really try to help Lando marry someone for money? In fact, it seem odd to me that Mon Mothma actually encourages Luke to join Lando. I know she wants him to cultivate his more political/diplomatic side, but how is helping with the courting process going to do that?

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Little to none.
There is chemistry between Han and Leia. Lando seeks out a wife, one of which feeds off her mate's life essence.
Han runs headlong into a Human League march, which lands him in jail. Belindi crash lands on Corellia.

Overall:
This was another of those books I read when I was a teen and vastly enjoyed. After all the other books that haven't quite favored as well in my adult eyes, I was pleased to find this one enjoyable once again. Yes, it's still a bit silly in places, but I think the characters are well-done and the plot shows thought. A good read.

[Colin McEvoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Something was going to blow. Something. Things could not hold together under all this pressure for long." This was a thought by Han Solo in amid rising tensions on his home planet of Corellia, building up to a seemingly inevitable civil war among the various planets and species living within the sector. As correct as this sentiment might be, however, there was little in the way of action in Ambush at Corellia, but rather a lot of scene-setting for future events in the upcoming books. That's somewhat understandable, given that this is the first entry in a trilogy, but other Star Wars novels that were the first chapter to a trilogy (like Jedi Search, Before the Storm, and, of course, Heir to the Empire) managed to set the scene for the overall storyline while also maintaining far more interest as a standalone book than Ambush at Corellia did.

It's not a terrible book, and Star Wars fans like myself will surely get enjoyment out of it; it is interesting to learn more about Han Solo's home planet and the volatile political forces at play there. But honestly, not much of any particular interest happens until the very end. I liked where they left things, and I have hope that things will pick up in the next entry, Assault at Selonia, and that the rest of the trilogy will be more enjoyable. But to be honest, much of Ambush at Corellia felt like a whole lot of filler, just taking up space until it could get to that conclusion.

The biggest example of this is an entire subplot involving Lando Calrissian (who, I find, is often given arbitrary B-plots in Star Wars novels, as if the author is simply looking for an excuse to include him somehow) forcing a reluctant Luke Skywalker to go planet-hopping with him while he tries to find a rich woman to marry. The whole thing felt very goofy and pointless. Beyond that, on a smaller scale, there are many passages that go on entirely too long or that could have been cut altogether, and reading them it felt like the author was just trying to fill pages. (Although I will say that one such chapter was actually one of the more enjoyable for me: when New Republic intelligence officer Belindi Kalenda crash lands her damaged spacecraft into the oceans of Corellia. The narrative describes a lot of technical issues she has in piloting the damaged ship, and it's 15 pages when it could easily have been two or three, but I actually found it to be perhaps the most compelling part of the book.)

There are also a lot of minor elements of the story that just don't make a whole lot of sense from a narrative perspective. In an odd twist of logic, the novel starts with Kalenda revealing top secret information to Han Solo, only to ask him to act the same way he would act if he didn't know anything about it. Furthermore, Han Solo nevertheless decides to proceed to Corellia, and put his wife and children in harm's way, based on a rather weak justification that he doesn't want perceived danger to dictate his life's decisions. Similarly, the New Republic is aware of very dangerous and uncertain conditions in the Corellian sector, but have no problem allowing Leia, the most important figure in the entire government, to go there for vacation. The book is full of minor little narrative holes like this. (And, it's worth noting, this book is surprisingly FULL of spelling and grammatical errors. I've never seen a published book with such sloppy editing.)

Despite not enjoying Ambush at Corellia as much as I'd hoped, I'm still pleased with the way the book ended and the way it set the stage for the rest of the trilogy, so I'm hopeful the next two books will be better.

[Kasc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambush at Corellia marks the starting point of the Corellian Trilogy, in which the galaxy’s most famous smuggler returns to his home turf. Given Han Solo’s track record it is hardly surprising that what could be a harmless trip promptly lands the whole Solo family right in the middle of a quickly escalating intra-system conflict.

Travelling to Corellia is not even Han’s idea in the first place. Rather, it is Leia who, in her capacity as Chief of State, is required to attend a big trade conference in Coronet – the system’s capital city. By having its highest-ranking official make the trip, the New Republic hopes to signal that it cares about the somewhat secluded planetary system wishing to rekindle what used to be a prosperous trade affiliation. At the same time, New Republic Intelligence (NRI) officers are trying to use this opportunity to gain some intel on what is going on in the Corellian system. Since its release from Imperial control, information from inside the system has become scarce. Dwindling trade and other evidence have suggested that things may not be going so well, though. Yet, any agents so far sent to gather information have mysteriously disappeared.
Despite the fact that the situation on Corellia can be expected to be dubious at best, Leia decides to take the whole family along on her trip, elongating it a little to give herself and the children a chance to learn about the place of Han’s upbringing. Even before their departure there are very clear warning signs that the Corellian system might not be the best place to take children to at the moment. First, Han and Chewbacca are attacked by a repurposed Imperial probe droid and, second, a rogue NRI agent explicitly warns them things might become dangerous. Irrespective of any warning signs, the family heads for Corellia where, upon arriving in-system, they immediately run into an ambush, which later turns out to have been fabricated. Off to a rocky start, the Solos then settle in into their vacation home and proceed to hire a tutor for the children, Ebrihim, a member of the Drall species, i.e., one of the three principal species inhabiting the Corellian system. Ebrihim is also to serve them as a local guide under whose direction they proceed their tourist exploration. It is clear that things are askew, especially to Han – for obvious reasons. As it turns out, there is some tension between the three species that used to peacefully coinhabit the different inhabitable planets in the Corellian system. Interestingly, the discord was only able to surface once the system had been freed from authoritarian Imperial rule, which had effectively forced everyone to get along whether they wanted to or not. In short, the entire Corellian system is a powder keg waiting to erupt into civil war and driven towards escalation by the stirring of radical speciesist groups, such as the so-called Human League. The Solos have multiple run-ins with this particular group: they abduct Han mistaking him for someone else and then instantly freeing him again and they run an excavation sight the family visits. During this visit Anakin discovers some mysterious machinery – obviously the prime object of the Human League’s excavation effort – which we can be sure will be of some importance later on.
Once the family vacation portion of the trip is over and the trade conference starts, things escalate. None other than Mara Jade delivers a message to Leia making the Human League’s intentions crystal clear: they want complete control of the Corellian system, and they want to rid it of any species other than human. All hell breaks loose as the Human League takes control under the leadership of none other than Han’s long-lost cousin, Thrackan Sal-Solo, and somehow manages to cut the Corellian system from all inter-galactic communication and to inhibit any hyperspace travel. In the end, the Solos are stuck in-system and, to make matters worse, scattered: Chewbacca has taken the children to safety, but only gotten as far as Drall, i.e., the next planet over; Han has assisted in getting an NRI agent off-planet and gotten himself caught in the process. Meanwhile, Leia remains with the now toppled-over Corellian government effectively stuck in a government building under siege.
While all this madness is going on in the Corellian system, one might wonder what the third member of the original trio, Luke, is up to. At the moment he is a bit in between tasks lacking anything meaningful to do. Mon Mothma is aware of this and tells him she feels it might be time for him to enter politics and sort of follow in his sister’s footsteps. According to Mon, it is not only Leia who has not lived up to her whole potential so far, but Luke, too, has a whole innate skillset he has not yet made proper use of (apparently having resigned she now dabbles in psychiatry). She then urges Luke to join Lando on his latest endeavor, which is completely unrelated to politics making it a little hard to follow Mon’s line of reasoning and/or take her seriously. Being the good friend that he is, Luke meets with Lando. For once, the latter is not chasing a new business opportunity, but rather intends to find a way of securing safe income to fund his future exploits. For that matter, Lando has decided to find himself a solvent wife and has fashioned a list of eligible candidates, whom he wants to visit. Feeling that his skills as Jedi Master make him a good judge of character, he wants Luke to come along. So, with Artoo and Threepio in tow, the two of them fly across the galaxy and visit three potential suitors. While the first two encounters turn out to be duds, the last one seems promising. Unfortunately, Tendra, the last woman they visit, lives on Sacorria, a planet on the fringes of the Corellian system. Accordingly, they get tangled up in the mess that is going on there and are forced to return to Coruscant.

Spanning only 300 pages, Ambush at Corellia manages to introduce a layered main plot, complete with intriguing political dispute and meaningful ties to the main characters and their past while also keeping up a fun little side plot.
Personally, I prefer Star Wars novels that stick to the core cast and do not give too much room to irrelevant new characters that will never come up or be of any significance again. This novel very much does that. The only new addition that is of some import here is NRI agent Kalenda, who receives her fair share of pages, but not too many. As was to be expected the novel’s focus is Han and, by extension, his family. Luke and Lando play more of a secondary role, which is perfectly fine as the main purpose of their subplot appears to be to provide some comic relief. The droid’s antics are entertaining and while I was not able to take Lando’s quest all too seriously, it is unusual. I did feel at times that the chapters dedicated to this subplot were a bit too long in proportion to the rest, though.
My personal highlight of this novel is the Corellian conflict, which I think is fascinating, posing several very interesting questions: Can any external entity impose peace on different peoples with fundamental disparities? Is such forced peace bound to crumble once the overarching authority is removed or will it eventually become a matter of course if upheld long enough? On top of that, of course, there is the question of how unrest in a prominent planetary system affects the still young and not entirely established New Republic. A wholly independent Corellia could send a dangerous signal to other planets/systems and potentially start a trend that might unravel the very core binding the galaxy together. This novel only scratches the surface with respect to these central questions and I am really looking forward to them being extended upon in the upcoming installments.

Taking everything together, Ambush at Corellia is a very solid Star Wars novel and a promising start of the series. It is a fast-paced, quick read that I really enjoyed (even the second time around) and can gladly recommend.