Return (Star Wars story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Return
Author(s):	Chris Callahan
Date(s):	1983
Length:
Genre(s):	gen
Fandom(s):	Star Wars
Relationship(s):
External Links:
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Return is a Star Wars story by Chris Callahan.

It was printed in Skywalker #6.

It features Han Solo's mother and is part of the Maeve Solo Universe.

Summary

"Thawing only makes it easier for Han to see he's in deep trouble back on Tatooine. He's got Jabba's goons shooting at him outside and a war of emotions going on inside. It's enough to make a boy grateful for his mother."

Fan Comments

It is my personal belief that a writer should not make assumptions that a fan has read all her other material.... This is not a problem only in Eluki's work. Time and again, as I find stories about a continuing character in a particular fan's writing completely losing my interest as the writer and editor make the assumption that I am familiar with all that has gone before in stories published in fanzines which I may or may not have read. This is fallacious reasoning and poor characterization. Will editors please beat their writers/contributors to a bloody pulp accordingly to make it clear? The same problems exist to a lesser extent in Chris Callahan's. "Return," as it is only made clear on the last page of the story that Maeve is Han's mother and hence her motivation for rescuing the dear boy. I must say that Chris writes a wonderfully clear action sequence. My only other comment is that as far as I could see, the story made no transcendental point about Han, his character, or humankind in general. Part of what makes a story so satisfying to the reader is its ability to mean more than the words actually say. The reader must find some overall truth to the entire tale which can be applied to his own existence: otherwise, it is just pulp.

I'm not sure what to say about "Return" by Chris Callahan, since this is the first Maeve Solo story I've read. I knew the series existed, but never read any zines in which they appeared. So I think my ambivalent feelings on this piece are a result of "coming in on the middle" and probably not due to any deficiency in the writing. If I had read other stories, I'd know about Rimi (co-pilot to Maeve, right?). But as it is, I wasn't sure what she looked like, what the characteristics of her species are, what her particular idiosyncrasies are, and so on. Maeve didn't become totally real to me either. Perhaps one thing Chris could have done is make the story more complete in itself, integrate into the story a little more about her invented characters, so that we "first timers" wouldn't be so confused.

"Return": It was a little disconcerting to read two "thaw" pieces almost back to back but considering that I've written a couple myself I'm sure that you were bombarded with them. (("Hellflower" was purposely inserted between the two 'thaw' stories as a change of pace. And I wasn't exactly bombarded with stories...period. BCD)) After Susan's piece, this one started, and read, most predictably. Nothing against it, well written for the type of story it is. But I found few surprises and I know that I've read this story in one version or another in about three places in the last couple months (to take the barb out of it...I even wrote one of them! I hate it most of all when I'm this predictable.) I do like the character of Maeve, but like the first part of the story, the second only reminded me of something else I've read. The trouble with classic stories like a "thaw Han" is that they tend to make most writers write classic characters.

Chris Callahan's "Return" was nice light and enjoyable reading. I always liked the idea that Han's mom would still be around. I have never accepted the idea that he grew up as a street kid. I also like the part about him asking advice about his feelings towards Leia. A nice human touch.