Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu is a novel belonging to the Star Wars Legends continuity, penned by L. Neil Smith. Serving as the inaugural installment in the Star Wars: The Lando Calrissian Adventures series, it initially appeared in paperback format courtesy of Del Rey on June 12 of 1983. The entirety of the series was later collected into a single volume titled The Lando Calrissian Adventures in 1994.
Lando Calrissian, a gambler, a scoundrel, and a master of the con, possessed an innate appreciation for the finer things in life. More at home dealing cards than wielding a blaster, Lando was always on the lookout for opportunities to amass wealth effortlessly.
Consequently, upon learning of the immense ancient alien treasures supposedly hidden on the planets of the Rafa System, he promptly boarded the Millennium Falcon and refreshed his somewhat neglected navigation skills. He failed to consider the possibility that he himself might be the target of a con…
Shortly after his acquisition of the Millennium Falcon, Lando Calrissian makes a trip to the Oseon system situated within the Centrality. While engaged in a sabacc game on the asteroid designated Oseon 2795, Lando encounters Osuno Whett, an Ottdefa, who regales him with tales of the Rafa system's legendary riches. This system was once the home of the Sharu, a civilization of incredible advancement, and the source of the highly prized life-crystals extracted from a penal colony located on Rafa IV. Facing a shortage of funds, Whett convinces Lando to wager a droid as collateral. Upon winning the hand, Lando discovers that the droid is actually held in storage on Rafa IV.
Driven by the prospect of claiming and reselling his prize, Lando journeys to Rafa IV and retrieves the Class Two multiphasic robot, a chrome-covered, five-tentacled droid known as Vuffi Raa. Subsequently, he is ambushed by the local constabulary, subjected to a beating, and unjustly arrested. Brought before Duttes Mer, the system's governor, and Mer's ominous companion, Rokur Gepta (a Sorcerer of Tund), Lando is coerced into a quest for a mythical artifact called the Mindharp. He receives the Key, a scaled-down replica of the Mindharp, and is released, though Mer and Gepta disable the Falcon's hyperdrive to prevent Lando from breaking their agreement.
Lando and Vuffi Raa soon cross paths with an elderly man named Mohs, a member of the Toka (the Rafa system's seemingly subservient, primitive humanoid population). Mohs, identifying himself as the High Singer of the Toka, proclaims Lando as the Key Bearer and Vuffi Raa as the Emissary, as foretold in Toka legends. He persuades them to venture to Rafa V, the system's next planet, in search of the Mindharp. Regrettably for Lando and the droid, Mohs leads them into an ambush. On Rafa V, they are attacked by Toka armed with crude weaponry, who severely damage Vuffi Raa and leave Lando to perish from exposure.
Lando manages to escape and reunite with Vuffi Raa, whose self-repair mechanisms have enabled him to recover from his injuries. After subduing a squad of Rafan police dispatched by Mer to intercept them (in the hope that Lando had already accomplished his mission), Lando and Vuffi Raa tend to their wounds and set out to locate Mohs. The Toka Singer, surprisingly remorseful for his earlier treachery, guides them to the base of one of the Sharu's colossal pyramids and demonstrates how to use the Key to gain entry.
Separated from one another, Lando, Vuffi Raa, and Mohs embark on a perplexing journey within the pyramid, which appears to possess the ability to manipulate both space and time. Mohs experiences a profound transformation—his previously limited mental capacity begins to expand, but he is simultaneously struck blind. Lando and Vuffi Raa, meanwhile, seem to fluctuate wildly in size, experiencing time at varying speeds. After witnessing a depiction of the planet's evolutionary history and the development of the Sharu, Mohs vanishes, and Lando and Vuffi Raa find themselves in a vast chamber containing the Mindharp.
Lando retrieves the Mindharp, and he and Vuffi Raa exit the pyramid, only to reappear on a street in Teguta Lusat, the capital of Rafa IV, with no recollection of how they arrived there. Vuffi Raa, acting on previously ingrained programming, promptly has Lando arrested and brought before Duttes Mer. The governor reveals that they have been absent not for a few days, but for four months. Mer informs Lando that his entire journey to Rafa, including his encounter with Osuno Whett in the Oseon, was a carefully orchestrated scheme; Mer and Gepta required someone who matched the description of the Toka prophecy. The Mindharp, Mer explains, is an immensely potent device capable of controlling the minds of every sentient being in the Rafa system, even across interplanetary distances.
Having achieved his objective, the governor consigns Lando to one of the Rafa system's life-crystal orchards, effectively sentencing him to a swift death. However, Lando is rescued by Vuffi Raa, now freed from his programmed directives and filled with remorse for betraying his master. Lando informs the droid that he recognized elements of the Toka language as Old High Trammic, a language with which he has some familiarity. He realizes that dire consequences will ensue if Mer attempts to wield the Mindharp.
Rafa IV is convulsed by a series of devastating earthquakes. Lando and Vuffi Raa make their way to the Teguta Lusat spaceport, where they discover that the governor has recovered the Millennium Falcon from Rafa V. Rokur Gepta, meanwhile, abandons his cruiser, the Wennis (which has been orbiting Rafa V, awaiting Lando's return, for months), desperate to seize the Mindharp from Mer before the governor unleashes a catastrophe.
Lando and Vuffi Raa encounter Mohs aboard the Falcon. The Singer, now possessing an intellect far beyond that of a primitive man, confesses what he has learned: the primitive Toka are, in fact, the descendants of the long-vanished Sharu. Generations ago, the Sharu were threatened by an unknown external force; to evade it, they deliberately concealed their cities (and the minds of their entire population) beneath the massive pyramids that dot the Rafa system. The activation of the Mindharp will reverse this process, causing the Sharu cities to emerge from beneath the surface—with disastrous consequences for the Imperial cities built atop them—and restoring the minds of the "Toka."
Rokur Gepta arrives at the governor's office too late to prevent Mer from activating the Mindharp. Mer is vaporized by the unleashed energy, and Gepta narrowly escapes with his life. Though his ship sustains damage from a blast fired by the Millennium Falcon's guns, Gepta survives, vowing vengeance upon Lando and his mechanical companion.
Lando and Vuffi Raa, meanwhile, execute a hasty departure from the Rafa system, carrying the final load of valuable life-crystals ever to be extracted from that region.
The CD-ROM Star Wars: Behind the Magic, released in 1998, initially placed the events of Star Wars: The Lando Calrissian Adventures in 10 BBY, while The Essential Chronology (2000) and The New Essential Chronology (2005) subsequently situated them in 4 BBY. Ultimately, The Essential Reader's Companion (2012) dated the series to 3 BBY–2 BBY, positioning Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu between the novels The Force Unleashed II (2010) and Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon (1983).
- ISBN 9780345311580 ; June 12 , 1983; Del Rey ; US paperback [1]
- (No ISBN) ; 1984 ; Del Rey; US hardcover, Book Club Edition [6]