The Star Wars Trilogy

Star Wars: ****
If it was actually written by Foster, as Lucas admits in his own foreword, it should be credited to him properly. Especially since this book is excellent. It adds quite a bit to the original story, such as fleshing out Luke's life before his adventures began, and is a great read.

The Empire Strikes Back: *1/2
Glut managed to somehow both overwrite and underwrite this story; there is no reason to read this instead of watching the movie. It doesn't work as a good supplement to the movie - rather, it reads like Glut (poorly) improvising on the spot as he watches, with no particular insight to the characters or plot and nothing particularly interesting when compared to the final movie script. Terrible. Skip. It's a shame we show more couldn't get Leigh Brackett's version of what this story could have been as a novel.

The Return of the Jedi: ***
Kahn isn't afraid to actually create a story here, putting his own spin on things in ways that other authors (and the future movies) did differently, and the book reads much better for it. Characters actually have character, and there's more here than just the movie script with unnecessary additions like Glut's. Lando, for example, sees the world as a gambler, which makes sense for his character. Kahn even manages to patch numerous plot holes in the movie's final script, smoothing over some awkward things so they make a (little) more sense with the space he's given. Unfortunately, even he can't save the ewww incest between Luke and Leia from two books ago. show less

As a longtime fan of Star Wars, it was a pleasure to read the novelizations of this beloved trilogy. One could almost hear the Millenium Falcon's engines as they soared into space, or that unique sound of the jedi lightsabers, or even recall various scenes from the movies as we read them in the books, the familiar lines coming to our lips. It gives an interesting sense of nostalgia.

It was particularly nice to read some missing scenes we never got to see in the movies, like a few more moments in Luke Skywalker's training by the Jedi Master Yoda, or impassioned speeches at an Ewok assembly that would eventually lead to their alliance with the Rebels in Endor. We got a close look at some of these character's motivations as the writers show more explored the character's minds. It made for a pretty interesting and entertaining reading.

The books are not without flaws, though. As should be expected of everything written before the prequels came out, there are some things that directly contradict the new canon established by the prequel movies, especially concerning Vader's knowledge of his wife's pregnancy. James Kahn's novelization of Return of the Jedi also has the annoying aspect of trying to write vocalizations that should never have been put into writing, like Chewbacca's growls or R2-D2's beeps and chirps. Still, by the time I read Darth Vader's death scene, I was actually crying, because it was impossible not to. Reading this has inspired me to go out and order some more Star Wars books... :) show less

If you don't know about Star Wars

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

This particular edition contains all three original Canon/Saga stories (Episode IV, V, VI) and is what you pretty much expect if you've seen any of those movies.

For those who have not:
A New Hope follows a young man named Luke Skywalker on his adventures from his desert planet home through space and his eventual involvement in a rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Hero's journey, wise mentor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), smart-ass rogue (Han Solo) with an alien sidekick (Chewbacca), droids (R2-D2 & C3PO), space battles, a rescued princess (Leia).

The Empire Strikes Back finds the group on an ice planet when they're discovered and have to make a daring escape. Luke has a show more vision and must seek out an old Jedi Master on the planet Dagobah. At the same time, Han and crew detour to the planet Bespin and the mining platform of Han's old friend, Lando Calrissian. The Empire is in hot pursuit and the friends find themselves in a no-win situation against Sith Lord Darth Vader and the Bounty Hunter Boba Fett.

The Return of the Jedi sees Luke fully realizing his Jedi potential in daring rescues and an end-all battle against the Death Star over the forest planet of Endor. The stakes are higher than ever for the rebellion and the deep secret Darth Vader revealed to Luke on Bespin still haunts him.

As far as space operas go, this one is the EABA and set the bar for most modern (re: post-1977) space films prior to common use of CGI. It was a phenomenon unto itself. There are inspirations from samurai films, westerns, and other adventure movies as well. There's a hero's journey, coming of age, despair, survival, character growth and redemption, even a frenemies to lovers trope exists. This has many other great themes and motifs to study for film and fiction.

Recommended for readers as young as 5th grade. And I totally recommend watching the movies first.

**All thoughts and opinions are my own.** show less

This collection of novelizations of the original trilogy of the Star Wars franchise is based on film scripts that Alan Dean Foster (ghostwriting for George Lucas), Donald F. Glut, and James Kahn used to bring the films to the printed page. Ultimately only Glut’s treatment of The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the bunch as it was readable, and the characterizations were good. Unfortunately, Dean’s Star Wars and Kahn’s Return of the Jedi while each having one good thing to them were overwhelmed by either poor writing or horrible internalization of characters along with a myriad of other issues to go along side them. I would recommend watching the films over the reading this collection if you’re a general reader, but if you show more want to dip your toe into the novelizations go for The Empire Strikes Back.

Star Wars by George Lucas
The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut 3/5
Return of the Jedi by James Kahn 2/5 show less

I enjoyed how it filled in the blank spots from the film. The third part was my favorite just as its film counterpart. Nice writing on it too.

These are the novelizations of the original Star Wars movies, based on the screenplays (although I think they are based on the original screenplays, since there are some added things that didn't make it to the films). I know Star Wars backwards and forwards, so I knew everything that was going to happen, and I could recite the dialogue from memory as I was reading it on the page. It was cool, though, to read the extra bits of what each character was thinking, which didn't always transfer to the movies. The writing left a lot to be desired, though, especially the scenes between Han and Leia (I guess the authors copied George Lucas's atrocious "romantic" dialogue style...). I'm giving this book a higher rating than I would normally, show more simply because I love Star Wars. Still, a fun read, and the book cover and front/back inside cover paintings are really cool. show less

I'll probably have a longer review later but honestly there isn't much to write about here.

Have you seen episodes 4-6 of Star Wars? Well then you have also read these books. They are everything that was on the screen just written down. Only somehow boring and dry.

There is no life to the stories here, it is written like someone watched each movie and transcribed what he or she saw. There is no extra insight into the characters or their motivation or any extra descriptive flourishes to bring it to life in an entertaining way.

Plus there is no warning as you move between each viewpoint. You are with Luke and then suddenly Leia and the Han, etc. it's really off putting.

These books are not for everyone but they are sort of interesting.