SKYWALKER: A FAMILY AT WAR: I was in the mood to read something "Star Wars," so I went to my bookshelf and discovered a book I forgot I owned, Skywalker: A Family at War by Kristin Baver. I guess I must've bought it in 2021 and set it aside, knowing I'd be in the mood to read it "somdeday." It's actually as close to "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker" I've been seeking most of my life that I'm ever likely to find. It's written in three parts ("The Father," "The Twins" and "The Dyad"), each summerizing one of the trilogies. It also fills in some gaps between trilogies (and between movies), but I don't know if the source is comic books or other novels or what. It's a bit like reading Tarzan Alive! or The Conan Chronolgy rather than ERB or REH themselves. I have met plenty of people in my life who know nothing about Star Wars, but few of that subset who really care to learn. The older I get the less likely it is I will ever meet such a person, but if I do I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't want to invest 18 hours (or however long it would take) to watch nine movies.
STAR WARS (a.k.a. "A NEW HOPE") by George Lucas Alan Dean Foster: This is actually the book I was reaching for when I pulled Skywalker: A Family of War off the shelf. This is the fourth time I have read it. the first was in 1977; second, in the '90s when the original movie trilogy was re-released to theaters with new special effects; then at some point in the early 2Ks when I was going through a "Star Wars phase," similar to the one I am in the midst of experiencing right now. At that time, I determimed I need never read the movie adaptations again, but "never say never," as they say. (Now I am at the point I feel I never need to watch the movies again.)
There are three scenes which attracted me to this particular novelization in the past: 1) Luke watching the space battle between the Imperial cruiser and the Tantive IV through his macro-binoculars; 2) Luke telling his friends about it in Anchorhead and his reunion with Biggs Darklighter; and 3) Han Solo's encounter with Jabba the Hutt in Mos Eisley. 1 & 3 made it into Marvel Star Wars comic book adaptation, 2 was flashed out in "A Wind to Shake the Stars" on radio, and 3 was filmed but cut from the original release, but a (highly altered) version of it made it into the re-release. Alan Dean Foster's novelization was, like the Marvel Comics version, created from a shooting script. The thing which struck me most about the novelization this time through is how the vast majority of the dialogue was tweaked before it was filmed, almost always for the better (the one exception being Han's line, "It's the ship that made the Kessel rub in less than twelve standard timeparts!"
I wouldn't exactly call the novelization "hard" science fiction, but it is very well written. Foster is skilled at conveying information in words that is presented visually in the film. There is a fourth thing that sets the novelization apart from the movie, and the is the Journal of the Whills (from "The First Saga," whatever that means). Perhaps it is just me, but I seen unable to read something such as this from the past without filtering through the lens of current events (as I did recently with What If...? #44, "What if Captain America were revived today?"). From the Journal of the Whills...
"Once, under the wise rule of the senate and the protection of the Jedi Knights, the Republic throve and grew. But as often happens when wealth and power pass beyond the admirable and obtain thw awesome, then appear those evil ones who have greed to match.
"So it was with the Republic at its height. Like the greatest of trees, able to withstand any external attack, the Republic rotted from within though the danger was not visible from outside.
"Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected anong the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic."
Is it just me, or does that sound awfully familiar?
SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE: This is my third time through "Splinter." It was the first Star Wars spin-off novel. It was written by Alan Dean Foster, whose name I was already familiar with in 1978 from the Star Trek Log series. He had adapted the screenplay of Star Wars into a paperback, and would soon go on to do the same for Alien. He wasn't allowed to oput his name on the adaptation, but part of the deal was that he would write the first paperback. Star Wars hit me at just about the right time (I was 13 when it came out), and I initially planned to buy all of the paperbacks. The second was Han Solo at Star's end (a prequel to the movie), but I was less interested in "The Adventures of Han Solo" than I was "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker." The next one also featured Han Solo as well, and I just couldn't get into it. At that point I dropped my plans to read all the paperbacks, concentrating on just the movie adaptations.
So the first time I read it was in 1978, and I really didn't care for it all that much (for stupid reasons we need not go into here). I didn't re-read it in the '90s when I re-read the adaptations, but I did re-read it in the early 2Ks.Each time I took somethning different away from it. This time, I was interested in the interaction between Luke and Dark Vader when they come face-to-face at the end. Vader says: "You know, Skywalker, I had a difficult time finding out it was you who shot up my TIE fighter above the Death Star station. Rebellion spies are hard and expensive to come by. I also found out it was you who released the torpedo that destroyed the station. You have a great deal to atone for to me. I've waited a long time." So, at this point, Datth Vader does know Luke's identity, and presumably that he is his son (although it's uncertain Alan Dean Foster, or even George Lucas, knew at the time).
I might also mention the the titular "splinter" in question is a shard of the "Kaiburr" crystal. Later it will be establiched that light sabres are powered by "Kyber crystals."
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SKYWALKER: A FAMILY AT WAR: I was in the mood to read something "Star Wars," so I went to my bookshelf and discovered a book I forgot I owned, Skywalker: A Family at War by Kristin Baver. I guess I must've bought it in 2021 and set it aside, knowing I'd be in the mood to read it "somdeday." It's actually as close to "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker" I've been seeking most of my life that I'm ever likely to find. It's written in three parts ("The Father," "The Twins" and "The Dyad"), each summerizing one of the trilogies. It also fills in some gaps between trilogies (and between movies), but I don't know if the source is comic books or other novels or what. It's a bit like reading Tarzan Alive! or The Conan Chronolgy rather than ERB or REH themselves. I have met plenty of people in my life who know nothing about Star Wars, but few of that subset who really care to learn. The older I get the less likely it is I will ever meet such a person, but if I do I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't want to invest 18 hours (or however long it would take) to watch nine movies.
STAR WARS (a.k.a. "A NEW HOPE") by George Lucas Alan Dean Foster: This is actually the book I was reaching for when I pulled Skywalker: A Family of War off the shelf. This is the fourth time I have read it. the first was in 1977; second, in the '90s when the original movie trilogy was re-released to theaters with new special effects; then at some point in the early 2Ks when I was going through a "Star Wars phase," similar to the one I am in the midst of experiencing right now. At that time, I determimed I need never read the movie adaptations again, but "never say never," as they say. (Now I am at the point I feel I never need to watch the movies again.)
There are three scenes which attracted me to this particular novelization in the past: 1) Luke watching the space battle between the Imperial cruiser and the Tantive IV through his macro-binoculars; 2) Luke telling his friends about it in Anchorhead and his reunion with Biggs Darklighter; and 3) Han Solo's encounter with Jabba the Hutt in Mos Eisley. 1 & 3 made it into Marvel Star Wars comic book adaptation, 2 was flashed out in "A Wind to Shake the Stars" on radio, and 3 was filmed but cut from the original release, but a (highly altered) version of it made it into the re-release. Alan Dean Foster's novelization was, like the Marvel Comics version, created from a shooting script. The thing which struck me most about the novelization this time through is how the vast majority of the dialogue was tweaked before it was filmed, almost always for the better (the one exception being Han's line, "It's the ship that made the Kessel rub in less than twelve standard timeparts!"
I wouldn't exactly call the novelization "hard" science fiction, but it is very well written. Foster is skilled at conveying information in words that is presented visually in the film. There is a fourth thing that sets the novelization apart from the movie, and the is the Journal of the Whills (from "The First Saga," whatever that means). Perhaps it is just me, but I seen unable to read something such as this from the past without filtering through the lens of current events (as I did recently with What If...? #44, "What if Captain America were revived today?"). From the Journal of the Whills...
"Once, under the wise rule of the senate and the protection of the Jedi Knights, the Republic throve and grew. But as often happens when wealth and power pass beyond the admirable and obtain thw awesome, then appear those evil ones who have greed to match.
"So it was with the Republic at its height. Like the greatest of trees, able to withstand any external attack, the Republic rotted from within though the danger was not visible from outside.
"Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected anong the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic."
Is it just me, or does that sound awfully familiar?
SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE: This is my third time through "Splinter." It was the first Star Wars spin-off novel. It was written by Alan Dean Foster, whose name I was already familiar with in 1978 from the Star Trek Log series. He had adapted the screenplay of Star Wars into a paperback, and would soon go on to do the same for Alien. He wasn't allowed to oput his name on the adaptation, but part of the deal was that he would write the first paperback. Star Wars hit me at just about the right time (I was 13 when it came out), and I initially planned to buy all of the paperbacks. The second was Han Solo at Star's end (a prequel to the movie), but I was less interested in "The Adventures of Han Solo" than I was "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker." The next one also featured Han Solo as well, and I just couldn't get into it. At that point I dropped my plans to read all the paperbacks, concentrating on just the movie adaptations.
So the first time I read it was in 1978, and I really didn't care for it all that much (for stupid reasons we need not go into here). I didn't re-read it in the '90s when I re-read the adaptations, but I did re-read it in the early 2Ks.Each time I took somethning different away from it. This time, I was interested in the interaction between Luke and Dark Vader when they come face-to-face at the end. Vader says: "You know, Skywalker, I had a difficult time finding out it was you who shot up my TIE fighter above the Death Star station. Rebellion spies are hard and expensive to come by. I also found out it was you who released the torpedo that destroyed the station. You have a great deal to atone for to me. I've waited a long time." So, at this point, Datth Vader does know Luke's identity, and presumably that he is his son (although it's uncertain Alan Dean Foster, or even George Lucas, knew at the time).
I might also mention the the titular "splinter" in question is a shard of the "Kaiburr" crystal. Later it will be establiched that light sabres are powered by "Kyber crystals."
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