Han Solo's Revenge

Chewbacca, fornt and center.

by Brian Daley

Del Rey Books

April 1979

Six months after the publication of Han Solo at Stars’ End, Brian Daley released his second Star Wars novel, Han Solo’s Revenge. It’s been nearly that long since my review of that book. This novel has an undeniably more complex story than the first Han Solo book, and I occasionally had a difficult time figuring out who’s who and what the motivations behind some of the characters were. Case in point: Han motivation – his titular revenge – and the difficulty I had reconciling it.

Han and Chewbacca, desperate for credits, take a blind assignment which turns out to be transporting slaves. Refusing to take part in such a vile enterprise, they turn the tables on the slavers, freeing the captives and killing the slavers. Han, however, still feels that he is owed the 10,000 credits promised him for delivering the slaves. Even after Han learns that the slavers had no intention of making good on the deal (they in fact were simply going to kill Solo), he still wants the money. Not only did Han not complete the job, thus not earning the money in the first place, but how did he honestly expect to collect that money? This is Han’s sole motivation throughout the book, and it’s such a shaky motivation that it really does put the book’s plot in jeopardy – especially when, at one point, Han was more than willing to sacrifice himself for a stranger in the hopes that, should he survive, it would lead to the people that owe him.

I also got a little frustrated with how dense and oblivious Solo was portrayed when the new holofeature he was showing to the Kamarians backfired on him. Han was ridiculously slow to act and only made a bad situation worse. Despite all this however, Han Solo’s Revenge is still a great book for all the same reasons that made Brian Daley’s first book great. Not only did Daley absolutely nail Han’s characterization, he does an admirable job treating Chewbacca as a fully-fledged character that has a lot to offer, rather than having him stand in the background. The sequence where Han and Chewie turn the tables on the slavers is great because it’s mostly Chewbacca performing the heroics, as Han is essentially taken out of the fight until the end. Later in the book, Chewbacca gets an entire chapter devoted to him and his misadventures therein. Unfortunately, this is the most tedious chapter in the book and could easily have been left out as nothing of any importance happens anyway.

Another great thing about Brian Daley is how well he understood Star Wars, down to the smallest detail, even with only one released film. He notes exactly how Han Solo wears his holster, and the fact that he wears flight gloves and uses a headset comlink to communicate when piloting the Falcon. Daley recognized that Han and Chewbacca had their hands full piloting the Millennium Falcon because “. . . Han and Chewbacca habitually spaced by themselves, Han reaching back to his left to carry out navigator’s chores and the Wookiee leaning to his right to run the commo board when needed.” While Han and Fiolla were aboard the luxury liner Lady of Mindor, Daley makes mention that Solo wore the collar on his white tunic closed, just as Solo wears it during the ceremony scene in Episode IV A New Hope. There’s even a moment when Han Solo is removing a restraining bolt from Bollux, that when the bolt was removed, “There was a pop and a tiny burst of blue discharge around the bolt’s base.” If you watch carefully when Luke removes the restraining bolt from R2-D2 in Episode IV, the same quiet pop and tiny energy discharge occurs.

There were two short scenes in this book – each a respite from the main plot – which I really enjoyed. The scene with the Sljee waiter was very entertaining in a frustrating way (much like the opening chapter on Kamar). The way Han treats the poor alien server would normally knock my opinion of his character down several notches – but hey, it’s Han. Plus Fiolla makes it all right in the end for the flustered Sljee. The meeting with Roa, his wife, and Han was also great. It shows a sliver of Han’s past as well as showing Han’s potential (and ultimately accurate) future. Roa and his wife, in such a short scene, immediately felt like interesting, three-dimensional characters.

Another wonderful book by Brian Daley. It does receive a lower rating than Han Solo at Stars’ End, however. The often confusing plot and nonsensical motivations hamper this book somewhat.

8 / 10

Han Solo at Stars' End

Han, Chewie, and giant balls.

by Brian Daley

Del Rey Books

April 1979

“Uul-Rha-Shan likes to know whom he kills. Who are you, imposter?”

Drawing himself up, Han let his hands dangle loosely at his sides, fingers working. “Solo. Han Solo.”

The impetus behind this book’s plot is pure Han Solo: he needs money to make some much-needed repairs to the Millennium Falcon. This leads him on a series of adventures within the Corporate Sector that eventually sees Chewbacca arrested and imprisoned in a ultra high-security Corporate Sector Authority prison facility named Stars’ End, and Han’s attempt to break in and get his friend out. The story is fairly simple but it’s a lot of fun and moves along at a fast clip. Some story elements are a little far-fetched (I felt how cooperative all the myriad prisoners were with each other after they were released was probably unrealistic, and the fate of the Stars’ End facility is likely unfaithful to the laws of physics),  but never really to the detriment of the story. This book is a highly entertaining tale of one of Han and Chewie’s many pre-film adventures.

Brian Daley is an author of uncommon skill and an extensive but accessible vocabulary. He has such a unique voice, and it’s a perfect fit for Han Solo and his world. Anyone familiar with his trilogy of Star Wars radio dramas from National Public Radio will instantly recognize Daley’s particular voice and idiosyncrasies in his books (or vice versa, of course). I also believe that the screenwriters for Episodes V and VI read Daley’s Han Solo books and took inspiration from several scenes. For example, in the opening chapter of this book, Han has to flip the Falcon on its side in order to pass through a too-narrow canyon, and the sensor dish is ripped from hull. This book (and the two that follow) is also responsible for the introduction of many now-familiar elements of the Star Wars EU, such as transparisteel, repulsorlifts, Z-95 Headhunters, the concept of “Standard” time parts, and, of course, the Corporate Sector. In the following book he’ll also introduce swoops, vibro weapons, force pikes, and Victory-class Star Destroyers, all ubiquitous elements of Star Wars (and not just the Expanded Universe).

Han Solo is written very well, exactly as one would expect a few-years-younger Han Solo than we see in Episode IV A New Hope to be. In the opening chapter, when Han is doing a little gunrunning, he encounters a group of primitive sentients fighting back against the CSA, and Han considers them “morons” for throwing their lives away doing so. Han’s grim determination to save Chewbacca from the Espos, and his reaction to any attempt to stop him, felt like genuine Han Solo. And Daley even has Han tell someone “I happen to like to shoot first, Rekkon. As opposed to shooting second.” Chewbacca, while still undeniably a sidekick, is more of a full-fledged character here than in most Star Wars novels.

The supporting characters are all distinctive and interesting. Bollux and Blue Max make for two of the most memorable droids from the EU (although Blue Max can grate at times). It’s interesting that Han becomes quite smitten with Bollux over the course of the story, the opposite from how we see him treat Threepio in the films — even Han’s almost-touching farewell to Bollux made me smile. The team of dissidents made up of Atuarre, Pakka, and Rekkon were all good characters, and while not quite effective as a villain, so was the story’s main antagonist, Hirken. Hirkin’s relationship with his wife, while understated in the book, nonetheless culminates in an entertaining and appropriate ending for them both.

Because of this trilogy of books, (but really more-so the Star Wars Radio Drama trilogy), Brian Daley will always be an author and writer who holds a special place in my heart. While in the literary sense it isn’t among the very top of Star Wars books, nearly everything here works, and if one takes time to truly soak in Daley’s words, I believe they’ll find an unexpectedly rewarding experience. Highly recommended.

8.5 / 10

Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope

Second Edition

by Grant Boucher

Revised and Expanded for Second Edition by Paul Sudlow

80 pages (First Edition)
98 pages (Second Edition)

West End Games

1989 (First Edition)
1995 (Second Edition)

While this review will be based on the Second Edition of the book, the First Edition will also be looked at as a point of reference.

Changes for the Second Edition

For the Second Edition, many of the characters have had their backgrounds extensively rewritten by Paul Sudlow. All of the original artwork from the First Edition has been replaced with movie stills, and a table of contents replaces the First Edition’s introduction pages. The layout and presentation has also been altered in the Second Edition, making quick reference more difficult than in the First Edition.

The Second Edition presents a bevy of new material. The First Edition was intended to be nothing more than a book of character profiles relevant to Episode IV A New Hope. The Second Edition expands the book’s horizons by adding multi-page spreads on the Jawa sandcrawler, Tatooine homesteads, creatures of Tatooine, Mos Eisley docking bays, and the starfighters used in the Battle of Yavin.

Review

This book is written as if authored by Rebel Alliance assistant historian Voren Na’al, as he documents the people, places, and events leading up to and including the Battle of Yavin. We’ll be seeing quite a bit more of this adventuring historian in future RPG book reviews.

Chapter One details Tatooine’s wilderness and its inhabitants. It opens with Voren Na’al’s account of purchasing (and retooling for the Alliance’s covert use) R5-D4, the red astromech Owen and Luke had originally intended to purchase. The first denizens of Tatooine detailed are the Jawas and Tusken Raiders. An interesting note here is that the number of Jawa sandcrawlers is slowly decreasing each decade due to malfunction and breakdown, and it is inevitable that within the next century or so, the Jawas will be forced to leave the crawlers behind and return to the dewback herds of their past.

The Lars homestead is described next. The two-page spread detailing the typical moisture farm homestead is pretty interesting -- granted, the Lars homestead has always been one of my favorite iconic elements from the films. Moving along to the desert sandtroopers, I find it curious that the Desert Sands stormtrooper unit just happened to be stationed aboard the Devastator. Is there a desert-specialist stormtrooper unit stationed aboard every Star Destroyer? R5-D4 is given a full two pages, but the entry has the Jawas picking up Artoo first and Threepio second. Isn’t this is backwards? Another two pages are briefly devoted to the bantha, dewback, and the krayt dragon, three of the best-known Tatooine creatures.

Chapter Two looks at Mos Eisley spaceport. It’s mostly a collection of some of the aliens found in the cantina during the corresponding scene in Episode IV A New Hope. They include Momaw Nadon, Figrin Da’n (now known as Figrin D’an), Dr. Evazan, Ponda Baba, Labria, Sivrak, Muftak, Kabe, the Tonnika sisters, Greedo, and Garindan. All of the aliens here had their backgrounds first developed in the First Edition of this book. The more inventive and interesting character backgrounds belong to Momaw Nadon and Sivrak, but the duo of Muftak and Kabe certainly is fun. The rest aren’t necessarily bad, just a little dry.

We also get a beautifully illustrated map of central Mos Eisley, reprinted from 1988’s Tatooine Manhunt. This map briefly describes twenty-two Mos Eisley locations. Mos Eisley is described as being the only major civilized outpost on Tatooine, which of course Episode I The Phantom Menace would prove wrong. Next, there’s a three-page spread detailing Docking Bay 99, a well-kempt, modernized Mos Eisley docking bay. We get treated to a floor plan of the docking bay as well as detailed descriptions of the dozen or so features found therein. This, along with the Mos Eisley map, are some of the treats the Second Edition of this book has to offer.

Chapter Three is a look at the forces of the Empire seen in the original film. The characters detailed include Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Admiral Motti, and General Tagge. We also get entries on “generic” individuals found aboard the Death Star: officers, troopers, gunners, and TIE pilots. The Second Edition presents a two-page spread discussing the starfighters the Empire used in defending the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin: the TIE starfighter and the TIE Advanced starfighter. Finally, the chapter ends on two odds-and-ends entries: the IT-O interrogator droid and the dianoga. A pointless aside in the Death Star Gunners entry tells the story of how an officer completely reorganized the distribution of the gunners just prior to the Battle of Yavin, leading to gross inefficiency among the gunners. Interestingly, the First Edition states that General Tagge was responsible for this decision. The Second Edition shifts responsibility to an officer under Tagge.

Chapter Four details the Rebel base on the fourth moon of Yavin. Backgrounds are presented here for General Jan Dodonna, Wedge Antilles, Biggs Darklighter and Jek Porkins, and on the whole they’re interesting and well-conceived. “Generic” Rebel soldiers and pilots are also given some time here, as well as the X-wing and Y-wing starfighters. One thing that I find curious is the mention that once Biggs joined the Alliance, he gained a reputation for having “a knack for hot-dogging TIE fighters that was unmatched until his old friend Luke Skywalker entered the scene.” It doesn’t seem to me that Biggs would have had much time to gain a reputation at all—in fact, I always thought it was safe to assume that the Battle of Yavin was Biggs’ first foray into combat as a Rebel. I also like the touch of mentioning that the Kenobi Medallions given posthumously to the pilots that gave their lives in the Battle of Yavin are displayed in the pilot’s lounge at the Rebel base on Tierfon.

Chapter Five gives us a look at the “Heroes of Yavin.” Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Chewbacca are given their due here (which means C-3PO and R2-D2 are virtually the only characters from the film not written about in this book). Each of these entries are written as a dialogue between that character and Voren Na’al as he interviews them about their opinion on making the Empire’s Most Wanted List after the destruction of the Death Star. This is a light, fun read with fairly reliable characterizations.

Chapter Six presents The Battle of Wayfar. Exclusive to the Second Edition, Paul Sudlow wrote a complete adventure set on Tatooine. Interestingly, this adventure is set concurrently with West End Game’s very first published Star Wars adventure, Tatooine Manhunt. Does this mean both adventures can’t be run with the same cast of PCs? More specifically, The Battle of Wayfar takes place three days after the murders of Owen and Beru Lars.

First Edition

The adventure is told in three episodes. Episode One opens with the PCs’ ship reverting from hyperspace over Tatooine, en route to Mos Eisley with a hold full of cargo, which promptly crashes to the surface, victim of a vicious sandstorm. This all takes place in the “read aloud” intro and thus is not alterable by the players. The players find their ship buried in a sand dune with engines so clogged they’ll blow the ship apart if started. Fortunately, they crash landed on the property of a helpful moisture farming family, the Tanners. Forced to spend the night at the homestead, the PCs are awoken in the middle of the night. A group of refugees from a recent Tusken Raider attack bring word that the Tusken Raiders are headed this way. Plenty of opportunities for roleplaying and interaction exist between the PCs and the Tanner family and their three live-in farmhands, as well as the refugees that arrive. A full-page diagram of the Tanner’s homestead is provided, and it’s a real treat. It’s a look at what moisture farm homes are like on the inside, and I must say I get a kick out of the layout of the Tanners’ home.

Episode Two begins with the Tanner family and the rest of the refugees preparing to head to Wayfar, suggesting to the PCs that they do the same. (If the PCs agree to help, the farmers will repair their ship as well as compensate them.) The rest of this episode is an in-depth look at Wayfar and the efforts to fortify the town before the Tuskens attacks. A map of Wayfar is provided, with a description of each of the 18 buildings and structures in the small town. The mayor and a handful of the residents are described. The farmers and the PCs have to figure out the best way to prepare the town for the eventual attack. Some suggestions are given in the text, but it is also left wide open for interpretation and improvisation.

In Episode Three, the Tusken Raiders attack. One-thousand Tusken Raiders descend upon Wayfar, verses the PCs and the 275 able fighters among the farmers. As one might expect, the odds aren’t good, and eventually, according to the narrative of the adventure, the Tusken Raiders are able to overcome the farmer army and storm Wayfar. That’s when a dues ex machina in the form of “desert worms” burst through the surface of the desert and begin decimating the Tuskens, leaving them no choice but to flee.

While better comparisons could be made, I think of this adventure as the Battle of the Hornburg on Tatooine. It has the potential to be an absolute blast of an adventure.

Short Stories

There are nine short stories included in both editions of Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope. They’re a mixed bag, with the best being Camie’s Story, Tatooine Debriefing, and Dodonna’s Story.

Camie’s Story is an account from one of Luke’s childhood friends, Camie. In it, she waxes on about Luke and his relationship with his adoptive aunt and uncle. It’s a nice little piece, very sentimental, and paints their family life in a different light. It wasn’t all bickering about joining the Academy and doing chores. Interestingly, Owen bought Luke his prized T-16 skyhopper just after Biggs left for the Academy—obviously Owen was trying very hard to convince Luke to stay on Tatooine. Also of note is the fact that Imperial officials in Mos Eisley were blaming the Lars’ murders on Luke himself.

Artoo’s Tale, about the astromech droid’s flight from the Lars homestead in search of General Kenobi, is just a rehashing of information we know from watching the film. It’s neither interesting nor enlightening.

Tatooine Debriefing, told from the account of the senior officer of the sandtrooper unit sent to Tatooine to recover the stolen data plans, fills in some gaps in the film and expands on what we know. Apparently it took several days to locate the Jawa sandcrawler that picked up Artoo and Threepio. The droids must have been in the sandcrawler for days before being sold. The only thing missing is where and how the stormtroopers got their dewback mounts.

One That Got Away is a tale told by bounty hunter Jodo Kast about his efforts to capture or kill Doctor Evazan. Kast is eventually thwarted by Ponda Baba. I assume Kast is only here because of his appearance in Tatooine Manhunt (1988). It is interesting to note that apparently Kast is the one who mangled and scarred Doctor Evazan’s face.

Double Vision is a story about the Tonnika Sisters, and their interactions with Han and Lando. It starts off with a great premise: Han wants to use the sisters to pull a con on Lando as a prank. But as the story goes on, it becomes clear the author had no idea how it was going to end. It just fizzles out, and it’s a really lame idea for a con to begin with.

Crossing the Dark Lord is another disappointing short story. It’s apparently an account told to cadets of the Imperial officer corps meant to inspire fear in them of Lord Darth Vader. As the story goes, Vader clears out the bridge of a Star Destroyer in order to “commune with the galaxy.” The captain of the ship decides to spy on Vader using security cameras, but Vader feels the intrusion and kills the captain from afar. It’s a childishly-written story. It also uses a still image from The Empire Strikes Back of Captain Needa lying dead at Vader’s feet. Wrong film and it doesn’t fit the story.

Dodonna’s Story is a great little story about how General Dodonna discovered the fatal flaw in the Death Star’s construction. It seems odd, however, that the general, after analyzing the data from R2-D2 (at first finding nothing useful), went to sleep with the Death Star attack looming the next morning. It certainly didn’t feel from the film that there was a night spent at the Yavin base before the battle after Luke and company arrived, and even if there was, I’d like to think that General Dodonna would have stayed up all night planning for the attack and not gone to bed. Regardless, this was an enjoyable tale.

The Letter Home is a letter an unidentified Rebel pilot wrote to his mother before attacking the Death Star. His mother obviously didn’t agree with his ideals and he spends the letter explaining why he’s about to sacrifice his life.

Wish You Were Here is also a letter, this time written by Biggs Darklighter to Luke Skywalker just weeks before the events of A New Hope. It’s a confusing read, with Biggs at one point seemingly almost ignorant of and uninterested in the Rebellion, while at the end he strongly hints he has already joined them. It doesn’t really seem as if he’s being coy either. Biggs also states that Luke was the best pilot of them all back on Tatooine, only to state at the end that he was better than or at least equal to Luke. Biggs also comes off as a bit arrogant towards Luke in the letter. Regardless, it’s not a bad little “story” and certainly serves as a historical curiosity.

Conclusion

While far from essential reading, this book is a fun romp through the first film. While much of the book could be considered dry reading, there are enough interesting passages and (especially for the Second Edition) topics to generally prevent boredom. Unfortunately, while some of the short stories are enjoyable little reads, most of them are inconsequential and forgettable. The Battle of Wayfar will no doubt be the most useful to today’s Star Wars gamers. It can easily be set anywhere during any era. If you’re looking for a Helm’s Deep-style adventure for your Star Wars game, look no further. 

5 / 10

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

Another stunning Ralph McQuarrie painting.

by Alan Dean Foster

Del Rey Books

February 1978

The first work of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The genesis of this book is now a fairly well-known story amongst those familiar with Star Wars literature. It goes something like this. Alan Dean Foster was originally contracted to write two Star Wars novels – the original film’s novelization and a second book. Before the first film’s debut, before George Lucas knew that Star Wars would be a smash hit and a financial success, he instructed Foster to write a story that could serve as a sequel of sorts to Star Wars. If Star Wars was a success, Lucas would be able to go on with creating and completing the rest of his planned saga. If the film turned out to be unsuccessful, his thinking was that he would still be able to make a sequel, but not with the resources that, say, a The Empire Strikes Back would necessitate. Thus Foster was told to construct his story in a certain way. It had to feature a setting that could be easily replicated using low-budget film techniques (a fog-shrouded swamp world would do nicely). It could not feature any space battles (which would be too costly for a low-budget movie). And it could not feature Han Solo (as Harrison Ford had yet to sign on to do more Star Wars films). In this way, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was born.

The plot of the book couldn't be simpler. Luke and Leia are aboard separate Y-wings (along with R2-D2 and C-3PO, respectively) flying to a meeting of underground resistance leaders on Circarpous IV. Leia’s starfighter experiences a sudden and unexplained malfunction and she is forced to crash land on one of the other planets in the system – Circarpous V, or as the locals call it, Mimban. On the surface, Luke and Leia’s prime motivation is to get off the planet and make the meeting on the next planet over. However, they are seriously waylaid when they agree to help a mysterious old woman named Halla find a powerful Force artifact known as the Kaiburr crystal, which is located in an ancient temple somewhere on the planet.

Unfortunately, the characters we’re familiar with don’t feel particularly familiar here, and Luke and Leia in particular make absolutely bone-headed, out-of-character decisions that get them into the exact trouble they so desperately needed to avoid (such as the “fight” between Luke and Leia outside the diner, although this is but one of many examples). Luke’s crush on Leia can be a bit cringe-inducing at times, but they never kiss, and it really isn't as bad as it is often made out to be (it’s perfectly understandable given when this book was written). Darth Vader is mostly recognizable from his film counterpart, although he talks far too much during his scenes, and even lets loose an evil laugh once or twice, as if Vader were just another pulp villain. As far as new characters go, Grammel is a joke, once again exhibiting all the worst traits of a pulp villain, and it is a wonder that, despite the lure of the Kaiburr crystal, Luke and Leia trusted and followed Halla, who was clearly insane and more unlikable than otherwise.

Vast stretches of time elapse off-screen, but the effect is not handled well. For example, after driving for several days through the swamps of Mimban, a character will ask “are you sure this is the way?” conversationally, as if they’d been travelling for twenty minutes. Because of this, I couldn't have cared less about the supposed meeting of resistance leaders that Leia and Luke so desperately needed to get to, even though Leia kept reminding Luke of the fact during their stay on Mimban. Considering how much time they spent on Mimban, it was quite clear that they weren't going to make this meeting, unless Leia’s original intention was to arrive weeks early. Of course, it is implied at the book’s end that they do make this meeting, so what was with the rush in the first place? Ultimately, it doesn't matter, as this is the same book that decided Luke, quite conveniently, would be fluent in the Yuzzum language because he studied languages while living on Tatooine.

Conclusion

This is a low-budget, simple, and inconsequential story set in a likewise low-budget setting, marred by Alan Dean Foster’s awkward prose. It might have ignited the imagination in 1978, but the only reason to read this book today is if one were a completionist.

4 / 10

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

A wonderful Ralph McQuarrie piece graces
the cover of the first edition.

Formerly titled Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker

by George Lucas

ghostwriten by
Alan Dean Foster

Ballantine Books

December 1976

Published six months prior to the debut of the film Star Wars, this book was the first Star Wars product released to the public. While it was credited to George Lucas as author, it’s now well-known that Alan Dean Foster in fact ghostwrote the book. The first edition of the novelization features an original Ralph McQuarrie painting as the cover.

The book opens with a prologue, which itself opens with the line, “Another galaxy, another time.” (The precursor to “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”) The prologue contains two epigraphs. The first is an excerpt from the Journal of the Whills, which briefly summarizes the events that now pertain to Episodes I−III. It is mostly accurate to what we know today (except for the fact that no mention of the Clone Wars is made, and the Emperor is made to seem as if he became a puppet ruler over time). The second epigraph is a great quotation regarding Luke and Han: “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally they became heroes.” –Leia Organa of Alderaan, Senator

The book follows the timeline of the film to a tee. It begins with the Star Destroyer chasing the Rebel blockade runner, and ends with the heroes receiving medals of honor at the grand ceremony on Yavin. In between, there is very little deviation from the film. Nearly all of the scenes from the film are represented in the novelization, and are, for the most part, faithful to their film counterpart. The notable exceptions to this are the destruction of Alderaan and Obi-Wan feeling the “great disturbance in the Force.” While Alderaan’s destruction occurs of course, neither of these scenes are presented in the novelization. This is a shame, really, as we never experience Princess Leia’s agony over the destruction of her planet, which not only lessens the impact of its destruction, but it could have been a great opportunity to flesh out her character more. Another small difference is that Grand Moff Tarkin is present during Leia’s interrogation.

There are numerous instances of dialogue that is different from the film version, although this is to be expected, as a result of evolution of the screenplay and Foster’s own interpretation of the scene. Occasionally I found the changes to be for the better, but for the most part I found them lacking. Cases in point: after Obi-Wan is cut down by Vader, and Han and Leia are shouting for Luke to hurry aboard the Falcon, Obi-Wan’s postmortem Force suggestion to Luke is “Luke . . . listen!” (As opposed to, “Run Luke, run!”) Or Princess Leia’s best known line, “Obi-Wan Kenobi, help me! You’re my only remaining hope.” Or try, “Not a more wretched collection of villainy and disreputable types exists anywhere on Tatooine.” I’m not sure even Sir Alec Guinness could have pulled that line off. Luke has “a very strange feeling about this.” TK-421 in the novelization is THX-1138. (While Lucas inserted a THX-1138 reference into American Graffiti, this is certainly the earliest such reference to his first film in a Star Wars work.) While stupefied over Alderaan’s apparent destruction, Han says, “Although, according to the atlas, Alderaan had no moons.” I don’t know what atlas he’s referring to or where he got it, but my Essential Atlas says Alderaan had one moon. Get with it, Han.

A few deleted and extended scenes from the film are presented in this book. Notably, the Tatooine scenes with Luke, Biggs Darklighter, and their shiftless Anchorhead friends are presented here, spanning ten pages. A handful of scenes also benefit from the breathing room a novelization can afford them, such as when we realize that Tarkin wasn’t privy to Darth Vader’s activities prior to the Death Star scenes: “Mos Eisley? Tatooine? What is this? What’s this all about, Vader?” Also, the pre-battle briefing by General Dodonna to the Rebel pilots is more detailed and helped make more sense of the upcoming battle. A brief passage in the Lars’ garage while Luke is cleaning the droids has him getting angry and frustrated in a way very similar (and in an identical location) to Anakin in Episode II: Attack of the Clones: With atypical violence he threw a power wrench across a work-table nearby. “It just isn’t fair!” he declared to no one in particular. This occurs shortly before Luke informs Threepio that this world is called Tatooine. In the novelization, we get Luke actually answering Threepio’s query with a helpful answer, we get Leia being called by her full name (Leia Organa), and we get Darth Vader being referred to as a Sith. None of these occur in the film, which is actually an interesting “Lucasism.” (Such as, even though they were never once referred to as such in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, most people with even a passing knowledge of Star Wars knew and knows that the fuzzy little teddy bears that inhabit Endor are called Ewoks. Even the word “Sith” is not once used in the entire original trilogy.) And R2-D2 suffers the same exact fate as he later would in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back when he plugs his computer probe into a power socket and nearly short circuits.

All of the characters we’re so familiar with are written faithfully in the novelization. Foster did not deviate from the screenplay in any significant fashion enough to produce aberrant characterizations. However, one gets the feeling reading this book that Sir Alec Guinness brought so much to the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi that a screenplay-to-novel interpretation was not sufficient to truly capture the old Jedi Master introduced to film audiences six months later. Darth Vader is also not quite as effective here as in the film. While he is sometimes presented as a frightening, imposing figure, he also tends to have longer sentences of dialogue in the book than in the film, which really isn’t a good look for Vader. A good novelization, however, does allow the reader to get into the heads of the characters in a way that a film cannot, and Foster is a good enough novelizer to take advantage of this disparity.

For example, I enjoyed Luke’s landspeeder twice being used as a means of showing Luke’s growth and development. After Obi-Wan informs Luke that he’ll have to sell the speeder, Luke “let his gaze rove over the landspeeder, but the thrill it had once given him was gone—gone along with other things best not dwelt on.” Upon departing after selling the speeder, Luke “strained for a forlorn glimpse of the old landspeeder—his last link with his former life. Then there was no more time for looking back.” Another powerful example is Darth Vader mentally sizing up his colleagues aboard the Death Star. Lamenting the fact that, while Grand Moff Tarkin and Admiral Motti were “talented and ambitious,” they lacked the scope of vision that Vader had: “Still, neither man was a Dark Lord. As such, little more could be expected of them . . . And while he would have preferred the company of equals, he had to admit reluctantly that at this point, he had no equals.”

Alan Dean Foster should be commended for presenting the Star Wars Universe to audiences for the very first time as well as he did. The book reads like Star Wars. Of special note is the Battle of Yavin. The battle is well-written while sticking fairly close to the film version. (Although in the novelization, Red Squadron is Blue Squadron and Gold Squadron is Red Squadron, the battle plan is slightly altered from the film version, and Luke actually makes a second pass down the trench after missing his shot the first time.) It takes up a significant amount of pages (almost thirty) while remaining almost as tense as the filmed battle. However, the reader does not get a very good sense of many of the locals featured in the story. Mos Eisley, for example, is briefly and poorly described, and we miss the ‘grandeur’ of it in the book. Honestly, however, the same applies to most of the story’s settings. 

There are also a few curiosities present in Foster’s writing, which is rife with similes and strange references, many of which are quite clunky:

     “[Biggs] stood out in the room like an Oriental poppy in a sea of oats.”

     “Luke's mind was as muddy as a pond laced with petroleum."

     “Oddly, Luke was thinking of a dog he had once owned when an immensely powerful something wrenched at the ship's hull with the strength of a fallen angel."

     “Artoo emitted a few wilted beeps, successfully giving the impression of a human who had expected a glass of mild wine and instead unwittingly downed several gulps of something 180 proof.”

Another oddity in Foster’s writing (evident in the examples above) is the use of several Earth-centric references. Ducks, dogs, cats, ferrets, Doppler, Tantalus, Oriental poppies . . . it’s probably not enough to pull the reader entirely out of the story, but it is a touch distracting. There are also some “alternate” spellings in this book, such as “Jabba the Hut,” “Wookie,” “Obi-wan Kenobi,” and “‘droid.” (Although droids are mostly referred to here as “robots.” A Star Wars no-no . . . although one that Foster can't be blamed for.) “The Force” is mostly left lowercase, and oddly, the name “Death Star” is only used once in the whole book—every other time it is simply referred to as “station” or “battle station.” Foster really can’t be blamed for any of these either, as he was working from a work-in-progress to begin with.

Conclusion

It’s a story we all (presumably) love and the novelization mostly does it justice. The characters in the book feel familiar and are mostly consistent with their film counterparts. And while Foster’s writing style could at times be described as “awkward,” and doesn’t do much to expand on what we already know from watching the film, he did an overall admirable job conveying the story of Star Wars to audiences for the very first time.

The trouble here is that the film is a more rewarding experience in every way. A good novelization expands the reader’s knowledge and understanding of the source material and gives the characterizations more room to breathe. Unfortunately, Foster’s novelization of A New Hope mostly fails in those respects. While this is a quick, light, fairly entertaining read, the reader gains very little above and beyond what the film has to offer, and the film has so much more to offer than this book.  

5.75 / 10

Welcome to AGAT

My first blog, this is an attempt to catalog my thoughts of the Star Wars novels and RPG supplements as I read through them.

The Star Wars novels will be read and reviewed in publication order, beginning with the novelization of the first Star Wars film. At the time of this writing, the latest Star Wars book released is Scourge... although I imagine it will be quite a while before I get to that book.

The Star Wars roleplaying game book reviews will be done in a slightly more random order. If there is a supplement that corresponds directly or very closely to the novel I'm currently reading, then that supplement will be read and reviewed along with the novel. Otherwise, I will be randomly deciding which supplement I read and review next.

I will probably be posing once a week, although I will always try for more frequent posts if I can. I do want to try to avoid posting any less frequently than that, however.

My intention is to also begin reviewing non-Star Wars books, video games, and movies. Whether or not I include these in this blog or begin a new blog, I have not yet decided.