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Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster

Apparently Han isn't in the book because they thought they would have a hard time convincing Ford to come back for the sequel. They had considered making a movie out of this. :eek:
 
On the other hand, we could have ended up with:

LUKE SKYWALKER AND THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
LUKE SKYWALKER AND THE RETURN OF THE JEDI, etc.
 
My old Bantam Trek books still have Star Trek on the cover though.

Yes, as I specifically said, the words "Star Trek" were on the cover, but the logo wasn't. And the "Star Trek" was usually much smaller than the book title.


As I said, the version I have is quite dark. Vader just looks like a hooded person with a cape standing in shadow. You have to look closely to see the outline of his helmet's face.

In my version, I couldn't even tell that Luke is supposed to be trapped under that rock, it's all in shadow, so it just looks like he's kneeling and fell backwards. Leia's buns (hehe) do not stick out noticeably in the darker version. So actually the brighter contrast is cool to see.

Must be a printing error. I remember the cover image being quite clear on my copy.
 
Damn you Del Rey! I guess screwing up the cover contrast is something pretty easy to happen.

Yes, as I specifically said, the words "Star Trek" were on the cover, but the logo wasn't. And the "Star Trek" was usually much smaller than the book title.
Ah well, I was thinking the franchise name was the logo. Because to me, the yellow Star Wars text is the SW logo.

I have the book right here, so I'm rereading it a little. The writing's a bit ham-fisted and corny, but it's got a certain charm. The story sort of goes nowhere and does nothing, but I guess that's a symptom of the state of the 'franchise'. This is probably the first SW book, am I right? So it gets some points for that.

The end is a little odd. Vader falls into a bottomless pit. Then he pulls a Gandalf in the same page with no explanation. :lol:
 
I have that book. I remember reading it when it came out. I don't remember much about it though. I do recall not being all that thrilled with it.
 
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An early SW Marvel book told a Kenobi story that had him completely on his own, no master, no padawan, or padawan's padawan. It could have happened, yet I remember not seeing any more like it that I can recall.

The term "padawan" wasn't invented until The Phantom Menace. All Marvel had to go on at the time was that Obi-Wan Kenobi had been a general in something called the Clone Wars; anything beyond that hadn't yet been defined by Lucas and wouldn't be for a couple of decades.

I know. It was actually a good story. I can almost see it as a CW ep. I just meant that, like you pointed out, so much was undefined. As far as anyone knew, Anakin and Vader were two separate people, L/L was as likely as not, and the CW was fought against a race of mad dopples, with a lot of Skrull/Cylon and 'shoot us both Spock' kind of action. Even right after ROTJ, I heard it said that either 7-8-9 was all but inevitable, or that Lucas was so exhausted, even 1-2-3 was in doubt (This supposedly was a quote from Lucas' sister, never repeated that I know of).

As to accidental canon L/L, I still wonder, and not in a prurient way. My guess is a latent sense of the Force would keep them apart, but put young people with no families, known as the go-getter heroes of a fugitive movement, in together in life-or-death situations, and sparks that might have flown seem comprehensible. Add to that the year or more Han was away, and only their duties keep us from major squick.

If SOTME did 'happen', maybe catching a Force-glimpse of L/L is part of what drove Jacen crazy.:guffaw:

JS : I will bring peace to this ravaged galaxy, as I glimpse my grandfather tried to do, and as his children, my mother and uncle...what's that?...OH DUDE, MAJOR EWWWWWW!!!!!
 
Ah well, I was thinking the franchise name was the logo. Because to me, the yellow Star Wars text is the SW logo.

A logo is an image, in this case the image of the title rendered in its onscreen typeface and style. As you say, the Star Wars logo isn't just the words "Star Wars" in ordinary type; it's the specific type treatment we recognize from the movie advertising.
 
On the other hand, we could have ended up with:

LUKE SKYWALKER AND THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
LUKE SKYWALKER AND THE RETURN OF THE JEDI, etc.

Hmm...had they done that, would that mean that Star Wars would be retroactively called Luke Skywalker and the Star Wars on the DVD covers?

:p
 
Ye Gods, what a terrible book. I read it when it first came out, and even at that tender age I saw the huge plot hole in it: Luke uses his lightsabre to like the New Shimmer ("It's a floor wax and a desert topping!"), using it for everything throughout the book (even underwater!), and yet, when the rock falls on him, neither he not Leia thinks to turn on the sabre and hack away at the rock until he can get loose of it. No, they dawdle until Vader shows up. It was the first novel I reads where I could see the author hadn't thought it through, and I've never been able to take ADF seriously since. Dumb dumb dumb!
 
Ye Gods, what a terrible book. I read it when it first came out, and even at that tender age I saw the huge plot hole in it: Luke uses his lightsabre to like the New Shimmer ("It's a floor wax and a desert topping!"), using it for everything throughout the book (even underwater!), and yet, when the rock falls on him, neither he not Leia thinks to turn on the sabre and hack away at the rock until he can get loose of it. No, they dawdle until Vader shows up. It was the first novel I reads where I could see the author hadn't thought it through, and I've never been able to take ADF seriously since. Dumb dumb dumb!

I think the changing the size of a lightsaber blade to pick a lock is extremely cheesy. So glad Lucas had the sabers slashing through all types of shit with ease in ESB. :lol:
 
Splinter was an interesting Star Wars story published before Lucas had solidified his canon and control over all things Star Wars. Hence the non-fraternal material with the twins. And the existence of this novel again proves that Lucas definitely had not preplanned all of the prequel stuff.
 
Apparently Han isn't in the book because they thought they would have a hard time convincing Ford to come back for the sequel. They had considered making a movie out of this. :eek:

Harrison Ford's contract was only for a single film. While Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were contracted for 3 films. Ford refused to sign beyond the original movie. Making a new deal for each sequel. I am sure he benefited for it!

Though he was willing to sign a 3 picture deal to play Indiana Jones upfront. It was one of Lucas's requirements for the star of Raiders. He was expecting Ford to refuse and was surprised when he was very willing.

Very early on Harrison Ford saw that Star Wars was really about Luke. But of course unlike Han, Indy was the star of that series.
 
Harrison Ford was really on the ball then. If SW had flopped and they made this thing as part 2...(or 5...) that would've been bad.

Ah well, I was thinking the franchise name was the logo. Because to me, the yellow Star Wars text is the SW logo.

A logo is an image, in this case the image of the title rendered in its onscreen typeface and style. As you say, the Star Wars logo isn't just the words "Star Wars" in ordinary type; it's the specific type treatment we recognize from the movie advertising.

Oh, I get it now. Yeah, Star Trek was typed in something like Ariel bold or something like that.
 
I will be the minority and say I liked the book. Didn't care too much for the big furry Wookie wannabees...but I had a HUGE crush on Leia as a kid and liked how she got to swing the saber and fight Vader (even though I knew how it would go).

But the whole Luke "I am Ben Kenobi" crap threw me out of it.
 
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