(spoilers, obviously)
I just finished reading this novel, and am somewhat unsure of how I feel about it. For those who haven't heard of it, the book came out in 1978, right after Star Wars, written by Alan Dean Foster, and is based on an outline for a proposed Star Wars sequel Lucas had on hand if the original film were not a huge hit. The sequel was to be lower budget than the original, and it really shows in the book. When the first film became a hit, the story of Splinter was scrapped, and various ideas and scenarios from the story were moved to Empire and Jedi. For example:
- The story opens with Luke and Leia, on their way to recruit a group of aliens into the Rebel Alliance, crash landing on a swamp planet.
- After entering an underground cave system, Luke and Leia are captured by the Coway (because all primitive Star Wars aliens have to have a W and hard C sound), a primitive underground tribe who, after Luke defeats their champion, vow to help Luke and Leia fight Vader and his storm troopers. Shortly afterwards, there is a battle in the jungle between the Coway and storm troopers.
- At one point, the a large, Wookie-like alien accompanying Luke commandeers an Imperial crawler.
- There is a final light saber duel between Vader and Leia, and eventually Vader and Luke where Vader does little more than toy with the two (like in Empire) and make threatening comments.
- At one point, Luke is pinned beneath a piece of fallen wall, forcing Leia to confront Vader herself (like in Clones).
- Vader eventually has his arm chopped off by Luke, and falls into a bottomless pit.
- When Luke and Leia reach the temple, there is a battle with a large, Lizard-like alien (similar to the Rancor from Jedi). In fact, the book relishes in the deadly wildlife/animal attack theme that all SW films use.
Those are the similarities to other SW films I can find. I am sure there are quite a few. Now for the differences:
- The dialogue! Oh, God, the dialogue! I am a huge ADF fan, and he is a much better writer than this. I am assuming Lucas wrote much of what comes out of the character's mouths.
Some gems include:
Vader (to Leia): "Come little Princess. Now is the time for spirit. You still have a chance."
Luke (to Leia): "Leia, don't! It's a feint... he's daring you. Kill me, then yourself... it's hopeless now." - could you ever imagine Luke saying that?
I am sure there are others, but nearly everything the characters say simply feels wrong.
I understand that this was before Empire and Jedi, but the characters don't even fit in with what we see in the original film. For example, Leia spends much of the novel being nothing more than the damsel Luke must repeatedly rescue.
I was struck by the brutality and darkness of the story. For a supposed series for kids, this story is pretty child unfriendly. There is a point where Luke and Leia argue over whether to execute one of the Coway, for example. However, when the two are first attacked, Luke doesn't hesitate to slice one of the Coway in the back as he retreats!
When the crawler is captured, Luke and Leia are disgusted as Imperial body parts are tossed out of the cockpit. When they enter the cockpit, it is covered with "fluid". Yummy!
So in conclusion, would I recommend the book? If you are a SW fan, yes. It is a fascinating glimpse of where the story was in 1978. It also is another strike against the idea that Lucas had some grand master plan for the trilogy from the beginning.
If you don't have access to the book, or don't care about the little details, there is an excellent summary here:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Splinter_of_the_Mind's_Eye
I just finished reading this novel, and am somewhat unsure of how I feel about it. For those who haven't heard of it, the book came out in 1978, right after Star Wars, written by Alan Dean Foster, and is based on an outline for a proposed Star Wars sequel Lucas had on hand if the original film were not a huge hit. The sequel was to be lower budget than the original, and it really shows in the book. When the first film became a hit, the story of Splinter was scrapped, and various ideas and scenarios from the story were moved to Empire and Jedi. For example:
- The story opens with Luke and Leia, on their way to recruit a group of aliens into the Rebel Alliance, crash landing on a swamp planet.
- After entering an underground cave system, Luke and Leia are captured by the Coway (because all primitive Star Wars aliens have to have a W and hard C sound), a primitive underground tribe who, after Luke defeats their champion, vow to help Luke and Leia fight Vader and his storm troopers. Shortly afterwards, there is a battle in the jungle between the Coway and storm troopers.
- At one point, the a large, Wookie-like alien accompanying Luke commandeers an Imperial crawler.
- There is a final light saber duel between Vader and Leia, and eventually Vader and Luke where Vader does little more than toy with the two (like in Empire) and make threatening comments.
- At one point, Luke is pinned beneath a piece of fallen wall, forcing Leia to confront Vader herself (like in Clones).
- Vader eventually has his arm chopped off by Luke, and falls into a bottomless pit.
- When Luke and Leia reach the temple, there is a battle with a large, Lizard-like alien (similar to the Rancor from Jedi). In fact, the book relishes in the deadly wildlife/animal attack theme that all SW films use.
Those are the similarities to other SW films I can find. I am sure there are quite a few. Now for the differences:
- The dialogue! Oh, God, the dialogue! I am a huge ADF fan, and he is a much better writer than this. I am assuming Lucas wrote much of what comes out of the character's mouths.
Some gems include:
Vader (to Leia): "Come little Princess. Now is the time for spirit. You still have a chance."
Luke (to Leia): "Leia, don't! It's a feint... he's daring you. Kill me, then yourself... it's hopeless now." - could you ever imagine Luke saying that?
I am sure there are others, but nearly everything the characters say simply feels wrong.
I understand that this was before Empire and Jedi, but the characters don't even fit in with what we see in the original film. For example, Leia spends much of the novel being nothing more than the damsel Luke must repeatedly rescue.
I was struck by the brutality and darkness of the story. For a supposed series for kids, this story is pretty child unfriendly. There is a point where Luke and Leia argue over whether to execute one of the Coway, for example. However, when the two are first attacked, Luke doesn't hesitate to slice one of the Coway in the back as he retreats!
When the crawler is captured, Luke and Leia are disgusted as Imperial body parts are tossed out of the cockpit. When they enter the cockpit, it is covered with "fluid". Yummy!
So in conclusion, would I recommend the book? If you are a SW fan, yes. It is a fascinating glimpse of where the story was in 1978. It also is another strike against the idea that Lucas had some grand master plan for the trilogy from the beginning.
If you don't have access to the book, or don't care about the little details, there is an excellent summary here:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Splinter_of_the_Mind's_Eye
) I thought Luke and Leia were written convincingly. (And yes, the dialogue is corny, but that's in keeping with the throwback space-opera character of SW. For my money, all SW dialogue should be the kind of thing that wouldn't be out of place on title cards in a silent movie.)
