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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
Yeah! First and best Star Wars-based novel. I ate it up in high school. Now I try not to touch movie-offshoot novels with a ten foot pole but, I remember this one as being so much fun, so well-written, and seemingly unconcerned with catering to film hype that I would really love to read it again.
http://fantastiskfiktion.wordpress.com/2013/06/08/star-wars/
A little better than what I was expecting, but nothing too fascinating. I read it out of curiosity, because it was the first EU novel. It might have been something they were considering for the second movie, but I'm not sure about that. I'm glad they went with Empire Strikes Back. But this book is at least entertaining. There is a lot of sexual tension between Luke and Leia, which is funny based on the direction they took with the films. Also, there is no Han or Chewy. The closest this gets to the movie is that they are trapped on a planet that is described to look much like Degobah. The story is basically Luke and Leia are stuck on this planet and trying to help this old lady find a Kaiburr crystal that gives the user enhanced force powers. They get some help from natives and have a final showdown with Vader and his troopers. It's an interesting read.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The arts the real star here, very clean, with a great color palette.
Star Wars Legends Project #273
Background: Splinter of the Mind's Eye was written by [a:Alan Dean Foster|11735|Alan Dean Foster|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207233026p2/11735.jpg] and published in February of 1978. In addition to the Prequel-Era novel The Approaching Storm, Foster ghostwrote the novelization of the original Star Wars and wrote the novelization for The Force Awakens.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye takes place two years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Luke and Leia, along with Artoo and Threepio and Darth Vader. The story takes place on Mimban.
Summary: Luke and Leia are on their way to an important meeting with underground resistance leaders when a poorly-timed mechanical failure grounds Leia's starfighter on a nearby planet, and an atmospheric disturbance causes Luke to crash as well. Stranded on this mysterious, swampy backwater, the two discover a secret Imperial mining facility, but more importantly, they hear a legend of a crystal that can heighten ability to wield the Force a thousand fold. Unfortunately, the Empire knows about it as well, and the race is on!
Review: Man, that summary almost makes this story sound like it has a lot of excitement, energy, and suspense! It. Does. Not. Apparently Foster, when given a completely blank canvas on which to tell any story he wanted . . . The first-ever story in the entire Expanded Universe, no less . . . he gave us 300 pages of Luke and Leia squelching their way across a planetwide swamp. (Apparently even this wasn't bland enough, as his next Star Wars outing featured 350 pages of Anakin and Obi-Wan wandering across a flat, featureless planetwide prairie.)
Honestly, you almost have to read this as not a Star Wars story, or as an unofficial sequel to a little-known '70s sci-fi movie that never got an official sequel of its own. It's effectively not canon (even before the rest of Legends was de-canonized), but it isn't fair to hold that against it. The characterizations of Luke and Leia aren't good, and none of the new characters he introduces have any great charisma, either. Leia in particular, though she never quite drops to the level of traditional helpless damsel in distress, is a far-cry from the tough, self-sufficient warrior princess beloved of generations of Star Wars fans.
I'm also exaggerating a little about the "walking through swamp" segment of the novel. That was the bit that stood out the most in my memory of many years ago, but upon re-reading it I was surprised by just how long it took the book to get to that point. And can you imagine how dull the rest of it was if the memory of it was eclipsed by a trek through a bog?
There are a few elements of the story that are strongly reminiscent of the adventure novels of, say, H. Rider Haggard, but with none of his dramatic flair and all of his problematic treatments of native aboriginal peoples. Neither element has aged at all well in this case, and though the result wasn't quite as awful as I remembered (particularly reading it, as I said, by the standards of "this is not really a Star Wars novel"), it's still far from something I'd suggest anyone take the time to read.
D
Background: Splinter of the Mind's Eye was written by [a:Alan Dean Foster|11735|Alan Dean Foster|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207233026p2/11735.jpg] and published in February of 1978. In addition to the Prequel-Era novel The Approaching Storm, Foster ghostwrote the novelization of the original Star Wars and wrote the novelization for The Force Awakens.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye takes place two years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Luke and Leia, along with Artoo and Threepio and Darth Vader. The story takes place on Mimban.
Summary: Luke and Leia are on their way to an important meeting with underground resistance leaders when a poorly-timed mechanical failure grounds Leia's starfighter on a nearby planet, and an atmospheric disturbance causes Luke to crash as well. Stranded on this mysterious, swampy backwater, the two discover a secret Imperial mining facility, but more importantly, they hear a legend of a crystal that can heighten ability to wield the Force a thousand fold. Unfortunately, the Empire knows about it as well, and the race is on!
Review: Man, that summary almost makes this story sound like it has a lot of excitement, energy, and suspense! It. Does. Not. Apparently Foster, when given a completely blank canvas on which to tell any story he wanted . . . The first-ever story in the entire Expanded Universe, no less . . . he gave us 300 pages of Luke and Leia squelching their way across a planetwide swamp. (Apparently even this wasn't bland enough, as his next Star Wars outing featured 350 pages of Anakin and Obi-Wan wandering across a flat, featureless planetwide prairie.)
Honestly, you almost have to read this as not a Star Wars story, or as an unofficial sequel to a little-known '70s sci-fi movie that never got an official sequel of its own. It's effectively not canon (even before the rest of Legends was de-canonized), but it isn't fair to hold that against it. The characterizations of Luke and Leia aren't good, and none of the new characters he introduces have any great charisma, either. Leia in particular, though she never quite drops to the level of traditional helpless damsel in distress, is a far-cry from the tough, self-sufficient warrior princess beloved of generations of Star Wars fans.
I'm also exaggerating a little about the "walking through swamp" segment of the novel. That was the bit that stood out the most in my memory of many years ago, but upon re-reading it I was surprised by just how long it took the book to get to that point. And can you imagine how dull the rest of it was if the memory of it was eclipsed by a trek through a bog?
There are a few elements of the story that are strongly reminiscent of the adventure novels of, say, H. Rider Haggard, but with none of his dramatic flair and all of his problematic treatments of native aboriginal peoples. Neither element has aged at all well in this case, and though the result wasn't quite as awful as I remembered (particularly reading it, as I said, by the standards of "this is not really a Star Wars novel"), it's still far from something I'd suggest anyone take the time to read.
D
Although its even more 'Legends' than the true Legends continuity is now. With it being in a sense an alternate universe. This is without a doubt a tribute to all the novels that would follow. Fosters creativity here can be seen as he creates a novel in a universe that is still very empty. The climax of the novel could have been slightly more exciting, but Vader showing up of course was fantastic. All in all Foster did a fantastic job here and for die hard Star Wars fans this is something different from the normal reads. A look at how things might have been and how characters lives and personalities may have been a little different.
This is based off of the 1978 book of the same name by Alan Dean Foster. The first expanded universe story. It was supposed to be a low-key sequel if the just-released movie did not do so well. Needless to say, the film was a success and a much bigger movie was subsequently made, but many elements from this story found their way into it and some of the later films. Most notably was Leia's lightsaber face-off against Darth Vader, in 1978! It wasn't until Rey faced off against Kylo Ren that a female wielding a lightsaber clashed blades, nearly 30 years later!!! Anyway, by design, the story is quite low key, lots of swamps and dark tunnels. At the time of writing Harrison Ford hadn't even signed up for another film, so there’s no Han, Chewie or the Falcon. There's a lot of hype between the relationship between Luke and Leia and there is a certain sexual tension between the two in this story. Of course, it takes another two films until the truth is out and something that, back then, was still only a possibility. I liked how this book updated the novel by adding a few features from The Empire Strikes Back. The Executor helmed by Captain Piett was a nice touch (and a scene not in the book). I felt that the Imperial governor ass was a bit pointless, though his demise was quite the thing. The artwork was okay, the likenesses may have been off from time to time, but they were still identifiable.
All in all, a strong story to fit between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back though one I’m glad didn’t make it to the big screen. It’s also a nice companion to the novel.
All in all, a strong story to fit between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back though one I’m glad didn’t make it to the big screen. It’s also a nice companion to the novel.
Oh my stars, it's breathtaking. Luke throwing his lightsaber like a dagger to stab a fleeing foe in the back? Leia demanding to be euthanized like a "steel kitten" and then getting off a sniper shot that caught Vader completely by surprise? This is atrociously anti-canonical but it's a wild ride.
That was. . . . interesting.
Maybe the novel is better. But I did not like this at all. Knowing that this was the story that George Lucas was going to make if Star Wars bombed is very interesting. It's painfully obvious as there is no mention of Han Solo, the Falcon or Chewie. It's just Luke and Leia vs Vader. I expected more Vader so maybe I'll give the actual novel a try.
Halla was annoying. Yuzzem is obviously a Chewie stand-in and I did not care for that. Seeing Leia use a lightsaber was cool. There are some nice foreshadowing bits here.
Not awful. But not great. There are better Star Wars stories.
Maybe the novel is better. But I did not like this at all. Knowing that this was the story that George Lucas was going to make if Star Wars bombed is very interesting. It's painfully obvious as there is no mention of Han Solo, the Falcon or Chewie. It's just Luke and Leia vs Vader. I expected more Vader so maybe I'll give the actual novel a try.
Halla was annoying. Yuzzem is obviously a Chewie stand-in and I did not care for that. Seeing Leia use a lightsaber was cool. There are some nice foreshadowing bits here.
Not awful. But not great. There are better Star Wars stories.
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish