Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Novelization Review

Some unexpected things have happened with my readings habits throughout the years but one thing I never would have predicted is that I enjoy reading novelizations of movies I like to watch. It started because of Star Wars mostly and while I haven’t read tons of novelizations since I discovered I like reading those kinds of books, it’s a trend that will likely continue for many years. Recently, a little movie came out continuing the story began so many years ago with the release of Star Wars in 1977. That movie is Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and it’s pretty good. It’s not a masterpiece, but I don’t think anybody was realistically expecting one. Generally speaking, we wanted a good movie and we got a good movie. We also got a good novelization courtesy of the Grand Master of novelizations Alan Dean Foster.

Though it didn’t really surprise me, The Force Awakens book was pretty darn close to the movie experience and so my reaction was essentially the same. This is not the best novelization I’ve read but it’s still good. In some ways, I like it more than the movie. In some other ways, I don’t. This mostly has to do with the fact that when I read the book I lose the good elements from the movie such as the actors’ portrayals of their characters and the movie’s visuals. I’m well aware that I’m not saying anything revelatory here. It kind of comes with the territory of novelizations. However, if I’m comparing this to my experience reading other Star Wars novelizations, this one falls a little short. That’s because the original trilogy’s visuals and the actors performances are engraved in my mind’s eye. My multiple viewings of the original trilogy actually supported and improved my reading of their respective novelizations. That is not the case with The Force Awakens. I’ve seen it once and while the viewing was fresh it my mind when I read this book, I simply don’t have the same familiarity with it that I did with those other movies.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Novel review (Unread 010)

I love Star Trek for a lot of difference reasons. One of the main reasons is that it can provide fans with a wide variety of stories within the franchise’s fictional universe. This is true of a lot of long lasting and ever evolving franchises but Star Trek is still one of my favourites because it does it well and even when it completely misses the mark, there is a lot left to enjoy. That’s true of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and it’s even truer of Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Novel (that title!).

I didn’t really like Star Trek: The Motion Picture the first time I saw it. I’ve always thought it was interesting – how can it not be considering all the characters begin in a different situation than what we’re used to seeing, the uniforms are different, everything feels fresh and new – but I didn’t think it was good. It didn’t compare to the good Star Trek movies. The more I rewatched it, the more my opinion changed. I started to like it because the more I watched it the easier it was for me to notice the thematic elements at play (on full display but difficult to notice due to the slow pacing of the film), the surprisingly poignant character arcs (mostly Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, again, difficult to notice because they’re portrayed differently than we’re used to seeing and that’s the whole point), just how long those damn lingering shots of spaceships and the Intruder are (way, way too long). It also became apparent that the movie’s pacing actually supports the character development which also happens to be the heart of the movie. Having a slower pace allowed for more character reaction, anticipation, and boiling over of emotions, all of which fuel character interaction and allow for the thematic development of the relationships between humanoid to humanoid and human to unknown sentient beings.

Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye review

Notice how it doesn't say Star Wars
anywhere on the cover?

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye is a pretty well-known Star Wars novel. The reason why is rather simple, it’s the first Star Wars Expanded Universe story. It was written by Alan Dean Foster, who also ghost wrote the novelization of A New Hope for George Lucas. It’s also well known for being the only example of what Star Wars could have been had the second film gone in a different direction. Originally, Splint of the Mind’s Eye was intended to be a low budget alternative sequel to Episode IV on the off chance that Lucas wouldn’t be able to secure the funding necessary to film the sequel he intended. Lucky for us, The Empire Strikes Back was made into a movie but let’s not completely dismiss Foster’s book just yet. It’s good, not great, but good and I enjoyed reading about this alternate Star Wars that could have been (and depending who you talk to, still is).

I’m not entirely sure how to feel about this novel. I think the best way to think of the book is to consider it as that weird little brother of Star Wars who’s fun to hang out with for short periods of time but you’re always kind of happy when he leaves. What I’m trying to say is that I’m really glad this isn’t really representative of the Star Wars I’ve come to know and love but at the same time, I appreciate the look at an alternate low-budget version of the story. You see, the problem with Splinter of the Mind’s Eye is that it doesn’t work as a Star Wars story but it does work as a science fiction/fantasy story. 

Let’s recap the overall story first. Several months after the end of Episode IV, Luke and Leia are travelling in separate fighters on their way to a conference on Circarpous IV to convince the citizens of the planet to join the Alliance. There are technical difficulties with Leia’s ship and they crash land on the Circarpous V, also known as Mimban, which is a jungle planet. While trying to find a way off-planet, they discover a secret Imperial mining operation. None of that really matters because they simply continue to try finding a way off planet but they’re imprisoned by Imperial for having a mud fight in the middle of the mining settlement. The rest of the novel consists of them breaking out, failing miserably at finding the Kaiburr crystal and just having walking around on the planet trying to avoid getting killed. What’s the Kaiburr crystal? It’s a shabby plot device. It doesn’t really matter, it just gives Luke and Leia and excuse to stay on Mimban and have an adventure.

The back of the book makes it sound like the whole story is some grand quest to capture the Kaiburr crystal. It’s not about that at all. It's mostly about Luke and Leia exploring a sparsely populated planet and trying to get a ride off of it. Considerable sections of the books don't focus on plot or story; it's limited to Luke and Leia surviving in the wilderness. It's a neat trick to show character traits but Foster uses it ineffectively because Luke and Leia only act like themselves about 50% of the time. Overall, I enjoyed the exploration of Mimban. The idea of two people crash landing on a jungle planet is very simple, but it’s got plenty of potential as a science fiction survival story. There are moments in the book where Foster convinces me of certain alien elements of Mimban but all the odd not-quite-Star-Wars moments suck me right out of the book. It doesn’t help that there isn’t a plot and no real momentum is built. Silly things like Luke’s inner monologue making it sound like Kenobi taught him so much about the Force is just too off-putting to truly allow me to believe in the story and the setting. Those are the two ways I think you can enjoy the book: 1) A light-hearted science fiction survival story or 2) faux-Star Wars.

The most interesting thing about Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, for me, was the strange faux-Star Wars bits that I could point. Unsurprisingly, some of these things that didn’t survive into the Star Wars we know are actually rather annoying. Some of the annoying things include the characterization of the main characters. Leia’s emotionally crippled by the memory of her interrogation by Grand Moff Tarkin while on the Death Star. It’s disappointing to read her character as being rather boring and generic, for most of the book she’s missing that snarky attitude of hers. It’s almost as if she’s in the novel to serve as an object of desire for Luke. As for Luke, he’s incredibly sure of himself and he’s far more resourceful than I would have thought him to be soon after A New Hope. Luke is good with action, he’s very good and that’s ok, I buy that because it fits with the Luke we were introduced to in the first movie. Most of his inner monologues are brutal to read. All he does is swoon for Leia and it’s very strange to read. Lucas has tried to convince us that he wanted them to be twins from the get go but it’s nearly impossible to believe that after knowing he approved the things Foster writes about in this book.

There are plenty of other things that are interesting about this book. Some of my favourites include:

• Han Solo and Chewie don’t show up at all. Han gets a dismissive mention near this end and that’s it. Threepio and Artoo are both there for the duration of the book. I always thought it was interesting how many iconic elements of Star Wars were constantly in flux until the final moment of their capture on film. Things like Han Solo not going to appear past the first movie is but one example.
• Ralph McQuarrie did the cover for the book and it’s great! McQuarrie is the famous artist who worked on the original trilogy as a conceptual designer and matte painter. As far as I could tell from a quick search online, this is the only cover he’s done for a Star Wars novel. That’s a shame because this cover is great. I think it’s far superior than all of the digitally painted covers we see today. Is it just me or are book covers now either overly stylized graphic design or muddy digital paintings?
• They never made a movie out of this but Terry Austin and Chris Sprouse did a comic book adaptation.
• Did you know that lightsabers use up energy like blasters do? Luke uses an “energy pistol” he stole from an imperial guard to charge up his lightsaber. During a couple chapters Luke and Leia are travelling in underground tunnels and Luke contemplates using his lightsaber to create some light be decides against it because he’s worried it would drain the energy. Did you also know that lightsabers have a low setting? According to Foster they do and it’s used for things such as cutting bonds made of vines. In Foster’s Star Wars, lightsabers are like Swiss army knives you need to charge and it only have one tool which you can use on two power settings. Jedi are so crafty!
• Luke, having grown up on the desert planet of Tatooine, is scared of open water. And Leia can't swim. The Empire doesn’t stand a chance. Hard to imagine these two defeat Darth Vader at the very end of the book.

My absolute favourite part happens about three quarters in where Luke has a one-on-one fist fight against a Coway, a small subterranean inhabitant of Mimban. Foster days a very good job with the fight scene. I didn’t think he could write fight scenes well but he does. I’m really hoping somebody uses this as inspiration to write a punchy action novel titled Luke Skywalker Galactic Brawler. Quick Del Rey, make it happen! I’ll buy two! Better yet, someone make a movie and the writer of the novelization can embellish the background stories of the alien opponents. The move I think about this idea the more I think the movie should be anime. Yeah, like Bloodsport but with aliens and Star Wars anime dripping with crazy action scenes. Man, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was a huge missed opportunity for Foster and Lucas. I’m pretty disappointed all of a sudden. Still, for

I'm really hoping somebody uses this as inspiration to write a punchy action novel titled Luke Skywalker Galactic Brawler. Quick Del Rey, make it happen! I'll buy two! You know what, better yet, someone make a movie and the writer of the novelization can embellish the background stories the alien opponents. The more I think about this the more I think he movie should be anime. Like Bloodsport but with aliens and Star Wars as anime. Huge missed opportunity Foster and Lucas. I'm very disappointed. Still, it’s not all bad. I would recommend Splinter of the Mind’s Eye to avid Star Wars fans because they’d be the only ones to get a kick out of pointing out the various differences between Foster’s sequel and the movies . . . and don’t forget to enjoy Luke’s brawl. It’s great.

Star Wars Trilogy Review – part two

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 

Written by Alan Dean Foster based on a screenplay by George Lucas

Whether you’re the biggest Star Wars fan around or a more relaxed fan, reading the novelization of the movie is an interesting, and overall enjoyable, experience. It’s also a bit odd. The book provides interesting “extended scenes” type material that embellish or further contextualizes the events of the movies. It’s quite the treat even if the book can be very frustrated at times either because of the differences between the movie and the novel or because of Foster’s strange (or lack of) descriptions throughout.

The story is rather simple. For some reason it seems simpler than it did in the movie. The main elements lacking from the book are the visual elements. There is an odd lack of description of people and objects in the book which is probably a result of the book being written before the release of be film. From what I could find online the book was released several months before the movie was released in theatres. It's possible he final look of many of the iconic ships and sits and masks weren't finalized when Foster was writing the book. That being said, it's not really a bad thing for modern audiences. I imagine if someone is reading A New Hope novelization today they do so because by love Star Wars and are already familiar with the movies. Foster doesn't need to explain to me what a TIE fighter looks like but I imagine it was frustrating reader the book before the release of the movie.

A big part of what makes Star Wars work for me, and I imagine many other fans, is the importance given to the visuals. I’m not simply talking about special effects, though that does play a considerable part in it; I’m talking about the iconic imagery. I’m also talking about the sound effects. When Luke first lights up the lightsaber, it’s incredibly impressive. The glowing energy sword, the humming sound effect, it makes it look like a formidable weapon. It’s still pretty cool in the novel but without the signature hum and the visual elements, the impact is lessened. Similarly, Darth Vader has nearly no depth as a character and much less as a villain. Again, I blame the lack of visual description for this. It’s not all bad, though. Since I have seen the movie, I had all of those great visual and audio elements playing in my head while reading the book. I’d be curious to know what a person would think of the book if they read it before ever seeing the movie.

One of the stranger aspects of the novel is the weird references that are made about Earth. They all seem out of place and it raises several questions, some pertaining to the writing and some pertaining to the fictional universe of Star Wars. Does Earth even exist? Didn’t this happen “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”? If so, Earth is most likely extremely far (even by light speed space travel standards) and is more than likely populated by dinosaurs if at all. The ducks and pandas Foster refers to likely don’t exist at the time of the story. More importantly, it feels forced and it sucked me right out of the story. I think that Foster added a few Earth references to help ground the reader in a space setting where Earth exists. I’m not sure why he thought this would be a good idea because the only effect it had on me was to remind me how earth has nothing to do with Star Wars and that giving the reader points of reference that belong to Earth serves only to cause confusion.

One of the elements of the book I really liked does not appear in the movie. It’s the conversation between Luke and Biggs regarding Biggs’s decision to join the rebel Alliance. It’s refreshing to see that the people who are part of the rebellion choose to be there. They want to fight the Empire because it represents something they don’t believe it. The Empire itself is not an incarnation of evil but it is an incarnation of something the members of the Alliance consider to be evil. The Alliance is fighting for an alternative form of government. They wish to reinstate the Republic but unable to do so politically they are doing it militarily. When Biggs tells Luke he wants to join the Alliance to fight for something he believes in, something he considers important, he not only shows us that he’s a thinking individual, but he’s humanizing both the Alliance and the Empire to a certain degree. Yes, of course, Palpatine is evil but the guy serving food in the Death Star’s mess hall isn’t necessarily. It’s great that this conversation takes place on Tatooine is that you’re surrounded by people who don’t seem to care too much about the Galactic Empire of the rebels trying to overthrow it. You’ve got farmers, you’ve got the bar owner at Mos Eisley, etc. Foster succeeds in showing us that there is more to just the Evil Empire and the Good Alliance in the world of Star Wars and that’s something that’s potentially missing in the movie.

Luke's feelings for Leia are much more obvious in the novel. This is due in part because of the internal monologue. The book allows us to be inside Luke's head. If Lucas was aware of their familial relation at the time he didn't make it apparent in the script nor did he mention anything to Alan Dean Foster. Luke clearly has a big crush on his twin sister and is rather jealous when Leia pays any attention to Han.

Luke seems more immature in the book than he does in the movie. I think it’s because of the way Foster describes Luke’s thoughts. The conversation he has with Biggs also had an impact in demonstrating his maturity level. Luke is a young adult of not quite twenty years old but he doesn’t act like that. He’s clearly got his head in the clouds and when talking about the Alliance and the Empire with Biggs he comes off as much younger and wide eyed than Biggs. It’s not very surprising considering he grew up in near isolation working on the farm with his uncle but it still works as a part of his character arc for the second and third parts of the story still to come.

The novelization of A New Hope continuously has to work against its movie counterpart. Star Wars relies so heavily on iconic imagery and signature sound effects that the novel in comparison can seem like a second rate version of the story. In many ways it is. Oddly enough, its reliance on the movie is only its primary strength. While reading A New Hope I could hear Threepio’s voice in my head. When Foster told me Chewbacca was growling sadly or angrily I could hear him in my head. In other instances, such as descriptions Darth Vader’s appearance, telling me he wears a mask seems like a grossly incomplete description. I don’t mean to sound too harsh on Foster because he probably wrote the book without knowing a lot of the details regarding the look of the movie since it the book released several months before the film. Besides, Star Wars was just a science fiction movie, a genre that didn’t fair too well in theatres until after the film release of A New Hope. Considering the daunting task of writing the novelization of one of the most successful movie franchises of all time without knowing what the final product will be, it’s relatively easy for me to cut Foster some slack.