Book Review: Star Wars Trilogy

Star Wars Trilogy

by George Lucas
Published: 1976
Genres: Science Fiction, Star Wars
Format: Paperback (705 pages)
Source: Purchased

Luke Skywalker lived and worked on his uncle’s farm on the remote planet of Tatooine, but he yearned to travel beyond the farthest reaches of the universe to distant, alien worlds. Then Luke intercepted a cryptic message from a beautiful, captive princess . . . and found himself catapulted into the adventure of a lifetime.

It was really interesting to read these novels again now that I’ve seen the prequels. The first thing I noticed – the prequels don’t match up to the back story in this book. In fact, the back story from the novels was much more interesting than Episodes I, II, and/or III.

Let’s start with Star Wars Episode IV and it’s more awesome back story.
Obi-wan says, “Vader used the training I gave him and the force for evil, to help the later corrupt Emperors. With the Jedi Knights disbanded, disorganized, or dead, there were few to oppose him. Today they are all but extinct.”

How much better would the prequels have been if Vader was just power hungry and hung out with the wrong crowd? And why are there EMPERORS plural? Again, it sounds like a good guy got in with a bunch of strange politicians and used his Jedi powers for evil.

Then it says the Jedi Knights are disbanded and disorganized. There’s not many details, but wouldn’t it have been more interesting if Vader had just demonized or belittled their religion while ironically still holding on to that very same religion? Or slowly started to blame them, then label them, introduce prejudice and then systematically exterminate them? Sound familiar? Star Wars is, after all, an allusion to Nazism.

On to Episode V.

This is in the movie too, but Luke talks about having been to Degobah before. I think he has and George Lucas forgot.

Episode VI.

This book has back story in it that is the most blatant drift away from the prequels. Too bad it didn’t make it into the movie. It’s AWESOME.

Obi-Wan says, “When your father left, he didn’t know your mother was pregnant. Your mother and I knew he would find out eventually, but we wanted to keep you both as safe as possible for as long as possible. So I took you to live with my brother Owen, on Tatooine…and your mother took Leia to live as the daughter of Senator Organa, on Alderaan.”
What a great story! Secret pregnancies, Padme surviving and hiding her children from her crazy husband, and Owen wasn’t even Luke’s real uncle! Why couldn’t this have been the plot of the prequels?

Later on in the book, talking about Leia it says, “She almost never thought of her real mother – that was like a dream. Yet now Luke’s question made her start. Flashes from her infancy assaulted her – distorted visions of running…a beautiful woman…hiding in a trunk.”  I want to hear the rest of that story.
In the movie, it implies that Leia is talking about her adopted mother. But in the book it’s clear she remembers her adopted mother and her real mother.

Reading this book just made me mad at George Lucas. I couldn’t put it any better than Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.

“I prefer to be disappointed in the order George Lucas intended.”

As far as the writing in the novels goes, it was good for Episodes IV and V. Episode VI, Return of the Jedi, got on my nerves a little with his literal translations of everything Artoo and Chewie had to say. Grawrrrr and beepeiodoo lost their charm really fast.  This is just a novelization of the movies and let’s face it – nothing can beat the movies.

Content Rating: None

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• Star Wars Reading Challenge