Aside from the monthly Marvel Comics series (which had only just started moving beyond its movie adaptation), it was the first new adventure in the Star Wars universe - ever - and for all of us who had thrilled at The Adventures of Luke Skywalker in the theaters the Summer before, Foster's entertaining novel was our first opportunity to return to George Lucas' fantastic film universe. Okay, so Han Solo and Chewie weren't in it - and many of its details were contradicted by The Empire Strikes Back a couple years later, but damn, it was a fun book, filled with breathless action, and very well-written by Foster, who had penned the original movie novelization for Lucas. Reportedly Lucas asked Foster to write Splinter as a potential film sequel, just in case Star Wars did well enough at the box office to merit one. But he was also asked to write it so it could be filmed more cheaply than the first, hence its entirely planet-bound plot.
Its cover - by Star Wars conceptual genius, Ralph McQuarrie - was iconic. The looming Vader, the crumbling jungle temple backdrop, the crimson flare of the Kaiburr Crystal, Luke & Leia trapped and helpless before the Sith Lord... great stuff. Simple and dramatic.
Now, of course, there have been five more films, an animated cartoon series, countless comic books, novels, radio plays, video games, etc. - but back in '78, this was all there was.
And, as the saying goes: we loved it!
Oh gosh! How I wanted this book when it was published. Back then though, it was an expensive book as it must have cost almost a £1. A whole £1! How many books would I buy today if they cost as much?
ReplyDeleteYou totally nailed what made this book so great in it's time. It gave me hope that there was a larger universe of stories out there for me to experience - once they had been written of course.
ReplyDeleteI remember one night, when I was in 3rd grade, I had gone to bed with a flash light, several Star Wars figures and this book. I pulled the covers over my head and attempted to recreate what was happening on the cover of this novel with my action figures. This was maybe a year before 'The Empire Strikes Back' had hit the theaters and like you said, aside from the Marvel comics (which my parents seldom bought me), this was all we had in the way of a sequel. It was an incredible time-period to be growing up!
ReplyDeleteFor a school-boy that cover and novel kicked some serious ass. It's one of the few Star Wars novels I ever read outside of a couple early Han Solo novels (but those could have been published in the 80's).
ReplyDeleteI remember coming across this book when I was on vacation as an eight year old. I picked up the novel and read through it, only to have it wiped from my memory when The Empire Strikes Back came out. It was definitely pretty cool at the time, but Lucas should have had something written that could have been compatible with the sequels. But as we know now, he just tossed around ideas between movies without really thinking (Luke and Leia comes immediately to mind). Ha.
ReplyDeleteI remember being baffled by this book... it was like Star Wars, but it wasn't. Where were Han and Chewie? Where were the space battles? As you say, though, there was precious little Star Wars material out there at the time and we were so hungry for more! It's really difficult now to imagine a time when there were so few tie-ins for any major pop-culture phenom.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I re-read this novel a couple years ago, and thought it held up well as a great read, even if it's now very apocryphal compared to the "official" SW canon.
I had this book too as a kid and LOVED it! Wish I still had it. Would love to read it again.
ReplyDeleteI also remember reading this book when it was new, though when I first glanced at the cover, I somehow missed the Star Wars connection... it could have something to do with the fact that it had been packed in a box with the ENTIRE set of Kenner Star Wars action figures that my grandma had gotten me for my birthday that year! (There were only a dozen figures at that point in the line-up, but to an eight-year-old. that was an amazingly huge amount. Then and now, I considered myself very lucky to have gotten such an amazing gift... the figure set completely overshadowed whatever else I got that year!)
ReplyDeleteThe next day, when I looked more closely at the book's cover, I realized that it showed Luke & Princess Leia, and Darth Vader... so THAT's why the title looked like it was in 'Star Wars style' writing! I started reading it pretty soon thereafter, and thought it was cool (I could visalize all the scenes thanks to Foster's descriptive prose), but forgot most of it with the release of TESB. I thought about re-reading it when ROTJ came out, but never got around to it.
Many years later--like a couple of decades or so, actually--a four-issue comic book adaptation of this novel was released (with pretty decent artwork & pacing), bringing it back to life for me. I'd have to re-read the novel to see what edits/changes got made, but it seemed to me that the comic version made enough crucial edits (without destroying the actual story) that the story could fit between ANH & TESB without violating continuity too badly. (Having said that, I'll point out that it's been years since I read that comic version, too. Anyone else remember both the novel & the comic well enough to make a comparison?)
CR
As a kid I could never tell if that was supposed to be Luke's lightsaber on the ground by his and. And if it was why was it flat on one side.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first, if not THE first book I ever read. I checked this book out of the public library at my school in 1978 and was amazed that I had read book cover to cover with no pictures.
ReplyDeleteFor those wishing relive the experience, the book is still in print with the same cover. I bought my copy on Amazon about a year ago.
Awesome blog! I remember this as a kid. Wanted this book but never got it...
ReplyDeleteI haven't even thought about this book since reading it a long time ago... but I put a copy on hold today to be picked up tomorrow. I can't wait to read it again.
ReplyDeleteBy the way Chris, have you ever noticed if your actions are bound in any way by Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics? Because I find it hard to believe that a mere human could remember all this coolness from way back then.
As a first generation Star Wars fan, I remember when this book WAS the Expanded Universe, along with Marvel's monthly comic and the Holiday Special. It's still a great read, inconsistencies and all.
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