Official 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition - A New Hope

I'm looking back on this book as I remember it when I was fourteen and the movie had just come out. It was cool because it had scenes in that didn't make it into the film, although they were filmed. The book was superior in some ways because it was written before the script was finalized. The other books, I believe were written from the script. I loved this book back then and still do love it. It's fun, full of interesting characters, and full of action. All you need is the soundtrack to settle down for a nostalgic read.

I had this book as a kid and lost it, so I wanted to see if I could get another and this one is in better shape then the one I lost. I loved it as a kid and probably read it 50 times back then, even though we all know the story. It has movie photos and is just plain fun and nostalgic for me.

Can listen to this on my laptop, but didn't realize (guess got too excited to read the description), that it won't work on my car stereo. But hey got that Topps trading card, right?

I remember listening to this when I was a kid on the radio. Its really well done. Worth the money if you don't mind the format.

I eagerly awaited the arrival of this Star Wars set and I am happy to say I am not disappointed. The set came came tripled box, so it arrived in perfect condition. I did not even wait to take off my coat as I sat on my kitchen floor looking through each of the two books. While I was not a fan on the prequels, the frames are stunning and showcase the movie well. The original trilogy is my true love and I was not disappointed. George Lucas chose the frames to use well and he showcased all the important and memorable parts of all the movies. I was amazed at the weight of this set. It is held in a study case which will look quite nice on a coffee table or bookcase. Very happy with this purchase. It will help me with my Star Wars fix as I eagerly await the next trilogy which is set to debut in 2015! Star Wars Forever!!!!

My review of the Star Wars Frames book by J.W. Rinzler the new cheaper version of it. 1st off it is a the store book set it's split up into 2 volumes one is is for the original trilogy episodes 4-6 and the other one is for the prequel trilogy episodes 1-3. It's a look at the films frame by frame and the frames are all selected by Star Wars Creator George Lucas also the book has a forward by the Director of Pacific Rim Guillermo Del Toro and introduction by Rinzler. This book is a must buy and a great collectors item for any Star Wars fan and fans of cinema in general. Star Wars Frames gets a 10 out of 10 across the board.

Received my copy of Frames this week. Beautiful books with beautiful presentation. I will be looking at them for hours. Let's you appreciate the wonderful creativity and pure hard work that has gone into the Star Wars series. I can only imagine what the original expensive books were like. Many thanks to all involved. My thanks to the the store staff as well for packaging up the box set nice and snug for its trip to down under.

I thought I wouldn't look at the prequel trilogy frames much, as I don't like the first two movies at all and find the third only watchable, but I am surprised what happens to me when I do look at the prequel frames: I find myself imagining the movies were well-written, that Jar Jar wasn't stupid, and that the great cast wasn't so poorly directed. As I feast on how visually beautiful the prequel movies look without everything else bad that comes with them, I find myself actually enjoying them. I can, for a few moments, actually believe that the colossally missed opportunity wasn't missed. For a while I can pretend EVERY Star Wars movie was good.

What can I say about the original trilogy? I will never grow tired of this book because now I can take Star Wars at my own speed. As slow as I want. Looking at the original trilogy frames reveals how artificial looking the prequel frames can appear in terms of forced composition. "A New Hope" doesn't have every frame perfectly composed or crammed with visual components; there are holes, imbalance, something that is sadly too easily fixed nowadays sitting at a computer in post production. The prequel movies, too jammed with crap in every shot, still look that way in frames but not as badly.

The longer I have these books, the more I appreciate them. That a collection like this exists is a triumph for cinema.

For visual artists, there's a lot here worth your time, a lot you can learn from. All without words. Let's hope STAR WARS FRAMES blazes the trail for more collections like this one.

Well let me first start off by saying that I was mistaken when ordering this, as I was looking for the DVD and not the book. However that was my mistake for not reading the full description prior to ordering. I do wish that it had been disclosed in the title of the product hence I would not have ordered the book. I am a little perturbed at the fact that the last approximately 20 pages of this book are cut off and uneven with the rest of the book. But it's a funny story of my own misfortune.

The description did not say this was a book club edition. The book looks out of place on the shelf next to my other hardbacks. Since it only cost me $1.50 shipping it back would cost more than I than I paid for the book.

We all know the story but here it is...
Luke Skywalker is a young man on the remote planet of Tatooine who longs for another life. Around him the solar system comes to life and small battles leading to a war. On one side you have the Diplomatic Senate and on the other you have the cruel Empire. The Empire seeks dominion over all the star systems in the galaxy. As Luke joins together with his old acquaintance Obi-Wan Kenobi, two droids carrying a vital secret and new friends Han and Chewbacca they embark on an epic adventure that can only be told in a galaxy far far away.
A play-by-play book of the movie which is almost like reading the screenplay. Believe it or not this copy of the book is the copy that was published before the movie was released. It is hard for someone like me (a huge Star Wars freak) to envision the story told any other way or for the characters to say anything else but what they say in the movie. But this book hold subtle differences from the film even though it's nearly so closely related I can almost hear the John Williams score playing in the background as I read through these pages.
Beautifully written by George Lucas himself this book is a great addition to anyone's library.
By the way did you know that C-3PO and R2 D2 names are actually spelled "See Threepio" and "Artoo Detoo"? LMAO ? I never would have known if I had not read the book.
I would definitely recommend this book to any who proclaim themselves to be a geek of the Star Wars universe. This is definitely a must if you love The Holy Trilogy.

In many ways Frames is a major artwork, and although a distinct and unique work, sits comfortably alongside other famous books-by-artists, like Matisse's "Jazz," or the "Très Riches Heures." These Star Wars books offer brief introductions, and then are absolutely wordless panoramas of four frames in two-page spreads, "read" horizontally, touring through all six Star Wars films. Together, these two books seem like a culminating work of Lucas' acclaimed career, and may be seen as both explanation and defense of his Star Wars' films as works of art.

It is unlikely that few paintings, however great and complex, ever took as many man-hours as a single frame of the Star Wars' saga -- particularly the prequels, which when seen in this context, stand aside (and a bit above) the much-loved, original trilogy. If you aren't familiar with the concepts of framing and composition, asymmetrical balance, and the rule of thirds, you will be after viewing each carefully composed frame in Frames, from the beautiful vistas of Naboo to the beautiful, close-up "portraits" of individual characters. Yet, absent in the Star Wars films --and particularly the prequels -- is both the sloppy staging of most film makers, and the overly-precious (and stodgy) composition of certain well-praised auteurs. Screens of nothing more than explosive light are included here, and are as fascinatingly abstract as any Rothko. Despite the newness of digital film making during the prequel films, the digital characters often appear as (or more) real than the costumed actors standing beside them; for instance, paging through Frames, one realizes that although many have complained about characters like Jar Jar Binks, no one complains that these entirely digital creations don't seem real. This alone is a remarkable achievement that is easily verified when viewing the films as Lucas did in the editing booth -- frame by frame. Lucas has said he is primarily a visual filmmaker, and that his films -- even Star Wars -- may be viewed essentially as silent, art films. Never has this point been more clear than it is now.

The two books in themselves are keepsake quality, and come within a sturdy case. Note that the books are very large, quite heavy, and though very well-bound -- with high quality paper and perfect quality printing -- require a bit of care when handling. Happily, that is no chore. Each page in Frames, however familiar from the films, is a revelation, and a triumph.

This novel actually pre-dates the movie by 2 or 3 years. Readers will find a familiar story, but will notice a few very rich details, which are interesting in themselves, but didn't really make for a good movie. So they were cut or changed.
What we find here is not the pure space-fantasy which the series would become, but actually HARD SCI-FI!!!!!
There are pages of explanations about droid logic, spaceship drives and power ratings on lightsabers.
There are also some satisfying glimpses into the cultural anthropology of Lucas' original vision, like the description of Leia Organa's heraldry, or how certain characters don't clearly distinguish force-use from "sorcery"
The action is more gore-splatteringly violent, and the deaths of minor characters are played up to depict the horror of violence and warfare in a way which was simply too heavy and dark for the movie, but would seem appropriate in a Quentin Tarantino flick.
The writing is occasionally jarring, and sprinkled with miserably failed metaphors. Like when it compares Obi-wan to a wraith and a ferret in the same sentence. Obviously the dialogue was cleaned up so it would fit in the mouths of actors like Sir Alec Guinness or Peter Cushing.
But these errors in literary style are easily forgiven by fans who are more interested in the ideas as they were when Star Wars was still fresh and new.

Star Wars a new hope written by George Lucas is one the most riveting books I have read in a while. The amazing dialog and exciting action kept me hooked on this book until the very last page. With the release of the first of the great star wars saga, this book is packed full of insight and dark history of some characters. The main character in this story is Luke Skywalker, he is accompanied by his two droids c-threepio and artoo detoo. Farm chores sure could be dull, and Luke Skywalker was a 20 year old who lived on his uncle’s farm on the remote planet of tatooine and was bored beyond belief. He yearned for adventures out among the stars adventures that would take him beyond the furthest galaxies to distant and alien worlds.
But Luke got more than he bargained for when he intercepted a cryptic message from a beautiful princess held captive by a dark and powerful warlord. Luke didn't know who she was, but he knew he had to save her—and soon, because time was running out.
Armed only with courage and with the light saber that had been his father’s, Luke was catapulted into the middle of the most savage space war ever...and he was headed straight for a desperate encounter on the enemy battle station known as the Death Star!

This is really and truly a beautiful collection. One book is dedicated to the prequel trilogy. The other is the original trilogy. They are filled with nothing but frames from the movies, moments frozen in time, in chronological order. The pages alternate from smooth on one side to textured on the other.

Why do I like the books? Because there are so many details I missed with the live action scenes. Here, I can take a moment to absorb each one. When I flip through the pages, I am reminded of why the next trilogy needs to not rely so heavily on CGI, as I see page after page of "painted" scenes. The original trilogy are more like photos -- earthy and real, except for the new additions, of course.

This is a boxed set that weighs like a brick. The presentation is gorgeous. It would make a fine gift for the adult Star Wars fan.

Really, really nice collectible item unlike any books I have seen before. The beautiful pictures (2 per page widescreen style) are fantastic to look at. Leafing through the 6 movies still by still is a wonderful experience for a Star Wars fan. You really notice all the little details and features present in each scene that you can miss when just watching it. The new trilogy does look noticeably clear when inspected closely than the original movies. The digital film transferred to print better than the original film. That does not detract from the experience though and I believe it enhances it.

Do not buy this for anyone who is not a huge Star Wars fan though. it really is just two books with almost 1500 single frames from the six movies. For a fan it is a fantastic experience, for other most likely not so much.

NOTE: I am operating under the assumption that everyone has seen the movie, so I am including some spoilers!

There are definitely some inconsistencies between this book (and the prologue) and both the original three movies, the new movies, and the expanded universe. However, this actually makes this book even more of a must read, in my opinion, because it really allows you to see the evolution of the story and to see how much of the ultimate story George Lucas had planned "from the beginning". I won't go into all of them here, but you can pretty much deduce from reading that the Emperor's character had not been at all developed and that it was not decided who Leia was going to fall in love with. I also get the impression that Lucas had not yet decided that Darth Vader was Luke's father. I have always wondered how much of the story was planned from the beginning, and this book really gave me a chance to investigate that a little, which was great. It was also a bit amusing to see unexpected continuity (particularly where the story meshes with the later movies) but also jarring inconsistencies.

One critique I have to offer is with regard to Lucas' writing style (assuming he really wrote this himself; I haven't done the research to know whether he had a ghost writer). He seems to be trying to intentionally be verbose and to show us how intelligent and well written he is. Maybe it's due to the bad press Lucas gets, but this put me off a bit. Furthermore, if doesn't fit with the rest of the Star Wars novels, which largely seem to be designed to appeal to a very broad audience - but this I could easily forgive, as it's the first novel. I mostly felt like it was an intentional effort to impress, which always bugs me.

While some characters are clearly not well fleshed out yet, presumably because Lucas hasn't determined the final role they shall play in the story, the primary characters in the first book/movie are pretty well fleshed out here - I was particularly impressed that R2-D2 and C-3PO's personalities shine through quiet well, even at this early stage of planning the story. Kudos to George for that.

I would also note that Darth Vader "feels" different from the movies - he feels more like he does in the novelizations of Episodes I-III, actually, but he doesn't really jibe with the way he comes off in the movies, which I found interesting. Similarly, the portrayal of the Emperor is quite out of tune with Episodes V and VI and the rest of the Star Wars universe. On the other hand, I felt the book as a whole was darker than the movie, and certainly more violent/graphic - probably because of the desire to keep a PG-13 rating.

To sum up: Overall this book was a great read, especially if you are a big fan of the movies and you want to see how the story evolved and how much was planned out prior to the first movie. It also has some "deleted" scenes from the movie that will fill in some gaps for you and allow your imagination to work. It does have some discrepancies from the movies, so if that bothers you this may not be the book for you. Overall I did not feel this book had the same panache as the movie; I am not sure if I had picked this up with out already being a Star Wars fan that I would have continued on with the books. But as an existing fan, it really was a delight.

...there was "Another galaxy, another time."

This is the opening line of "Star Wars: From The Adventures Of Luke Skywalker," which when published in November 1976 stirred little sales, as credited author George Lucas later noted. Then, six months later, the movie it was based on hit theaters. By September this paperback could be found in every junior-high homeroom in America.

Back then, before the age of Netflix and DVDs, it was the only way to get a "Star Wars" fix. Today, the book is of greater interest to serious fans of the movie series and its many media tie-ins for the way it deviates from the "Star Wars" story as it evolved, such as Darth Vader's red eyes and his lack of any special tie with Luke. The book even ends with a note of budding romance between Luke and Princess Leia, which real author Alan Dean Foster would develop further in a 1978 sequel novel. No one told Foster that Luke and Leia were siblings, because back then not even Lucas knew that.

There's another good reason for reading this version of the "Star Wars" story. It's an entertaining read that showcases the story's deep strengths even when stripped of John Williams, Harrison Ford, and Industrial Light & Magic. Luke toils on his uncle's moisture farm, dreaming of getting off his desert planet. Adventure is a lot closer than he realizes when two androids fall into his lap, one of whom carries a message for a "General Kenobi" which Luke thinks could be old Ben Kenobi, an area hermit of passing acquaintance.

The focus on Skywalker is one of the novel's chief differences from the movie. We meet him earlier than we do in the movie, and his point-of-view remains dominant throughout. Foster has a bad habit of describing various alien creatures and concepts in Earth-bound terms, i.e. "a cross between a capybara and a small baboon." Working from an as-yet-unfinalized script, he also struggles with Lucas's dialogue. Princess Leia especially sounds stiff: "Alderaan and its people are gone," she says about her home planet. "We must see that such does not happen again."

Foster's strengths are his ability to visualize Lucas's ideas about his universe and its all-pervading Force in a way that is understandable and sometimes preferable to later official incarnations. Kenobi admonishes Vader at one point: "You sense only a part of the force, Darth. As always, you perceive its reality as little as a utensil perceives the taste of food."

The chapters flow well in Foster's adaptation, with nice descriptive extra-movie touches that never linger too long, whether it be a Stormtrooper guard's discomfort hearing Leia's screams or the last moments of a doomed TIE fighter pilot. The final battle around Vader's Death Star is a tour de force. Here Foster not only piles on details that flash past movie audiences, he adds bits of action that fill out the struggle of Luke and his allies and give it extra energy and interest. Better than the movie? Maybe not, but fans will want to read this penultimate chapter if nothing else.

For many Star Wars fans, this novel is more a novelty. But for those of us who remember when it was all we had for a long time after the movie left theaters in 1978, "Star Wars: From The Adventures Of Luke Skywalker" is both a welcome nostalgia burst and a suggestion of roads untaken but worth remembering.

I received this as a Christmas gift from my wife, and I absolutely love it.

It's really heavy, with an attractive box, and two large hardcover volumes. The box is embossed, and vaguely reminds me of the inside of a Star Destroyer.

Each volume has a short introduction, but then quickly goes to the frames. Each page has two frames, so you see four frames at a time. They are in viewing order of the movie, and as I flipped through it, I could hear John Williams score, or the actors saying their lines as a looked at the images. I've only looked through Volume 2 (the Original Trilogy) so far, but even that one is great. The resolution of the images is fantastic, and the detail is amazing. For people looking to recreate costumes, this will be the ultimate reference.

This is a worth edition to my collection of Star Wars books.

I was given this book by my dad in the late 70's, and as a young boy of 5, I was pretty excited. Then I found out it was a novel with big words. I wanted to see what the story was about, so I figured out all those big words. Aha, dad, I see what you did there! Well, it worked. In the years before we got our first VCR, I had to replay the movie in my mind over and over again. These days, any kid can yank out their iphone and youtube any scene they want in a minute or less, but they're not building their vocabulary doing that, and it certainly doesn't fire their imagination.

There's a good chance that if you are considering buying this you have already heard the Original Radio Drama (aired on NPR in 1981) and therefore you already know how incredibly awesome it is. Science-fiction author Brian Daley did a superb job of adding additional scenes, dialogue, and even new characters that were not in the movie. Some of the additions were based on scenes in George Lucas' original script, but much of the additional material came from the mind of Daley himself. This is an author who simply "understood" Star Wars, and his work (on the radio dramas as well as the Han Solo Adventures novels) inspired over three decades-worth of expanded universe authors, including but not limited to his personal friend James Luceno.

So yea, there's more scenes, more talking, more opportunity to give characters (especially Luke) quite a bit more depth (the entire drama itself is just over six hours long). But like I said, you probably already know this so I won't bore you with reviewing the specifics of the audio drama itself. However, there is some additional bonus audio on this collector's edition not featured on the regular CD release. It includes a 30-minute documentary on the making of the audio drama (complete with Ben Burtt talking about how he created all those neat sound effects), additional music recorded exclusively for the radio drama, and a few NPR promo spots featuring Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, and Ann Sachs.

Released in conjunction with a new Topps trading card series based on the radio drama (called `Star Wars Illustrated') , these two (Light Side and Dark Side) new collector's editions are an incredible addition to any Star Wars fan's collection. Whether you are buying them for the exclusive cards (each edition has a special card that is part of the Topps set not available anywhere else), because you love the art (fantastic work by Matt Busch [Light] and Randy Martinez [Dark]), because you love the radio drama that much, or simply because you are a hardcore fan that has an intense desire burning deep within you to buy anything related to Star Wars, you will not be disappointed. I would also say the convenience of having the entire radio drama on one disc is worth the price alone. It takes up far less shelf space, and these editions just look nicer on your shelf than the 6-CD box sets.

The cover art on both edition is some of the greatest Star Wars art I have seen since Dave Dorman was doing covers for Star Wars comics published by Dark Horse. Absolutely stunning. If you buy this for no other reason, buy it for the artwork. The corresponding Topps trading cards inside each edition are also stunning. Like I said, these cards are officially part of the Topps set, and the only way to get them is by buying these audios, which are limited in quantity. So if you are a card collector, don't hesitate, because who knows how long they will be available.

All in all, a must have for any self-respecting Star Wars fan/collector. Period.

[note: I posted the same review for both the "Light" and "Dark" side editions of these collector's editions since, aside from the cover art and trading card inside, they are essentially the same, and I did purchase both simultaneously.]

There's a good chance that if you are considering buying this you have already heard the Original Radio Drama (aired on NPR in 1981) and therefore you already know how incredibly awesome it is. Science-fiction author Brian Daley did a superb job of adding additional scenes, dialogue, and even new characters that were not in the movie. Some of the additions were based on scenes in George Lucas' original script, but much of the additional material came from the mind of Daley himself. This is an author who simply "understood" Star Wars, and his work (on the radio dramas as well as the Han Solo Adventures novels) inspired over three decades-worth of expanded universe authors, including but not limited to his personal friend James Luceno.

So yea, there's more scenes, more talking, more opportunity to give characters (especially Luke) quite a bit more depth (the entire drama itself is just over six hours long). But like I said, you probably already know this so I won't bore you with reviewing the specifics of the audio drama itself. However, there is some additional bonus audio on this collector's edition not featured on the regular CD release. It includes a 30-minute documentary on the making of the audio drama (complete with Ben Burtt talking about how he created all those neat sound effects), additional music recorded exclusively for the radio drama, and a few NPR promo spots featuring Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, and Ann Sachs.

Released in conjunction with a new Topps trading card series based on the radio drama (called `Star Wars Illustrated') , these two (Light Side and Dark Side) new collector's editions are an incredible addition to any Star Wars fan's collection. Whether you are buying them for the exclusive cards (each edition has a special card that is part of the Topps set not available anywhere else), because you love the art (fantastic work by Matt Busch [Light] and Randy Martinez [Dark]), because you love the radio drama that much, or simply because you are a hardcore fan that has an intense desire burning deep within you to buy anything related to Star Wars, you will not be disappointed. I would also say the convenience of having the entire radio drama on one disc is worth the price alone. It takes up far less shelf space, and these editions just look nicer on your shelf than the 6-CD box sets.

The cover art on both edition is some of the greatest Star Wars art I have seen since Dave Dorman was doing covers for Star Wars comics published by Dark Horse. Absolutely stunning. If you buy this for no other reason, buy it for the artwork. The corresponding Topps trading cards inside each edition are also stunning. Like I said, these cards are officially part of the Topps set, and the only way to get them is by buying these audios, which are limited in quantity. So if you are a card collector, don't hesitate, because who knows how long they will be available.

All in all, a must have for any self-respecting Star Wars fan/collector. Period.

[note: I posted the same review for both the "Light" and "Dark" side editions of these collector's editions since, aside from the cover art and trading card inside, they are essentially the same, and I did purchase both simultaneously.]

Reading this book is an interesting opportunity to get back to the roots of Star Wars before it was released to theaters. It's not strictly an adaptation of the film because, indeed, the film wasn't out yet. While it's true to the overall story, there are a number of small changes -- additions, omissions, and variations in emphasis -- that make it clear this was written before Star Wars became an international phenomenon. I found it deep in the stacks of a used book store in Minneapolis and had to pick it up.

The dust jacket, alone, provides a few examples. Ben Kenobi is described as "a shabby old desert rat", but what took me as a real flip-flop of roles was the description of "Chewbacca the Pirate and his human companion Han Solo." Honestly, if that doesn't turn the "sidekick" relationship on its head I don't know what does. The rest of the novelization appears to be the same as later versions, slightly different from what was later revealed to us in the other films. For example, the Prologue tells a mildly different account of Palpatine's rise than we're given in the prequel trilogy, and the birth of the Rebellion.

If you're a collector, you should make an effort to get a hold of a copy of this book. It's like having your original ticket stub to Ep IV.

Reading and reviewing the book of A New Hope is impossible without using the film as a frame of reference. For most of us, the film was our introduction to the amazing new world of Star Wars. This is when we first met Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Obi-Wan, R2-D2, and C-3PO. We all know how the story goes and that is my only problem with the book. It is still great fun to read, but it is so much like the film that it is almost too familiar. It is not precisely like the film, but it is extremely close. The book was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster in late 1976 based on the George Lucas screenplay. Considering that Mr. Foster did not have the visual benefit of seeing what Star Wars looked like on screen, I think he did a remarkable job.

The story begins on Tatooine as Luke acquires R2 and 3PO and our favorite little droid is bound and determined to deliver a mysterious message to some one named Obi-Wan Kenobi. The adventures that follow lead us through the cantina at Mos Eisley where we meet Han and Chewie and on to Luke's destruction of the Death Star. You undoubtedly know how it goes.

If by some fluke of nature you actually have not seen the film, then you definitely should read the book. It is a rousing adventure story and leaves you wanting to read more. The edition I read was the very nice trade paperback version of the Star Wars Trilogy that was published in 2004. Having all three of the trilogy books in one volume is a good feeling.

We all know the backstory to this novelization. It's got Lucas's name on the cover, but Alan Dean Foster wrote it; it came out 6 months before the movie; it contains some info which was flatly contradicted by later entries in the series, and contains no hints, not even buried or subtle ones, that Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader share any family connection. But, apart from all that, is this novelization from 1976 any good on its own terms?

No.

The movie, the original movie, the one I still call "Star Wars" but which is now sold as "A New Hope", is still amazing. It flies by, there's hardly a wasted scene, the editing transforms Lucas' script into something magical, and the music and special effects easily compensate for any trouble with the dialogue. The book, however, has no such benefit. All it has are words, and those aren't fabulous.

"It was a vast shining globe and it case a light of lambent topaz into space - but it was not a sun." First sentence of Chapter 1. Laughably weak compared to the opening scroll to the movie (which was written by Lucas, and then edited to perfection by Brian DePalma). The characters are flat here, too. Threepio is introduced by calling Artoo a "half-sized thermocapsulary dehousing assister". Governor Tarkin's face bears "the expression of a quiescent piranha". One of the Mos Eisley creatures looks "something out of delirium by way of an upset stomach". Obviously, somebody had bought Foster a new thesaurus for an Arbor Day present that year. The 20-second deleted scene of Aunt Beru pouring blue milk literally takes up two pages in the book, which doesn't help the pacing much.

As for the dialogue, while I blame Lucas for this more than Foster, most of the character quotes are like lead on the page... the words of characters like Uncle Owen and Governor Tarkin would prove much more economical and powerful when delivered by actors like Phil Brown or Peter Cushing, and memorable lines like "You're far too trusting" are utterly absent from the book. Sir Alec Guiness' pained reaction to the destruction of Alderaan is also missing, here. Had Foster been given the final script to novelize, when all the dialogue was trimmed down, his book might have flown, like the movie ended up doing, but what's here is not really worthy of blockbuster status.

A more interesting "A New Hope" comparison is Roy Thomas' script adaptation of the movie for Marvel Comics (also based on earlier draft scripts), which does far, far better things with the story.

Foster really does shine, though, in the X-wing fighters' run on the Death Star, towards the end. He does good work keeping the action clear, and reserves his best descriptions for these moments ("Porkins' demise was as glorious as it was abrupt').

The novelization does have some intriguing hints as to where the story might have gone, before the sequels and prequels followed a different path. The final two paragraphs of the book seem to speak of a blooming romance for Luke and Leia, for example. But, in case you were curious, in this book, taken from Lucas' draft scripts... Han shoots first. So, really, everything else aside... the book is worth owning just for that alone.

I had planned to read this book for a while, and I was looking forward to it a lot, since the kids' one was way to short and boring even when I was ten years old. So, as you can probably guess my expectations were rather high, too high perhaps, but even so I was not disapointed. George Lucas has proved himself not only an excellent filmmaker, but also a great author as well. This book, while a bit dry at times, illustrates the movie in a spectacular fashion, and breathes new life into it, so that it seems interesting all over again. I read it one day when I was stuck in a hotel room, but this book was so interesting I litterally could not put it down. Every true Star Wars fan should read this, since it completly tells the story with a bunch of added stuff, that truly flesh out the story and that were completly missing from the movie. One thing that surprised me was the occasional small details that were changed. Such as Threepio being described as bronze instead of gold, and Luke being Blue 5 instead of Red 5. Another thing that struck me as odd was the slight differences in characters, Luke and Ben most noticably. Ben is less wise, more mischevious, and at times even funny, a previously unheard of thing! Luke also is slightly different. He seems, well, less innocent, more stupid, and even acts like somewhat of a jerk at times, and is all around more heroic and self centered, and generaly less cute. This was both interesting and annoying, since Luke was always my favorite character and to be honest I liked him better the other way. Leia is also noticably different, she being somewhat less strong, which annoyed me somewhat. Anyway, this was an excellent book, that deserved an honest four stars.

In late 1976, Ballantine Books published the first edition of Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, a novel by George Lucas. Adorned only with conceptual art by Ralph McQuarrie, it did not set the literary world on fire. As it turned out, however, the "major motion picture" it was heralding on its cover blurb became one of the biggest box office hits ever, and Star Wars went on to become a huge part of our culture.
Although it really wasn't George Lucas who wrote this first published tie-in to what would later be called Episode IV: A New Hope, the novel reflects the director's vision. Author Alan Dean Foster, who had adapted the scripts of the Star Trek animated series into the Star Trek Logs books, took Lucas' fourth revised draft and wrote a masterful adaptation that truly captures the spirit of the movie's characters and situations.
Star Wars begins with a short prologue that, with a few "special modifications" in the text, is really the outline for the current Prequel Trilogy. In the form of an excerpt from "the first saga -- Journal of the Whills," we are told that the once-powerful Galactic Republic, protected by the Jedi Knights, "throve and grew. But as often happens when wealth and power pass the admirable and attain the awesome, then appear those evil ones who have greed to match." Insidiously, like a house under attack by termites, the Republic rotted from within until "[a]ided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic....Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor...."
The novel then segues directly into the famous opening scene of Star Wars: an Imperial Star Destroyer (called here an Imperial cruiser) chases Princess Leia's Rebel Blockade Runner and captures it over the desert planet of Tatooine. After a brief battle, Imperial stormtroopers take over the ship, and Leia is taken before Lord Darth Vader, who wants to know what she did with secret data "transmitted by Rebel spies."
Leia, of course, has wisely hidden the data -- the plans of the Empire's ultimate superweapon, the Death Star -- into the memory banks of Artoo Detoo, an astromech droid. Artoo and his loyal but easily rattled counterpart, See-Threepio, have managed to flee aboard a tiny escape pod down to the hostile wastes of Tatooine. They are "found" by jawas, a race of small desert scavengers, then sold to a moisture farmer named Owen Lars and his nephew Luke Skywalker....and when Luke stumbles on a fragment of a message for someone named "Obi-Wan Kenobi," well, things really get interesting.
Foster's novelization is very faithful to its screenplay source, and even the "added" material (Luke's first appearance in the novel as he repairs a vaporator, or scenes with Biggs and his friends at Tosche Station) comes from Lucas' fourth revised draft (available in Carol Titleman's The Art of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope). Most of the "deleted scenes" later appeared in Brian Daley's Star Wars: The Radio Drama), and the encounter between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt (spelled Hut in this novel) was restored and tweaked with CGI in the 1997 Special Edition re-release. Of the three Classic Trilogy novels, this is the best-written. Foster's style is crisp yet elegant, and it does not read like it's a screenplay adaptation.
The original 1976 hardcover edition (which I own thanks to the kindness of my best friend Rogers) includes 16 pages of promotional pictures and character profiles of the major roles. It's been since reissued several times, either singly or as part of omnibus collections in both paperback and hardcover, with different variants of cover art.

"If not stopped soon enough, evil eventually reaches out to engulf all men."
Luke Skywalker, a young farm lad on the remote world of Tatooine, discovers two mysterious droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. R2-D2 contains a message of a beautiful woman, Princess Leia, who is in danger and requires the aid of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now, Luke journeys with Obi-Wan, in his quest for adventure and to take up his father's mantle of being a Jedi.

I Liked:
Ghost written by Alan Dean Foster, this little book is a well-written account of the 1977 classic movie. Foster writes in a clean fashion, with a good amount of description. His portrayal of the characters was very close to the movie (considering he was only working off a script). Luke is a wide-eyed, eager, yet obnoxious teenager. Obi-Wan is wise and very relaxed (the quote I use for my review is one he said in the book, one of the few deviations from the movie), at times almost crazy. Han is a world-weary pilot. Vader is burning with anger. Leia is brave and stalwart. Tarkin is cutthroat and evil.
The book also includes deleted scenes such as Biggs and Luke on Tatooine, Luke going to Anchorhead, and Luke viewing the spacefight while near the vaporators. These scenes add much to the background of Luke; however...

I Didn't Like:
...most of the deleted scenes remain deleted in the audiobook (quite a ripoff if you ask me). If I hadn't read the book ages ago, I wouldn't have known they were gone (the audiobook is basically a dressed up version of the movie).
And this leads to my biggest complaints about this book: One of the reasons people even read novelizations is to learn more about the characters and movie events. In the book of this movie, there is almost nothing new learned about the movie. Sure, there is an insightful section at the beginning, taken from the enigmatic "Journal of the Whills", a quote from Leia, some changes from the movie (Red Squadron is Blue Squadron, Vader has red eyes, etc.), and a lot of Earth references to ducks, smoking pipes, and dogs and the like. But this is nothing like the far superior Revenge of the Sith, which actually surpasses its source material. It's just a fleshed out version of the script: adjectives, adverbs and complete sentences.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
In the book, quite a few d***s and he***s.
Luke is awed by Leia's hologram and becomes jealous when Han shows interest in her.
Luke's aunt and uncle are brutally murdered, along with Jawas.

Overall:
The very first Star Wars book, this book marks the beginning of an age. It has some interesting differences from the movie, but other than that, it isn't enough different from the movie, nor is it brilliantly well-written to recommend reading over watching the movie for the average person. As for Star Wars fans, I recommend they read it once; after that, just watch the movie instead.

Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*

In late 1976, Ballantine Books published the first edition of Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, a novel by George Lucas. Adorned only with conceptual art by Ralph McQuarrie, it did not set the literary world on fire. As it turned out, however, the "major motion picture" it was heralding on its cover blurb became one of the biggest box office hits ever, and Star Wars went on to become a huge part of our culture.
Although it really wasn't George Lucas who wrote this first published tie-in to what would later be called Episode IV: A New Hope, the novel reflects the director's vision. Author Alan Dean Foster, who had adapted the scripts of the Star Trek animated series into the Star Trek Logs books, took Lucas' fourth revised draft and wrote a masterful adaptation that truly captures the spirit of the movie's characters and situations.
Star Wars begins with a short prologue that, with a few "special modifications" in the text, is really the outline for the current Prequel Trilogy. In the form of an excerpt from "the first saga -- Journal of the Whills," we are told that the once-powerful Galactic Republic, protected by the Jedi Knights, "throve and grew. But as often happens when wealth and power pass the admirable and attain the awesome, then appear those evil ones who have greed to match." Insidiously, like a house under attack by termites, the Republic rotted from within until "[a]ided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic....Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor...."
The novel then segues directly into the famous opening scene of Star Wars: an Imperial Star Destroyer (called here an Imperial cruiser) chases Princess Leia's Rebel Blockade Runner and captures it over the desert planet of Tatooine. After a brief battle, Imperial stormtroopers take over the ship, and Leia is taken before Lord Darth Vader, who wants to know what she did with secret data "transmitted by Rebel spies."
Leia, of course, has wisely hidden the data -- the plans of the Empire's ultimate superweapon, the Death Star -- into the memory banks of Artoo Detoo, an astromech droid. Artoo and his loyal but easily rattled counterpart, See-Threepio, have managed to flee aboard a tiny escape pod down to the hostile wastes of Tatooine. They are "found" by jawas, a race of small desert scavengers, then sold to a moisture farmer named Owen Lars and his nephew Luke Skywalker....and when Luke stumbles on a fragment of a message for someone named "Obi-Wan Kenobi," well, things really get interesting.
Foster's novelization is very faithful to its screenplay source, and even the "added" material (Luke's first appearance in the novel as he repairs a vaporator, or scenes with Biggs and his friends at Tosche Station) comes from Lucas' fourth revised draft (available in Carol Titleman's The Art of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope). Most of the "deleted scenes" later appeared in Brian Daley's Star Wars: The Radio Drama), and the encounter between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt (spelled Hut in this novel) was restored and tweaked with CGI in the 1997 Special Edition re-release. Of the three Classic Trilogy novels, this is the best-written. Foster's style is crisp yet elegant, and it does not read like it's a screenplay adaptation.
The original 1976 hardcover edition (which I own thanks to the kindness of my best friend Rogers) includes 16 pages of promotional pictures and character profiles of the major roles. It's been since reissued several times, either singly or as part of omnibus collections in both paperback and hardcover, with different variants of cover art.

"If not stopped soon enough, evil eventually reaches out to engulf all men."
Luke Skywalker, a young farm lad on the remote world of Tatooine, discovers two mysterious droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. R2-D2 contains a message of a beautiful woman, Princess Leia, who is in danger and requires the aid of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now, Luke journeys with Obi-Wan, in his quest for adventure and to take up his father's mantle of being a Jedi.

I Liked:
Ghost written by Alan Dean Foster, this little book is a well-written account of the 1977 classic movie. Foster writes in a clean fashion, with a good amount of description. His portrayal of the characters was very close to the movie (considering he was only working off a script). Luke is a wide-eyed, eager, yet obnoxious teenager. Obi-Wan is wise and very relaxed (the quote I use for my review is one he said in the book, one of the few deviations from the movie), at times almost crazy. Han is a world-weary pilot. Vader is burning with anger. Leia is brave and stalwart. Tarkin is cutthroat and evil.
The book also includes deleted scenes such as Biggs and Luke on Tatooine, Luke going to Anchorhead, and Luke viewing the spacefight while near the vaporators. These scenes add much to the background of Luke; however...

I Didn't Like:
...most of the deleted scenes remain deleted in the audiobook (quite a ripoff if you ask me). If I hadn't read the book ages ago, I wouldn't have known they were gone (the audiobook is basically a dressed up version of the movie).
And this leads to my biggest complaints about this book: One of the reasons people even read novelizations is to learn more about the characters and movie events. In the book of this movie, there is almost nothing new learned about the movie. Sure, there is an insightful section at the beginning, taken from the enigmatic "Journal of the Whills", a quote from Leia, some changes from the movie (Red Squadron is Blue Squadron, Vader has red eyes, etc.), and a lot of Earth references to ducks, smoking pipes, and dogs and the like. But this is nothing like the far superior Revenge of the Sith, which actually surpasses its source material. It's just a fleshed out version of the script: adjectives, adverbs and complete sentences.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
In the book, quite a few d***s and he***s.
Luke is awed by Leia's hologram and becomes jealous when Han shows interest in her.
Luke's aunt and uncle are brutally murdered, along with Jawas.

Overall:
The very first Star Wars book, this book marks the beginning of an age. It has some interesting differences from the movie, but other than that, it isn't enough different from the movie, nor is it brilliantly well-written to recommend reading over watching the movie for the average person. As for Star Wars fans, I recommend they read it once; after that, just watch the movie instead.

Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*

Although George Lucas's name is on the cover, this novelization was actually ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster and published months before the movie was released, but it was of course based on Lucas's screenplay. ADF did a superb job at making the Star Wars universe come alive with only what George provided, which is not often suited to print works and is something taken for granted these days considering all that is now available. While the story is largely verbatim of the screenplay there are certinaly some subtle differences in dialog, 'deleted scenes', and other additions that SW fans can still enjoy, even after having seen the movie dozens of times as I have. I'm surprised to say that I now have a greater appreciation of 3PO and that this book is notably more violent than the film. The novelization is also quite short, so the average reader can probably finish it over a weekend.

I rated this five stars primarily due to the genuine enjoyment of reading it, despite typically reserving that position for more than just one characteristic; what can I say, I'm a nitpicker. I do have some criticisms; however, but they are relatively minor and may be easily explained away. I can't say if this was the case in the 70s or before but usually people read novelizations to glean more than what was presented on film, and for the most part that isn't the case here. I don't hold that against the author, after all he did take on the difficult task of changing mediums, but since Lucas's name is on it George may have given ADF instructions to not deviate much, which if true would be unfortunate because ADF is an accomplished writer (including the very first two SW books), and the story definitely could've benefitted from more exposition. We do learn a bit more about the characters but that's about the extent of depth in comparison.

I recommend reading this book to both SW fans and those interested in science fiction history alike. The book may not be wholly different from the movie, unlike the phenomenal Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover, but it's simply a must read that will not disappoint in brining you back to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

This was a great read. I read this book as a kid, however, once I started my hardcover star wars collection I decided to repurchase this novel.

I LOVE how this book opens up with a 'quote' from a historian telling how Palpatine was a good man who was pushed into creating the corrupt Empire by evil and greedy senators and imperial lords. It gave a great feel to me of how people were mislead to blame the Moff's and Lord Vader for the conditions of the galaxy.

Of course there are many differences in the book from the movie. Being written before any other episode, and before all the new books, many characters and races were not fully fleshed out. I do not feel this really matters. This is a wonderful telling of the story and any differences in character descriptions or name spellings is unimportant.

Remember, this is a story written by Alan Dean Foster from the script that George Lucas showed him.

I read "A New Hope" at the behest of my coworker, who insisted this was a good book. I was reluctant, thinking this book would have been written for children, with a less mature writing style and format (as was my impression of Star Wars, Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back). I was surprised at the quality of the writing. Not only are there "deleted scenes" but the movie scenes were not simply rehashing of dialogue. The narrative was such that there were moments where I gained new perspective or insight I never had before. Although we do not get as much depth and back story as we do in Star Wars : Return of the Jedi, this is a novel that can stand on its own. Well done, Alan Dean Foster.

Here's my perspective on this --- it's been a very long time since I've seen the original films. So I came into this with the more recent films fresh on my mind.

Overall, I'd say that this is an enjoyable book, especially for someone who's been spending time with the more recent editions in the series and wants to go back to the roots. One noticeable thing about this and the earlier stories is a sense of fun and humor that doesn't seem nearly as palpable (heh heh) in the later trilogy. Being more of a casual fan, I can't comment much on the differences between this and the actual film series, but overall, it still stands as a great story.

This book comes with an introduction by George Lucas detailing the original release and explaining that this is ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster. Though only about a page long, it's an excellent intro to the book.

If you love the movie, you will most definitely love this book! Everything that was in the movie is here plus much more! The prologue is great. It explains about the Senate and how Emperor Palpatine used to be a good guy. This was very valuable information for people who saw the movie when it first came out and it is still very interesting today. On a curious note, C3-PO was originally meant to be a greasy used car salesman type of character and reading this book, you will see how that is true. He is almost surly at times! There is also some very good dialogue in this which expands a lot on what was said in the movie. It is also interesting to note how the sequence of events is quite a bit different in the book. It jumps around quite a bit more.
In conclusion, if you are a fan of the movie, buy this book! You will not be disappointed! If you are a sci-fi fan in general, read this book to see why so many love these classic adventures.

Just got this for Christmas.

I really, really enjoyed flipping through it, and could see myself doing so again and again in the future.

The OT frames look "better" in the book, mostly due to true depth in the pictures vs. the PT where a lot of the effects, etc., were created in a computer.

Star Wars fans will love this as it's a must have.

Not sure about movie fans in general. They may find some of the frame selections odd. It was unclear to me whether Lucas was just choosing the frames he liked, or whether he was choosing frames that would sequentially "tell the story" of the movie. For example, the final duel between Vader and Luke in Return of the Jedi only merits 4-6 frames, and not a single one shows Vader grabbing the Emperor or throwing him down the shaft. That's an odd omission if your frame selection is intended to "tell the story" of the movies; because you haven't included the ultimate moment of the entire saga.

But this Star Wars fan nonetheless enjoyed this project very much.

This novelization (actually written by Alan Dean Foster) is decent as far as movie novelizations go. I love the movie, but I think I expected more out of the book. I had been reading Star Wars novels for quite a while, and I don't think this book captures the feel of the universe very well. That said, it's better than a simple rehashing of what happens in the movie and really does add to the world building and characterizations of the film. For that reason and the historical context of the book, I appreciate it.

I'm surprised I've been a Star Wars fan for so long and had never bothered to listen to this. The ROTJ broadcast is pretty much like the movie - of course, without the space battles and with audio depictions of the land battles. It's actually fairly short - about 2 hours shorter than the ANH radio show. There aren't really any important deleted scenes, except the beginning when Luke is building his lightsaber. Still, it's a great way to relive Star Wars, especially if you have a regular commute or long drive. The voice acting is generally faithful to the characters in the movie.

One other thing that bugged me is the episode breaks. Originally, when this aired as a radio show, it was broadcast as 10 episodes, and each time there was an introductory narration and credits. Unfortunately, these remain on the audiobook version. Thus, every 15 minutes or so you hear another listing of credits, then another introduction. I hope future versions eliminate this and allow listeners to hear just one uninterrupted book.

Overall, this is a great set to listen to during commutes, even if you've watch the movie dozens of times already. Fans will appreciate deleted scenes.

This novelization of the first Star Wars film is the alpha ancestor of the entire Star Wars universe. Published several months before the release of the film (which was simply titled "Star Wars" in 1977, picking up the "A New Hope" signifier in the 1979 theatrical re-release), the book was a success on a small scale but did not take off until the film became a phenomenon. George Lucas is credited with authoring this novel, but as he acknowledges in his introduction, the book was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster based on Lucas' screenplay. Foster went on to write two more Star Wars novels, Splinter of the Mind's Eye in the late 70's and The Approaching Storm in 2002.

Credit must be given to Foster for capturing a Star Wars "feel" in this novel without any preceding Star Wars material to work from and without knowledge of the scrutiny every scrap of Star Wars literature would eventually be subjected to. He follows the screenplay quite faithfully, and except for the inclusion of a sequence on Tatooine that was shot but cut from the film late in the editing process, his novel follows the film's sequence of scenes exactly. He does toy with the dialogue to an extent, re-writing lines throughout. To a modern-day Star Wars nut, this can sometimes be jarring, as everything about this story is so familiar. It's interesting in movie novelizations how the authors often change dialogue but nothing else: I like seeing a little more experimentation, such as that in Matthew Stover's superb novelization of Revenge of the Sith.

Foster is a descriptive writer and this story flows along briskly. One quirk that happens multiple times is he often uses comparisons rooted in our own mundane Earth to describe something, such as "like a dog padding on plastic," "like an Oriental poppy in a sea of oats, " and "like the damping rods in a nuclear reactor." Foster definitely had his work cut out for him in trying to describe such a visual universe before any visual media had been released to the public, but the dozen or so Earth allusions often shatter the otherworldly feel of the story.

As I mentioned earlier, the book contains a sequence set on Tatooine that did not make the final cut of the movie. It occurs early in the story with Luke observing the capture of the Tantive IV in orbit and rushing off to Anchorhead to tell his friends about the battle. When he arrives at Tosche Station, he has an unexpected joyful reunion with his old friend Biggs Darklighter. This segment with Biggs plants the seeds of sympathy toward the Rebellion in Luke's mind and also heightens the impact of Biggs' death during the Death Star attack at the end of the story.

The novelization of Episode IV is a serviceable rendition that does not add too much to the film. It would be interesting to see a new interpretation, either by Foster or another author, written in the modern day that could incorporate material from the prequels and the Expanded Universe material that has been released since 1977.

If you get this edition (1976) you will get two sets of photos from the movie, different dialogue and some different deleted movie scenes. All in all it is an interesting read. I enjoyed seeing where my favorite movie started from and where it ended.

This storybook was given to me as a birthday gift a couple years ago. I must say, it doesn't quite compare to some other storybook adaptations that I have read. It includes a lot of pictures from the movie and a few blue-printed drawings of various characters and vehicles. However, the storytelling is choppy and for the book's length (48 pages), it cuts out a lot of good material and fails to tie various scenes together. Granted, this book was written for ten-year-old kids and I also recognize that Lucas' moviemaking makes a lot of quick cuts from scene to scenes. However, this book still could have been written a little better. Anyway, a book, even a children's book, is a total different medium from a movie

First, let's dispense with the myth that Lucas wrote this himself. It was fully written by noted sci-fi/fantasy author Alan Dean Foster (who also wrote the novelizations for Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Krull, Black Hole, Alien Nation and although credited to Gene Roddenberry, he also wrote Star Trek The Motion Picture) Lucas was busy actually making the movie while ADF was writing this novel based on Lucas's working script. This accounts for some of the differences in the story.
ADF is a great writer, with a good voice and a great use of brevity to convey details. This is a quick read and a real treat for star wars fans. When this was first released it was called "Star Wars: From the adventures of Luke Skywalker" and was released before the movie even came out. ADF was already contracted to write a sequel since no one had any idea how the film would do, thus "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" makes a wonderful companion piece (the similar style between the two should be a dead giveaway that Foster wrote both).
This where it all began. If you want to read the SW books, make sure you start here.

I am a Star Wars fan, like most everyone else in my generation. If you are like me, having lived and breathed Star Wars at one time or another during your life, you really owe it to yourself to listen to the Star Wars Radio Drama casettes, available from the store. Click here, here and here to link to the casette versions, although I found a boxed set of CDs from the store that really kicked. These audio versions are terrific, offering tons of material not in the movies, background on all characters, great acting by Anthony Danielt and Mark Hamil, great audio and sound effects, and much more. Recommended to all Gen X'ers. END

It is a shame that this book did not remain more readily available, and it is a shame that some of the reviews obviously have not read THIS version of Star Wars. I was lucky enough to have acquired this volume before word of the movie had hit the press. This title was later used for a re-written book that followed the move screenplay. The ORIGNAL book is a fantasic story and goes far beyond the movie in its story telling. I read a wide variety of genres, from mysteries to historical fiction, from science fiction to science fantasy, from drama to detective, from classic to techno-thriller, and THIS is one of my all-time favorite reads. If I weren't worried about keeping my volume in great shape, I would read it again more often.

We're all familiar with the story, why read the book? That's what a lot of people ask, and I must say there's really not that many reasons to. Everything presented here is in the film, except for a few exceptions. We meet Luke a little earlier into the story, and he has a talk with his friend, Biggs Darklighter. Other than that, there's not a whole lot here that you can't see in the films.
However, as a book, it is most excellently written. The writing style is easy to get into and understand, and characters are written believably. A must-have for the Star Wars book collecter, a good choice of a library loan for anyone else.

I am a Star Wars fan, like most everyone else in my generation. If you are like me, having lived and breathed Star Wars at one time or another during your life, you really owe it to yourself to listen to the Star Wars Radio Drama casettes, available from the store. Click here, here and here to link to the casette versions, although I found a boxed set of CDs from the store that really kicked. These audio versions are terrific, offering tons of material not in the movies, background on all characters, great acting by Anthony Danielt and Mark Hamil, great audio and sound effects, and much more. Recommended to all Gen X'ers. END

Published six months prior to the debut of the film Star Wars, this book was the first Star Wars product released to the public. While it was credited to George Lucas as author, it's now well-known that Alan Dean Foster in fact ghostwrote the book. The first edition of the novelization features a beautiful Ralph McQuarrie painting on the cover.

The book opens with a prologue, which itself opens with the line, "Another galaxy, another time." (The precursor to "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.") The prologue contains two epigraphs. The first is an excerpt from the Journal of the Whills, which briefly summarizes the events that now pertain to Episodes I, II, and III. It is mostly accurate to what we know today (except for the fact that no mention of the Clone Wars is made, and the Emperor is made to seem as if he became a puppet ruler over time). The second epigraph is a great quotation regarding Luke and Han: "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally they became heroes." -Leia Organa of Alderaan, Senator

The book follows the timeline of the film to a tee. It begins with the Star Destroyer chasing the Rebel blockade runner, and ends with the heroes receiving medals of honor at the grand ceremony on Yavin. In between, there is very little deviation from the film. Nearly all of the scenes from the film are represented in the novelization, and are, for the most part, faithful to their film counterpart. The notable exceptions to this are the destruction of Alderaan and Obi-Wan feeling the "great disturbance in the Force." While Alderaan's destruction occurs of course, neither of these scenes are presented in the novelization. This is a shame really, as we never experience Princess Leia's agony over the destruction of her planet, which not only lessens the impact of its destruction, but it could have been a great opportunity to flesh out her character more. Another small difference is that Grand Moff Tarkin is present during Leia's interrogation.

A few deleted and extended scenes from the film are presented in this book. Notably the Tatooine scenes with Luke, Biggs Darklighter, and their shiftless Anchorhead friends are presented here, spanning ten pages. A handful of scenes also benefit from the breathing room a novelization can afford them, such as when we realize that Tarkin wasn't privy to Darth Vader's activities prior to the Death Star scenes: "Mos Eisley? Tatooine? What is this? What's this all about, Vader?" Also, the pre-battle briefing by General Dodonna to the Rebel pilots is more detailed and helped make more sense of the upcoming battle. A brief passage in the Lars' garage while Luke is cleaning the droids has him getting angry and frustrated in a way very similar (and in an identical location) to Anakin in Episode II Attack of the Clones: "With atypical violence he threw a power wrench across a work-table nearby. `"It just isn't fair!"' he declared to no one in particular." This occurs shortly before Luke informs Threepio that this world is called Tatooine. In the novelization, we get Luke actually answering Threepio's query with a helpful answer, we get Leia being called by her full name (Leia Organa), and we get Darth Vader being referred to as a Sith. None of these occur in the film, which is actually an interesting "Lucasism." (Such as, even though they were never once referred to as such in Episode VI Return of the Jedi, most people with even a passing knowledge of Star Wars knew and knows that the fuzzy little teddy bears that inhabit Endor are called Ewoks. Even the word "Sith" is not once used in the entire original trilogy.) Finally, R2-D2 suffers the exact fate as he later would in Episode V The Empire Strikes Back when he plugs his computer probe into a power socket.

There are numerous instances of dialogue that is different from the film version, although this is to be expected as a result of evolution of the screenplay and Foster's own interpretation of the scene. Occasionally I found the changes to be for the better, but for the most part I found them lacking. Cases in point: after Obi-Wan is cut down by Vader, and Han and Leia are shouting for Luke to hurry aboard the Falcon, Obi-Wan's postmortem Force suggestion to Luke is "Luke . . . listen!" (As opposed to, "Run Luke, run!") Or Princess Leia's best known line, "Obi-Wan Kenobi, help me! You're my only remaining hope." Or try, "Not a more wretched collection of villainy and disreputable types exists anywhere on Tatooine." I'm not sure even Sir Alec Guinness could have pulled that line off. Luke has "a very strange feeling about this." TK-421 in the novelization is THX-1138 (the first such reference to Lucas's first film in a Star Wars work). While stupefied over Alderaan's apparent destruction, Han says, "Although, according to the atlas, Alderaan had no moons." I don't know what atlas he's referring to or where he got it, but my The Essential Atlas says Alderaan had one moon.

All of the characters we're so familiar with are written faithfully in the novelization. Foster did not deviate from the screenplay in any significant fashion enough to produce aberrant characterizations. However, one gets the feeling reading this book that Sir Alec Guinness brought so much to the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi that a screenplay-to-novel interpretation was not sufficient to truly capture the old Jedi Master introduced to film audiences six months later. Darth Vader is also not quite as effective here as in the film. While he is sometimes presented as a frightening, imposing figure, he also tends to have longer sentences of dialogue in the book than in the film, which really isn't a good look for Vader. A good novelization, however, does allow the reader to get into the heads of the characters in a way that a film cannot, and Foster is a good enough novelizer to take advantage of this disparity.

For example, I enjoyed Luke's landspeeder twice being used as a means of showing Luke's growth and development. After Obi-Wan informs Luke that he'll have to sell the speeder, Luke "let his gaze rove over the landspeeder, but the thrill it had once given him was gone--gone along with other things best not dwelt on." Upon departing after selling the speeder, Luke "strained for a forlorn glimpse of the old landspeeder--his last link with his former life. Then there was no more time for looking back." Another powerful example is Darth Vader mentally sizing up his colleagues aboard the Death Star. Lamenting the fact that, while Grand Moff Tarkin and Admiral Motti were "talented and ambitious," they lacked the scope of vision that Vader had: "Still, neither man was a Dark Lord. As such, little more could be expected of them . . . And while he would have preferred the company of equals, he had to admit reluctantly that at this point, he had no equals."

Alan Dean Foster should be commended for presenting the Star Wars Universe to audiences for the very first time as well as he did. The book reads like Star Wars. Of special note is the Battle of Yavin. The battle is well-written while sticking fairly close to the film version. (Although in the novelization, Red Squadron is Blue Squadron and Gold Squadron is Red Squadron, the battle plan is slightly altered from the film version, and Luke actually makes a second pass down the trench after missing his shot the first time.) It takes up a significant amount of pages (almost thirty) while remaining almost as tense as the filmed battle. However, in general the reader does not get a very good sense of many of the locals featured in the story. Mos Eisley, for example, is briefly and poorly described, and we miss the `grandeur' of it in the book. Honestly though, the same applies to most of the story's settings.

There are also a few curiosities present in Foster's writing, which is rife with similes and strange references, many of which are quite clunky:

"[Biggs] stood out in the room like an Oriental poppy in a sea of oats."
"Luke's mind was as muddy as a pond laced with petroleum."
"Oddly, Luke was thinking of a dog he had once owned when an immensely powerful something wrenched at the ship's hull with the strength of a fallen angel."
"Artoo emitted a few wilted beeps, successfully giving the impression of a human who had expected a glass of mild wine and instead unwittingly downed several gulps of something 180 proof."

Another oddity in Foster's writing (evident in the examples above) is the use of several Earth-centric references. Ducks, dogs, cats, ferrets, Doppler, Tantalus, Oriental poppies . . . it's probably not enough to pull the reader entirely out of the story, but it is a touch distracting. There are also some "alternate" spellings in this book, such as "Jabba the Hut", "Wookie", "Obi-wan Kenobi", and "`droid." (Although droids are mostly referred to here as "robots," a Star Wars no-no. Not that Foster can be blamed for that.) "The Force" is mostly left lowercase, and oddly, the name "Death Star" is only used once in the whole book--every other time it is simply referred to as "station" or "battle station." Foster really can't be blamed for any of these either, as he was working from a work-in-progress to begin with.

Conclusion
It's a story we all (presumably) love and the novelization mostly does it justice. The characters in the book feel familiar and are mostly consistent with their film counterparts. And while Foster's writing style could at times be described as awkward, and doesn't do much to expand on what we already know from watching the film, he did an overall admirable job conveying the story of Star Wars to audiences for the very first time.

The trouble here is that the film is a more rewarding experience in every way. A good novelization expands the reader's knowledge and understanding of the source material and gives the characterizations more room to breathe. Unfortunately, Foster's novelization of A New Hope mostly fails in those respects. While this is a quick, light, fairly entertaining read, the reader gains very little above and beyond what the film has to offer, and the film has so much more to offer than this book.

Okay let's get this straight. George Lucas of course wrote the story. But he did not write this novel. It's really a novelization. Alan Dean Foster wrote this. It's like the Battlestar Galactica books are written by Robert Thurston, and the stories are by Glen A. Larson, although both are credited and this should not be. This book is solely credited to Lucas, and there is no mention of the ghost writer Foster, and there should be. Foster's writing, at first, seems a little bit awkward, then as I keep reading, I get aligned with it and I simply love how this book "reads". It makes you absorb it and, believe it or not, you don't wish for the movie while you're inside of the book.

Ok so this book is one classic book. I personally own this book and it is just fantastic. I read it about 6 times per year. With the correct mix of action and drama, this book is an awesome book for star wars fans and others alike. It's worth the money and its definetly worth reading over and over again.

A new hope sticks exactly to how the film was shown. This was the only way that people discovered some names that we're not identified in the movie. It also opened with a prologue that had a little backstory that made you wonder what happened. All in all a good short read.

If you love the movie you must read the novels. It goes into more detail and does more explaining than the movie can go into. As you read through it you can use your imagination and hear and see the characters as they come to life! A MUST have book for any Star Wars fan

I watched the movie Star Wars once briefly when I was young.I picked up this book because of its name and was curious about how could a movie like Star Wars could be written as novel.But when I started reading it, it evoked my memory and give me some new,fresh feeling about star wars.The characters,technology and places of the galaxy outlined an epic world that everyone dream of.At the political side,the book 'd only given a brief openings of how the Old Republic rotted.There was also little details about the past of Luke,Darth Vader,Obi-Wan.Questions had already arised when I'd read just half of it.It makes me very hungry.
The story has too many unknowns to search for while I just couldn't get out of the adventure.So if you want to go into the world of star wars,this book is the entrance of it.Don't read it until you have the psychological preparation to obsess by the extraordinary worlds of Star Wars!

As a life long fan, its hard to say anything can top the movie, but the book does. After seeing the movie dozens of times, I figured there wouldn't be much to the book. Boy was I wrong. There was plenty in here that you may not quite catch from the movie. And if you are a real fan, every trivia tidbit is a goldmine!

Although it says it's written by George Lucas, it was actually ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster- George was too busy making the movie. There are minor differences between the book and the movie, and there are a couple of extra scenes. However, if you really want a Star Wars fix beyond the trilogy, try listening to the Star Wars radio dramas. They're very well-done. The book, on the other hand, is pretty mediocre compared to the excellent movie. It's also inconsistent, which may offend some hardcore Star Wars addicts ("crucify Alan Dean Foster, for he has commited sacrilage!"). It's not even worth reading for free, so don't spend big bucks tracking down an old copy.

This is definitely a fun book, and I used to be able to do quite a bit of quoting from the material in my younger days.

The one thing that we used to wonder 'why' about, was why was Luke Red 5 in one, and Blue 5 in the other. One of the mysteries of the universe.

Definitely a good read though.

The original Star Wars books are the most exciting Star Wars books I've ever read,and nothing could ever take their place. They have more spirit and action than any of the new books, and this one starts that wonderful trilogy.

I LOVE this book. I have always been a reader, but it usually takes me a long time. This book was easily finished in 2 days, just about a record. The detail just engulfs the reader. You can see everything. It's about 20 times better than the movie. Even if you are not a Star Wars fan, this book can easily make you one. The only downfall is that the famous "Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi" speech by Princess Leia has been altered. Even though, this book is an absolute must for any age. (I know, being only 16.) What else can I say? AMAZING!!!!

This book is one of the older star wars books out there and I think it still holds up to this day. Its a good read and mostly centers around Luke Skywalker, telling a story that you can only get in these older books. I would recommended it to any one look for a good star war book to read.

You're probably wondering why anyone would give this only 4 stars. Let me explain.
The design is wonderful, and these are beautifully put together books BUT as someone who works in print, I thought the printing was terrible. Not sure if this is a problem with the source material or actual printing, but some of the frames look awful. As much of a Star Wars purist as I am, I would have been OK with them tweaking a few of the frames to get them to work better in print. I also felt like the colors were over-saturated in several places. (For example, Yavin is blood red.) My only other complaint is that these original trilogy frames are pulled from the special editions/blu-ray releases.
Overall, I would recommend this if you are a Star Wars fan, but if you work with print you may be slightly disappointed.

I was 8 years old when the original Star Wars was released, and I probably read the novelization a dozen times that summer. I read it again recently and it's still a great story, bringing back many nostalgic memories of that summer for me.

Star Wars was certainly one of the most interesting and culturally exciting events of the last 1/3 of the 20th century as far as Pop Sci Fi was concerned and deserves to be mentioned.
But the FACT is that it is the MOVIE that got people excited not the novelization which hardly ranks with ODYSSEY, MOBY DICK et all!
It rates with Superman or Batman.

If I enjoyed the movie I got crazy for the book! There are lots of scenes that the movie didn't show and all of them with great realism and precision! I'll surely buy the sequel, and I hope it will be as good as this. I also red the italian translation of this book, but the original version is even better. In one word, if you want to live a fantastic adventure in your mind, you can't miss this book.

Star Wars was certainly one of the most interesting and culturally exciting events of the last 1/3 of the 20th century as far as Pop Sci Fi was concerned and deserves to be mentioned.
But the FACT is that it is the MOVIE that got people excited not the novelization which hardly ranks with ODYSSEY, MOBY DICK et all!
It rates with Superman or Batman.

If I enjoyed the movie I got crazy for the book! There are lots of scenes that the movie didn't show and all of them with great realism and precision! I'll surely buy the sequel, and I hope it will be as good as this. I also red the italian translation of this book, but the original version is even better. In one word, if you want to live a fantastic adventure in your mind, you can't miss this book.

The entire Star Wars saga doesn't and never will have an equal. This book picks up on the things that you might not have in the movie. If you're a dedicated fan, you may be disturbed by the fact that the dialect isn't quite the same as the movie :) If you want to know what happened in the missing moments with Biggs, this is the best way to find out. A wonderful edition to your Star Wars collection, if you can manage to get your hands on it!

Lucas wrote the novel himself, and it was released prior to the 1977 film, which gives it a little extra credibility.

Better novel than a film? No... But it would stand on its own reasonably well as a novel. Nothing special in terms of the writing, but it works well enough. You won't get much in here that isn't in the film, though it is slightly more adult. I think bones and blood went flying once or twice and he may have mentioned perspiration on a woman's skin once. Ooooooohhhh...

Awesome book... awesome trilogy and universe in-fact. But when are the original trilogy, i.e. A New Hope, Empire Strikes and Jedi gonna come out on kindle. It's one of the few things stopping me buying one...

I didn't love this dramatization. I tried to like it, but I couldn't even like it. I know it's based on the books, but the books were based on the movies, and when you can pretty much quote the movies word for word, you expect a level of exactness in a radio dramatization. And at least when reading the books, you can hear the characters in your head however you remember them in the movies. In this dramatization, some of the characters were just too different. Princess Leia became a wuss, while Luke suddenly isn't a whiney little boy, and Han is a big egotistical jerk (if you read the books, Han is a good guy deep down) who sounds like a used car salesman. All the dialogue they use while "running" around the Death Star, and doing various other things is extremely of annoying and it's just unnecessary.

Also, there are too many lines that are iconic to Star Wars geeks that got messed up in this version, which really ruins it for anyone who can quote the movies. I couldn't make it through the entire program, which is sad, because I love Star Wars. I might try again later on, just to at least finish it, but maybe not.....

O.K. here's the deal. Star Wars is a good story. I had to read this book for Young Adult. No problem right? So, I read it and it was alright (I remember seeing the movie a few years back); it was as I remembered the movie. In fact, after reading the book, I went back and watched the movie. Exactly the same. That's when I got mad! Oh well, we live and learn.

they print a certain amount of volumes for this release, well not all of them past the quality tests, have bought books from the store for a long time, early on I realized that the price is right because the books have minor flaus, nothing bad and better than most used book sellers I have shopped, but flaus that would eventually occur on the book shelf, well after reading some of the reviews it seems like these might be quality seconds they have flaus, so this is actually expensive see if you can borrow it through your local library first, if you love it buy it, as for me my back can't take another heavy book,

What a surprise - George Lucas is as bad at writing prose as he is at writing screenplays! The 'prose' for this piece of junk is excruciating. Why do people keep encouraging him?? PLEASE, Mr. Lucas, do us ALL a favor and please please please RETIRE!!! You can't write, direct or edit a proper film or book, even though you're using other people's ideas. GIVE IT UP and go home already. *sigh* Well, we can *wish* can't we?
For a real sci-fi saga: The Matrix
For a real sci-fi novel: Neuromancer
For true modern mythmaking: Lord of the Rings
Do your brain a favor and check out the above. You'll THANK me...once the swelling goes down, heh he heh ;)