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criminolly's review
4.0
An interesting slice of Star Wars history, written after the first movie came out. It's awkward in some respects (Luke's unbrotherly feelings for Leia), but a lot of fun overall, with an episodic Saturday Morning Pictures feel and loads of action. I owned this as a kid and never read it, 40 years later I can't figure out why.
mastersal's review against another edition
3.0
I am so happy this never got made. Interesting less as a story and a glimpse into what Star Wars could have been.
wood656's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
kerrycat's review against another edition
4.0
closer to 3.5
clearly Lucas didn't enlighten Foster as to his plans after the first Star Wars film, and Foster just had to wing it, which makes for some humorous speculation on his part that obviously goes against what we learn later in the original trilogy - including the physical attraction between Luke and Leia, which can be more than a little goofy and overdramatic. for instance: "like a missile launcher sighting on its prey, his eyes contacted hers. There was a brief, silent explosion before she looked hurriedly away." there's more of the same, and he stares at her a lot, thinking of how beautiful she is, what her lips look like, the sort of adolescent dreaminess you can't fault him for but now we know . . .
but there's some good lines here, too, and this one, while simple, jumped out at me, and I'm sure I won't forget it: "the water was as black as the inside of the Emperor's mind."
this and some inconsistent characterization aside, this was fun.
clearly Lucas didn't enlighten Foster as to his plans after the first Star Wars film, and Foster just had to wing it, which makes for some humorous speculation on his part that obviously goes against what we learn later in the original trilogy - including the physical attraction between Luke and Leia, which can be more than a little goofy and overdramatic. for instance: "like a missile launcher sighting on its prey, his eyes contacted hers. There was a brief, silent explosion before she looked hurriedly away." there's more of the same, and he stares at her a lot, thinking of how beautiful she is, what her lips look like, the sort of adolescent dreaminess you can't fault him for but now we know . . .
but there's some good lines here, too, and this one, while simple, jumped out at me, and I'm sure I won't forget it: "the water was as black as the inside of the Emperor's mind."
this and some inconsistent characterization aside, this was fun.
jtashoff's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
readerofbooks70's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
bridgeman98's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
todd_bissell's review
1.0
This is the weird bastard child book of the original Star Wars, that dates back to a time when "The Empire Strikes Back" was just a gleam in George Lucas' eye (his mind's eye, get it?). Okay, I'll stop there. No more puns: onto the task at hand.
As this was written in a existential vacuum, separate from the original trilogy, the Star Wars Expanded Universe storyline(s), and pretty much everything else Star Wars adjacent..., it stands to reason that nothing here is or was even considered to be canon. For the sake of the series, that's a good thing. But even in a bubble, separate from everything else Star Wars related, this is not a good book.
At various times Leia is beaten up, slapped, goes into PTSD mode recalling her torture aboard the Death Star, plus has doses of survivor guilt after Alderaan was turned into space chunks. At no time do we see her being the brassy and take-charge "Into the garbage chute flyboy!" rebel leader..., and too often we get a wilting princess/damsel-in-distress. This book does Leia's character no favors.
(Aside: Leia the pampered princess can't swim, but Luke the moisture farmer bumpkin straight off a desert world can; huh?)
Another character that gets spun in a totally non-canon manner is Darth Vader. He's entirely too verbose and cliched here. Another reviewer put it perfectly: you half expect him to twirl his evil character mustache while over-explaining his dastardly plot as he ties up Leia to the train tracks. I half expected him to exclaim "Curses! Foiled again!"
Luke is written as a horny teenager lusting after Leia (who wisely has pretty much zero interest). He's got his light saber (and little clue how to use it), but otherwise this novel could have been written without any references at all to Star Wars. "Farmboy and the Damsel in Distress crash land on a swamp world; wacky hi-jinx ensure!".
1.5 stars if seen as a throw-away stand-alone sci-fi pulp -- 1 star if you try to tie this to anything else Star Wars related. An utterly avoidable book, either way.
As this was written in a existential vacuum, separate from the original trilogy, the Star Wars Expanded Universe storyline(s), and pretty much everything else Star Wars adjacent..., it stands to reason that nothing here is or was even considered to be canon. For the sake of the series, that's a good thing. But even in a bubble, separate from everything else Star Wars related, this is not a good book.
At various times Leia is beaten up, slapped, goes into PTSD mode recalling her torture aboard the Death Star, plus has doses of survivor guilt after Alderaan was turned into space chunks. At no time do we see her being the brassy and take-charge "Into the garbage chute flyboy!" rebel leader..., and too often we get a wilting princess/damsel-in-distress. This book does Leia's character no favors.
(Aside: Leia the pampered princess can't swim, but Luke the moisture farmer bumpkin straight off a desert world can; huh?)
Another character that gets spun in a totally non-canon manner is Darth Vader. He's entirely too verbose and cliched here. Another reviewer put it perfectly: you half expect him to twirl his evil character mustache while over-explaining his dastardly plot as he ties up Leia to the train tracks. I half expected him to exclaim "Curses! Foiled again!"
Luke is written as a horny teenager lusting after Leia (who wisely has pretty much zero interest). He's got his light saber (and little clue how to use it), but otherwise this novel could have been written without any references at all to Star Wars. "Farmboy and the Damsel in Distress crash land on a swamp world; wacky hi-jinx ensure!".
1.5 stars if seen as a throw-away stand-alone sci-fi pulp -- 1 star if you try to tie this to anything else Star Wars related. An utterly avoidable book, either way.
abigcoffeedragon's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely can tell that this was before the franchise became popular. C-3PO is still spelled ThreePeeOh and R2 is Artoo. There is a character here that I think was pulled for Maz Katana in the Sequel series, just without Han and Chewie. Instead of "Han, my boy" it is "Luke my boy".
Vadar referring to Luke as Skywalker also shows that Vadar was Vadar and nothing more at this point.
The story is not of the quality of the original trilogy but it has some good ideas, and if the main characters were anyone other than Luke and Leia, it would have been a better story.
Vadar referring to Luke as Skywalker also shows that Vadar was Vadar and nothing more at this point.
The story is not of the quality of the original trilogy but it has some good ideas, and if the main characters were anyone other than Luke and Leia, it would have been a better story.
calbowen's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely can tell that this was before the franchise became popular. C-3PO is still spelled ThreePeeOh and R2 is Artoo. There is a character here that I think was pulled for Maz Katana in the Sequel series, just without Han and Chewie. Instead of "Han, my boy" it is "Luke my boy".
Vadar referring to Luke as Skywalker also shows that Vadar was Vadar and nothing more at this point.
The story is not of the quality of the original trilogy but it has some good ideas, and if the main characters were anyone other than Luke and Leia, it would have been a better story.
Vadar referring to Luke as Skywalker also shows that Vadar was Vadar and nothing more at this point.
The story is not of the quality of the original trilogy but it has some good ideas, and if the main characters were anyone other than Luke and Leia, it would have been a better story.