The Star Wars Trilogy (Ep. IV: A New Hope; Ep. V: The Empire Strikes Back; Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi) [Paperback]

George Lucas (Author), Donald F. Glut (Author), James Kahn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 12, 1987

For the first time, here is a Special Omnibus Edition of the complete texts of the three novels that tell the complete story of everyone's favorite adventure--The Star Wars Trilogy. Including: STAR WARS, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and RETURN OF THE JEDI.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Luke Skywalker dreamed of adventures out among the stars and alien worlds. But when he intercepted a message from a beautiful captive princess, he got more than he had bargained for--and that was how the adventure of his life began.... --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

STAR WARS was written by director George Lucas in 1976/ THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was written by Donald F. Glut in 1980/ RETURN OF THE JEDI was written by James Kahn in 1983. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (May 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345348060
• ISBN-13: 978-0345348067
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

George Lucas is the founder of Lucasfilm Ltd., one of the world's leading entertainment companies. He created the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series. Among his story credits are THX 1138, American Graffiti, and the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. He lives in Marin County, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty solid novelizations, November 6, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Star Wars Trilogy (Paperback)

The original Star Wars trilogy hit the movie industry like a sack of gold falling from the sky, and has become a modern classic in the years since then. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the novelizations. One is lackluster, two are okay, with occasional moments of brilliance.

"A New Hope" is technically not so great, but the energy and exuberance of Lucas's first huge film just seeps out of the edges. It makes up for its writing shortcomings by not trying too hard, since this was before the immense success of the movie trilogy. Not very detailed, but not too spare either.

Ironically, the best film of the trilogy, "Empire Strikes Back," is rather dull as a novelization, coming across as fragmented and forced; Donald F. Glut seems to have been feeling the pressure. The flavor returns somewhat in "Return of the Jedi"'s novelization, which has more energy and spark than its predecessor. It feels like James Kahn was able to move past the overwhelming expectations and turn out something pretty good.

Not much has been changed in the years since these novelizations were first published. The first one, ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, was originally published as "Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker," which accounts for the slightly space-serial-esque flavor of the first book. The second and third are less laid-back, and more intense.

Since the novelizations were crafted from scripts, it often reads like the writers just inserted some detail here and there, along with "he said" or "she shouted." But there are some scenes and lines that aren't in the final films. These make for some very interesting reading, especially when they add dimension to already existing characters. One example is Luke and Ben having a peculiar conversation about ducks; another is Luke and Briggs chatting on Tattooine.

The "Star Wars" novelization trilogy is something of a mixed bag, but it's worth checking out for fans of Lucas's classic movies. It isn't too different from the scripts, but revisiting it in print is a pleasant diversion.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll wanna read it over and over again!, June 17, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Star Wars Trilogy (Mass Market Paperback)

This book grabs your attention over and over again. When I'm at school all I want to do is go home and read this book again. As most Star Wars fans know it's about Luke Skywalker and his journey towards becoming a jedi. This book features all three star wars, A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi. If you must know this book is just as good as the movie but it's even more fun to find out what the characters are thinking during lightsaber fights, empier encounters, and all scenes with Darth Vader and The Emporer. This book deserves the title of star wars and a great book reveiw!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Made one of the original movies even better for me, November 4, 2005

By 

Jeff Wiley (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Star Wars Trilogy (Paperback)

I've been a Star Wars fan my entire life, and have read several of the Expanded Universe books. I'd never wanted to read the novelization of the original trilogy, however, until recently. On a lark, more than anything, I decided to pick it up.

There are slight continuity issues between the story presented in this book, and the prequel trilogy, but they are not so looming that they would detract from your enjoyment of the book. It's a quick read, especially if you are a lifetime fan of the movies. Your imagination has to do little work, in terms of conjuring up images of characters or settings, as most of it is engrained in your head already. The dialogue is almost verbatim from the films, and there is little detail added in any of the first two stories.

The best part of this book, to me, was James Kahn's telling of `Return of the Jedi'. His descriptions and narrative added new layers of enjoyment to the story. I really think his work did the film a great justice by its presentation, and in my opinion, he is the most talented writer of the three represented here. Of the three movies from the original trilogy, ROTJ is my least favorite, but of the stories in this book, it's my favorite.

Overall, I wouldn't label this book as a must-read for fans, but I certainly enjoyed it, and think most Star Wars fans would, as well.