THX 1138 [Paperback]

Ben Bova (Author), George Lucas (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Warner Books (February 1978)
• ISBN-10: 0446897116
• ISBN-13: 978-0446897112
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #651,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This review was completed 7.5% under budget, November 20, 2001

By 

Echo "Echo" (Western Hemisphere) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: THX 1138 (Paperback)

Wow! I expected a typical 1970s hack job, but this novelization really adds to the experience of this film.

Ben Bova's vision is ultra-violent where George Lucas' savagery is implied...but it's compelling because it's believable. We understand the nature of the hologram (I thought that they were humans that thought of themselves as computer images). We understand a little more about the sad fate of LUH, and what was eventually planned for THX. And the rapes...ugh.

Special note for SF Bay Area residents - check out the BART cameo towards the end!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There is an ending but it is omitted......, April 15, 2005

By 

G. Edwards - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: THX 1138 (Paperback)

This really is a great novelization of a George Lucas story but only the first edition printing has the ending to it! For some reason the subsequent editions cut the final two or three pages of the story. Good luck finding a copy of the 1st edition paperback, I haven't seen it since I was in high school 25 years ago!

5.0 out of 5 stars About the ENDING, September 4, 2011

By 

ZARDOZ "THX 1138" (Ulan Bator) - See all my reviews

This review is from: THX 1138 (Paperback)

I've read the fist edition (a long long time ago) of this Ben Bova's adaptation of THX 1138. As far as I recall when THX emerge from the underground shaft's grating; he was standing up from a mound or a hill and was amazed by the sight of the sun (rising or setting?) on the horizon against a clear blue sky.

This was similar in George Lucas' screenplay and film. Only difference is, is the film's oversized sun on the screen with a yellowish red background with some silhouette of birds flying instead of the clear blue sky.

Also on Bova's book when THX gazed down from the hill; he saw trees,a field, a farmhouse (like a pastoral landscape). And outside by the farmhouse and the trees, he saw a family dining on an wooden table and those long wood bench.

I think Bova extrapolated a tiny tiny bit on the conclusion of Lucas' original story to give readers a little more conclusion on the ending. The reason(s) for omitting this part on the other editions is unknown.