The Star Wars Trilogy (Mass Market Paperback)

by George Lucas (Author), Donald F. Glut (Author), James Kahn (Author) "Threepio turned his smooth, humanlike head to one side..." (more)
Key Phrases: golden droid, targeting visor, little droid, Millennium Falcon, Darth Vader, Dark Lord (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
The three novelizations of the original Star Wars trilogy each sold millions of copies. In honor of Star Wars'-or technically Episode IV: A New Hope-silver anniversary, Ballantine has released this handsome three-in-one hardcover edition sporting a cover by conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie, who greatly influenced the look of the films, e.g., Vader's mask was his idea. Though Star Wars might seem like geek fan boy stuff, creator Lucas (all the novels are based on his initial treatments for the scripts) does use proven literary motifs: a coming-of-age story as well as a search for a father figure, with a talisman (daddy Darth's lightsaber) linking the generations, it is most importantly about redemption. Each of the novels also includes an introduction by Lucas. A quarter-century later, millions of fans worldwide remain ravenous for all things from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away; the new films rake in zillions, and print titles in the "expanded universe" (characters/plots not covered on-screen) are widely read. This volume should do well.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
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....


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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; Reprint edition (January 23, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345384385
• ISBN-13: 978-0345384386
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,911 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Tatooine to Endor......, April 14, 2003

By	Alex Diaz-Granados "fardreaming writer" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Star Wars Trilogy, Episodes IV, V & VI (Hardcover)

The 25th Anniversary edition of The Star Wars Trilogy breaks no new ground or make any editorial changes to the three movie tie-in novels based on the screenplays for Star Wars (now known as A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. There are no adjustments or rewrites to make the novels match the Special Edition re-releases of 1997. It isn't even the first time all three novels are collected in one volume...there are mass-market and trade paperback three-in-one editions. The only new features are the cover art by Ralph McQuarrie, the conceptual artist whose paintings "sold" George Lucas' "out of this world" ideas to leery 20th Century Fox executives and short intros to each novelization by Lucas himself. Whether or not those were written for the 25th Anniversary Edition or if they appeared in other reissues of the novels isn't important; what is important is that the 25th Anniversary Edition's elegant package recaptures the magic of reading the Classic Trilogy....

Like most novelizations of popular movies, the authors (Alan Dean Foster being the ghostwriter for George Lucas, Donald F. Glut, and James Kahn) have adapted the screenplays to Episodes IV, V and VI with a certain sense of unity, yet each writer has a distinctive style of his own. On the whole, the best writer is Foster, who had, before Star Wars, adapted the Star Trek animated series into the Star Trek Logs series. Very few Star Wars authors, with the exception of Timothy Zahn and a few others, capture the essence of the characters and situations of the movies as well as Foster. Glut is almost as good a writer, and his style is not all that different from Foster's. Kahn's style is minimalist. I like the Jedi novelization, but there is a strange sense of connect-the-dots permeating it all the same.

All right, so we aren't talking great literature here, and I do know that the writers work from drafts of the screenplay that are different from the final shooting script. That's why Luke Skywalker's comm sign in the novel of A New Hope is Blue Five; in the movie the callsign is Red Five. And the novels do expand the storyline and "restore" deleted scenes....the literary equivalent of a DVD extra features disc, you might say.

I rate this book 5 stars not because it is brilliantly written or philosophically meaningful, but rather because it recaptures the magic of reading those dog-eared paperbacks, but with a bit more class.

14 of 14 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 (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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 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!