Give Me Those Star Wars 36: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker: The STAR WARS Novelization

May The Fourth Be With You!

On this episode of Give Me Those Star Wars, Ryan Daly and guest Jonathan Schaefer-Hames (from Married With Comics) review STAR WARS: FROM THE ADVENTURES OF LUKE SKYWALKER, the official movie novelization written by Alan Dean Foster (as “George Lucas”), published in 1976.

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13 responses to “Give Me Those Star Wars 36: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker: The STAR WARS Novelization

  1. I want to say up front that the French edition of this was in my 5th grade classroom, and it’s how I first experienced the Star Wars story, though technically, I had already seen Empire Strikes Back in theaters the year before, albeit with my dad translating and geeksplaining everything.

  2. I’ve been amused lately by some of the over the top vitriol in some internet places about how so much of TROS was left out of the movie and is only explained in the novelization. Folks, have I got news for you…

  3. Very interesting episode and discussion, fellas. I have never read the novelization, so the hints at what would and would not make it into the prequels is fascinating.

    I’ve always wondered about that whole academy thing as well. It seems hard to imagine Luke would ever sign up for the Empire in any way, and you would think, retcons in place, Uncle Owen would REALLY try to steer him clear of Daddy’s footsteps!

    Chris

  4. Great show. Now you need to cover the Jedi novel just for the bit where Obi-Wan says Owen Lars is his brother! Canon? What canon?

  5. This is really cool. I’ve never read any of the novelizations (although I do believe we had one). But my earliest memories were from the 1977 vinyl LP (The Story of Star Wars) which had narration along with movie dialog and Williams’ score. Fun bit of trivia… the LP was the first use of a stormtrooper yelling “Close the blast doors” before Han and Chewie jumped thru. That line wasn’t in the original theatrical release and was only added in the special edition. But it was obviously filmed for the original. I always thought that was cool and even as a kid, made me wonder how much was left out? Cool stuff, guys.

  6. Well done on a fun episode, everyone! It was great to hear Jonathon talk about Star Wars and to hear some of these neat differences or additions in the book. Though I’ve read the book, it was so long ago and my rememb-ory is not great so it was funny to hear that there was Earth-isms in the book, like monkey and duck. I wonder if the author saw an early cut of the film and was trying to describe what he saw visually with these aliens? Or if these descriptions were in in George Lucas’ script?

    I really liked some points you made about a reboot, but I don’t like the idea of a reboot of Star Wars. The convoluted, complicated continuity is one of the reasons I love Star Wars so much. Like my favourite comics, you can write new stories with new characters to bring in new readers without ignoring everything that happened before. For me, that’s what the Mandalorian did so well. Having said that, I would most likely watch the reboot and would probably enjoy it so they already got their claws in me.

    Thanks for another great episode! Keep up the great work!

  7. I had this as a kid, and read it to pieces until I finally got to see the film in August 77. It never bothered me, then or now, that the book and the movie didn’t match up that closely.

  8. The novel sounds really fascinating. The whole “duck/monkey” thing was played up relatively recently in the comic strip XKCD, but I had no idea the first novel already broke that ground: https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/etymology.png

    Without the novel, I DID have the record which told the movie story. That was pretty awesome! I spent many a Saturday re-enacting the film with my action figures while playing the record. Being before my VHS days, this was the closest I could get. Ah, good times.

    I know I’d read Empire’s novelization, but can’t recall if I got it from the library or a friend, because I certainly don’t have a copy myself. I think the comic adaptation borrowed many element from the novel that didn’t make it into the movie, like a snow monster breaking into the Rebel stronghold. Unless I’m senile and imagining that?

    A delightful “What if” discussion as well. Thank you, Rebels.

    1. You remember right. Empire originally had a subplot involving Wampas attacking the base while everything else was going on, as well as an encounter between a Wampa and a Probe Droid. The scenes proved impossible to film, but they made it in the book. Also cut from the book was General Veers’s walker getting taken out by a suicide run by (I think) Hobbie’s snowspeeder crashing into the head of the Walker.

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