Book Review: Star Wars: A New Hope SPOILERS!

On December 1976, the novel to the bestselling movie was published by Del Rey under the name George Lucas, but was really ghostwritten by acclaimed author Alan Dean Foster—his prose is very succinct and easily noted with certain words and phrases. Synopsis: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . . Luke Skywalker lived and worked on his uncle's farm on the remote planet of Tatooine—and he was bored beyond belief. He yearned for adventures out among the stars—adventures that would take him beyond the farthest galaxies to distant and alien worlds. But Luke got more than he bargained for when he intercepted a cryptic message from a beautiful princess being held captive by a dark and powerful warlord. Luke didn't know who she was, but he had to save her—and soon, because time was running out. Armed only with courage and with the lightsaber that had been his father's, Luke was catapulted into the middle of the most savage space war ever…and he was headed straight for a desperate encounter on the enemy battle station known as the Death Star.

The novel opens with a rare two epigraph prologue, one that summarizes the Prequel Trilogy before it was even filmed or written, and the other a quote from Leia. Then it shifts to a brief history of the Tatoo system, particularly that of Tatooine. It then goes to the Tantive IV being captured by Darth Vader; during a battle on the ship, Princess Leia Organa codes a hologram message to General Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi to give to her father on Alderaan, with a set of plans for the Death Star, inside the astromech droid R2-D2. R2-D2 and his protocol droid counterpart C-3PO escape the doomed ship and crash land on Tatooine. Luke, working on a part of the moisture farm, witnesses the battle above and alerts his friends—Camie, Fixer, Deak, and Windy—but they don't believe him; Biggs Darklighter is there and tells Luke that he and a friend plan on deserting the Empire for the Rebellion.

After days of wandering, both get captured by the trader natives, Jawas, and eventually brought to the Lars Homestead, where Owen Lars buys them. When his nephew, Luke Skywalker, cleans R2-D2, a portion of the message plays out, but R2 refuses to play the rest. During dinner, Luke asks his uncle if Obi-Wan is related to Crazy Ben, but Owen refuses to answer. During the night, R2 sneaks off to the Jundland Wastes, but Luke—in the morning—gives chase. C-3PO and Luke catch up to R2 and they are promptly attacked by Tusken Raiders. Luke's wounded and Ben chases them off, then takes R2, Luke, and C-3PO back to his hut and listen to the message. Ben reveals himself to be Obi-Wan, and that he fought in the Clone Wars with Luke's father; they decide to go toward the nearest spaceport, but when Luke learns of Jawas being massacred over the droids, he races back to the farm and finds the remains of his uncle and aunt's corpses. He then sets of toward Mos Eisley Spaceport with Obi-Wan and the droids.

Meanwhile, having been captured by Darth Vader and subsequently interrogated, Leia is brought before Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin who intends to demonstrate that rebellion won't be tolerated and threatens to destroy Alderaan when Leia, breaking down, tells Tarkin that the rebel base is on Dantooine. Tarkin admits that Dantooine is too remote for an effective demonstration and blows up Alderaan. Back on Tatooine, Luke and Obi-Wan encounter Han Solo and his copilot Chewbacca. After a deal is struck for passage off-world, Han tells Jabba Desilijic Tiure that he (Han) will have the money shortly, then flees the planet with the gang when the stormtroopers attempt to arrest them. After fleeing Tatooine, and with Obi-Wan training Luke in the ways of the Jedi Knights, they arrive at the remains of Alderaan and get captured by the Empire. Obi-Wan goes to sabotage the Death Star's tractor beams while Luke, Chewie, and Han rescue Leia. Vader, sensing Obi-Wan through the magical and mystical Force, seeks his former Master and duels him. After a fight through the Death Star, the gang flees when Obi-Wan sacrifices himself to allow Millennium Falcon to escape the battle station.

They arrive in the Yavin system and land at the Great Temple on the fourth moon, where the plans are delivered to the rebels. A briefing is held, during which Wedge Antilles voices concern about the plan; Han and Chewie take their reward and leave. Luke meets up with former childhood friend Biggs and they have a brief reunion. The Death Star arrives and the Battle of Yavin IV begins. During the Battle, Gold Squadron, in Y-Wings, is eliminated, while Red Squadron, in X-Wings, is heavily reduced. Luke, Biggs, and Wedge are left at the end, but Vader destroys Biggs' ship, then damages Wedge's before targeting Luke's. However, Han—having a change of heart—arrives to destroy two of Vader's wing-men, then sends Vader spinning out of the system, giving Luke the shot to destroy the battle station. Tarkin remains unconvinced that it can be destroyed, but is proven wrong when Luke's two proton torpedoes fly down an uncovered thermal exhaust port and blow up the main reactor. Han, Chewie, Luke, Wedge and an unnamed pilot head back to Yavin IV where they are honored for their victory.

All in all, a great novelization of the first film that captures the entirety of the Star Wars galaxy. A pity that Alan's other two entries into the galaxy were terrible. It remains one of the must-read novels in the entire saga.

Book Review: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire SPOILERS!

On May 1996, Steve Perry and Ballantine Spectra books published the novelization to the Nintendo 64 game Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. It removes the entirety of the Hoth sequence in favor of starting with an introduction to the main villain, Prince Xizor. The events of the game and novel take place between Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Synopsis: It is a time of crisis. Han Solo, frozen in carbonite, is being taken to the vile ganster Jabba the Hutt. As Princess Leia mounts a rescue mission and Darth Vader scours the Galaxy for Luke Skywalker, another sinister figure emerges. Cunning and ruthless, leader of a powerful crime syndicate, he will pit himself against Vader for the favor of their mutual master . . . the dreaded Emperor. His name is Xizor, Underlord of a galaxywide criminal organization called Black Sun. He seeks to displace Darth Vader as Emperor Palpatine's right hand. To do so, he will hatch a brilliantly evil plan to discredit Vader in the Emperor's eyes. But in the meantime he will join the Dark Lord in an unholy alliance whose common target is the young Rebel hero, Luke Skywalker. While Vader and Xizor bait their trap for Luke, Han Solo is being held captive, flash-frozen in a carbonite slab. Mourning the loss of the man she loves, Princess Leia mounts a rescue mission to free Han. She enlists the aid of Luke, who is sharpening his skill in the Force at Ben Kenobi's home on the edge of Tatooine's Western Dune Sea. Skywalker organizes a crack fighting force, including Wedge Antilles and his famous X-wing squadron; Lando Calrissian; and the mercenary Dash Rendar. Yet the fierce battle that ensues to rescue Han will not go according to plan. For the Empire's spies are everywhere. What's worse, though he is cold and reptilian, Xizor has a certain predatory charisma that not even Leia can totally resist. Against the judgment of Chewbacca, who has promised Han to keep her from harm, Leia walks willingly into Xizor's lair in a dangerous play of passion and willpower to get the information she needs to defeat him. At the same time, Luke stands in the crosshairs of a conspiracy of assassins and bounty hunters recruited by Xizor's lieutenant, the beautiful but lethal Human replicant Guri. As the struggle between Xizor and Vader intensifies, Luke finds himself the potential prize of the two most evil entities in the galaxy — one who wants him alive, and one who wants him dead. In a final, explosive showdown, the Rebels must infiltrate Xizor's impregnable stronghold and fight the combined forces of Black Sun and the Empire in deep space. With death and betrayal looming on every side, Luke, Leia, Lando, and Chewie must use every weapon and resource at their disposal, including the Rebel fleet and some intriguing new allies, if they are to prove victorious. In Shadows of the Empire, Steve Perry adds an exciting new chapter to the Star Wars saga and introduces important new characters and situations no Star Wars fan will want to miss.

The novel opens with Xizor witnessing Palpatine talking to Vader about Luke Skywalker during the events of The Empire Strikes Back and how Vader will turn his son to the dark side. On Tatooine, Leia has a nightmare about the day Han was frozen in carbonite, while Luke is off trying to keep up his Jedi training. Later, Lando arrives and informs Leia that an old friend named Dash Rendar says he's tracked Boba Fett to Gall, the moon of Zhar. The gang leaves and lands on Kile, the other moon, where Dash and Rogue Squadron's waiting for them. Together, Luke leads Rogue Squadron in a battle to keep the Imperials distracted while Dash, in his ship Outrider, takes Lando, Leia, and Chewbacca--on Millennium Falcon--to the surface of Gall. During the battle, an X-Wing pilot is killed and Dash bails when they approach the base. During the rendezvous back to the rebel base, Luke's attacked by Wes Janson's X-Wing--it's revealed that Wes' droid's been programmed to kill Luke. Luke disables Wes' ship and they land on the base, but Luke demands answers about why Dash left; Dash states that he was paid to lead them there, not stay and fight. In the hangar, Wedge and Luke are ambushed by a mechanic who killed the droid; they find out that he was working for someone, but unbeknownst to anyone, the hit came from Xizor. Prince Xizor's looking for a way to strike back at Vader for killing his family on Falleen many years ago.

The group splits up: Leia, Lando, Chewbacca, and C-3PO heading for Rodia to ask Black Sun for help while Luke goes back to Tatooine in case Fett shows up. Leia pays Dash to keep an eye on Luke. Luke's ambushed by bounty hunters and, after a chase through Beggar's Canyon, Dash arrives and saves Luke. They find a package waiting for Leia--it tells them about the Bothan's having recovered technical plans for a secret project the Emperor is overseeing. The two, plus R2-D2, head to Kothlis to find out. They arrive and join with the Bothans to prepare a fight, but it goes wrong and Dash's missile seemingly destroys the Bothan squadron. Devastated, Dash begins to lose faith in his abilities, despite the fact that they recovered the intel. Meanwhile, on Rodia, Guri arrives per Xizor's instructions and brings Leia and Chewbacca to Imperial City to meet with the Dark Prince. Once there, Xizor attempts to seduce Leia, but fails when Chewbacca interrupts. Chewbacca flees Xizor's palace while the Dark Prince holds her captive. Alone, Luke's captured by Barabel bounty hunters; they tell Vader, but before Vader can arrive, Lando and Chewbacca break him out. They head to Imperial City to rescue Leia. Vader's not pleased and angrily returns to Imperial City. While there, he senses Luke, but also Leia, though he doesn't realize it at the time. Luke, Lando, and Chewbacca run into Dash who agrees to help them.

They suborn a Black Sun member who leads them through the sewers into Xizor's Palace. He attempts to kill them, but Dash kills him. Once inside, they rescue Leia. Xizor, annoyed by the fight taking place, heads them off, but Lando drops a thermal detonator down a chute to the bottom of the palace. Xizor flees to his skyhook in orbit while the others race to the top. Luke fights and defeats Guri--she flees--and board the Falcon, piloted by C-3PO and R2-D2. They manage to escape, but Xizor sends his fleet to fight them; even with the arrival of Rogue Squadron, they can't hold off much longer. Earlier in the novel, Vader warned Xizor multiple times to stay away from Skywalker and his friends, and having found out what's going on and why Xizor bears a grudge against him, arrives. Vader demands that Xizor stand down, but the Dark Prince refuses. Vader orders the crew of the Executor to open fire on the skyhook. Xizor's killed, and the rebels manage to escape, but not before Dash, now on his ship, is seemingly killed. In the end, back on Tatooine, Luke finishes his recording to Jabba Desilijic Tiure and installs his lightsaber into R2-D2's dome. He and Leia get word from the Bothans that Dash is considered a hero and to let him know that he didn't kill the Bothans, it was the Imperials who fired a shot at the same moment Dash's missile impacted. The novel closes, setting up for Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

All in all, a well crafted and paced novel. Steve Perry gracefully cuts away the dried action of the game and replaces it with a sense of epicness that the game sorely lacks. The cut level of the Battle of Hoth is referred to, but not shown since it has no bearing on the novel or the game itself. Xizor is also given some missing cunning and evilness that the game doesn't have. It utilized the Original Trilogy heroes and villains well. A must read for all Star Wars fans.

Up next: Assassin's Creed: Renaissance by Oliver Bowden, the first novelization of any Assassin's Creed game. Yes, this means I'm going to do them in the order they were published.