The STAR WARS Sequel That Was Never Made

We dive into the Star Wars sequel that could have been, Splinter Of The Mind's Eye.
The novel written by Alan Dean Foster.
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#sciencefiction #scifi #starwars

[@EddieBloecher]

I first got Splinter of the Mind's Eye from Scholastic Book Club in 1978 in Elementary School. Loved it!

[@weswolever7477]

The day we got the SBC catalog was always the best day of school, I’m 64 and still have several of the books I ordered

[@EddieBloecher]

@@weswolever7477 I do too! Lol I actually still have a few of the free posters from when you order 3 or more books lol. Still have my Dynamite Magazines relating to Star Wars and Galactica lol. I'm 55 until October lol.

[@tedadamgreen]

Same!

[@paulsarnik8506]

I first saw Splinter on the self of the checkout line(crewed by a living person, remember them?). Star Wars the movie (No Hope, no New, no "A") I first read about in the school's Weekly Reader and couldn't wait.

[@EddieBloecher]

@@paulsarnik8506 As they say Paul, ah the good old days. A live checkout person? No way! Lol I remember and feel your pain Brother!

[@michaelmaynard4387]

'Splinter', 'Han Solo at Star's End', and the Marvel comic run were all we had to feed our Star Wars fix before 'Empire' came out. They were just as essential at keeping it alive as 'Heir to the Empire' was in the 90s.

[@macsnafu]

I liked the early Han Solo books, and the Marvel comic series was surprisingly good, once you got past the movie adaptation.

[@calebfuller4713]

How can you possibly leave out the Holiday Special! 😂

[@alexiswilliams4489]

And don't forget the audio play "Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell," available on vinyl, which was referenced in Empire.

[@michaelmaynard4387]

@@alexiswilliams4489 You're right. I remember buying that record. Although I don't think I picked it up until after I saw Empire. I like that it filled in the reference gap.

[@josephcontreras8930]

The marvel run was great so we're the Sunday comics strips.

[@jpotter2086]

The first and still the best SW novel. I love the early Star Wars media (books, comics, games) ... the galaxy far, far away was so fluid and undefined after the first movie, and before any sequels came out (mid-'77 to mid-'80). So many possibilites. THAT is what made it irresistable and so widely appealing.

[@alancarnell2747]

I got it off Troll in Elementary school

[@EddieBloecher]

Scholastic for me! Lol

[@EddieBloecher]

And the 3 Han Solo Books.

[@derrickorman712]

Also the three Lando books

[@EddieBloecher]

@@derrickorman712 I'm lucky enough to have a book of all 3 signed by Author Neil Smith who we unfortunately lost in 2021. They're a great read.

[@marscaleb]

I remember reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye back in the 9th grade. Somewhere in the middle I got to the point where I had to wonder if the guy writing this story had never seen the movie. Years later I find out that the book was a proposed low-budget sequel, and it was in fact written by someone who had never seen the movie because the movie wasn't finished yet. It made a lot of sense to me.

[@JoshuaJohnson-m7i]

This story is necessary as cannon. Luke learns the force grab in this story. Luke fights Vader in a jungle temple which he sees as a vision in the dark side cave on Degeba. Also when Luke chooses not to finish his training with Yoda in favor of confronting Vader to rescue his friends, Obi-Wan’s ghost tells Luke “if you choose to face Vader I cannot interfere”. Why would Luke think Obi-Wan could interfere? It’s because he did interfere when Luke fought Vader in Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. This story absolutely is cannon.

[@rikk319]

Except for the part where Luke pulls Leia up after falling in the caves and she lays on top of him in a rather sensual embrace that goes on for far too long and makes that kiss she gave him in Empire seem like the most innocent of pecks.

[@bwc-chvd]

Imagine this story in clone wars animation. It would be incredible

[@Sergio-nb4hj]

​@@bwc-chvd holy fck you just made me want this so bad

[@LUCKO2022]

​@@rikk319 You do know that Leia was never intended to be Luke's sister. It only became that as Lucas was tired of Star Wars and just wanted to finish it off so the real sequel trilogy which was to find Luke's sister was thrown into Episode 6.

[@Michael.RedKnight]

Except it isn’t

[@sherlockdad]

"Splinter" was my favorite SW book in the Expanded Universe! I truly wish it had been made into a film.

[@Snakey_sneeky]

The cover is mesmerizing.

[@jc7997aj]

Believe it or not I've never read it. I was 7 when RoTJ came out so I was a young teen when all the expanded stuff was coming out new. I guess I just kept moving forward and never went back. I've also never read the novelizations. Maybe I need fix that😂

[@BenCloverfieldLane]

"mcguff- ...crystal."

[@JazzAndLoFiBeats]

Yeah, that was one of his best lines. 😄

[@JDavid-ye7gm]

@@JazzAndLoFiBeats It earned my like

[@sexobscura]

*Yes, the lore of the 'Kyber McGuff' was well known*

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

The Kyberuffin. The Mcguffer? Kyguffer maybe?

[@user-ik4kh9lt6d]

Bought the book years ago from a second hand bookshop. Still haven't read it. Now I have an idea of what it was about. Great video!

[@VincentNajger1]

Wow! May be worth a pretty penny now...sorta lol. Seems people are paying up to a couple hundred US dollars for a good condition first edition. May be worth keeping it on your bookshelf for a few more decades.

[@necron99.aka-sammyboy92]

It's ok. Not bad not great boy still fits into the original timeline mostly.

[@ConceptJunkie]

I read "Splinter" around 1979, but I literally didn't remember anything about it. Still, it was cool to get new Star Wars material, because we had no idea what was coming.

[@fredparker1734]

I was just about to say the same thing...I know I had it,and,read it,but,don't remember a THING about it.

[@disconnected22]

“They’re just two young people fingering in the jungle. Don’t make it weird.“😂 I remember as a kid, it being strange: I would see this Splinter book on shelves. I somehow knew it was another Star Wars story, but not one of the movies. This is long enough back that the very idea of something being outside the three original films was completely unique. I never read it when I was young, wish I would’ve. I know that by the 90s it was rare to even come across a copy. (EDIT) came across a used copy in a bookstore today. I know what I’m reading next

[@cernstormrunner7263]

my library had a copy

[@InvisibleAvenger]

Some was reprinted in the 90s, I bought a copy then. There were other Star Wars books from that early era too, THE HAN SOLO ADVENTURES by Brian Daley were a trilogy published in 1979 and 1980 (just after SotME) and THE LANDO CALRISSIAN ADVENTURES by L Neil Smith another trilogy published in 1983. Both trilogies have received multiple reprintings over the years (in collected editions) just like SotME has.

[@EddieBloecher]

It didn't weird me out until Return of the Jedi came out and I found out that Luke and Leia were siblings. EWWWWWW LOL

[@skaterrabbit2005]

I got mine on Amazon, this shit is NOT rare at all 😂

[@roryscarlett3952]

Thanks Moid. I grew-up on Star Wars, my first Sci-fi before I even knew sci-fi was a thing. Great to have such an awesome insight that isn't from the horde of Star Wars KZbinrs!

[@rikk319]

My mom bought me Splinter of the Mind's Eye when I saw on a bookstore bookshelf. It was fine for the era, and I was only 10 or 11, Empire hadn't come out yet, and I was still firmly of the mind that Leia was going to end up with Luke romantically. However, I ended up getting into Foster's novels, and read an absolute masterpiece of sci-fi he wrote called Nor Crystal Tears, which is a first contact novel, but written from the perspective of the mantid-like insect aliens meeting humans for the first time.

[@ravenplume3968]

Splinter was the first Foster novel (well Star Wars itself was actually) that I recall ever reading. Not long after, I got a Science Fiction Book Club membership and discovered Spellsinger, then later Quozl and Glory Lane by Foster, plus many other wonderful authors of the era (Brin, Gardner, Brooks, Steussey, Zelazny, and more.)

[@The_Rising_Ape]

Read "Splinter" in about '86 and it absolutely blew me away. I always thought it should've been made for screen, it's such a good story but breaks what became canon from "Empire" onward.

[@gazbot9000]

I remember reading this when I was about nine. Episode V was already seen by the public. I always just understood this as an adventure that took place between episodes IV and V. Splinter didn't exactly excite me 😂

[@rjkral]

Very nicely put together video! Well done! I saw the book SPLINTER when it came out, and the cover image really intrigued me, conjuring up new adventure, new places, old villain and just, something wonderfully atmospheric about it. No clue at that point there was so much more to come. Love how you put this together with images and the influence of Splinter on various elements that came to be!

[@nickn1782]

I read *Splinter of the Mind’s Eye* back when it was new and I remember enjoying the book. Interesting to know its backstory.

[@JackMyersPhotography]

A fantastic trip down memory lane on this one; thanks a lot! I remember reading this when I was a kid, and I loved it. Great work on the video and editing Charlie!

[@MediaDeathCult]

Thanks Jack

[@danielrhodes7594]

As a kid I read Star Wars and Splinter of the Minds Eye when they first came out. They were both awesome and I loved them. That got me reading Sci-Fi, Star Wars, and Alan Dean Foster. Mr. Foster does have an awesome universe of his own with Pip and Flinx!

[@ravenplume3968]

Spellsinger was a huge influence for me.

[@SciFiScavenger]

I had Splinter as a kid, it was pretty good!

[@terryfurlong518]

Me too. I had forgotten all about it!

[@jamescambias9189]

Heroes trying to keep a mystical artifact of power out of the hands of a militaristic evil empire. What else does that remind me of?

[@smurfthumper]

I'm assuming you're thinking of Lord of the Rings, but maybe you're also thinking of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hour of the Dragon, Chronicles of Prydain, any work featuring the Necronomicon, Sword of Shannara, Infinity Gauntlet, et cetera.

[@adamsucharski6545]

​@@smurfthumperi think he meant Dune and its spice. There are many things in Star Wars universe that Dune did first

[@davycrock0441]

The Muur Talisman

[@ScrapKing73]

Issue #7 of the Marvel comic book (October 1977) was a new adventure, well before the March 1978 release of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, by my reckoning. So I think the Marvel comic book started the expanded universe, at least as far as release order goes.

[@ravenplume3968]

#7. Was that the beginning of the Eight Against a World story arc? That was one of my top favorites (which I never finished reading), though #50, The Crimson Forever is right up there for me as well.

[@tomspoors768]

"From a Certain Point of View" is marvellous. Coherent, amusing and inspiring.

[@MediaDeathCult]

Thank you Tom

[@davelanciani-dimaensionx]

Lucas always claims that he had the whole idea of Luke, Leia and Vader being related from the very beginning. I think that's a load of bull. This book proves it. I actually have a copy of it somewhere. I read it when it first came out and there was NEVER any mention of them being siblings, or Vader being their father.

[@turasuicide6093]

It actually doesnt. He could still have had the idea originally. Just as he had many ideas. He didnt write the book. It was based on a "what if" scenario that never needed to be explored.

[@Mr.Pacario]

Splinter has that pulpy feel that the series, I think, was originally meant to convey. It now feels more in line with the weird early Star Wars comic books and those Ewok movies than anything truly timeless, but it was a fun dime store adventure for the era.

[@DanielWright-np3fq]

Alan Dean Foster, one of my favorites from back in the day.

[@sethweese]

My friends and I read this book in the mid 90s of middle school, it was in our school library ! We were so excited when we found it, it was a fight over who got to read it first !

[@claytonmarchetti724]

I read splinter of the minds eye a long time ago and loved it. I never knew it was a possible sequel to a new hope. Excellent video, thank you!

[@blackbarnz]

I read Splinter years ago as well as over 150 other SW novels & Splinter definitely sticks out as different. I honestly can't remember much about Splinter except it featured a "magic item" & that's what sets it apart. The Han meeting Chewie scene was also reminiscent of novels where Han met Chewie but w/out other wookies. I also read the Star Wars "New Hope" screen play novel but I could only find UK copies, not sure if it was released elsewhere. Though I searched for that decades ago before eBay etc was a thing.

[@SniffHeinkel]

Luke and Leia crash land on an Imperial mining planet. No one there knows who they are. They visit a bar and are approached by a woman who tells them about the Kaiburr crystal. Vader comes looking for them. I had the book years ago.

[@LordOberon67]

I read “Splinter” before “Empire Strikes Back” movie came out. Was expecting the ESB movie to have the Splinter plot, but with just a different title. So ESB confused me the first time I saw it in theaters as a kid in 1980 because it didn’t follow the Splinter plot at all as I was expecting - this was obviously before the Internet and before details about movie production were readily available. There was also speculation among my friends that Splinter was the actual Chapter 5 (not filmed) and ESB was combined Chapters 6-7 of Lucas’ original 9 Chapter plan, with Revenge of the Jedi (renamed to Return of the Jedi) being the combined Chapters 8-9 conclusion. Then, Lucas added number 4-6 to his original trilogy to create room for the unnecessary sequels that Disney ultimately made.

[@originaldarkwater]

I loved Alan Dean Foster even before he wrote Splinter. I was introduced to him via his Star Trek the Animated Series novelizations, which were fantastic, and went on to read most of his Commonwealth novels. Since I read Splinter long before The Empire Strikes Back was even on the horizon, it never seemed weird or out-of-place to me. As a matter of fact, I've always thought that Lucas did Luke dirty by giving Han his girl and, as if to add insult to injury, even made her his sister in RoTJ, just because he ran out of screen time to properly introduce Luke's sister as a separate character, as she was originally envisioned, and because he couldn't think of a better way to extricate himself from the love triangle he'd built. I also miss the idea that a Obi-Wan was able to "possess" Luke to fight for him at the end of the novel, an idea that I think is present in Luke's reactions to using the Force to destroy the Death Star in the original film, as well as in Obi-Wan's line from ESB where he says "If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere.", implying that he HAD interfered, somehow, at some point in the past. I believe that is a direct reference to the final fight in Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Unfortunately, Lucas chose to drop the concept, although his comments about what he had planned for his version of the sequels make me think he was going to pick it up again. Missed opportunities.

[@MemphiStig]

I was 12 when Star Wars hit theaters. Like everyone, my mind was blown. I read the movie novelization, then read this book as soon as I saw it. I *loved* it. There were distinct alien races, great stories & characters, a fascinating mentor-type, and a cool planet, all fantastic sorts of fuel for my young mind. I've never heard his story tho. I really wanted to see the movie from this book, but you know, ESB was pretty good too. Both were unforgettable.

[@bzenga5981]

ironic to have splinter take place on mimban without han or chewbacca and then introduce the planet into canon in the han solo origin movie with chewbacca

[@cosmicwartoad2587]

I remmber the massive queue outside the Odean on Oxford Road in Manchester.

[@jedipadawan7023]

I read that book. It was clear Alan Dean Foster had not thought it through. One of the logical problems was a scene in the book in which Princess Leia confesses to Luke that she cannot swim and Luke has to guide her through. Wait... A kid from a desert work that meed moister evaporators can swim by a Princess of a planet with rivers and streams and likely access to swimming pools cannot? And the whole 'magic crystal' thing had already been overdone by 1980. "Splinter of the mind's eye" is a classic... but it's not a classic.

[@Dman3827]

Lots of people who live near the water don't know how to swim dude.

[@jedipadawan7023]

@@Dman3827 Yes but this is a Princess! Private tutors, personal swimming pools, etc, ec And how the hell was Luke, just lifted from Tatooine, supposed to learn how to swim when his family has to 'mine' water?!

[@mikepalmer1971]

My wife’s aunt grew up on the gulf coast and is in her 70’s. She cannot swim.

[@jedipadawan7023]

@@mikepalmer1971 Again, your wife's aunt is not a Princess with private pools and th elike. Besides, in stories like this when there is the extra-ordinary, and it can happen, it must be explained including how Luke learned to swim. It's a double incredulity here..

[@mikepalmer1971]

@@jedipadawan7023 also….this is a make believe story.

[@harrydale514]

Have to go read Splinter now. Interesting hearing about Lucas’ prerequisites. Although, I do wonder when he first conceived of Luke and Leia being siblings?

[@CaminoAir]

No disrespect to Alan Dean Foster, but it's a limited story with no meaningful relation to the established SW lore. That's what he was asked to provide and that's what it is. As a SW fanatic back in those early days, I was thrilled to see a SW novel appear and I was really disappointed after reading it.

[@CaminoAir]

Lucas made Leia Luke's sister after he abandoned his original hopes of making 9 SW films. The 'Other' Yoda speaks of in TESB was to be Luke's sister in Lucas' sequel trilogy: someone we had not yet met in the films. Lucas had to tie-up loose ends and made Leia 'The Other' and killed off both Vader and the Emperor. The Emperor was originally going to be the main villain of the sequel trilogy.

[@Charlie_Lap]

Don't make it weird!

[@MediaDeathCult]

I told you this would happen Charlie...

[@thomriley1036]

Probably when he read Children of Dune in 1976.

[@BrotherExperimentus]

I purchased Alan Dean Foster's "Slinter of Mind's Eye" in 1978 when it hit the bookshelves in my community. I only read it decades later cover to cover and found it largely incongruous with the Star Wars universe that we all came to know and love. In fact, I kind of hated it. It was not that it was poorly written, just didn't fit at all with the Star Wars that was to be. Also, when I had purchased the book, there had already been rumours that the book actually contained the history of Darth Vader, which was that Obi Won Kenobi had been Darth Vader's teacher in The Force, but Vader turned to the Dark Side and Obi Won fought him on the edge of a volcano into which Vader fell, but survived, requiring him to wear his specialized armour. None of that was in the book, yet that information was known in the fandom somehow back then. I did enjoy the original novelization, which differed from the New Hope we all saw on screen in 1977 (those of us that did) and I have to say that knowing that was Alan Dean Foster's work as well as a ghost writer gives me new admiration for his writing. I remember he had also done novelization in 1979 for another movie franchise that has also stood the test of time over the decades, ALIEN. All that said, if you are a devout Star Wars fan but have never read "Splinter of Minds Eye" either do not read it as it will cause you nightmares and rage for its falling so far outside of cannon, or read it as if it is an alternative timeline or a "what if?" Star Wars universe. Thank you for this video, it has helped me to rethink all the horrible things I said about the book after I read it outside of the context I have learned here.

[@Benjiesbeenbetter.]

I read Splinter straight away and was hugely disappointed in it as, even after only one movie, it seemed not very "Star Warsy". At least now I understand why there's no Han & Chewbacca. That story of the volcano fight was around from more or less the release of the first movie, as I recall. One thing I read was that if Star Wars had been only a moderate success, Lucas wanted to do Splinter as a TV movie and start a tv series from that.

[@Timelord2001]

In this particular case, I'm not sure there even is a conflict between Splinter and ESB. You could have them happen in just that order, couldn't you. If so, then as Vader would say, "There is no conflict."

[@darrendavidson3269]

I was 9 when Star Wars came out and never saw it at the cinema. I had to rely on the novelisation. I'd read it a few times before I'd first seen it on TV. I'm pretty sure I found a 2nd hand copy of Splinter after Empire had come out.

[@terryfurlong518]

Pedants corner: indigenous alien? 😂. More top content - thank you. Subscribing to Patreon today.

[@gentugo]

I bought splinter of the minds eye back in 1978. I still have it.

[@marklatchford9557]

I loved the book when I was a youngster in the late '70's/early'80's and it's still a great read. It always bugged me though that in it Luke (from a desert planet) can swim but Leia can't.....

[@jedipadawan7023]

Yup, I just posted that!

[@tedwojtasik8781]

If David Lynch would have directed a sequel, Luke and Lea would have been brother and sister, and lovers as well. Maybe get Cronenberg up in there to really spice things up. We could have had Star Wars meets Game of Thrones meets Lost Highway meets Naked Lunch. That is the Star Wars we should have had, the Star Wars we deserved. 🙂

[@ricardoaguirre6126]

Found a copy of it at a swap meet. Bought it for a dollar.

[@LeTon75]

I watched you’re Primer 2 trailer and the Dune video enjoyed then both and subbed this was bout 7/8 months ago……then today this Star Wars vid pops into my recommended and I click on it to watch then clicked on to you’re page to check out other vids and it was showing I wasn’t subscribed…..anyone else noticed this ?

[@Charlie_Lap]

On the plus side, you can now catch up on all the other great videos

[@LeTon75]

@@Charlie_Lap yep, silver linings 👍

[@gooey915]

I've got a bad feeling about this *proceeds to have holiday special flashbacks*

[@danieldickholtz6405]

In one section of my book WAVELENGTHS: Covering Sci Fi in EVERY Reality, I get into an alternate history in which several factors lead George Lucas into blowing it with STAR WARS and having to make this much lower budgeted sequel. Without the spaceship battles, without Harrison Ford, without a lot of what moviegoers associated with the first one, the filmed Splinter just doesn't click with audiences. But it's not just these movies that are different. Without what made the original STAR WARS a success, lives, careers, and entire industries are thrown off into a very different direction. If you're interested in where this goes, WAVELENGTHS: Covering Sci Fi in EVERY Reality by me, Daniel A. Dickholtz, is available at Amazon and other online retailers. (And there are two other alternate histories of science fiction pop culture too!)

[@richardrobinson1651]

When he says "I've got a bad feeling about this ", he sounds more like Bolo, from the Mighty Boosh.

[@williamleslie4939]

I must be one of the few people who read the Star Wars novel prior to seeing the film on opening day. We were traveling down to Florida from Connecticut, so I had plenty of time to read it. I also read Splinter of the Mind's Eye when it came out and, even as a kid, I felt it was a bit claustrophobic compared to Star Wars.

[@JB-1138]

I highly recommend the graphic novel of this story. The art is insanely good.

[@sw-gs]

Making Vader a comic relief villain was a bold move.

[@timfankell4242]

Considering how much Lucas struggled with the writing process making the first film (he hated it, actually), it makes perfect sense he would hire someone like ADF to continue the story. According to at least one source, SOTME was intended to be the first of a series of novels taken "from the adventures of Luke Skywalker", but this idea was of course quickly dropped, making SOTME a one-off curiousity.

[@nicholasklangos9704]

Always wished Splinter was made then Empire, then Return! Read the novel when it first came out and many other SW novels!

[@sophiaherschel567]

Never get on camera without your gun. It is vitally important to remember that.

[@cjalexanderjr8811]

Is "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" canon?

[@fshoaps]

Not anymore. But during the EU canon, it’s place in the timeline was adjusted and it was canonical.

[@ChrisOnStage2]

WHY stop at the most crucial point in the story? Luke & Leia meet Darth Vader and then.......WHAT??!!

[@ELEKTROSKANSEN]

They die, no sequel. Duh!

[@Avzigoyhbasilsikos]

Love this man

[@jorgezarco9269]

Damnation Alley(1977) and Star Wars were produced by 20th Century Fox.

[@darrell9832]

I also came across and bought Splinter of Minds Eye. I also came across the original "canon"s trilogies for Han Solos character, wrote in the mid 80's. More interesting than the remake trilogy books that came out in the early 2000's. Also have the "canon" trigoly books about Lando Calrissian that came out in the mid 80's. Thought they were good too. In these his partner was also a robot, but like a conservative cp30 an r2d2 combined.

[@ravenplume3968]

Vuffi Raa, you have got to pull yourself together. Still not funny, master.

[@harveykitzman9083]

Thankyou for this video! I LOVED reading Splinter when I first read it. It would have been a great movie!

[@MediaDeathCult]

My pleasure

[@peterisnardi1197]

Yuzzem (or, A Yuzzem) appeared in the Special Edition of ROTJ singing in Sy Snootles' band...he did NOT look like how I imagined Yuzzem to look when I read SOTME...

[@durwoodmaccool890]

Used to have a copy of Splinter, I thought Alan did a good job with it, I'd already read some of the Flinx stuff, you can see echoes of that in Splinter I think. It also would have been easy to see it fitted into the main storyline, as it didn't really change anything. Had no idea there was a movie possibility that would hev been fun.

[@ravenplume3968]

You should definitely check out Foster's Spellsinger series as well. It is like an isekai before isekai was a huge thing. :) Then again, I consider John Carter a proto isekai as well...

[@danielwilliamson6180]

I've got the Splinter of the Mind's Eye book by Alan Dean Foster.

[@doctoronishispsychosislab1474]

never heard any one mention Han saying i have a bad felling about this is clearly him being force sensative

[@MediaDeathCult]

Never thought of that

[@lunavarion]

Imagine an alternate Star-Wars timeline stemming from Splinter of the Minds Eye rather than The Empire Strikes Back. The idea holds a lot of potential.

[@ravenplume3968]

Meh. It should be pretty easy to slip Splinter in as just a side story (From the Further Adventures of Luke Skywalker) in between Star Wars and Empire. A few little changes here and there to clean some things up perhaps, but easy enough to have them both canonical.

[@hansweston]

What is really sad is that the OG Star Wars never won an award for it performances or screenplay. The technical achievements were not enough to make this film a success. Without the universal resonance of the story and the relatability of the performances as a foundation to build the technical elements on, it would have been a total flop. It's these two crucial ingredients that so many modern blockbuster films still get wrong, instead dropping storytelling and compelling character arcs in favour of effects, fights and spectacle.

[@HexNottingham]

Great homage to a classic. The book is in my collection, though I've yet to read it. You have inspired me to grab that one next. Because .... I really should. I have to do the nerd thing now and point out a correction: Characters have been falling down "big holes" since the O.G., Star Wars 1977 (later A New Hope). Think Stormtrooper shootout before the iconic swing across the chasm scene, I believe with the legendary Wilhelm scream. Cheers, mate. Cheers!

[@christalbot210]

Interestingly, it also contains what I believe is the one instance in which nobody fell down the big hole: Obi-Wan deactivating the tractor beam.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

Yes, Lucas planned a 9 episode saga from the start. He built the whole lore in his head from the start and Bill Gates developed the windows in his parents' garage.

[@orangeechofilms]

You're getting every kind of weather in this forest haha

[@MediaDeathCult]

April in Shropshire

[@shanemorgan-qk5tw]

Good interview with Alan, the book is cool plus the comic made from it's story has good art.

[@iogen70]

I remember waiting to go and see the original. As a seven year old I thought I'd burst at the seams waiting.

[@e4b611]

Very Well Done! 👏👏👏

[@MediaDeathCult]

Thanks

[@G.S.Holland]

The early Star Wars novels (including the Han Solo trilogy novels) weren't great but they were a lot of fun. While I am not sure I'd want to see them made into live action movies at this point, I wish they would be made into animated features.

[@ravenplume3968]

Don't forget the Lando trilogy as well. Vuffi Raa, you have got to pull yourself together...

[@soldadodeplata6031]

Big Stars Wars fan, the original 3 films. Editing saved the movie, Lucas had a mess until 3 editors saved him. I had a friend whom read SPLINTER and loved it.

[@Reelglad]

Why are you wearing a gun while recording this? And what are you holding? It looks like a grenade Im so confused

[@weswolever7477]

It looks like a DL-44

[@jongilbertson2106]

I feel like if I don’t pay attention, he is going the punch me in the face.

[@OneEyedLion]

Only Lucas and Alex Guinness thought it would be a hit. The rest of the cast and crew thought it would be a turkey.

[@paulsarnik8506]

I first saw "Splinter..." on the shelf of a human crewed checkout line , but first heard (read) about STAR WARS (no Hope, no New, no "A" in Yodaspeak) in my school's Weekly Reader and couldn't wait so i was first row 05/27/77. 🤓😎✌🏼

[@jamesstoffel2318]

I was a huge Trekkie before Star Wars came out. But Star Wars was a huge phenomenon

[@rebeljedaii2571]

Before Disney it was considered part of the Expanded Universe canon and had a graphic novel to smooth things out. I didn't particularly think it weird....so Luke was tempted to kiss her? That's all that happened. He didn't know she was his sister and didn't even give in to it. Their squabble in town post ROTJ could just as easily be a sibling fight. I also noticed the way he wrote Vader in the book was pretty consistent with what he wrote about Anakin in Approaching Storm

[@MichaelKurse]

I remember buying Splinter in the Mind's Eye, as soon as it came out. Great book!😊😊😊

[@JamiesonHorton]

It would be fun if this was done in Visions. Foster should get residuals.

[@TheGamerZapocalypse]

The Cover Art for Splinter Of The Minds Eye, and the title are awesome...but the more I read it, the less I liked any of it...almost as if it were the opposite of everything that made the original movie so great. It was depressing to read. The opening monologue about the universe set this tone and it quickly went right into the swamp...no thanks

[@docsavage8640]

I remember reading the novel way back when there was nothing but the original Star Wars movie and novel available. Not even the Holiday Special or the Han Solo and Lando Calrissian novels! And I still think it's better than the story they gave us instead.

[@ravenplume3968]

The Marvel comics were out by then, I think.

[@waldo8791]

Just finished Splinter of the Minds Eye last month

[@joseeduardobolisfortes]

As a contemporary of the original trilogy, I always know that the Luke's sister was another character; Lucas planed to make three trilogies and they would find her in the last movie of the second, I think. But when he decided to finish the history with Return of Jedi, turn Lea as Luke's sister to shrink the trama.

[@richardhart9204]

I read Splinter when Star Wars hit general release here in the UK in 1978. It was okay, not great; and yes, it did have a distinctly low budget feel to it.

[@hippomancy]

vagaries of rural living- never saw Star Wars in theatre - so read novel. then Splinter, before even the xmas special..felt extremely creepy about the Luke/Leia twindom later... but understand Splinter is in no way canon.... the Star Wars novelization was credited to Lucas but I always assumed Foster wrote it.

[@michaeljdauben]

I read this many years ago when it was first published and I was thirsty for more Star Wars. It's been so long I don't remember much of it, though. I'll need to pick up a copy and reread it now! 😅

[@Wsmith247]

Splinter was the first book that I read more than once growing up.

[@macsnafu]

I remember reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye, but for the life of me, I can't remember much about the story, except for someone saying that they can't swim!

[@thomasdonlin5456]

Not a laser sword but light saber.

[@angellohector]

George did make young Anakin say 'Laser sword' in the Phantom Menace, just as a way for us to see how far removed young Anakin was from what we later know

[@andrewmclaughlin2701]

I read Star Wars and Splinter of the Mind's Eye back to back. I was not properly shielded from the Star Wars Holiday Special and was forced to grow up quick. By the time Empire came out, I had lost all interest in the saga after exposure to Life Day and was off to learn about cars and what women like to do in cars even though I would not be legally able to drive a car for a few more years.

[@magister.mortran]

I read it, before The Empire Strikes Back came out and replayed it with my Star Wars action figures. In fact it fitted more with the canon of the first movie than The Empire Strikes Back. It was in TESB, when George Lucas started messing with his own canon and had retroactively to change the story of the original (Vader being Luke's father instead of his murderer, changing the relationship of Leia from Luke to Han). In this novel the Star Wars universe was still pretty straight with no contradictions.

[@jsawcy]

Omg I heard about the Dean Foster book on a Star Wars podcast I listen to and then I found a copy at the thrift store recently!

[@neophytealpha]

Even a decent amount of the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn made it into canon.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

This and "Shadows of the Empire" deserves some recognition.

[@mikepalmer1971]

I don’t know how I never picked this book up. I need to find a copy now.

[@residentgrigo4701]

Splinter of the Mind's Eye got a comic mini-series from Dark Horse in the 90s. Take that as you low budget sequel that could have been.

[@maxdible]

I wonder if AI can be used to create this as a full-length film...

[@lib556]

I completely forgot about Splinter. I got it as soon as it was published (78?). I read it and, over the decades, forgot about it.

[@parkerpshebnisky1051]

It would have been a great Star Wars movie!