Title: Splinter of the Mind's Eye
Author: Alan Dean Foster
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| via Wikipedia |
When Alan Dean Foster was signed on to ghost write the novelization of Star Wars, his contract included a second book. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, first published in 1978, was conceived as a low-budget sequel to the first movie if it failed at the box office. Of course, we all know Star Wars was one of the most successful films in history and there was plenty of cash on hand to produce the big-budget masterpiece, The Empire Strikes Back. But as the first full-length novel after the original, Splinter became a cornerstone of Star Wars's Expanded Universe, the enormous body of lower canon material which has been created over the decades since.
Splinter is a Luke and Leia story. Han Solo is never even mentioned by name - Harrison Ford had not yet been signed for a sequel film. Luke and Leia, unexpectedly detoured from a diplomatic mission, find themselves on a quest for the Kaiburr crystal, an object with great power and not fully understood connection with the Force. Naturally, they must get to the crystal before Darth Vader and his minions get ahold of it. Along the way, they make new friends and enemies among the weird and wild creatures that make up The Galaxy Far, Far Away.
George Lucas has, over the years, waffled on the question of whether he knew the entire Star Wars saga from the beginning or if he made it up as he went along. While he did not write Splinter, he did have a lot of control over its content so inconsistencies with the movies are well worth exploring. Luke and Leia are still a way's off from discovering their brother/sister relationship so they are free to test the sexual tension between them. Yes, it's a bit icky when you know what's coming down the line but I, for one, do not believe that Lucas knew he would eventually make them siblings, or even the children of Vader. There is a direct confrontation between Luke, Leia and Vader in Splinter, with a very different result from the duel to come on Bespin.
While I found the original Star Wars novelization a bit of a mess (review here), Splinter of the Mind's Eye is tidier. It's hard to say it's a better book because the story isn't as good but it is a more polished work. Star Wars devotees will find plenty to like and plenty to ponder.
Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past month. This month's link list is below. I'll keep it open until the end of the day. I'll post March's tomorrow. Meetings are the last Friday of each month. Next gathering is March 28th.
Splinter was my first Star Wars read. I think I was 9, maybe? I have a findness for the book, but I don't think I will ever re-read it.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure Lucas had already thought about the relationship stuff. If you look back through any of his creation process, it's clear that it was at least in his mind. There is something I read at one point where he considered going with Kenobi as Luke's father, but that was because he thought having Vader be Luke's father might be too much for audiences to take.
I've seen him flat out deny it in interviews, though. He also did a good job of keeping his big secret. The Marvel comics people, for instance, clearly had no idea. There's nothing in Splinter that rules out the familial story but a different direction was clearly intended.
DeleteWell, he's also flat out denied that he ever had plans on doing a final trilogy, but I probably still have some old magazines (Starlog, probably) where he talks about his plans for 7-9.
DeleteI seem to recall talk from back in the day that he had a plan for 9 movies total. Papa George can convince himself of almost anything, I guess.
DeleteI think it's interesting that the success of a minor character in a film or tv show can influence their trajectory going forward. Especially in tv, there are plenty of instances where a guest role becomes a recurring character or gets their own spinoff.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of this book but will have to look it up! Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely. And I think a weakness of the prequel trilogy was the lack of an everyman, Han Solo-type character.
DeleteHadn't heard of it - but I do love Star Wars, even if I'm not really in LOVE with the more recent movies or anything. I definitely haven't read any Star Wars books.
ReplyDeleteI would find that a bit icky as well, the Luke/Leia thing!
It doesn't get too icky, no more so than their big smooch in Empire, but Luke's feelings are made clear.
DeleteI love this! I hadn't heard of this story, but I find the commercialization that is Star Wars brilliant. Imagine, having a plan b to keep the franchise going in case it limped instead of soared! Not surprised that Lucas had his hands in this! even if it was ghostwritten. Seems a bit of the control freak, amirighht?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Definitely on the control freak thing. One wonders what role he is playing, if any, with the upcoming films.
DeleteHow funny; I thought it was settled that the Luke/Leia sibling thing, with Vader as dad, was a later development. I didn't realize it was still an open question. From what I can see of that cover, they look like little kids, so "sexual tension" is an extra-creepy addition to this story. Interesting that the Star Wars brand, with that distinctive look and font, was already so clearly defined.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not little kids in the book. In fact, Leia's kind of a badass.
Delete"George Lucas has, over the years, waffled on the question of whether he knew the entire Star Wars saga from the beginning or if he made it up as he went along."
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess the question is answered with this second book. He obviously didn't have it all set in stone if this is the direction the second book took. He kind of had a V.C. Andrews thing going with the sibling sexual tension thing. Yes, kind of creepy! It's good to see though that the writing, as it went along in later books, got cleaned up and was more coherent than the first novel. I agree, that thing was a mess!
VC Andrews - you know, I never read those books and had, in fact, forgotten about them. My older sister, though, was devoted so I know enough to understand the incest allusion. John Irving has quite a bit of that going in his books, too.
DeleteI haven't read this one since I was a kid. It was after Empire, so it was kinda weird then.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine. I remember seeing on the shelves at the library but never read it until now.
DeleteOur interest in the Star Wars movies blossomed because our kids were so into them, but we ended up being fans ourselves. Even so, I never read any of the books. This one sounds like it's worth a look. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt's good fun if you're already a fan, I think. I don't know if it'd be worth much otherwise. There are MUCH better scifi novels out there.
DeleteActually with a name like Vader (Vater is Father in German) I thought the idea of Vader being Luke's father was pretty much decided back in 77.
ReplyDeleteRight, I've thought of the Dark Father/Darth Vader thing, too - a friend pointed it out at one point in a "how was anyone surprised?" kind of way. But I've seen Lucas in interviews swearing up and down that he hadn't decided yet. Perhaps, as Andrew suggests above, the possibility was always there but he was leaving his options open.
DeleteWHAT!!? There's a Luke and Leia book/story? Bye. Gotta go check it out.
ReplyDeleteHa! Have fun. Let me know what you think.
DeleteI didn't know about this! Interesting. Hard to imagine there was a time when people thought the movie might be a failure.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising now, isn't it? The success of the film snuck up on everyone, creators included.
DeleteFirstly a sorry: didn't finish reading my chosen book until 1am: review not done yet, will be a tomorrow job now! Secondly: I never knew this Luke and Leia story existed, got a bit of an excitement rush going here!!
ReplyDeleteNo problem, Lisa! Any book that can keep you up until 1 must be good. I'll look forward to your review.
DeleteIt's amazing to see a window into the expanded universe before the series was established. Especially since the brother\sister thing came so much later. Good review!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maurice! It was a fun read.
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