Waaayyyy back in 1977, I was a 19 yr old reader/lover of sci-fi. And one day, early in '77, I walked into my favorite sci-fi bookstore. And lo and behold, they had a sign promoting a signing of pictures and books for a new and upcoming movie, soon to hit the screens in the spring of that year. Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Peter Mayhew were sign that day, from 10 am til noon. I looked at the clock........1:30. Oh, what could have been. Of course, with no internet at the time, no one had heard ANYTHING regarding this movie. BAKKA, A Science Fiction Bookstore in Toronto, you are sorely missed.
I’m 19 about to enter the Expanded Universe… the closest thing I have to getting a feel of libraries before they go away due to the internet is Barnes & Noble.
I remembered something about Anakin getting injured on the planet Mustafar and becoming Darth Vader when I was a little kid. I think it may have been in a Star Wars magazine when they detailed it. This is back in the Empire Strikes Back days. I still haven't found that reference since then, but when it happened in the movie many years later, I had known it was coming for years. Wish I could still find that source!
Awesome overview... I did reply a previous comment on your vid about the Legends books, I really like Tales of the Bounty Hunter and I also like Shadows of The Empire, Thrawn Trilogy. Courtship of Princess Leia & The X-wing Trilogy are pretty good too. Thanks again for being a champion of what was and should be "canon". And I agree, these books have been out for decades and the stories are just better. Thanks again.
I've only read Splinter of the Minds Eye and even then it was in the Dark horse comic book form in the late 90s. It was great. Everytime I see the Star Wars novel I always think of "Freaks and Geeks" as Sam was accosted by his teacher for picking it as a "book report" I like it that I'm not the only person who "inserted a scene" into a movie based on my memory mixing up books and movies together. Looking forward to the Zahn trilogy...
I am looking forward to the next episode of this new series, I don't know much about the old books so this is very educational and informative to me, thanks for the great content
Please, PLEASE keep doing these. This is probably the best video talking about Star Wars books i've seen and it's the reason i discovered this channel. Keep it up! 👍🏻
Whoa! That's awesome! I definitely plan to keep doing these, though not on a regular schedule. The next video I do about these will cover Timothy Zhan's Heir to the Empire trilogy. Can you tell me what it is that you think makes this video better than others? It's always good to get creative feedback.
Very solid books, authentic to Star Wars, and the Expanded Universe lore itself. You clearly understand Star Wars and very true everything you explain in this video. But what fascinates me the most is the early adaptations of Prequels decades before they were made! I appreciate your channel and the variety. Splinter of the minds eye, is very much legendary and among the best of publications
@@CerealAtMidnight A lot of the EU was great. To name a few: Cloak of Deception, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, MedStar 1: Battle Surgeons, Tales From the Cantina (very recommended), Tales From Jabba´s Palace... etc.. not to mention the "Thrawn Trilogy" of course, The Corellian Trilogy etc oh.. and "Star Wars Dark Forces: Soldier of The Empire" is perhaps my favorite.
This was awesome. Very enlightening. Just looking at getting into the EU myself, and I wasn't going to bother with these but now I definitely will and I think it's a good place to start. Thanks. Subscribed
Great video! It prompted me to dig around my library to see what I still had of my old Star Wars book collection, and I found loads! Not only novelizations of the original trilogy, but Splinter in hardback! Some of these had been forgotten behind other more recent titles ( I double shelf my books due to space considerations) so you helped respark my enthusiasm! Thanks!
Enjoyed the video so much it prompted me to build up my collection: Have owned an original Star Wars since 1978, and just scored hardback Empire Strikes Back, paperback of original trilogy, and two of the original Han novels. Tossed in "X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble".
I have all those and love them dearly. Many of the extras in Star Wars movie novelizations that were left out in the films are included in the Star Wars Radio Dramas. If you have not heard those, I highly recommend them. You would probably be happy to see some missing scenes from the books fully fleshed out. Great insights and fantastic books! Empire Strikes Back will forever be my favorite (watched it well over 300 times),but I love it all. The long stretch until Zhan was a trying time for us. LOL. My kids have NO idea how great it is to live is today’s age. Though not every movie has made me happy, I find elements in all of them to love. The best part is sharing it with my daughter. She is a super-fan!
Good info. I picked up some novelizations of early Cronenberg films because they too were based on early screenplays and contain segments that did not make it to the final film.
Thank you so much for this video. I've been looking forever for a guide on the Star Wars books. With Legends and the Disney Canon, the books are extremely confusing when not talked about in chronological order.
Great stuff! I still have my original copies of the individual Han Solo books and Splinter from the 70s. I don't remember the stories now, but I know I loved them then.
Great video !! I just picked up a really good copy of " Splinter Of The Mind's Eye . " a few weeks ago !! I did not know the backstory of the novel . It just sounded interesting !!
I have just started reading the books. I started with novelization of The Phantom Menace, and I'm now reading Rouge Planet. I intend to get everything at some point, as far as I'm concerned the film franchise ended with Episode 6 (although I did enjoy Rouge One).
I got Splinter early on. Then I found a hardback (not of standard size) of Han Solo at Stars End in a used book store. Not sure how that came to be. Picked up the next five books in paperback. Only real problem I have is the explanation for how Lando "won" Cloud City. He won enough jewels to buy Cloud City, but if Lucas ever revisited the story, it left the opportunity for Lucas to explain it differently. Don't forget the other expanded universe, the Marvel comic book series.
Vintage paperbacks are cool. I have the 1976 novelization. I don't have the vintage Splinter though, the 1994 reprint. Alan Dean Foster wrote In Thy Image the pilot of the second Star Trek series that became Star Trek the motion picture. Star Trek Phase II never happened and the network that was launched with Star Trek was UPN.
I was born in '63, so when '77 came around, I was already a serious Monster Kid and SF enthusiast. I have fond memories of SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE and all three Brian Daley HAN SOLO adventures, and still consider them tales that could be told in a new series of movies: STAR WARS LEGENDS. However, I read the first LANDO adventure and found it a lesser effort, not up to the adventure pulp quality of Daley's work, so I never got into the rest. By that time, I was redirecting my efforts into gathering all the British SF that I could get my hands on ( 2000 AD, StarLord, etc.) as well as the magazines that I'd missed , like Castle of Frankenstein and The Monster Times. I still think that Daley's three books are unmade movies that deserve their time.
I had the Han Solo collected book you held up and I read the 1st 2 stories. I wasn't a fan. I didn't like it without the Jedi in it. I wish I still had the book.
The Marvel comics are their own thing. I’ll talk about those comics (and Jaxxon) at some point, but they have never been held in the same regard as the novels. As indicated by the name, this series focuses on the Star Wars bookshelf.
@@CerealAtMidnight S'all good. I was just being pendantic with semantics. By the way, I own nearly every piece of EU with the exception of short stories and comic strips from the UK SW magazines. Those might be a little harder to come by. Starwarstimeline.net is a great resourse on everything EU.
@@CerealAtMidnight Ironically , they did end up using elements of those comics in later E.U. Novels ...cough, cough...Lumiya...cough . also, it was the A.C. Crispin Han Solo trilogy from the late 90's that got into the origins of Han working for Jabba . Solo the movie also borrows heavily from it , especially the early part of the film on Corellia .
Waaayyyy back in 1977, I was a 19 yr old reader/lover of sci-fi. And one day, early in '77, I walked into my favorite sci-fi bookstore. And lo and behold, they had a sign promoting a signing of pictures and books for a new and upcoming movie, soon to hit the screens in the spring of that year. Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Peter Mayhew were sign that day, from 10 am til noon. I looked at the clock........1:30. Oh, what could have been. Of course, with no internet at the time, no one had heard ANYTHING regarding this movie. BAKKA, A Science Fiction Bookstore in Toronto, you are sorely missed.
I'm from Toronto as well.
I’m 19 about to enter the Expanded Universe… the closest thing I have to getting a feel of libraries before they go away due to the internet is Barnes & Noble.
Dude, this was great. These books were essential readings when I was a young dork. Before resistance, before the dark times..
I remembered something about Anakin getting injured on the planet Mustafar and becoming Darth Vader when I was a little kid. I think it may have been in a Star Wars magazine when they detailed it. This is back in the Empire Strikes Back days. I still haven't found that reference since then, but when it happened in the movie many years later, I had known it was coming for years. Wish I could still find that source!
I remember that also, so it was definitely a thing. I can't for the life of me figure out how that came about.
Very underrated channel
Agreed.
Awesome overview... I did reply a previous comment on your vid about the Legends books, I really like Tales of the Bounty Hunter and I also like Shadows of The Empire, Thrawn Trilogy. Courtship of Princess Leia & The X-wing Trilogy are pretty good too. Thanks again for being a champion of what was and should be "canon". And I agree, these books have been out for decades and the stories are just better. Thanks again.
Great video Heath! I read all of those books when they came out “back in the day”. Thanks for the memories!
I've only read Splinter of the Minds Eye and even then it was in the Dark horse comic book form in the late 90s. It was great. Everytime I see the Star Wars novel I always think of "Freaks and Geeks" as Sam was accosted by his teacher for picking it as a "book report" I like it that I'm not the only person who "inserted a scene" into a movie based on my memory mixing up books and movies together. Looking forward to the Zahn trilogy...
cannot wait for the next one dude....some good stuff bringing back the memories!!
I remember reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye when I was a kid. I loved it. Still have my original copy.
I am looking forward to the next episode of this new series, I don't know much about the old books so this is very educational and informative to me, thanks for the great content
Please, PLEASE keep doing these. This is probably the best video talking about Star Wars books i've seen and it's the reason i discovered this channel. Keep it up! 👍🏻
Whoa! That's awesome! I definitely plan to keep doing these, though not on a regular schedule. The next video I do about these will cover Timothy Zhan's Heir to the Empire trilogy. Can you tell me what it is that you think makes this video better than others? It's always good to get creative feedback.
Very solid books, authentic to Star Wars, and the Expanded Universe lore itself.
You clearly understand Star Wars and very true everything you explain in this video.
But what fascinates me the most is the early adaptations of Prequels decades before they were made!
I appreciate your channel and the variety. Splinter of the minds eye, is very much legendary and among the best of publications
All those are great. Thanks for sharing them. Looking forward to the other vids about your EU books. I've got and read all of those.
What are some of your favorites?
@@CerealAtMidnight A lot of the EU was great. To name a few: Cloak of Deception, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, MedStar 1: Battle Surgeons, Tales From the Cantina (very recommended), Tales From Jabba´s Palace... etc.. not to mention the "Thrawn Trilogy" of course, The Corellian Trilogy etc oh.. and "Star Wars Dark Forces: Soldier of The Empire" is perhaps my favorite.
I agree, all of those are exceptional!
This was awesome. Very enlightening. Just looking at getting into the EU myself, and I wasn't going to bother with these but now I definitely will and I think it's a good place to start. Thanks. Subscribed
Thanks for the sub! We have another Star Wars Bookshelf video that you may also enjoy: The Thrawn Trilogy - th-cam.com/video/XhSV5B6ynM4/w-d-xo.html
Great video! It prompted me to dig around my library to see what I still had of my old Star Wars book collection, and I found loads! Not only novelizations of the original trilogy, but Splinter in hardback! Some of these had been forgotten behind other more recent titles ( I double shelf my books due to space considerations) so you helped respark my enthusiasm! Thanks!
Enjoyed the video so much it prompted me to build up my collection: Have owned an original Star Wars since 1978, and just scored hardback Empire Strikes Back, paperback of original trilogy, and two of the original Han novels. Tossed in "X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble".
I have all those and love them dearly. Many of the extras in Star Wars movie novelizations that were left out in the films are included in the Star Wars Radio Dramas. If you have not heard those, I highly recommend them. You would probably be happy to see some missing scenes from the books fully fleshed out. Great insights and fantastic books! Empire Strikes Back will forever be my favorite (watched it well over 300 times),but I love it all. The long stretch until Zhan was a trying time for us. LOL. My kids have NO idea how great it is to live is today’s age. Though not every movie has made me happy, I find elements in all of them to love. The best part is sharing it with my daughter. She is a super-fan!
Good info. I picked up some novelizations of early Cronenberg films because they too were based on early screenplays and contain segments that did not make it to the final film.
I love the Han Solo books and still read them every once in a while. The original printing of Star Wars had a different cover and no photos.
Thank you so much for this video. I've been looking forever for a guide on the Star Wars books. With Legends and the Disney Canon, the books are extremely confusing when not talked about in chronological order.
Great stuff! I still have my original copies of the individual Han Solo books and Splinter from the 70s. I don't remember the stories now, but I know I loved them then.
Great video !! I just picked up a really good copy of " Splinter Of The Mind's Eye . " a few weeks ago !! I did not know the backstory of the novel . It just sounded interesting !!
I have just started reading the books. I started with novelization of The Phantom Menace, and I'm now reading Rouge Planet. I intend to get everything at some point, as far as I'm concerned the film franchise ended with Episode 6 (although I did enjoy Rouge One).
I got Splinter early on. Then I found a hardback (not of standard size) of Han Solo at Stars End in a used book store. Not sure how that came to be. Picked up the next five books in paperback. Only real problem I have is the explanation for how Lando "won" Cloud City. He won enough jewels to buy Cloud City, but if Lucas ever revisited the story, it left the opportunity for Lucas to explain it differently.
Don't forget the other expanded universe, the Marvel comic book series.
Im inspired to revisit some of my early EU stuff. Awesome video.
Have you ever heard The Star Wars National Public Radio drama series? They were episode 4-6. Scripted by the late, Brian Daley.
Yes, with John Lithgow as Yoda! Great stuff.
I love the clone Wars novels and lost stars,. Keep up the good work
The star wars book is one of the best books ever written. Splinter of the minds eye is great as well. Don't forget rogue squadron.
Vintage paperbacks are cool. I have the 1976 novelization. I don't have the vintage Splinter though, the 1994 reprint. Alan Dean Foster wrote In Thy Image the pilot of the second Star Trek series that became Star Trek the motion picture. Star Trek Phase II never happened and the network that was launched with Star Trek was UPN.
I was born in '63, so when '77 came around, I was already a serious Monster Kid and SF enthusiast. I have fond memories of SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE and all three Brian Daley HAN SOLO adventures, and still consider them tales that could be told in a new series of movies: STAR WARS LEGENDS. However, I read the first LANDO adventure and found it a lesser effort, not up to the adventure pulp quality of Daley's work, so I never got into the rest. By that time, I was redirecting my efforts into gathering all the British SF that I could get my hands on ( 2000 AD, StarLord, etc.) as well as the magazines that I'd missed , like Castle of Frankenstein and The Monster Times. I still think that Daley's three books are unmade movies that deserve their time.
Not read this stuff but I loved Tom Veitch & Cam Kennedy's Dark Empire comic book.
Donald F. Glut also co wrote issue 10 of the original Marvel Star Wars comic !
So far I only have the og thrawn Trilogy and the novel of a new hope
I had the Han Solo collected book you held up and I read the 1st 2 stories. I wasn't a fan. I didn't like it without the Jedi in it. I wish I still had the book.
Those Han Solo stories look like they could easily be converted into Indiana Jones stories if necessary.
Agreed! I think Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the Han Solo novels (the Lando ones, too) all come from the same source: forties and fifties serials.
ESB novelization=blue Yoda!
ACTUALLY, the Marvel SW comics continued until 86 I believe, then there were the three SW 3D comics by Blackthorne in 87 I think.
The Marvel comics are their own thing. I’ll talk about those comics (and Jaxxon) at some point, but they have never been held in the same regard as the novels. As indicated by the name, this series focuses on the Star Wars bookshelf.
@@CerealAtMidnight S'all good. I was just being pendantic with semantics. By the way, I own nearly every piece of EU with the exception of short stories and comic strips from the UK SW magazines. Those might be a little harder to come by. Starwarstimeline.net is a great resourse on everything EU.
@@CerealAtMidnight Ironically , they did end up using elements of those comics in later E.U. Novels ...cough, cough...Lumiya...cough . also, it was the A.C. Crispin Han Solo trilogy from the late 90's that got into the origins of Han working for Jabba . Solo the movie also borrows heavily from it , especially the early part of the film on Corellia .
Luke & Leia are on Mimban and unknowingly commit incest... oh wait that's in a different movie franchise, that's the Parody Timeline.