Rating: 
Summary: I could read it again...and again!
Review: Pretty much the case with watching the movies too for most of us, isn't it? Excellent adaptations of the classic trilogy stories in one book, and a must for true-blooded STAR WARS fans. I only hope that in the future, after Episodes 2 and 3 have been made there will be a new addition with the novels to all 6 available. Until then, I'll keep my fingers crossed!
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre film adaptations
Review: Pretty much the only people who should read these books are those that can't enough "Star Wars." If you've seen the original three films there's really no reason to read these. They aren't particularly bad, and there are some interesting bits that weren't in the films, but all in all "Star Wars" is a visual adventure that can't be conveyed as well in pure purple prose.
Rating:
Summary: Rather Much like the films...
Review: Star Wars: A New Hope By George Lucas
This book is very similar to the movie. If you haven't seen It, I recommend it. The Empire Strikes Back By Donald F. Glut
This book is very similar to the movie. If you haven't seen It, I recommend it. There are several slight differences between this tale and the one featured on film, but not very major ones. I think it presents a better representation of some of the concepts used in this film, and I recommend seeing that, too. The Return of the Jedi By James Kahn
This book is very similar to the movie. If you haven't seen It, I recommend it.
There are several slight differences between this tale and the one featured on film, but not very major ones. I think it presents a better representation of some of the concepts used in this film, and I recommend seeing that, too.
Rating:
Summary: From Tatooine to Endor......
Review: The 25th Anniversary edition of The Star Wars Trilogy breaks no new ground or make any editorial changes to the three movie tie-in novels based on the screenplays for Star Wars (now known as A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. There are no adjustments or rewrites to make the novels match the Special Edition re-releases of 1997. It isn't even the first time all three novels are collected in one volume...there are mass-market and trade paperback three-in-one editions. The only new features are the cover art by Ralph McQuarrie, the conceptual artist whose paintings "sold" George Lucas' "out of this world" ideas to leery 20th Century Fox executives and short intros to each novelization by Lucas himself. Whether or not those were written for the 25th Anniversary Edition or if they appeared in other reissues of the novels isn't important; what is important is that the 25th Anniversary Edition's elegant package recaptures the magic of reading the Classic Trilogy.... Like most novelizations of popular movies, the authors (Alan Dean Foster being the ghostwriter for George Lucas, Donald F. Glut, and James Kahn) have adapted the screenplays to Episodes IV, V and VI with a certain sense of unity, yet each writer has a distinctive style of his own. On the whole, the best writer is Foster, who had, before Star Wars, adapted the Star Trek animated series into the Star Trek Logs series. Very few Star Wars authors, with the exception of Timothy Zahn and a few others, capture the essence of the characters and situations of the movies as well as Foster. Glut is almost as good a writer, and his style is not all that different from Foster's. Kahn's style is minimalist. I like the Jedi novelization, but there is a strange sense of connect-the-dots permeating it all the same. All right, so we aren't talking great literature here, and I do know that the writers work from drafts of the screenplay that are different from the final shooting script. That's why Luke Skywalker's comm sign in the novel of A New Hope is Blue Five; in the movie the callsign is Red Five. And the novels do expand the storyline and "restore" deleted scenes....the literary equivalent of a DVD extra features disc, you might say. I rate this book 5 stars not because it is brilliantly written or philosophically meaningful, but rather because it recaptures the magic of reading those dog-eared paperbacks, but with a bit more class.
Rating:
Summary: These are novelizations of the movies!!
Review: The books are great, but they only serve as for you remembering the movie, knowing a couple of things that were cut but were written in the script and knowing what these great characters were thinking at the very moment. The books are short, yes and if it were only for them the Star Wars book universe would be very short, that's why Lucas has hired so many talented authors to expand the book universe in all of those novels that have come out explain what happened before and after the story that he's presented to us in his movies. These books are not on what the movies are based, the scripts were written before, the scripts are of about 100 pages each, these books are novelizations of the movies that came from the scripts, these books are almost the scripts only that in novel format. Stop posting reviews commenting on that they are too short, because for me they are not all what we've gotten, we've gotten many other novels that are not to be taken as each story they are to be taken as ONE huge amazing story filled with everything, comedy, drama, action, adventure, love, romance, some stupid points and some intelligent points, there's a little bit of everything in a story set on a galaxy far, far away.
Rating:
Summary: You know they're good, but not how good until you read them.
Review: The first thing that will strike you when you begin reading "A New Hope," will be the level of skill with which George Lucas writes. He truly is an artist in the highest sense of the word. "The Empire Strikes Back," is nothing more than a simple literary translation of the script. But both "Star Wars" and "Return of the Jedi" are very well written, both having some truly stunning poetic breakthroughs in the prose. The biggest beef is that Obi-Wan is referred to as finding and training young Anakin and that Yoda trained Obi-Wan. Of course, now in 2002, we know about Qui-Gon Jinn and all that. I hope Omnibus has the sense to correct these obvious errors in ultimate plot. Other than that, it is well-written and deserves to be read by yourselves and by children.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading For The Little Extra Bits
Review: The novelization of all three films is in this omnibus. I found the Star Wars and the Return Of The Jedi stories the best of the three. There seemed to ba a little bit of consistency problems with the three novels as in Jedi, Chewie, Artoo, and others that speak different languages were formatted and written differently than the other two novels. Also in Jedi is the first time See-Threepio is written as C-3PO. Other than that they are pretty good. What I usually like about reading good novelizations is being able to read about what chatacters are actually thinking. There is that here as I get to know what Vader thinks, and Luke. Some intersting new stuff is introduced that you barely notice in the films (if they were in the films at all). For example Luke's best friend on Tatooine. If you are a Star Wars fan I recommend them. They are short tiny novels (all three are just over 400 pages total) so it's not going to take forever and they are easy reads.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty solid novelizations
Review: The original Star Wars trilogy hit the movie industry like a sack of gold falling from the sky, and has become a modern classic in the years since then. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the novelizations. One is lackluster, two are okay, with occasional moments of brilliance.
"A New Hope" is technically not so great, but the energy and exuberance of Lucas's first huge film just seeps out of the edges. It makes up for its writing shortcomings by not trying too hard, since this was before the immense success of the movie trilogy. Not very detailed, but not too spare either.
Ironically, the best film of the trilogy, "Empire Strikes Back," is rather dull as a novelization, coming across as fragmented and forced; Donald F. Glut seems to have been feeling the pressure. The flavor returns somewhat in "Return of the Jedi"'s novelization, which has more energy and spark than its predecessor. It feels like James Kahn was able to move past the overwhelming expectations and turn out something pretty good.
Not much has been changed in the years since these novelizations were first published. The first one, ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, was originally published as "Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker," which accounts for the slightly space-serial-esque flavor of the first book. The second and third are less laid-back, and more intense.
Since the novelizations were crafted from scripts, it often reads like the writers just inserted some detail here and there, along with "he said" or "she shouted." But there are some scenes and lines that aren't in the final films. These make for some very interesting reading, especially when they add dimension to already existing characters. One example is Luke and Ben having a peculiar conversation about ducks; another is Luke and Briggs chatting on Tattooine.
The "Star Wars" novelization trilogy is something of a mixed bag, but it's worth checking out for fans of Lucas's classic movies. It isn't too different from the scripts, but revisiting it in print is a pleasant diversion.
Rating:
Summary: it was awesome
Review: The person above who said the books writing was rigid most likly has not actually read it.
Rating:
Summary: The best ever
Review: These books are awesome they are so original and imaginative. They are the best ever.
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