Rating: Summary: This brings Star wars to shame Review: When i read this book i could barely keep up with most of the boring dialouge. And thier is so many things that dont make sense compared to the SW movies (ex. Leia has no power in the force) that I just couldnt read the rest it disgusted me... If you like SW and dont care about how it follows up with the other episodes than you might like this book....I didn't
Rating: Summary: Star Wars novel meant to be read in 1978. Review: If you take just the first Star Wars movie (Episode IV), then read this novel, it reads as a VERY good novel.If you try to read it as part of the overall Star Wars universe (as it is today) then it doesn't fit as well. In 1978, I thought this was the best book I had ever read. I still consider it high on my all time list (taken in perspective).
Rating: Summary: Don't Buy this Review: This book would be 5 stars if it wasn't for two things: Darth Vader kills people with his lightsaber, not at the throat force thing and, (2): Luke keeps telling Leia that she has no force talent, but she does, so she SHOULD be able to feel the Kalibur Crystal through the force! That makes me mad, because I am obssessed with Star Wars and everything that remotely relates to SW. If you don't get mad about little things like that, than this is OK.
Rating: Summary: An interesting view of what could happen after Star Wars. Review: I liked this book for what it is, one person's view of what happened after Star Wars. You have to look at this book realising that the other two movies were not out. With that in mind, the story was good and could be believed. The book is well written. A Star Wars fan might want to pick apart the minor details that come to light later in the series, and those that do probably won't enjoy this book.
Rating: Summary: Overall: Very well written. Review: Foster did make some minor inconsistensies with the Star Wars universe, but the novel itself makes up for the small mix-ups. Foster didn't know there was even an "Empire Strikes Back" coming. SW seemed to be a one-shot deal. Foster took the basic undercurrent and spirit of "SW: A New Hope" and made a great novel, with SW or standing alone.
Rating: Summary: See reader--see reader retch Review: About the only excuse I can give for Alan Dean Foster is that he didn't know where Lucas planned to take the SW series, so certain obvious inaccuracies (Vader addressing Luke by "Skywalker," strength in the Force being measured by the size of the rocks they could lift, the entire concept of the Kaiburr crystal, etc.) can be excused. Aside from that, this book fully deserves the title of "Worst SW book ever written." The prose alternates between a dry, lifeless husk and melodramatic overkill, the characters are two-dimensional, and those returning from the movie act little or nothing like the characters we know from SW. (The mud-fight scene in particular was so completely out of character for Luke and Leia--though not in the out of character context of this novel--that I threw the book across the room in disgust.) For those who favor empty, pointless plots whose only purpose is to get a quick thrill over the fast-moving, character-driven plots that encompass the trilogy and (for better or worse) most of the novels that followed it, who haven't seen *Star Wars* recently enough to be bothered by the blatant inaccuracies and mischaracterizations, you are more than welcome to this book. For anyone else--it has no bearing whatsoever on any other SW books ever written, so I strongly urge that you spare yourself the trouble.
Rating: Summary: ''A worthy heir to the Star Wars epic!'' Review: A fast paced novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye is
one of the best ''Further adventures of Luke Skywalker'' books ever written! It gets right to
the point and never slows down, until the very end. You'll never be able to put it down!
Rating: Summary: This should have been the second "Star Wars" Movie! Review: In case you didn't know it, Alan Dean Foster ghost wrote "Star Wars" for George Lucas. Mr. Foster has the perfect feel for the universe that "Star Wars" is set in. None of the "Luke, I am your father" stuff here. Pure and simple action! This novel still fits into the time line of the "Star Wars" universe without changing any of the major plot lines brought out by the other movies and other novels. Very well written and thought out.
I give it 3 thumbs up (if I had that many!) Now pass the Barbarian Cream pie!
Rating: Summary: A Good Start For a Growing Galaxy Review: Being the first novel that added to the ever expanding Star Wars masterpiece, Splinter of the Minds Eye captured some very exciting moments for fans while waiting for the next film(when the book was first published in 1978). Telling the story of the events told between Episode IV and Episode V of the classic trilogy, it offers a very scary, unpredictable, and twisting adventure on one of the best planets ever created. The planet of Mimban which the book takes place on is unlike most of the new planets and enviorments you'll find in post 1990 Star Wars novels. The plot is somewhat simple, easy to follow...with some twists and turns...and all the characters are very unique and somewhat all strange and a bit spooky themselves. The story revolves only around Luke and Leia after they crashed landed on their way to take care of some business. Not only being the foundation to what will be inspiring for dozens of other contributing SW authors over the years...Splinter is a very entertaing mini epic of one of the first adventures of two very important Star Wars heroes.
Rating: Summary: the first Extended Universe novel Review: "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" is the very first Star Wars novel set in the Expanded Universe. The only Star Wars book before "Splinter" is the novelization of "Star Wars", also written by Alan Dean Foster. Because this book came out before there was even a script for "The Empire Strikes Back", things happen in the book that doesn't quite jive with what we know from "Empire" and "Jedi". I'm not sure there is a direct contradiction, but the story fits better into the Star Wars Universe when the reader knows that this novel was written without any knowledge of "The Empire Strikes Back". Think of "Splinter" as, perhaps, the red-headed stepchild of the Star Wars novels.
This novel takes Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa and puts them on a diplomatic mission for the Rebellion to a planet which has some sympathizers. On their way to this planet, the ship Luke and Leia are on crash lands on a primitive jungle planet occupied by the Empire, human miners, and a host of strange alien creatures. As Luke soon learns, it is also the home of the Kaiburr Crystal, a crystal which magnifies the power of Force Users. In the hands of the Empire this crystal could be a dangerous tool and weapon. Since Luke and Leia have no idea how to get off the planet with their damaged ship, they decide to search for this crystal. The novel gives a fairly fast paced, though simple, adventure story featuring run-ins with Imperial Stormtroopers, natives, and Darth Vader in a face off that foreshadows what will come in future movies.
"Splinter" suffers from being a little bit on the cheesy side, as if it were geared to a younger audience. It also suffers from the timing in which it was written, namely before George Lucas had conceived of "The Empire Strikes Back". This last part isn't the fault of Alan Dean Foster or the novel itself, but this does affect the perceptions of someone reading the book in 2005. Knowing what we do about the characters, the budding romance between Luke and Leia is a bit uncomfortable (as it still is looking back at "A New Hope" and how Luke looks at Leia).
This isn't an exceptionally good novel even by Star Wars standards, but it is a time capsule of where the Star Wars novels came from and as the first Extended Universe novel, it's interesting in that perspective. There's really no other reason to read this book, though, as it doesn't tie into any other Star Wars novel (or movie) or fill in any gaps left by a Star Wars novel.
-Joe Sherry
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