Thumbs up.

I am 14, I don't do hot in Language Arts, but I certainly can read like my sister. This book is probably not for kids though, there is some vocabulary in here that is kind of hard to understand. I am on A New Hope right now, on page 60 I think. So far, there are things that are included that were never in the movie. For instance, when in the book Luke is talking about a space battle he saw with Biggs and Windy and some other people I think. In the movie, this never happened. Also in the book that didn't happen in the movie, is when Biggs was talking to Luke about he was going to the Academy. I don't really understand why this is, but it just is. There are also some parts in the book that are reversed or in different spots than in the movie. This is still very similar to the movie.. except in words. I would definitely highly reccomend this book to anybody that's about my age ( 14 ) and up.

Beware of the dark side

The Star Wars Trilogy, by George Lucas, Donald Glut, and James Kahn invokes deep symbolism to an even greater degree than the movie trilogy. The effectiveness, though somewhat dated at this point because the Cold War is over, is still present through historical study. The authors allude to ancient Rome, the early republics, Greece, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and establishment in general. The ease of these relations makes the novel incredible.
One cannot read this book without being submerged in symbolism. The most apparent contrast appears between the rebellion and the evil empire. The rebellion is a model of peace embodied in a government like that of ancient Rome. A senate governs and specific chancellors and viceroys maintain the peace. Because most western societies were based on the ancient Roman republican format, westerners can easily relate to the virtue of that society. The enemy, the evil empire, directly parallels the Soviet Union. Keep in mind that this was written in the 1970s. The struggle against "the evil empire" was not only relatable to history at that time, but was even more relatable to current times. Combined with a growing interest in space travel, these authors managed to put into words the hatred of the technologically superior Soviets. Ironically, the straw that broke the camel's back for the Soviet Union was actually named after this particular trilogy. The rebellion strives for justice and gets it in the book as was the case with the westerners against the Soviets. The presupposition of the triumph of good over evil, though it may have just been to play towards the audience, is timeless and perhaps the deepest message that can be taken from this work.

Pretty solid novelizations

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.