Lit Opinions on Splinter of the Mind's Eye?

I just finished re-reading this book, and I really enjoyed it despite it's clear shortcomings. I'm curious what other people's opinions are of this book, considering it's unique position in the history of the franchise versus the quality of the book itself. Thoughts?

 

I think it's been over a decade since since I read it, so my memory is a little hazy, but I'm pretty sure I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it. There were things that were obviously "wrong" but you roll with it and it's fine.

 

All I can really say is thank god it wasn't the actual second Star Wars film.

 

I like it.

 

Not bad, but really feels dated, which the contemporary Daley Han Solo novels do not.

 

I read it last year, and I enjoyed it. It was a fun read. Not the best the EU has to offer by a longshot, but it was good for what it was. Even the stuff that we now think is weird like the obvious sexual tension between Luke and Leia doesn't bother me, because they still had no idea they were siblings, so it was innocent. And nothing happened anyway.

The one thing that sort of bothered me was Darth Vader. Period. It was odd that Luke (and Leia!) fought Vader before Luke and Vader fight in Empire. Also, it bothers me that Kaiburr Crystals were obviously taken from this story but completely changed in newer EU and current Star Wars canon. The Kaiburr Crystal was not a lightsaber crystal, which is what "kyber crystals" now are in the current Star Wars Universe. It just annoys me that they would change it.

 

Keep in mind that there's also the "giant kyber crystals used to power super weapons" - so they aren't all lightsaber crystals.

Clone Wars Gambit had unnamed healing crystals used by Jedi Healers.

So, Splinter is a combination of the two concepts - giant (or at least too big to fit in saber) crystal, and healing crystal.

 

I just reread it last month, for the first time in a long time. It holds up pretty well overall, but yes, some aspects of it are dated, like the (somewhat creepy) Luke and Leia moments. Alan Dean Foster has long been one of my personal favorite writers of Star Wars, and I love his use of vocabulary and descriptions in the novelization of A New Hope. It's a solid B+, perhaps seen through the eyes of nostalgia. But still.​

 

I enjoyed SOTME, and have read it numerous times since the early '80's - everytime I read the book I notice something new. It's one of my favorite pieces of EU literature. An added plus to this is the superb cover painting by Ralph McQuarrie; this is one of my favorite pieces of SW art, and IMHO would be suitable for framing on a wall.

I think one of the issues that people have with SOTME is the fact that there is so much SW EU that has come out from the 1990's-on, i.e. comic books, novels, video games, etc. Many of the plots/stories in this "new" EU are especially fast-paced, etc. So, SOTME, in comparison, may seem somewhat archaic.

IMHO Splinter really holds up well, and is prophetic of Luke's abilities in ESB; this was originally published in February 1978, less than a year after SW hit theatres & more than two years before ESB came out:

- Luke is able to use force telekenesis to move a rock out of the water & hit a Mimban warrior who is choking him.

- Luke is able to sense Vader's presence from a distance away (in the underground caverns).

I have 0 problems with the fact that what we saw here seems to be contradicted in the subsequent films. Just like the original 1977-1986 Marvel SW comics, I see Splinter as a product of it's time - i.e., it was written well before the release of ESB so any continuity contradictions are very excusable.

Re: the possibility that SOTME was going to be the "sequel" to ANH: it's interesting that the Kaiburr (sp?) crystal was actually in one of the draft script treatments of ANH as something that enhanced Luke's force abilities when he was attacking the Death Star in his X-wing fighter at the end (this was mentioned in the superb Making of Star Wars book, 2007). This was obviously taken out of the final script, however.

Note that I'm actually glad SOTME was never made as a sequel to ANH: Despite the duel with DV, the story is smaller in scope than something we fans would expect to see in an epic SW film: It only takes place on one planet, no large battles involving multiple troops, and the only main Rebel characters involved are Luke, Leia, and the droids. I don't see this as anyone's actual fault, rather just that ADF was probably working with what he had, and I also have a feeling that there were paramaters set for him by Lflm. ADF did ghost-write the SW novelization, so IMHO he definitely had a great feel for the characters, probably more so than other writers at the time.

I myself own the small PB copy of SOTME that was reprinted circa 1994?!, but have always wanted a larger HC copy. Based on what I know, this novel has not been reprinted in HC since it was first released in the late '70's; the one version I've seen was owned by a library, and this was a "sci-fi book club" exclusive. I have no desire to try to track down an older, potentially beat-up copy w/yellowing pages, so, it would be great if this were re-issued as a HC; I wouldn't mind a "special edition" version (as was done with the 20th anniversary of HTTE in 2011), but a straight, no frills re-issue would work for me as well.

 

I quite enjoyed reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye. It has a great cover. I think I regard it as a story that follows on from ANH and is essentially a glimpse at an alternative path the SW saga might have gone down from ESB. Of course it gets folded in to the old EU which was inclusive of story material to it's breaking point (necessitating all the interesting retcons designed to make it all fit). Before RotJ, Luke and Leia were not brother and sister, and were not intended to be; so even up through ESB Luke, Han and Leia are a bona-fide triangle. SotME develops Luke and Leia from that pre-RotJ (and pre-ESB) version of the SW universe.

I like how the book is scaled down in scope; just the one planet, and tightly focused on the regulars with a small collection of new characters. I felt sad about the two replacement wookie-type characters. Halla is a character who can push Luke forward in his spiritual journey in a way that I didn't expect, she's sort of but not quite a mentor figure; or at least, she has knowledge that Luke can learn from. Yet Halla is not a reassuringly wise and calm figure like Obi-Wan or Yoda, we can see where she can benefit from Luke as well.

Ultimately I'm glad that the SW saga unfolded with ESB, while at the same time glad that this alternative version of how the story might have continued is available to us.

 

One thing I love (that I also love about the Thrawn trilogy) is that they turned Splinter into a graphic novel years later. After reading the regular novel, going through the comic book version of it is just a treat. Actually seeing visualizations of some of the scenes depicted in the novel was really fun for me. Especially the iconic moments like Leia wielding the lightsaber. In the TPB on the inside cover Foster explains how he wrote the book as a low-budget backup plan for a Star Wars sequel had the movie not been a success. The regular novel and the graphic novel complement each other really well, in my opinion.

Wow, talking about this makes me want to go back and read the book again, to be honest. It definitely wasn't my favorite Star Wars book, but it was good. If nothing else it's a fun look at what Star Wars could have been.

 

It's good, solid adventure pulp in the vein Lucas was mining for ANH. It still holds up as a breakneck planet-of-mystery adventure. Wild jungles, creepy caverns, strange aliens, Imperial pursuit. Foster gets it, and has a fun, flat-out adventure with Luke and Leia and Vader. I should reread it.

 

I read the comic first, actually, which made it particularly easy for me to visualize everything the first time I read the book. I didn't realize they actually had made a book until one day I went into a library that was giving away a bunch of books and I saw "Splinter of the Mind's Eye." I had been looking for Star Wars books specifically, and I almost overlooked it, because there was no Star Wars label on the cover, just the title. But then I thought "Wait, isn't that the name of a SW comic?" I picked it up and, sure enough, there it was. But now I probably haven't read it in at least 3 years, which is sad because it really is a good book, despite his age. Maybe after I finish HTTJ and NJO, I'll reread it.

 

Well it kind of has Cthulhu in it. That's a large part of why I wanted to read it anyway.

 

I read this book first when I was in elementry school when it was new, and re-read it for probably the fifth time last year. I love it. It's lots of fun, very adventurous and fast paced, Halla is a good supporting character. The Luke and Leia relationship is interesting and complex, even more so of course considering that they turn out to be twins.

 

Elegant in its simplicity. With how packed and serious the Star Wars universe became over time, this novel was a lighter time in the franchise, where we couild receive a tale that didn't deal with the entire fate of the galaxy being at stake.

 

This sums up my view of it beautifully. Nicely put, good sir.

 

Here's an interesting recent article re: SOTME, which includes an interview with ADF about the novel.

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/star-wars-splinter-of-the-minds-eye-alan-dean-113794483282.html

 

I've always been a big fan.

Damn good Vader writing too.

 

This book honestly doesn't even contradict very much, and the contradictions that do exist were pretty much all retconned in the EU, so this book actually fits into the continuity fairly well as a little side-story.

 

It was alright. There were two things that jumped out to me: Leia's motivations for joining the rebellion (based on art) and Luke's Kamehameha.

 

I haven't read this since it was released. I might pick up a used copy somewhere down the line.

 

Vader's actually - Luke just deflects it back.

 

Very moody, the final confrontation with Vader is all kinds of creepy. I read it as a teenager and the thing that sticks out in my mind is Vader gets his friggin arm chopped off and he still keeps going!

 

As a kid I equated it with Jerec's destruction power but the comic showed me I was... well, wrong. But screw the comic.