A long time ago, in a memory far, far away, I was in a darkened movie theater watching the birth of an epic, but I didn't know that. I was eight years old and watching starships and Wookies and light sabers and things exploding in a fairy-tale made larger than life. It was good battling evil and a grand call to adventure in what was to be the birth of the "Star Wars" saga, truly a hero's journey.
"Star Wars"-based fiction actually predates the release of the movie, with the novelization of "A New Hope," written by Alan Dean Foster. The novel was released a couple months before the movie. In 1978, Foster wrote the first original "Star Wars" novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, and thus began a very successful literary spin-off franchise.
The stories told through these books extend from a time long before The Phantom Menace to a time long after Return of the Jedi. Books authorized by Lucas are written by fans of the films, and are part of a collection known as the Expanded Universe. The first books considered to be part of the Expanded Universe began to appear in the late 1970s. There are several books dealing with the lives of Han Solo and Lando Calrissian just before the movies.
Many of the books that have been written also take place during the events of the film. For fans, these can be more exciting stories, as it opens up the narrative for many characters who only have a minor role, or are even just briefly seen, in the movies. Also, many elements first introduced in the Expanded Universe were later included in the films-such as Boba Fett and Coruscant.
Since the release of A New Hope in 1977, the "Star Wars" saga has become a passion bordering on religion for millions the world over.It's not just the adventurous plots, the likable characters, high-tech props, and dazzling visual effects that keep fans begging for more. Behind the light-saber duels and screaming dog fights, there is a mythology that reaches to the core of the human psyche...
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