Splinter of the Mind's Eye

I remember, during fourth grade, owning a paperback of 1978's Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Alan Dean Foster's follow-up to a movie from the year before called STAR WARS.  It would be the first of many spin-offs in the universe created by George Lucas.  I don't recall reading this novel all the way through when I was nine.  I might've, but it didn't lodge in memory, any more than the SW comic books that followed.  Tangent or in-between tales that have not been deemed "canon".  Disney, who's owned the property for over a decade now, calls these offshoots "legends".  Still sufficient catnip for rabid fans.

The action unfolds on Circarpous V, a planet away from Circarpous IV, where Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are due for an important Rebel Alliance meeting.  Their ships are downed by a mysterious energy storm, and they will have a time of it inching across a swampy terrain, learning the locals - many hostile - call their home Mimban.  Imperial forces are about.  Eventually Luke and Leia will encounter a curmudgeon named Halla, who possesses the splinter of the book's title - a piece of the Kaiburr crystal, reputed to give its possessor unimaginable powers.  Seems Halla has been searching for it for some time. 

Halla will bargain with our heroes - help her locate the crystal, and she will help them off Mimban.  Peril will follow almost immediately, of course.  Stormtroopers will capture the duo, bringing them to the HQ of Imperial Captain-Supervisor Grammel, a weasely villain who suspects his new prisoners are more than your average disturbers of the peace or common thugs.

Splinter brings several intriguing creatures into the story.  Some are fearsome beasts, predators with lots of teeth, others (the Yuzzem) furry and handy when escaping from jail.  Other furry foes turned friends are the Coway, who live underground and will prove fearsome warriors.  Luke will also call upon the Force.  He will have premonitions of the presence of Darth Vader, who - spoiler alert - will turn up late in the proceedings.  Nastier than ever.  He will have a brutal light saber duel, not with Luke. 

Foster authored countless sci-fi novels, many associated with beloved franchises.  His style flows nicely, though for all the adventure on tap I wouldn't exactly call this novel a page turner.  He worked on the novelization for STAR WARS, and was commissioned for the sequel, intended to also be filmed - as a low budgeter if the original movie wasn't a hit.  You know the rest. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACKwould be the next movie.  Splinter, to date, has never been filmed.  It was a bestseller.  I was struck at how brutal some of the violence is,  which would've certainly been toned down had the film been made. 

The storyline is OK, nothing special.  The interaction between Luke and Leia expectedly plays up romantic tension.  At the time, no one knew they were brother and sister.  The dialogue has a little punch.  Plenty of juvenile sarcasm.  I guess this would've made a decent movie.