First off, I got the novelization of the first movie, which I've never actually read. It was credited to George Lucas, but actually ghost written by Alan Dean Foster and published in November 1976 (although some claims say it was published in December. Either way; a good six months or so before the movie was released.) Foster never had any problem with the ghost writing, going so far as to claim that his position would be like a building contractor working on a Franklin Lloyd Wright design, and it would be absurd for him to insist on credit for it. Lucas was never shy about saying that it was ghost-written based on his script (which is not quite the final version of the script, so there's some interesting differences between it and the movie.) The version I got from the library is a later printing with a new forward written by Lucas, where he openly credits Foster. That's kind of an interesting vibe between the two of them.
Anyway, I also have The Star Wars, the Dark Horse comic anthology based on an earlier version of the script, on request from the library, and I should have that in a few days. After I finish the novel (and the comic book, depending on the timing) I'll pull out my old copy of Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the first real sequel to Star Wars that precedes Empire Strikes Back by several years. And then, I have the 1979 Han Solo novel trilogy, in omnibus format, on order from Amazon, so it'll arrive by the time I'm ready to read it too. Between this exploration of pre-Empire Star Wars material, I should have, I think, a pretty good survey of what Star Wars could have been like
I'm not very far into the novel yet (although I'm sure I'll advance quickly later today. It's not very long; about 212 pages.) I'm right where Luke and Threepio are speeding around in the desert trying to find Artoo, but before they've been ambushed by sand people (which will probably happen in the next few pages.) A few things to note. Although my reprint has changed the title, it does mention that the original title was Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker and it features an interesting prologue that claims to be an excerpt from "The Journal of the Whills", a concept that Lucas played around with a lot in his earlier script drafts, but which later were ignored (except in this novel) until Rogue One reinstituted the idea of the Whills (although as something other than Lucas probably ever meant them to be. His original version was merely a framing device, whereby we supposedly got the stories from the Journal. The Whills, whoever they were, were historians of some kind, apparently, maybe not unlike Stan Lee's Watchers.) A few other notable differences. The prologue makes clear reference to the idea Lucas had at the time that the Emperor was merely a corrupt politician, not a malign dark wizard. The Sith Lords were the wizard/warriors, and Darth Vader is the only one that we see (although it makes a pretty clear implication that there are more of them.)
While Foster was working, most of the principal photography was either taking place or had yet to take place, so the cover is a piece by concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, although subsequent covers (and the international cover) more closely resemble the actual movie. In fact, I'm finding that the novel is different enough from the script of the movie that I'm trying to replace the visuals in my mind as I read with McQuarrie inspired stuff rather than actual scenes and designs from the final movie. I like it better this way, I admit. Plus, it better fits the actual descriptions most of the time.
Curiously, Luke is much more bitter and whiny in this version than comes out in film, which has the side effect of making him much less sympathetic or likable. He also seems much more hapless; whereas in the movie, one gets the sense that although he doesn't want to stay and farm for another season, he does so at least partially out of a sense of duty to family and home. Here, his relationship with Uncle Owen is more antagonistic, and Luke stays because he literally can't leave somehow. Given that he's supposed to be twenty, one wonders why he doesn't just take his destiny into his own hands rather than whine so much about it. There's a scene (which was actually filmed, although it never made the cut, even with restored footage, although it appears here in full) where Luke runs around in Tosche Station and nobody likes him (except Biggs) which, honestly, I can hardly blame them. One wonders why these liberals always have this caricuturish view of their youth and the authority of their traditional families, small towns, etc. as so oppressive, and them so helpless about it until they finally run off to the big city where they are liberated. Sigh.
But those elements are in the movie too; they're just a bit exaggerated here. Luckily, the editors took much of the annoying parts of Luke's time on Tatooine right out, although probably not because it was annoying.
The comic book, in many ways, is closest to what I'd really liked to have seen. Sadly, it's not very cheap. So I get it from the library when I'm in the mood. Luckily, we have a copy.
https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-ebook/dp/B00PJ2CF7K/
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