“The Star Wars Trilogy” By George Lucas & Donald F. Glut & James Kahn Review

More than twenty-five years after the groundbreaking movie Star Wars: A New Hope first hit the silver screen, Star Wars remains one of the most beloved sagas ever told. Together, the three original Star Wars movies–A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi–told one epic: a heroic tale of innocence lost and wisdom gained, of downfall and redemption, of the never-ending fight between the forces of good and evil. Read the story of the movies–all three in one trade paperback volume–and rediscover the wonder of the legend that begins

Before we start this review I need to point out 2 things here. The first thing is that this book is a collector’s edition which involves novelizations of the original star wars trilogy. And the second thing is that I have already reviewed each of these novelizations separately just to keep things simple and somehow short, instead of reviewing each book in this review which would have easily become 10 pages long if I did everything in this review.

I wanted to read those Novelizations of the original star wars trilogy for a few years now, and when I saw this collector’s edition I immediately knew I had to buy it and read it. And now that I have read it, I need to say that this book is one of the better star wars books I have read so far this year (2026).

I already reviewed each of those novelizations in this book as I’ve said above, so I wont repeat it here. But what I will say is that reading this book and those 3 novelizations of the original trilogy was very fun. I personally were clued to this book and I had a very hard time putting it down because I was sucked into this book and just couldn’t stop reading this book. I personally had a lot of fun reading this book.

All of the Novelizations in this book had different authors of course, each of the books were pretty decently written but I need to admit that Donald F. Glut had done the worst job of all the authors of the novelizations in this book. 

My favorite novelizations in this book was of course the “return of the Jedi” since I always preferred that movie in the original trilogy even though “a new hope” have started my star wars obsession and made me a nerd.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

“Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” By James Kahn Review

Han Solo, frozen in carbonite, has been delivered into the hands of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt. Determined to rescue him, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian launch a hazardous mission against Jabba’s Tatooine stronghold. Now, in the most exciting chapter of the STAR WARS saga, the Rebel commanders have gathered all the warships of the Rebel fleet into a single giant armada. And Darth Vader, who has ordered construction to begin on a new and even more powerful Death Star, makes his plans to crush the Rebel Alliance once and for all. 

Before I start this review, I need to say something. I’ve read this book in a collector’s edition which involves the original trilogy books in one big book. And I have decided to review each of these original trilogy books for itself because in that way each review will be shorter and easier to read rather than me giving you like 10 pages long review.

Return of the Jedi was always my favorite movie from the original star wars trilogy, so of course I had no other expectations for this novelizations of the return of the Jedi book. I have already reviewed “a new hope” and “the empire strikes back” novelizations of the original trilogy. And between all of those 3 novelizations this one was my favorite.

The plot in this book is the same as in the movie. There was a lot of action in this book as we could see in the movie. There aren’t any big differences between this book and the movie as the previous novelizations had, which wasn’t a big deal for me either way.

The characters in this book are as good and the same as we could see in the movie. But this book gives us their inner monologues and thoughts they had, which in a way this book gives us more insight into those characters which the movie didn’t give us. Which of course made me love this book so much more.

This book gives us also a lot of the Ewoks which made me love this book so much more, because I personally have the opinion of that we should have seen more of the Ewoks in the star wars movies because they are very good characters, and they are very underrated characters in my opinion.

The writing style in this book was more on the simple side of things, but it still was on the star wars theme level. The simple writing style in this book made it very easy and very quick to read this book because this book has around 180 pages which isn’t that long. Overall the writing style in this book was pretty decent, which isn’t a small task to do in a star wars book. 

Even thou this book doesn’t add much to the overall “return of the Jedi” timeline in star wars, I strongly believe that this book as the novelizations of “a new hope” and “the empire strikes back” are a must read for all star wars geeks and nerds as myself. Because those books gives us the inner monologues and thoughts of characters as the various events happen in the original trilogy. Which again gives us a deeper understanding of the characters we all know and love at this point.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

“Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade” By Delilah S. Dawson Review

Padawan Iskat Akaris has dedicated her life to traveling the galaxy alongside her master, learning the ways of the Force to become a good Jedi. Despite Iskat’s dedication, peace and control have remained elusive, and with each setback, she feels her fellow Jedi grow more distrustful of her. Already uncertain about her future in the Jedi Order, Iskat faces tragedy when her master is killed and the Clone Wars engulf the galaxy in chaos.

I need to admit here that this book has to be easily one of the best star wars books I have read this year so far at least. 

The main character in this book is very likable and interesting. She takes quiet a big journey throughout this book because she start as a padawan, then she is made to a Jedi knight and ends up being a inquisitor. At the same time she gots a lot of personality to her and she is very clearly a good character which is very under explored, and her whole journey throughout this book is pretty tragic which in my opinion makes her so much more likable and relatable. 

When it comes to the rest of the characters in this book, they are just as good as the main character is. In my opinion each of the characters we get in this book has something that makes them stand out from the rest of the characters and at the same time each character in this book has a lot of personality to them which really makes them very likable no matter if they are Jedi, Sith, Inquisitor or anything else in between.

The plot in this book is very good. Because it is very interesting and very enjoyable. There is a lot of action in this book but also it sets the whole Jedi Council in a bad spot in my opinion because of how the Jedis treat the main character in this book. Which in my opinion brings more depth into the star wars universe, because the plot in this book shows that maybe the Jedis and the Jedi Council isn’t all good as it really hard tries to paint itself to be. At the same time this book gives us a very good origin story to the villain the main character in this book becomes. 

At the same time this book takes place around the time of the Order 66, which makes this book an good addition to the star wars universe around the time of Order 66. Because this book expands the universe so that we can get understanding and enjoyment around the time period of star wars where the Order 66 takes place.

The writing style in this book is very good, because the author uses very star wars appropriate writing style which fits the star wars theme of this book but also makes it unique enough to fit the plot in this book.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

“Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” By Donald F. Glut Review

Although they had won a significant battle, the war between the Rebels and the Empire had really just begun. Soon, Luke, Han, the princess and their faithful companions were forced to flee, scattering in all directions—the Dark Lord’s minions in fevered pursuit.

Before I start this review, I need to say something. I’ve read this book in a collector’s edition which involves the original trilogy books in one big book. And I have decided to review each of these original trilogy books for itself because in that way each review will be shorter and easier to read rather than me giving you like 10 pages long review.

This book have some major differences from the movie than the first book had. The major difference between the movie and the book is that in this book Yoda is blue. I don’t know if it was a typo or the author was very ill informed but at least the copy I have says very clearly that he is blue not green. But other than that the differences are very subtle and small which readers who notice unless they are actively looking for those differences and constantly double crossing this book with the movie.

Other than the differences between this book and the movie, this book doesn’t add much to the “The Empire Strikes Back” timeline which we already didn’t know about from the movie. 

This book was very quick read which I read one snowy Sunday, this book has nearly 220 pages in length which makes this book a very short and quick read.

The author of this book focuses more on the action of this book rather than on the characters, which means that we don’t get a lot of the characters’s personalities shining throughout as much as we did in “a new hope” book which I reviewed not so long ago.

The characters in this book are as good as they are in the movies. But in a way the characters in this book felt pretty flashed out and didn’t feel as good as they did in the a new hope book. 

Even thou the characters aren’t as good as they were in the previous book, I need to say that I liked this book better. Because there is much more action happening in this book, because this book focuses more on action and something important happening more often than in the previous book.

The writing style in this book was okay for the most part. But I personally felt like the author just didn’t care enough to give us a good writing in this book as much as he cared about getting the paycheck for publishing this book. From what I have seen the author is more known from writing comic books rather than writing books which has explained a lot to me personally about the poor writing style in this book.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

“Star Wars: A New Hope” By George Lucas Review

Luke Skywalker challenged the stormtroopers of a distant galaxy on a daring mission – where a force of life became the power of death! Luke Skywalker was a twenty-year-old who lived and worked on his uncle’s farm on the remote planet of Tatooine … and he was bored beyond belief. He yearned for adventures out among the stars—adventures that would take him beyond the farthest galaxies to distant and alien worlds.But Luke got more than he bargained for when he intercepted a cryptic message from a beautiful princess held captive by a dark and powerful warlord. Luke didn’t know who she was, but he knew he had to save her—and soon, because time was running out.Armed only with courage and with the light saber that had been his father’s, Luke was catapulted into the middle of the most savage space war ever … and he was headed straight for a desperate encounter on the enemy battle station known as the Death Star!

Before I start this review, I need to say 2 things. The first one is that this book wasn’t written by George Lucas himself, instead it was written by a ghostwriter who many of star wars book fans might have heard of, of course I’m talking about Alan Dean Foster. The second thing I need to say is that I’ve read this book in a collector’s edition which involves the original trilogy books in one big book. And I have decided to review each of these original trilogy books for itself because in that way each review will be shorter and easier to read rather than me giving you like 10 pages long review.

The story in this book is more or less what we see in the movie, but there are some differences between this book and the movie. The main difference is that this book provides more inner dialogues of the characters. Which made me enjoy the storyline more in this book rather than the movie’s. Because it gives us a deeper understanding of the characters which all star wars fans love at this point.

The other difference in this book is the political system being a little bit different from the movie and the ending is a little bit different, because it ends sooner than the movie with the purpose of making us as readers to read the “ The Empire Strikes Back” book. Which of course I had. 

The only bad thing I have to say about this book, is that it could have been longer rather than the short 250 pages this book gives us. Am a huge star wars nerd, and I would have had no problems reading this book (or any other star wars book for that part) even if it had 1250 pages in length.

The characters in this book were as amazing as they were in the movie. They were the same characters we get in the movie which doesn’t give me a lot of ability to talk about those characters because we already know and love them (or at least I do as a star wars nerd).

At the same time this book provides some explanation behind the things that happen throughout this book. Which made it easier to love the characters in this book, because we in a way get a look on whats happening in their heads and hear their reasoning and thoughts.

The writing itself in this book, is very on point with star wars theme. But there were a few moment throughout this book where the writing style of this book felt a little bit off. because it felt more fantasy-ish rather than star wars-ish if you understand what am saying here.

Even thou this book has some differences from the movie, it was still a very fun and interesting read because of the fact that we get to hear the inner monologues of the characters we get in the first star wars movie.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

“Rule of Two” By Drew Karpyshyn Review

Now Darth Bane is ready to put his policy into action, and he thinks he has found the key element that will make his triumph complete: a student to train in the ways of the dark side. Though she is young, Zannah possesses an instinctive link to the dark side that rivals his own. With his guidance, she will become essential in his quest to destroy the Jedi and dominate the galaxy.

This book has to be easily the best star wars book I have read so far in my life. Which says a lot to me personally since I have read a lot of good star wars books in my time on this website and I gotta say that this one takes the cake as of now at least.

This book offers us the history of Darth Bane, Darth Bane trying and failing to create holocrons as well as Darth Bane training his apprentice who is a young female named Zannah who struggles with get easily attached to people and animals and not understanding Darth Bane’s plan on how Siths can rule galaxy. Which really made me give this book a lot of extra points for doing. Since this book portrays both Darth Bane and Zannah as real human being in the star wars universe who are struggling and trying to find their way to achieve their goals. 

There is a lot of action in this book, and the pacing in this book is pretty fast too. There is a lot of things that happens in this book which means we as readers as never bored while reading this book because there is so much that is happening in this book which made me like this book even more than I already did.

This books is pretty dark since it has its fair share of violence and it has pretty dark tone and atmosphere which really made me like this book even more than I already did, because this book just perfectly portrays the dark side in star wars and it truly shows us how different the Siths are from Jedis.

The characters in this book are incredible, especially Darth Bane which is my all time favorite character from star wars and one which in my opinion is very underrated and under explored. This book had made me just love Darth Bane even more than I already did before this book. Because this book adds so much depth and personality to him that it made him feel like a real human being in a way. 

When it comes to Zannah, she is also an incredible character. Because she has a lot of character debt to her and she has her own personality which made me immediately love her as a character. Because she struggles with her moral compass and easily getting attached to people and creatures of the star wars universe but at the same time she was to become a Sith Lord and hopefully one day kill Darth Bane and take his place as a Sith Lord. But at the same time she needs him to teach her about the dark side of the force. So she is in this constantly struggle with herself and trying to find out what she really wants.

The writing style in this book is incredible. Because it was like the author of this book knew exactly what words to use to completely grab my attention and not let it go until the very end of this book. Which made me give this book some extra points for doing that because I was completely hooked on this book from the very first page of it and I just couldn’t stop reading this book until the very end of this book. 

At the same time the author of this book made me want to read his other star wars books because there is something about the way he writes star wars books that completely takes over my life and makes me clued to his books and I stop cant stop reading them like happened with this book “Revan” book which was also written by the same author.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

“The Bounty Hunter Code: From the Files of Boba Fett” By Daniel Wallace Review

Discover the crucial tools and techniques all bounty hunters need to master. Get the basics on making a living at the margins of galactic law. Delve into the history, philosophy, and gear of Death Watch, a secretive splinter group of Mandalorians. Legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett bound together two volumes of great personal significance: the latest edition of The Bounty Hunter’s Guild Handbook and a recruiting booklet issued by Death Watch. Together, these volumes make up The Bounty Hunter code. Fett and the book’s other previous owners recorded their thoughts and commentary in the margins.

I gotta admit here that this book is the second weakest book in the “Secrets of the Galaxy Guidebooks” series from the star wars universe. 

I need to admit here, I never found the bounty hunter aspect of star wars to be interesting. Yes I am a huge fan of the Mandalorians but thats the closet thing to bounty hunting in star wars am a fan of. I always thought that bounty hunters was a nice addition to the star wars universe but I never put any more thoughts to bounty hunters beside that acknowledgment.

However I did like the history aspect of this book which was about how the Bounty Hunters’ Guild was created and the history of the previous bounty hunters who are sort of legends in the field. That history in this book made me want that lucasfilms and Disney would make a tv show about the Bounty Hunters’ Guild because that would be a huge banger in my opinion. 

This book is sort of like a guidebook for new bounty hunters, which explain how the Bounty Hunters’ Guild works, the hierarchy of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild, how bounties are made, what determines the prize of a bounty, how to get prepared for a mission and all the various stuff you will need for a mission like trackers, bugs, landspeeder or Airspeeder amongst other things which I found to be very interesting because in a way all this information gives us extra information about what tech exists in the star wars universe which makes the whole universe more fun and interesting for me personally.

At the same time this book adds all that information to the star wars lore but its more from a characters perceptive, because this book and the rest of the books in this series are written as if from a character’s perceptive. Which is the main reason why I like this series so much as I do.

This book is a very short read, because it only has 160 pages or so, which means that it can be read very quickly. Which in a way helped me like this book better, because I wouldn’t be able to finish this book if it was any longer than that, because as I’ve said above I’m not a fan of the bounty hunting aspect of star wars which might be pretty controversial for some star wars fans.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

“Imperial Handbook: A Commander’s Guide” By Daniel Wallace Review

The exciting next book in the bestselling Jedi/Sith/Bounty Hunter series has arrived! The Empire has taken hold of the galaxy, and high-ranking officials from each branch of the military have created an Imperial Handbook , compiling tactical guidelines and procedures as well as mission reports and classified documents for all newly ascending commanders. This comprehensive manual details secrets of Imperial battle tactics, acceptable actions for bringing swift justice to traitors, and the Emperor’s long-term plan for galactic military domination. After the Battle of Endor, this copy of the Imperial Handbook fell into the hands of the Rebel Alliance. Well-known rebels provide a humorous running counter-commentary to the official Imperial propaganda in the form of handwritten annotations in the margins of the pages.

I need to admit here that I wanted to read this book for a very long time and now that I have finally did that I gotta say that I’m very happy that I have read this book.

This book gives us behind the scenes information about how the Empire works which really made me love this book and give this book extra points for doing. Because I personally am a huge fan of the empire aspect of star wars and I find it to be very interesting.

I really liked the handwritten notes aspect of this book. Those handwritten notes comes from the OG star wars character giving this book so much more fun to it because those handwritten notes feels like you are a part of the star wars universe and can really see what those various OG characters thoughts about the various aspects of this book.

The quality of this book is very good, because it almost feels like it was a real in the universe handbook for the imperial staffers if you will. Because the paper in this book feels very high quality and the pictures which this book includes feels pretty realistic. At the same time this book feels pretty old like the rest of the books in the “Secrets of the Galaxy Guidebooks” book series which I started probably 2 years ago.

This book contains a lot of very interesting information about the imperial part of star wars which I didn’t know even thou I have loved star wars since I first saw the OG movies when I was 5 or 6 years old and consumed every movie / show / comic book / book taking place in the star wars universe every since then. This aspect of this book made me give this book extra points for doing. 

At the same time this book talks about Stormtrooper, starfighter, starships, and a lot of other things about the empire which made me fall in love with this book harder than I already did.

I also never in a way realized that there was so much to empire in star wars before reading this book which really says a lot about me not knowing much about the behind the scenes empire stuff in star wars universe.

This book also contains a lot of numbers and statistics as if there is this big economical aspect to the empire which in a way makes it feel even more real and fun to learn about.

The writing in this book is very good, because it really seems like its a real book in the star wars universe. Which made me give this book a lot of extra points for doing.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

“Dark Disciple” By Christie Golden Review

In the war for control of the galaxy between the armies of the dark side and the Republic, former Jedi Master turned ruthless Sith Lord Count Dooku has grown ever more brutal in his tactics. Despite the powers of the Jedi and the military prowess of their clone army, the sheer number of fatalities is taking a terrible toll. And when Dooku orders the massacre of a flotilla of helpless refugees, the Jedi Council feels it has no choice but to take drastic action: targeting the man responsible for so many war atrocities, Count Dooku himself.

I gotta admit that this book was a very average star wars book, not the worst nor the best I have read from the star wars category of books.

This book takes place during the clone wars tv show timeline. And the clone wars is easily my favorite star wars show ever created. Which means I had some high hopes for this book which unfortunately this book didn’t live up to the hopes and expectations I had for this book.

The plot in this book is kind of all over the place and some of the Jedi council members act very out of character. Like Master Yoda sending people to kill count Dooku. Which gave me mixed feelings because the whole theme of being a Jedi is not killing people like the Sith Lords do. 

And the person who gets the tasks to kill count Dooku was no other than Quinlan Vos. Which in my opinion is one of the most underrated characters we should see more of in the star wars universe.

I personally have mixed feelings about the plot of this book, because there were times where this book would drag a bit which would make me bored and uninterested at times which is never a good thing. And to be very honest here I feel like the plot wasn’t as interesting as it could have been if the author of this book would have use a different approach or different perspective in this book.

The characters in this book, all over the place. Because we do get most well known characters in this book like Yoda, Dooku, Obi-Wan and Anakin amongst other but we also get some new characters or characters that we didn’t spend a lot of time with in movies or the star wars books I have read so far in my life.

To be honest I wished that we would get more time in this book with Quinlan Vos or the less known or new characters in this book. But I cant complain about the characters in this book because I still loved them in this book and think they were as good as always in this book.

The writing style in this book is easily the weakest point of this book. Because the writing style didn’t feel like star wars book but rather a young adult fantasy writing style which for me was weird for me personally. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Star Wars: The Living Force” By John Jackson Miller Review

The Jedi have always traveled the stars, defending peace and justice across the galaxy. But, the galaxy is changing, and along with it, the Jedi Order. More and more, the Order finds itself focused on the future of the Republic, secluded on Coruscant, where the twelve members of the Jedi Council weigh crises on a galactic scale.

I gotta admit that this star wars books has to be the weakest star wars book I’ve read so far. But of course I’m gonna explain everything in this review, so if you are interested than keep reading.

The storyline in this book takes place in pre-Phantom Menace era, and as we all know by now it means that this book have all the OG star wars characters in it like Obi-wan, Yoda, Mace Windu and Qui-Gon Jinn amongst others. 

I fully expected to love this book because it has a all the characters which I already love. But in reality I found this book to be boring and dragging out the plot for far too long than the plot was made to be.

The storyline in this book was okay for the most part, but there were a lot of times in this book where the plot was going on and on forever without anything happening. Those moments were stretching the plot into forever which really made me very bored and uninterested at times in this book. Because of how the plot seemed to not have an ending in this book.

The characters in this book are pretty solid and just as good as they were in the movies. But there were times where I wished that we got to see more of those characters in this book. We didn’t get to see a lot of them, because this book focused more on the action rather than the characters and developing them further than what the movies did.

But I need to admit here that the characters in this book, was the best part of this book in my opinion. Because I already loved the majority of the characters we get in this book. So of course I would still love them in this book if the author didn’t completely ruin them and thankfully the author didn’t ruin them.

The action in this book is pretty much all over the place because we get different perspectives in this book. And this book doesn’t make it easy for us as readers to keep track of when the perspective changes. So I personally was left kind of confused a lot while reading this book.

The writing style in this book is pretty decent here, its not the best I’ve seen in star wars books in my time. But its neither the worst. I wish that the writing style would have been better because it would have been improved the plot and the entire book.

The opening chapters of this book were very interest, and they have caught my attention. But the longer I got into this book the more it became very stretched thin and became uninteresting. Which really sucked because I have a lot of expectations for star wars books I read because I expect them to love them such as much as I loved star wars movies when I first watched them as a kid.

This book has to easily be the most disappointing book I’ve read in the star wars universe and I really hope this is the last one. 

I Give This Book 2 / 5