George Lucas - The Star Wars Trilogy

A Del Rey Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group

Star Wars: A New Hope copyright 1976, 1995 by Lucasfilm Ltd. &
or where indicated.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: copyright 1980, 1995 by Lucasfilm Ltd. &
or where indicated.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: copyright 1983, 1995 by Lucasfilm Ltd. &
or where indicated.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

STAR WARS: A New Hope was originally published by The Ballantine Publishing Group in 1976. STAR WARS: The Empire Strikes Back was originally published by The Ballantine Publishing Group in 1980. STAR WARS: Return of the Jedi was originally published by The Ballantine Publishing Group in 1983.

Del Rey is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

www.starwars.com
www.starwarskids.com
www.delreybooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

eISBN: 978-0-307-79573-1

v3.1

EPISODE IV

STAR WARS:
A New Hope

A Novel by George Lucas

I N D ECEMBER 1976, B ALLANTINE Books published a paperback novel called Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker. The book was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster from my screenplay for the film. The cover painting was a piece of early conceptual art by Ralph McQuarrie. In small type on the back cover were the words Soon to be a spectacular motion picture from Twentieth Century Fox.

The worlds first glimpse of Star Wars happened with little fanfare, and this first edition of the novel sold modestly. It wasnt until the official tie-in version of the book that it sold millions of copies and broke records, much like the film was doing in theaters. In a way, the original book performed as I had expected the film to doa respectable showing, certainly nothing to set the world on fire, but hopefully enough to allow me to follow up with the further stories in the saga. Happily, Star Wars exceeded my expectations.

As this special hardcover edition of the original Star Wars novel goes to press, I am once again immersed in writing new episodes of the saga. It fills me with a sense of dj vu, because the outline for the new trilogy of prequels is actually contained in the first two pages of this book, the prologue. I suppose I have come full circle as I return to the beginning and start again.

A NOTHER GALAXY, ANOTHER TIME .

The Old Republic was the Republic of legend, greater than distance or time. No need to note where it was or whence it came, only to know that it was the Republic.

Once, under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the Jedi Knights, the Republic throve and grew. But as often happens when wealth and power pass beyond the admirable and attain the awesome, then appear those evil ones who have greed to match.

So it was with the Republic at its height. Like the greatest of trees, able to withstand any external attack, the Republic rotted from within though the danger was not visible from outside.

Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic.

Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears.

Having exterminated through treachery and deception the Jedi Knights, guardians of justice in the galaxy, the Imperial governors and bureaucrats prepared to institute a reign of terror among the disheartened worlds of the galaxy. Many used the Imperial forces and the name of the increasingly isolated Emperor to further their own personal ambitions.

But a small number of systems rebelled at these new outrages. Declaring themselves opposed to the New Order they began the great battle to restore the Old Republic.

From the beginning they were vastly outnumbered by the systems held in thrall by the Emperor. In those first dark days it seemed certain the bright flame of resistance would be extinguished before it could cast the light of new truth across a galaxy of oppressed and beaten peoples

From the First Saga

Journal of the Whills

They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally they became heroes.

Leia Organa of Alderaan, Senator

I

I T WAS A VAST, SHINING GLOBE AND IT cast a light of lambent topaz into spacebut it was not a sun. Thus, the planet had fooled men for a long time. Not until entering close orbit around it did its discoverers realize that this was a world in a binary system and not a third sun itself.

At first it seemed certain nothing could exist on such a planet, least of all humans. Yet both massive Gl and G2 stars orbited a common center with peculiar regularity, and Tatooine circled them far enough out to permit the development of a rather stable, if exquisitely hot, climate. Mostly this was a dry desert of a world, whose unusual starlike yellow glow was the result of double sunlight striking sodium-rich sands and flats. That same sunlight suddenly shone on the thin skin of a metallic shape falling crazily toward the atmosphere.

* * *

T he erratic course the galactic cruiser was traveling was intentional, not the product of injury but of a desperate desire to avoid it. Long streaks of intense energy slid close past its hull, a multihued storm of destruction like a school of rainbow remoras fighting to attach themselves to a larger, unwilling host.

One of those probing, questing beams succeeded in touching the fleeing ship, striking its principal solar fin. Gemlike fragments of metal and plastic erupted into space as the end of the fin disintegrated. The vessel seemed to shudder.

The source of those multiple energy beams suddenly hove into viewa lumbering Imperial cruiser, its massive outline bristling cactuslike with dozens of heavy weapons emplacements. Light ceased arching from those spines now as the cruiser moved in close. Intermittent explosions and flashes of light could be seen in those portions of the smaller ship which had taken hits. In the absolute cold of space, the cruiser snuggled up alongside its wounded prey.