THE MIMBAN ENCOUNTER! CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF 'SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE'!

Very cool early layout concept from Ralph McQuarrie, for what eventually became the dramatic cover of Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Love that prototype logo idea!

It was the book that showed Princess Leia piloting a Y-wing fighter, introduced the swamp world of Mimban (mentioned in The Clone Wars animated series and now about to be given reality in Solo- A Star Wars Story) plus the notion of 'Kiburr/Kiber' crystals (later seen for real with Rogue One), provided an excellent and quirky support character in Halla (who should come back one day!), and unleashed the Yuzzum beasts before they became a singular shrunken Muppet-like creation officially seen in Return of the Jedi. Additionally, we were witness to Luke getting early hots for Leia (before the bad news came along!), and saw the young duo partake in an epic finale lightsaber duel against a genuinely merciless Darth Vader- a conflict which would see the dark lord lose his arm. Plus the glorious image of Leia taking the saber against her former torturous captor: the kind of cool action moment/idea for our heroine we'll now be cruelly denied from ever seeing onscreen, what with the truly sad passing of Carrie Fisher.

Leia takes on Vader. A classic scene from Splinter made reality by Adam Hughes.

All that exciting material was in Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye- the first officially sanctioned adventure set after and beyond the original 1977 film, once planned as a cheap-to-make sequel by Lucasfilm should the first movie only be a moderate box office success. It was the beginning of a legend in science fiction/fantasy tie-in book publishing.

If you haven't already read this terrific adventure (originally published on this date (1978) in the US by Del Rey, and later in the UK by Sphere), or the 1995 four-part DARK HORSE comic adaptation, showing us a time before the STAR WARS universe/franchise was cemented, altered, then re-cemented, then go out and do so now!

Check out our original PDF archive on the story:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B80ITjM31EVRX3hFdUpvWFFyTk0/edit

Happy Fortieth Anniversary!

LAIR OF THE DARK SIDE. CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF 'SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE'!

Danger and darkness await Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa within the ruins of a long-lost Mimban Temple, as the evil Darth Vader emerges from the shadows to claim the Force-powered Kaiburr crystal for the Empire, and exact his revenge on the bold Rebel Alliance leaders that destroyed the Death Star, in this truly gorgeous original art by Ralph McQuarrie, that has since become the stuff of artistic history, for the 1978 Del Rey book cover of SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE-then the first all-new original novel featuring the main STAR WARS characters, written by Alan Dean Foster and approved by George Lucas- to generate continued interest in the saga in the eventual build-up to the next feature adventure, which was then a few years off. The Expanded Universe of STAR WARS had well and truly begun!

The new adventure was a huge success internationally, as seen her with its UK Sphere Books release media publicity.

Originally published on the February 12th, 1978, next month's STAR WARS INSIDER, celebrating the classic book's 35th Anniversary, has an exclusive original transcript meeting between George Lucas and Alan Dean Foster from 1977 about the book and what it should be about, that will surely prove a terrific read!

And don't forget our original, highly detailed AFICIONADO ARCHIVE from a few years back on the book and its later DARK HORSE comic adaptation: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B80ITjM31EVRX3hFdUpvWFFyTk0/edit?usp=sharing

Note: To see the PDF in its best viewing quality, please download the file to your desktop.

2015 UPDATE: The 'Star Wars' Sequel That Never Happened