Minor movie characters get new life in sci-fi novels

The recent mania surrounding the re-release of the Star Wars Trilogy has ignited the already burgeoning field of Star Wars novels.

Recent Star Wars novels have revolved around some brief, but memorable set pieces from the movies such as the Mos Eisley Cantina and Jabba's Palace.

Kevin J. Anderson, author of both Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina and Tales From Jabba's Palace has been one of the most successful of the Star Wars novelists. Mos Eisley Cantina was the best-selling sci-fi anthology of all time until Jabba's Palace outsold it.

Aside from these anthologies Anderson has also penned the "Jedi Academy" trilogy, which sold nearly 3 million copies. The trilogy compromised the top three selling sci-fi books of 1994. His Ground Zero, the first "X-Files" hardcover novel, also topped the London Sunday Times bestseller list.

Another popular writer of Star Wars is Timothy Zahn, whose novel, Heir to the Empire, is considered to be the first in the new cycle of Star Wars novels.

"In 1991, Heir to the Empire really set off all these recent Star Wars novels," said Jim Cleaveland (senior-film), librarian of Penn State's Sci-Fi Club.

A distinguished writer in his own right, Zahn has won a Hugo Award, given for achievement in science fiction, for his novella "Cascade Point."

Zahn may be credited for getting the Star Wars novels back in bookstores, but novels based on the movies have been cropping up since Star Wars was originally released in 1977.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster was the first Star Wars extension novel. It was immediately followed by Brian Daley's trilogy of Han Solo novels in 1979 and 1980.

Cleaveland called these novels "really fun and enjoyable" even if they were seriously contradicted by the following films of The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi.

The Star Wars novels, despite their popularity, have drawn criticism for being too formulaic.

"These novels really use the same formula over and over again. They never really pushed the envelope of science fiction the way the film versions really pushed the envelope of the movie-making. These books are an example of books written by committee," said Pat Trimble, professor of integrative arts and the Sci-Fi Club's advisor.

While these books have been written by successful and popular sci-fi authors, the writers' creativity is hampered by the boundaries set by previous books and films, said Fred Ramsey, co-owner of Seven Mountains Books, 111 S. Pugh St.

"These books suffer from what happens to all sequels, the original vision gets deluded," he added.

Another criticism by sci-fi aficionados is that the Star Wars novels are too commercial.

Smith and Cleaveland said they prefer the work of such sci-fi luminaries as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and William Gibson to the serialized Star Wars novels.

"The Star Wars novels are really pop fiction. But they are good writers and they tell a good story," said Matthew J. Smith (senior-political science), president of the Sci-Fi Club.