Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster

(pb; 1978)

From the back cover

"Luke Skywalker expected trouble when he volunteered to follow Princess Leia on her mission to the planet Circarpous. But he discovered that hidden on the planet was the Kaiburr crystal, a mysterious gem that would give the one who possessed it such powers over the Force that he would be all but invincible. In the wrong hands, the crystal could be deadly. So Luke had to find this treasure and find it fast."


Review

The first Star Wars spin-off novel, published between films A New Hope (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), is fun, action-packed and has the science fiction serial feel of its source film. There are minor character and plot inconsistencies with Star Wars sequel ─ it had not that Luke and Leia were siblings, unbeknownst to each other, and, because of that, it was also not known that she had a special connection to the Force (making her a  possible Jedi practitioner). If you can overlook that, this an entertaining and well-written expansion of the franchise, one worth reading.

Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher

(hb; 2008: memoir)

From the inside flap:

". . . In Wishful Drinking, adapted from her one-woman show, Fisher reveals what it was really like to grow up a product of 'Hollywood in-breeding,' come of age on the set of a little movie called Star Wars, and become a cultural icon and bestselling action figure at the age of nineteen.

". . . Wishful Drinking is Fisher, looking at her life as she best remembers it (what do you expect after electroshock therapy?). It's an incredible tale: the child of Hollywood royalty - Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher - homewrecked by Elizabeth Taylor, marrying (then divorcing, then dating) Paul Simon, having her likeness merchandised on eerything from Princess Leia shampoo to PEZ dispensers, learning that the father of her daughter forgot to tell her he was gay, and ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed."

Review:

Hilarious, admirably entertaining and breezy read about what could have been a dark, sad read about a likewise life: lifelong (and often surreal) fame, bipolar depression, drug addiction, sexual/romantic confusion (in her choice of date mates), and other, in her words, "f**ked up" stuff.

Good, word sly and often sarcastic read, this.