21 Star Wars Books You Should Read

Cover to Splinter of the Mind’s Eye by Alan Dean Foster. Image via publisher Del Rey

9. Splinter of the Mind’s Eye

Alan Dean Foster finally gets an entry on this list with the now-Legends work Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. It also happens to be the very first Star Wars Expanded Universe book ever, published in 1978. In interviews, Foster has since revealed that the book actually could have been a low-budget sequel to A New Hope had the movie not succeeded.

It focuses on Luke and Leia journeying to a planet in order to get its inhabitants to join the Rebel Alliance. However, they are forced to crash on a swampy jungle planet. Getting off the planet requires them to team up with Halla and search for the Kaiburr Crystal, which can amplify the Force.

However, the Imperials have a presence on the planet, and Darth Vader himself ends up appearing.

As a novel itself, it doesn’t stand out as later books do. Even Goodreads reviews point this out. However, the book deserves the read for the sheer history of it.

In terms of timeline, you can read this with the rest of the post-Hope and pre-Empire books on this list.

Yes, we could have gotten this instead of The Empire Strikes Back. Keep that in mind while you read and wonder about the characterizations.