The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars), by Donald F. Glut - SIGNED

The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars), by Donald F. Glut. 1980 first edition softcover. 214 pages, good condition. SIGNED.

This is the legendary novelization of The Empire Strikes Back, written by Donald F. Glut and first published by Del Rey. It is based on the screenplay to the film of the same name by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan.

The book was written by Donald F. Glut, who had been originally asked to write the novelization of Star Wars, but Glut turned down the offer due to the low pay and the fact that the book would be credited to George Lucas. The novelization stands out because Glut was not given access to key details regarding the film, as much information about the film's production was kept secretive and segmented inside of Lucasfilm. For descriptions, Glut relied upon Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art and character designs.

On one occasion he asked a Lucasfilm employee if a production sketch depicted Yoda, and the employee replied "Don't tell me! I don't want to know." In addition, Glut did not have access to film footage while writing the book, so his portrayal of Han Solo was more in line with what was portrayed in Star Wars rather than The Empire Strikes Back. Glut did not give additional insight into the film's characters or events, a fact that can be traced to the paranoia of the film's producers.

The book has some differences from the film, such as:

Yoda has blue skin in the novel, in line with early concept art of the character, rather than the greenish from the movie.

Luke Skywalker's training with Yoda is given more detail than in the film.

The Hoth battle is extended somewhat, such as when General Veers' AT-AT is destroyed by a Snowspeeder shortly after blowing up the rebels' shield generator.

Darth Vader's lightsaber blade is blue in the novel, whereas in the films it is red.

When Luke is attacked by Stormtroopers in Cloud City, he returns fire with his blaster, unlike in the film, where he does not fire a single shot.

In the Battle of Hoth, Dack cannot get his harness done, as opposed to “setting his approach vector.”