Before The Empire Strikes Back, this was our next Star Wars adventure.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye is one of those wonderfully strange pieces of Star Wars history. Written by Alan Dean Foster and published in 1978, it was the first original Star Wars novel to continue the adventures of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia beyond the original movie. Even cooler, Foster had been commissioned to write the story so it could potentially be adapted into a lower-budget sequel if Star Wars wasn't successful enough to justify a huge follow-up. Of course, Star Wars became a phenomenon and George Lucas went in a very different direction with The Empire Strikes Back.
The story follows Luke and Leia after they're forced down on Mimban, where they become caught up in the search for the Kaiburr crystal, an ancient gem capable of greatly amplifying a person's connection to the Force. Naturally, Darth Vader wants it too. Today, Splinter of the Mind's Eye is considered Legends rather than canon, but I still love this little piece of Star Wars history and happen to have an original 1978 paperback sitting on my shelf. And while I don't expect the entire story to suddenly become canon, I'd love to see Lucasfilm find some clever way to bring the Kaiburr crystal, or even pieces of this adventure, back into Star Wars someday.
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