Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, as the book was called until 1986, is unique in that it was the first Star Wars novel ever published and it was also the first time people were introduced to the Star Wars Universe, as it came out six months before the movie was released and five months before the first issue of the Marvel Comics series was published. So in a way, it's the beginning of the Star Wars Universe.
One of the things that I like about this book is that it sets up some of the backstory. In the prologue at the beginning it explains that Senator Palpatine caused himself to be declared president of the Republic with the help from powerful businessmen and then declared himself Emperor and eliminating the Jedi Knights. Obviously the movies would go into a lot more detail in the prequels, but this is the first time that Emperor Palpatine is referred to by name as it's never mentioned in the original trilogy and other novels wouldn't mention it until Timothy Zahn wrote it in Heir to the Empire. So that's interesting.
Luke is also a lot more restless in the book than he is in the movie. I don't know if that's because we actually see him with his friends in a scene that was removed from the final film version, as well as a conversation that he has with Biggs on Tatooine, or if it's just because we're more in Luke's head in the book than we are in the movie. Whatever the case is, the fact that Luke feels a lot more restless here than he would in the movie is interesting. Related to that is that Uncle Owen is also more gruff with Luke here than he is in the movie. Especially when it comes to Luke's father and Ben Kenobi.
During this reading of the book, I noticed something that I wanted to bring up in this review. So during the briefing that General Dodonna gives the pilots before the Death Star arrives, Dodonna mentions the plan where Red Squadron and Blue Squadron would be at the forefront of the assault on the Death Star with Yellow Squadron covering Red Squadron and Green Squadron covering Blue Squadron. In the book Blue Squadron is the X-Wing squadron and Red is the Y-Wing squadron while in the movie Red Squadron is the X-Wing squadron and Gold Squadron is the Y-Wing squadron. All that's fine. But when the book gets to the battle, Yellow Squadron and Green Squadron are nowhere to be found. They're not even mentioned in the narrative as keeping a certain distance from the battle or anything. It's just Blue and Red squadrons attacking with Blue Squadron keeping the TIE Fighters busy while Red Squadron flies down the trench like they do in the movie. I never actually noticed that before even though I've read this book hundreds of times over the years.
Before I forget to mention, Obi-Wan is a bit more eccentric in the book than he is in the movie. For example, he mentions that even ducks have to learn how to swim and when Luke, who is from the World that Water Abandoned as Corran Horn would refer to Tatooine as in The Bacta War, asks him what a duck is, Obi-Wan tells him to never mind. But before that when Luke asks how Obi-Wan recreated the call of the Krayt Dragon, Obi-Wan replies that it takes a lot of wind and that if Luke was an Imperial bureaucrat, he could teach him right away. So I thought that was pretty funny.
My one problem with this book is the same problem I have with the movie beginning with the Special Edition in 1997. The Jabba the Hutt scene is pretty redundant. Both in the movie and the book, Han has a confrontation with Greedo, the Rodian Bounty Hunter, in the Mos Eisley Cantina and they have this dialogue between each other before Han shoots Greedo (shooting first I might add). But then, a little while later in Docking Bay 94 he and Jabba have the exact same conversation. The only difference is that Han convinces Jabba to give him more time to get the money that he owes Jabba. The rest of the scene is almost a line for line repeat of Han's earlier conversation with Greedo.
Final Thoughts and Rating: Overall this is a pretty interesting start to the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Being the very first Star Wars novel ever published, it establishes the universe a lot better than even the movie does. The characters are slightly different than they are in the movie, but that's to be expected given that the novel is based off the film's script rather than the final film itself. I'm giving Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker 9/10 stars because while it's good, there are things about it that are a little bit weird about it, like the mention of ducks and other more real life things that don't belong in Star Wars.
Wookieepedia Links: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope_(novel)
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