This week, I’ve enjoyed reading the junior novelization version of “The Empire Strikes Back” because I get to try to do all of the different voices of the characters I grew up with, like Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader. They’re not perfect, and I’m not even sure if Elijah can tell that I’m trying to emulate the voices. For me, it’s like I’m hearing the audio from the movie playback in my memory, and I’m pulling voices from specific scenes.
The one strange thing about this book is that the author is paying way more attention to wardrobe changes than I would have expected. In the movie, Han Solo will sometimes appear in a winter coat in one scene, and then in his more traditional costume in the next, but it’s natural to assume that he changed off camera.
I’m not sure if this is just how the movie was always adapted into a novel, or if this is some kind of second edition written in a different style. I just don’t recall the novelizations of the Star Wars movie paying so much attention to the clothes, other than when it was relevant to the plot. Usually, authors of movie adaptations will expand upon the movie by sharing what a character is thinking during a particular scene.
Is this the original novelization from 1980? Or a newer reimagined novelization?
It’s been a while, but I think it was a young adult version.