Take Me Between the Covers. I Want to Learn the Literary Ways of the Force

“The Blackguard clings to the principle that acquiring knowledge is superior to exerting physical power.” —Book of Sith

Book of Sith has been my companion by the pool, this summer…uh, I mean as part of my training as a squire in the house of Ren…and this Blackguard principle resonates with the academic in me. The structure of the book thrills me because not only am I privy to the asynchronous dialogue of Vader, Sidious and Luke with and about followers of the Sith, but prose that doesn’t follow conventional structure arouses my intellect (I am not in love, yet, that will take more reflection), and it tempts me to be more than a voyeur, as their notes and my own annotations penetrate the Sith teachings, enhancing my reading experience. The knowledge is reshaping and enriching the Star Wars stories that I know, and I want more.  

However, I must overcome my prudishness about Star Wars books that take me outside the films, and, perhaps, you can guide me on where to start this literary lesson. Book of Sith is only the 3rd of these books that I’ve read that take me beyond the films, joining Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (the only one of the Star Wars novels that I’ve read) and Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina. True, I am merely a squire but have constrained myself to this role because of long-held film-purist, and literary-purist fears. I must admit this failure, face and transform my fears, and be implicit in the violation of my purity.

As a youngling, I read Splinter of the Mind’s Eye upon its release because I was starved for more Star Wars after “A New Hope” left the theaters. My sister and I thought that Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was going to be the next film. Knowing how desperate we were for more Star Wars, my parents kept us out of school to go see “The Empire Strikes Back” the day it

My aged copy of the only Star Wars novel that I’ve read.

premiered in theaters! I was expecting the story from Splinter but got my favorite Star Wars story instead. Looking back, I see that this pleasant surprise created a disconnect, a disassociation pitting the books against the films. I curbed my temptations to read books about things beyond the Star Wars film galaxy becoming a Star Wars film purist.

I feared violations—guarded myself against any spoilers of what was or was not to come or meeting characters and forming images of them that the films would then disrupt. Then I feared admitting that I didn’t know the books, imagining that I was the only fan out there not reading the books, that it would discredit me as a true fan. And as more books were published, I ignored the expanding Star Wars universe. My film purity has been enabled by studying literature, literary theory, and literary criticism in college and graduate school making me assume that Star Wars fiction could not meet my criteria. I repressed temptation, certain I was saving myself for literary art. Such arrogant literary purist snobbery! That created more fear: that the books would fail to live up to my literary expectations and fail to meet my Star Wars expectations.

I refused to risk possible misshaping of my long-held perspective on Star Wars.  When I learned from a friend that, in the books, Han and Leia got married and Luke married someone—blech!—I took great offense on how our civilization’s concept of marriage was imposed on the Star Wars galaxy (but even the films betrayed this when Padmé and Anakin were wed). I wanted my Star Wars galaxy to have no concept of marriage, letting me have a place where this concept never existed, and I felt betrayed. So I held fast to my film-purist stance.

His story belongs to me!

With the release of the prequels and then “The Force Awakens,” people had told me that there were inconsistencies between the characters and timelines of the films and the books, as well, but I dismissed those, remaining faithful to the films for my information—especially anyone who tried to tell me about my delicious dark side cupcake, Kylo Ren. I had all intent to declare any information about his life that was not given or inferred in the film as LIES.

Because I embrace the dark side, I knew that I had to face this fear and use it, channel this literary arrogance, let go of trying to control how these books will shape me because it is keeping me from empowering my point of view. And as a squire of the Knights of Ren this knowledge is crucial because a strong dark side warrior must be mindful of the texts about the Force circulating this galaxy. I savor the immense pleasure of knowing the Star Wars film saga and am aroused by the promise of the multiple dimensions I will add to my Star Wars experience as I read more books.

What’s loosened me up are debates on social media about “The Force Awakens”  disrupting canon versus canon not being “true,” and I don’t understand the expanded universe references of which they speak. Tempted to join and defend the films, I cannot; I don’t know anything about Star Wars as told in the novels. This debate makes me think of Cervantes’ Don Quixote as the issue of “author/authority” is represented in this work (read it, if you have not; you’ll be ready for Adam Driver’s role in Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of the story. Adam Driver is reading it, too!). So, I might speak on how canon criteria is established on a literary level but not on a Star Wars level, and to live with this division, to resist a relationship between my love for literature and my love for Star Wars is excruciating!

But where to begin? I am overwhelmed. Follow the galaxy’s timeline? Follow the chronology of book publication? Did I want to focus on the dark side? (Well, of course!) But if I focused on the dark side, where do I begin? I had reached out to the podcasters Coffee with Kenobi  and Star Wars Book Worms for some recommendations, and they asked if I wanted to follow canon. I don’t know if I do? How is it defined? And who defined it, anyways? (I know, now, that there are the labels “canon” and “expanded universe,” which some interchange). And do I offend or betray the saga by asking, by being ignorant of the print galaxy far, far away? Recommendations on reading the comic books and playing video games piled on. I am implicating as many as I can in the loss of my purity.

As I near the end of Book of Sith, I found this note from Darth Plagueis to be most pertinent. Star Wars started with Episode IV, so there is no reason for me to begin at the beginning of the books either chronologically in the Star Wars universe or the publishing world. I thought I wanted such a moment to be special, a carefully choreographed, orderly, calculated event, an easing into a new phase in one’s life, but where is the thrill in that? 

Some argue that I shouldn’t stain my perspectives by reading the books, but I’m ready to partake in this literary debauchery and emerge with a well-formed opinion of my own. With so many books to conquer, I will abandon all inhibition, seek intoxication from the risk, the unexpected. I will indulge in heights of delight by the stories that captivate me and ravenously seek relief from textual frustration caused by books that leave my literary and Star Wars desires wanting. Too long have I deprived myself of the strength to come from joining together my devotion to literature with my passion for Star Wars.