In a bookstore, a long, long, time ago. Star Trek Photo Novels dotted the shelves. 12 editions of episode adaptations appeared, and were quickly snapped up. Other presentations followed. "Ice Castles", "Battlestar Galactica", and "Buck Rogers" were adapted.
Then they stopped in the late 70's. For some reason the market did not respond to the unique format of the books. As a younger reader, I loved the books and still seek them out when I can. Now, DH and TokyoPop have taken "A New Hope" and created the `new' photo novel.
Almost every reader will be familiar with the film, and the plot of the book. That makes it easier to follow. Whomever adapted the script did a reasonable job in picking dialogue that carried the 94 pages of images. In terms of image quality, the remastered film seems to be the source and mostly it is good with a few blurry shots not suiting the balance of the book. The 1970's books included a lot of white or black space, and had a smaller page size, where "A New Hope" is larger but the fancy designs around the edges tends to be distracting.
All in all, $9.95 will get you a shortened film experience. Want to maximize the book, play the sound track while you're reading...it'll help!
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Tim Lasiuta