Paperback
Paperback
Edition
| MERCHANDISE - BOOKS |
| The Willow Novelization |
|
The very first novel
in the saga is actually the novelization of the movie, written by Wayland
Drew (author of The Erthring Cycle). Three editions were printed, two paperback,
one hardcover. The first was released well before the movie and featured
exclusive cover art. The second was released the same time as the movie, featured
the early-general-release-poster artwork for the cover and included an
eight-page insert with photos from the movie. The third edition
was a book-club hardcover edition with essentially the same cover art as the second
edition. However, this edition did not contain the movie stills.
This novelization contains several scenes cut from the film; some of this is documented in the Cut Scenes section. In addition, the novel adds interesting background information about Bavmorda, Fin Raziel, Madmartigan, and the Nelwyn warrior Vohnkar. All in all a must-read for true Willow fans. However, the book must be taken with a grain of salt; many of the details were invented by the author, and the more recent Shadow War novels display some changes in George Lucas' original concept. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paperback |
Paperback |
Edition |
|
|
|
|
||||
| Shadow Moon |
|
The first installment of the Chronicles
of the Shadow War was written by George Lucas and Chris Claremont and
published by Bantam Spectra Books, originally in hardcover, with a paperback
version following several months later. The cover art was fabulously done
by Ciruelo Cabral. The book is rather lengthy (nearly five hundred pages).
It's got a fabulous story (read more about that in THE SAGA section),
and is definitely worth checking out. The paperback edition, which included
a map of Angwyn Bay not included in the hardcover edition, is readily
available from most retail book sellers, as well as online sellers like
Amazon.com . An AudioBooks version was put out by BDD
Audio, read by Rene Auberjonois with music in the background. It's abridged, but most of the main points are there.
The cover art for the Japanese edition of Shadow Moon is quite intriguing, and unfortunately the only picture I can find of it is small and blurry. Willow/Thorn is clearly recognizable, but it isn't clear who the woman is or what the Pteranodon/Dragon represents. Thanks to Dave Tayman and Carl Mueller, who each were able to translate the title for me so that I knew what book this actually was. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
| Shadow Dawn |
| The sequel to Shadow Moon was published in hardcover January 1997 by Bantam Spectra with more fabulous cover art by Ciruelo Cabral. The paperback version came out about a year later. The AudioBooks version by BDD Audio was once again given a superb reading by Rene Auberjonois, which is highlighted by the use of original music . Readers of the novel will discover a few cut scenes (such as the 'Looking after the Troll Family' incident), but all the basic story elements are there. The paperback edition is available on Amazon.com and through most retail bookstores. |
 |
 |
||||
|
|
|||||
| Shadow Star |
| The concluding chapter in the Chronicles of the Shadow War was published by Bantam Books in November 1999. It is available through Amazon.com and through most retail bookstores. The paperback edition was released in October 2000. |
 |
 |
||||
|
|
|||||
| The Willow Sourcebook |
| This fantastic reference book was written by Allen Varney and published by Tor books. Its 90 pages include extensive background information on every character that appeared in the movie, from Willow and Madmartigan to Ethna and Llug. It also featured rich, encyclopedic descriptions of the various creatures in Willow's world; a detailed map of the lands Willow travelled; eight pages of color photos; and suggestions for creating your own Willow roleplaying game. Once again, like the Willow novelization, it features the 'old' vision of Lucas' film (plus much creative license taken from the author's own imagination. I think a friend of mine said it best: As a collectible, it's a must-have. As a definitive reference book, it's bunk. It is cool to have, though :) |
 |
||||
|
|
||||
| The Willow Comic Book Adaptation |
|
Marvel comics published
a serialized, three-part adaptation in August, September, and October
of 1988, respectively; shortly afterward, all three were collected into
a one-volume graphic novel. The adaptation features
several scenes deleted from the movie, including the infamous fish boy
scene (you can read more about THAT in the Cut Scenes section). The comic's credits
are as follows: Jo Duffy, Writer; Bob Hall, Penciler; Romeo Tanghal, Inker; Joe Rosen,
Letterer; Bob Sharen, Colorist; Bob Budiansky, Editor; Tom DeFalco,
Editor in Chief. Ballantine published 'Willow: The Illustrated Version",
a pocket-sized black-and-white edition of Marvel's adaptation. Released in July
1988, it featured 192 pages of illustrations.
The graphic novel is the best of the three versions. It's printed on better-quality paper than the three-volume set, resulting in much clearer printed images. A few samples of the artwork are included below. Unlike the US version which was advertising-free, the UK version of the graphic novel included a full-page ad for Kelloggs Cornflakes. They atoned for this offense by also including one of the Willow Kelloggs premiums - you can read more about those in Merchandise/Miscellaneous/Other Goods. Thanks to Matt for the pictures. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Version |
Novel |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Back Cover |
||
| The Art of Willow |
| Amazon.com has a listing for this book, produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and published by Ballantine Books in 1989. However, copies of the book seem to be impossible to find, and I seriously question whether it was ever actually released. If you have any information whatsoever about this book, please e-mail me! |