I would’ve shared this excellent post by Brian Niemeier sooner, but I haven’t had reliable internet access. I have some now, though, so here’s a fascinating and enlightening post he wrote about Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, the first novelization of the original film, written from an earlier draft of the film’s script. I’ll let Brian’s post go into the details of the book, what it drew from the pulps that inspired Lucas, and how this novelization differs from the movie we got.
Personally, I really want to read it now; it almost sounds better than the great, classic film we know and love.