One of this year’s big releases is a mammoth Making of Star Wars book from Jonathan Rinzler, a big-cheese editor over at Lucasfilm’s publishing company. I’ve seen excerpts and photos from this and it looks to be a great book, loaded with little revelations and never-before-seen items. This kind of book gets me really excited because just when I think I know everything about Star Wars, a monkey wrench gets thrown my way and I get to feel like a kid again, learning all sorts of new facts about the making of my favorite films. I’m not here to review this particular book, however. I’m reviewing another, lesser-known Making Of book from a guy you’ve probably never heard of named Michael Kaminski.

The Secret History of Star Wars is behemoth in its own right. Well over 400 pages long, this fan-written e-book is a fantastic amalgam of facts, theories, proofs, conspiracies, quotes, challenges, contradictions, and speculation about the making of the entire Star Wars Saga from conception to the release of Episode III.

The real secret of this book, however, is that there really isn’t any secret at all. The title itself is a bit of a misnomer. All the facts about the making of the Star Wars Saga are out there, somewhere. One just has to know where to look and how to compile and analyze them all. This is the point of the book and the reason it exists: to present all the data available, label the facts, point out the contradictions, and draw conclusions – regardless of the source. By that I mean, if the author feels that someone as high up the Lucasfilm ladder as George Lucas himself has told a lie, and it can be illustrated through examples, then the author will say so.

It’s a remarkably fresh look at the making of the Saga, almost with a totally blank slate. It’s almost as if Kaminski is an actual alien from another world who came down to Earth with no preconceived notions about Star Wars or George Lucas and put the man and his films on trial, presenting his past quotes an interviews as evidence. How many films were there supposed to be? 1, 3, 6, 9, 12? Lucas will tell you it was always 6 and the media “made up” the rest. But why would the media do that? Why do all these different interviews with Lucas over the years quote him with a variety of answers to this question? This is an example of what you’ll see in this book.

I’ll admit that at times it does feel like the book is on the attack. Kaminski basically just flat out calls Lucas a liar at points and even gives you the impression that the guy is a twisted manipulator of the press. I personally don’t think he’s that evil. Like just about anything these days, I think the answers lie somewhere in the middle. I think Lucas did change his mind a lot, and I agree with just about all the scenarios in Kaminski’s book. If his facts are true, he presents a compelling case. However, I just don’t think it’s as big a conspiracy as Kaminski makes it out to be. He goes a little overboard with his alacrity at times.

Once you get used to his tone, however, the book is a very enjoyable read and really does make you think a little differently about the Saga and his creator. I mean, let’s face it, Lucas has a unique way of rewriting history. I don’t think I was the only one calling bulls**t when he announced that there was only ever supposed to be 6 Star Wars Episodes. I mean, the guy literally changed his mind from interview to interview through the 70’s and 80’s, and even into the 90’s. One of the questions asked in this book is: Would it have been so bad to just admit that he was winging the whole Saga? Why try to cover that up? Why try to keep reinforcing the idea that the whole saga was made up eons ago and Lucas was just “sticking to his original plan”?

These are the most interesting parts of Kaminski’s book. He’ll point out to you that there’s just no way Lucas had this whole thing figured out from the get go, which is something I always assumed anyhow. When Lucas looks the camera in the eye and says that it’s always been about the redemption of Darth Vader and it’s always been Vader’s story, how can we believe him when Vader was nothing more than a simple henchmen in the earliest drafts – and Lucas wasn’t even sure if Vader was Luke’s father until he was writing The Empire Strikes Back? Why was Luke’s actual father another character in the original screenplay and NOT Darth Vader?

Of course, one could just assume that Lucas kept changing his mind but I encourage you to read this book and then I’ll challenge you to not be compelled to believe Kaminski’s theories. Shattering that god-like image of Lucas is hard, but if you read this book with an open mind, I think you’ll see that a lot of it makes sense. It doesn’t make me dislike Lucas at all. In fact, I admire him even more. I just wish he was more up front with the media and with his fans. Unfortunately, however, the media is that link to many of his fans.

I don’t want to give too much away but I will say this. I liked the book a lot. It does get a little repetitive at times, and it’s a little long-winded at certain points, but it’s still well worth the time. You’ll learn a few things you didn’t know and you’ll think about things a little differently. You’ll wonder if it’s all true or if it’s just the ramblings of a blowhard fanboy being too critical.

Will Rinzler’s book squash some of Kaminski’s theories or just reinforce the fact that there’s a big conspiracy out there to promote the idea that Lucas had these stories clearly defined from the beginning? Was the Star Wars Saga always about the “Tragedy of Darth Vader” or was that something Lucas decided halfway through the process? Were there always Six Episodes? Was there ever a plan for a Sequel Trilogy? Does Lucas lie like a rug when talking to the press?

You’ll have to read both and make up your own mind.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bones.

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