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In Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, we all finally got to see the creation of Darth Vader, one of the baddest baddies in cinematic history. But, y'know, the Darth Vader we saw in that movie was a pale imitation of the full-powered, walking evil icon we knew from Episodes IV, V, and VI. As soon as I read the script for Episode III, I had a feeling that it might not slake fans' thirst for Vader action, despite the thrill of seeing him rise in that black armor for the first time. Fortunately, James Luceno, who had done such a terrific job filling in the backstory to Revenge with his prequel, Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil, had the idea of making his next Star Wars novel a sequel to the movie, an action-adventure showcasing the true rise of Darth Vader -- how he went from being the essentially broken Anakin Skywalker to the extraordinarily powerful right arm of the Emperor.

Thus, Star Wars: Dark Lord. Together, Labyrinth of Evil and Dark Lord form a pair of bookends around Revenge of the Sith -- necessary bookends, to my mind, filling out and completing the story of the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader. Read all three back to back, and you'll see what I mean.

Dark Lord is great fun, besides. Didn't you ever wonder how Anakin Skywalker felt wearing that suit all the time? It didn't look very comfortable. And what about that breathing? Speaking of which, check out your bookstores and listen for the sound of that breathing to guide you straight to the book. If you don't hear the breathing, look around outside: Don't be surprised if Darth Vader himself is hanging about, eager to get "his" book into your eager hands! And if you see him, give him a big hug for me!

Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force-Episode 31

Be sure to join us next week for the thirtieth-second episode of Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force. Then join us every week as we continue to follow the adventures of the Wookiee E'nac from the Star Wars Galaxies videogame in the form of Gamics!

George Lucas: Steven (Spielberg) was just up visiting on Monday; we're doing (Universal's upcoming drama release) "Munich," and I was showing him the new facility. He arrived in the morning, at about 9 o'clock, and we looked as some of his dailies. He indicated some things he wanted differently in the effects. Then we went off and I showed him around, and we worked on some other projects and stuff. By the time we got back to ILM, before lunch, we were able to look at his shot again, with the change. In the old days, that would have taken weeks to do; now, you can do it in a matter of hours.

THR: Now there is a whole movement toward real-time previsualization. Can you composite right there on the set?

Lucas: Yeah -- not in quality that would be in the (finished film), but we can do it roughly. We can even build digital sets and things and have them move in real time. So if we're shooting bluescreen, we can pan around and see what you're going to see, a rough version of what the final shot would look like.

THR: What was the industry like when you started preproduction on "Star Wars" in 1975, and why did you open your own effects firm?

Lucas: None of the studios had special-effects departments. The Walt Disney Co. had Harrison Ellenshaw, a matte painter, and a little bit of a special-effects department, and Universal had Albert Whitlock, also a matte painter. But once you got beyond matte painting, the departments weren't really there -- (and) I needed something much more complicated. The only person who had actually done some special effects in the last 10 years was Stanley Kubrick, so I started looking around for people who had worked on (1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey"), and then it just grew from there.

Be sure to read the rest of this very interesting article from The Hollywood Reporter!

Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force-Episode 30

Because of the Thanksgiving Holiday, be sure to check back on Wednesday for the thirty-first episode of Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force. Then join us every week as we continue to follow the adventures of the Wookiee E'nac from the Star Wars Galaxies videogame in the form of Gamics!