7

SATURDAY

The last Star Wars novel I read was Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, published the year after the original movie was released. I bought it at a 7-Eleven, and frankly, I judged the book by its cover: a cool painting featuring Luke and Leia being threatened by a shadowy Darth Vader stepping out of the mist. Counting e-books, the 18 volumes in the Jedi Apprentice series, the Han Solo series, the Lando Calrissian series, the Young Jedi Knights series, the many X-Wing books, and the Bounty Hunter Wars series, there are now 119 Star Wars books. Star Wars: Survivor’s Quest makes 120 and is the latest in author Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn series. This time around, Luke is married—to the imaginary, Tawny Kitaen–ish Mara Jade Skywalker, her red hair all flowing against the cheek of a young Mark Hamill on the book’s cover. Will being nagged about a raised toilet seat be this Jedi’s ultimate downfall? Say it ain’t so when Zahn reads at 4 p.m. at Olsson’s Books & Records, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Free. (703) 525-4227. (Dave Nuttycombe)