Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars

by Edward Gross, Mark A. Altman

From the authors of The Fifty-Year Mission and So Say We All, comes the first and only comprehensive oral history of the Star Wars movie franchise. For the past four decades, no film saga has touched the world in the way that Star Wars has, capturing the imaginations of filmgoers and filmmakers alike. Now, for the first time ever, Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, the bestselling authors of The Fifty-Year Mission, are telling the entire story of this blockbuster franchise from the very beginning in a single exhaustive volume. Featuring the commentaries of hundreds of actors and filmmakers involved with and impacted by Star Wars, as well as writers, commentators, critics, executives, authors, film historians, toy experts and many more, Secrets of the Force, will reveal all in Altman and Gross’s critically acclaimed oral history format from the birth of the original film through the latest sequels and the new televisions series.

Genres: Star Wars, Nonfiction, History, Film, Media Tie In, Pop Culture, Audiobook

576 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 13, 2021

About the author

Edward Gross is a veteran entertainment journalist who took his childhood passion for film and television and turned it into a career. As a student at Hofstra University, while most of the staff of The New Voice was interviewing the likes of student senators and faculty members, he was speaking to people like playwright Neil Simon (awarded an honorary degree by the school), Curtis Sliwa of New York’s Guardian Angels, Dr. Daniel Schwartz, the police psychiatrist who interviewed both David Berkowitz and Mark David Chapman; and James Bond director John Glen. Early on he sold pieces to New York Nightlife, Starlog and Filmfax magazines and was on his way.
Over the years he would not only become a correspondent for Starlog, but part of the editorial staff of Fangoria, Cinefantastique, SFX, Cinescape, Sci-Fi Now, Not of This Earth, RetroVision, Life Story, Movie Magic, Film Fantasy and TV Magic. Online he was Executive Editor, US for Empire Online, Film and TV Editor at Closer Weekly, Life & Style, and In Touch Weekly, and Nostalgia Editor for DoYouRemember? Currently he is senior editor at Geek magazine, and editor and podcast host for Voices from Krypton (devoted to the superhero genre), TV RetroVision (classic television) and Vampires and Slayers (the name says it all).
In addition to the oral history books he’s written with Mark A. Altman, Gross’ other titles include Secret File: The Making of a Wiseguy and The Unofficial 25th Anniversary Odd Couple Companion; X-Files Confidential; Spider-Man Confidential; Planet of the Apes Revisited with Joe Russo and Larry Landsman; Rocky: The Ultimate Guide; and Stargate: SG1 — In Their Own Words.

Reviews

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big Star Wars fan. Maybe not a crazy fanatic who can tell you the full history and background of every single character, but still a fan! I love whisking myself away to a galaxy far, far away. It brings back so much nostalgia and memories from my childhood. Every year when Star Wars comes on as a marathon on television... I'm glued! I grew up with the Prequels coming out, but my parents had me re-watching the original trilogy. Not because they loved it, because it was on television. It was something that easily grabbed my attention and I would sit there and actually watch it. As I grew up, I was thrilled to watch the sequel series (until I actually watched them, but that's another story). I'm still a fan - The Mandalorian is awesome, and I'm slowly making my way through the books and other television series. I like it. It's unique, it's fun and it's different.

Then in walks this book. I knew it was meant to be and I was thrilled to get it in my hands. It took a while to read it because it's one big, hunk of a book - but it was worth it! As a giant Star Wars fan, this was the kind of book I wanted to read. It's a collection of interviews from people who worked on the series - ranging from writers to producers to actors to podcasters - and it spans over some time. It will reintroduce you to facts you already knew, and let you know of many behind the scene secrets and new tips you would have never imagined. It's a great book, honestly!

Fun fact: Indiana is George Lucas' old dog's name. So the whole dog joke in Indiana Jones... There was some real life giggles behind it!

This space opera has spanned many generations and can make or break a family barbecue. It's amazing how big this silly, little movie turned into a giant universe of fandom and freedom. Eventually Disney got involved and might have done something really odd and weird with the series... but it still stands to be one multiverse of insanity. It's big, it's mighty and it's beloved.

This book is PERFECT for your Star Wars fandom friends. With almost 600 pages of pure Star Wars content, it will let them know more background facts to win a Movie Trivia Showdown any day of the week. It's just an overall fantastic book with so much packed into it. I was binging this baby for a week!

I highly recommend this book. I'm honestly surprised how a non-fiction book that was only full of interviews kept me completely hooked. What a compelling and intriguing book!

Five out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Melindam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hard one to rate, but possibly it wasn't the book I was looking for.

On one hand there was several imperial star destoyers worth of info on a lot that is Star Wars (though admittedly my fandom is limited to the original Trilogy + Rogue One), but ultimatley I was hoping for a better-written book.. or possibly a differently written one.

After the excellent Anything You Can Imagine (Peter Jackson & LOTR) and Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather, both of which I gobbled up and loved to the Moon and back, I started searching for something that may bring me a similar experience about Star Wars. I was contemplating this and that, but nothing seemed to fit the bill and I had my doubts about this one as well, but it appeared to be the closes thing to what I wanted. It has been sitting on my TBR for a while, but reading (and not liking The Princess Diarist), gave me the final push.

All in all, this was quite good, although I needed some time to adjust to the style, which is basically a few bridging sentences here and there (or short bios) followed by quote after quote after quote from all people (actors, production designers, directors, 20th Century Fox reps, camera crew, etc....) pertinent to the topic at hand. They are all relevant and informative, and it wasn't the book's fault I was wanting something a bit different in style. And author(s) Edward Gross and Mark Altman didn't so much write, but rather put together the material they wanted to: I think this was their plan all along - no fault to find with that.

Anyway, there are 4 major sections
- the conception and creation of the Star Wars universe and franchise and how Lucas started out as director/digital creator
- the Original Trilogy
- the Prequels (this is where I zoned out a bit, as I was one of the fans Lucas lost at Phanton Menace)
- the Sequels, as/after Lucas passed over control

As I said before, it is interesting, but it becomes a bit repetitive overtime. Overall, am glad I finally got round to listen to it.

[Olav · Rating 2 out of 5]

Secrets Of The Force is a book for Star Wars fans who believe Greedo shot first.

One of the most notable changes made in the 1997 Special Edition release of the first Star Wars movie was that digital effects were added to make it clear that protagonist Han Solo didn’t kill bounty hunter Greedo in cold blood. In this revised telling, the bounty hunter shot first, so Han’s action was justified.

It’s an emotional beat that reversed one of the memorable character arcs of the first Star Wars movie; Han was no longer a lawless rogue who became a better person over the course of the story. He was always good, because in the re-telling Greedo shot first.

But the truth is more complicated. Early shooting scripts of the movie show that Greedo never got a chance to shoot.

Over the decades, George Lucas has changed Star Wars. He’s famously revised the movies themselves … but he also revised the story behind how the story was made.

Despite being described as ‘uncensored,’ Secrets Of The Force leans pretty closely into the orthodox Lucasfilm version of events, and fails to grapple with the complexities (good and bad) of the creator who first invited fans to a galaxy far, far away.

This is a book for fans who are comfortable believing that all along, Greedo shot first.

As the most recognizable and financially successful space adventure in popular culture, Star Wars is bound to generate a variety of non-fiction books written by people trying to grapple with its enduring cultural value.

Given the outsized impact of these movies on the public imagination, serious critical examination of the franchise is necessary and welcome.

But unfortunately the vast majority of these works inevitably reveal themselves to be either venal attempts to cash in on the popularity of the franchise, or turn out to be puff pieces created by wide-eyed fanboys.

Secrets Of The Force falls somewhat short of the critical examination this subject needs. The questionable quality of this book is surprising, given the credentials of the authors involved -- it’s written by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, who previously authored a The 50-Year Mission, which was a first-rate examination of Star Trek.

Perhaps because Gene Rodenberry’s passing had allowed Star Trek fandom to become less enthralled by their franchise progenitor’s mythmaking, The 50-Year Mission was more able to interrogate his flaws.

Told by way of a series of quotes from a rotating cast of people involved in the production, Secrets Of The Force is divided into roughly four parts: the inception of the franchise in the mid 1970s; the creation of the trilogy; the prequel movies; and finally the franchise after Lucas left active control.

Some sections of this book do provide interested readers with first-hand accounts of production details, the evolution of the script, and aspects of the casts’ lives that are interesting. Mark Hamill’s recollection of how he became involved is engaging. Carrie Fisher’s descriptions of Peter Cushing are quite winning.

But overall, the book focuses on George Lucas, and really centres his voice in telling this story, and as such Altman and Gross inevitably fall into the trap of the Lucasfilm myth making empire.

There are many other voices in the book; Altman and Gross have collected quotes from a vast majority of the people responsible for the movies. From special effects people like John Dykstra to editors like Paul Hirsch, and from obscure actors like Ray Morton to big stars like Peter Cushing.

What’s missing are voices of those whose contributions have been marginalized or demeaned. People like Marcia Lucas. What’s also missing is much attempt to question the veracity of accounts, or to point out when George Lucas has contradicted himself or has blatantly lied.

There are sections of the book where the quotes selected provide little but page upon page of fawning praise:
“One of Lucas’ great innovations was to give his space opera the feel and form of an old-time movie serial”
“I was struck by the incredible detail of George Lucas’ imagination. He could remember things and see what he wanted to do in such tremendous detail.”
“It was more than an action film, it was a personal quest; a story of self discovery.”
“Every shot, even if that shot was less than a second long, it was designed to the nth degree. It wasn’t that he put too much stuff in it, it’s just that it was wonderfully designed.

Secrets Of The Force gets a bit tiresome and repetitive, and might appeal only to the most hardcore Star Wars fan who wants to read justifications as to why their favourite franchise is the bestest franchise ever, and why George Lucas is just so great.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 rounded up.

The title is sure misleading. There is nothing secret or new here, to be honest.

No source or footnote listening. It's obvious that in addition to Lucas who they note they did not have access to, there are several actors that they couldn't interview for this book because the actors are dead, so where did the information come from.

The authors use the term oral history in the title so I'll be nice and use it in the review, but I am pretty sure that at least 90% of the material is from sources that were not interviews done by the authors.

So the bad:

James Earl Jones is not included. He is mentioned but there is no oral history from him at all.

Denis Lawson (Wedge) is mentioned but no oral history from him either.

Barely any oral history from Harrison Ford or Billy Dee Williams, which is very, very strange.

Marica Lucas, who did major editing work is not included as part of the "oral history" either.

The authors get props for including the EU novels and comics but I have to wonder why the only authors of those books they included were all men. Props to those authors and the marketing execs who mentioned those women authors, though. Also why are none of the modern writers interviewed at all - for instance no Claudia Gray.

No section on Rogue One or Solo, yet quite a bit about Young Indiana Jones.

No section about the theme park rides (it might be too early for the new Disney areas, but Star Tours is strangely absent).

The section on the animation is lacking (and why is a voice actor who wasn't in the prequels used in the prequel section).

Some paragraphs are repeated verbatim.

There is too much of "Lucas is great" and "JJ is great".

While the book does present some criticism - Ray Morton and Alan Dean Foster in particular - much of it is reserved for the later movies and is surface level, "basically it sucks because the first draft sounded better". What is also strange is the treatment at the hands of "fans" the newer stars faced - in particular Tran and Boyega - is not mentioned at all. The closest you get is Morton noting that Finn and Rose were badly served by the later movies. The only time racism is mentioned is when people say Jar Jar wasn't racist. The word sexism isn't raised either - it is strange when reading the RoTJ section that Fisher's comments about her lack of costume aren't raised at all. OR if you are going to including a critic of the Padme/Anakin romance why not ask a woman how she felt about it, instead of quoting how men saw it?

It should be noted that neither Newton or Ackie is included in the book. The two black women who played human women are not included. Tie that in with the lack of James Earl Jones, and I am side eyeing the heck out of this book.

The lack of certain voices, in particular the voices of women (only one female film critic is used and she is used less than the men) and people of color, make this book largely the voice of white men. And sometimes the voice of white men claiming words of or speaking for women and people of color And in some ways this isn't all that surprising considering when the original movies were made. Yet, much of the recent material has presented more women and this is the area that is skirted over quickly in this book. The problem is that this focus re-enforces the idea that certain segments of Star Wars "fandom" have - that the galaxy far, far away is a white male space. Whether or not the authors intended this to be the sub text, I don't know, but it is the sub text.

The good:

I enjoyed reading what Alan Dean Foster had to say and some of what Ray Morton said is worth reading.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was 9 years old when I waited in line with my parents and my Weird Old Uncle Bob to see the first Star Wars movie. It was the first time I ever remember there being a line of people halfway around the building all wanting tickets. In 1977 in small town America, theaters had one screen and one showing a night....if the movie sold out you had to come back another day. Star Wars had people lining up, even in middle-of-nowhere Kansas. Luckily we got there early and managed to get seats. My Weird Old Uncle Bob had talked my parents into seeing the film, promising that it would be one of the most wonderful movies ever. My dad wasn't sure. I remember him mumbling that he didn't want to go see some "silly space thing.'' When we left after the movie, my father said that it had been a great movie. It was one of the only times he admitted Weird Old Uncle Bob was right about anything. (But then again, Weird Old Uncle Bob thought if you turned your car off when going downhill and restarted it at the bottom of the hill that you would save gas. This sort of thing was why we called him weird.)

That silly space thing is still a big deal for many, even after 44 years. I kinda fell off the Star Wars band wagon with the prequel movies. Jar Jar Binks just killed it for me. Ugh. Jar Jar is the Scrappy Doo of the Star Wars Franchise. Barf. My love came back with the newer movies and the new Mandalorian series on Disney+. One look at Baby Yoda and I forgot all about Space Scrappy Doo.

So, of course I wanted to read some trivia and reminiscences about the movies! In fact, I'm still reading this book! When the book blurb says this book tells the story of the Star Wars Franchise in "one exhaustive volume'' it means this is one gigantic 570+-page gi-normous tome of Star Wars lore. Gi-freaking-normous! This book talks about the movies, the actors, extras, games, toys....everything Star Wars from Alderaan to Yoda (I couldn't come up with a SW word that started with Z....but it's probably in this book somewhere!)

The information is entertaining, interesting, supremely nerdy and nostalgic! I'm reading my way through a little bit at a time and enjoying every minute! This is one review copy that definitely got me to add the physical book to my must-buy list.

And, it just proves that Old Weird Uncle Bob was right (once). Star Wars is wonderful!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St. Martins Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

An oral history of the Star Wars phenomenon, from the origins of the first movie to the drek we get now.

Very informative. I especially enjoyed the bits on the Holiday Special.

Recommended for the Star Wars fan.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve given up reading Star Wars novels, because they are terrible. With just a few exceptions (mostly by Alexander Freed), over the past five years Disney has yet to figure out how to do something worthwhile with the world Lucas imagined. In fact, most of what Disney has done with Star Wars, across all media, has been a disappointment. It’s been hard to accept that I am no longer a Star Wars fan; I’m just a guy who loves four Star Wars movies and one TV series. But the more movies and series are made, the smaller the percentage of SW content I enjoy.

However—I do still enjoy reading about Star Wars, which was a brilliant creation despite what it’s become currently. Books like Chris Taylor’s How Star Wars Conquered the Universe, Mateusz Machaj’s The Rise and Fall of the First Galactic Empire, and Cass Sunstein’s The World According to Star Wars demonstrate how much there is to ponder in SW, as a film, a mythology, and a cultural phenomenon. And the “Art of” books about the making of the films are fascinating, even for the films I don’t particularly like.

Into that mix comes Edward Gross and Mark Altman’s 550-page oral history of Star Wars, from its origins through about 2020. Any book like this would be advised not to promise as much as this book’s subtitle does: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars. “Complete” is obviously untrue, because many more than 550 pages have already been written about this. “Uncensored” is an odd choice, as there’s little in this book that hasn’t been officially published elsewhere, and I can’t imagine Disney or Lucas would be offended by what’s presented here. “Unauthorized” makes me wonder how reliable the information is. And “Oral History” is an intriguing idea, but this is a print book, and nowhere do the authors cite where any of this content comes from. Most of it seems to be from places I’ve already read, but was any of it collected by the authors themselves, especially for this book? Who knows.

Whatever the case, there are no “Secrets” here; every story in this book has been told numerous times before. People want new trivia about the making of the original Star Wars trilogy, but there’s not an endless fount of information. The only thing that could potentially add more to the story is if Marcia Lucas ever chooses to tell her perspective on her years with George; but I respect her for not getting involved.

So the book is just a repackaging of the “Creation of Star Wars” mythology—which is always interesting, even if it’s not new. It’s a quick, entertaining read. The story proceeds chronologically, and each chapter is constructed of bits of interviews and other commentary from people who (mostly) were involved in the making of each era of Star Wars. The narrative tends to be dominated by two voices. One is George Lucas (whose presence brings a very “authorized” sense, and sometimes hinders the story, because we’ve all already heard what he has to say about his creation). The other is Ray Morton, who is identified as the senior editor of Script magazine. I found his constant presence confusing. He had nothing to do with creating Star Wars; he’s a person who comments on stories. His commentary is mostly interesting, but why is he here? A lot of people have opinions about Star Wars, but a book like this should foreground the people who made it. Enough with these opinions from “pop culture commentators.” It feels like padding, in a book that already feels like a retread of other material.

The authors/compilers make no apology for privileging the original trilogy over everything else. Details about the making of the original Star Wars cover the first 134 pages (with more pages covering the distribution and merchandising, and even a chapter about the Holiday Special). Because The Phantom Menace was the restart of theatrical Star Wars after some years away, its chapter is 67 pages. By the end of the book, it’s obvious that the authors would rather do anything other than talk about the sequel trilogy—and who can blame them? No one is ever going to care about those movies—and so The Rise of Skywalker is covered in a 24-page chapter, most of which is a discussion of how Colin Trevorrow’s Duel of the Fates script would have been a superior movie. The final chapter in the book is about the recent Star Wars TV series. It’s quick and perfunctory—and again, it’s not like anyone is very interested in all that stuff anyway. The main interest will always be the original trilogy, and all of that material is already available, and has been for years.

Secrets of the Force is not a bad way to relive the history of Star Wars, but if you’ve ever read anything at all about the making of the films, and especially the first film, then there won’t be anything new here.

[Don Gerstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much Better Than Being There!

I am part of the few (millions) who have been lucky enough to see all the Star Wars movies when they were released in the theaters. This includes Solo and Rogue One as well as watching a number of The Clone Wars (sadly, I have never seen the Boba Fett film). Other than purchasing the novelization of A New Hope (and convincing a theater chain to part with a battery-operated ad box that flips between Anakin Skywalker and Darth Maul), I purchased none of the toys/books/paraphernalia that could have filled up a galaxy far, far away.

I do love sci-fi (although Star Wars is more of a fantasy or space opera) and felt drawn to this book. Learning more of the back stories sounded like it would be fun, although I expected more of a novelization of those events. What authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross provided, however, was much better.

The easiest way to explain the book’s presentation is to picture a huge table, populated by people who were involved with the Star Wars trilogies or were part of George Lucas’s life. As the story unfolds, each has multiple turns to speak, detailing their memories and feelings about the current topic. Each time they speak, their names precede each sub-section (which could be a few sentences or a few pages long) along with a reminder of who they are. The authors jump in to steer the conversation, easily spotted as Altman and Gross italicize their words to let us know they are taking over for a moment.

The result? More info than I ever could imagined. The authors dealt fairly with the recollections, never taking sides and allowing the people speaking to differ with each other. Thus, readers are allowed to see the creation of the movies (and associated items and things) from multiple angles and are allowed to think for themselves. Like others who have seen the movies, I had strong thoughts on my favorites, which plots were better, which actors should have been replaced, etc. If anything, the book did not so much change my original thoughts as it helped to crystallize and deepen the reasons why I felt the ways I did.

Great book for fans as well as the casual reader. I suppose one could dive right in at any chapter (to get to the prequal trilogy, for instance) though I found value in seeing how everything happened in sequence. The Force is strong in this one. Five Stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance electronic copy of this book.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars is the ultimate collection of stories covering the entire history of the Star Wars franchise, featuring recollections and tidbits from some of the biggest names in Star Wars lore: directors, authors, producers, actors, and George Lucas himself. And while Secrets of the Force is centered on tales from a galaxy far, far away, there’s so much cinema history packed into this volume that any sci-fi cinephile will surely enjoy the journey as well.

I love Star Wars, and have been reading Star Wars novels since the 90s, but I was wary that I would have a hard time getting into a written oral history of the franchise. All my worries were for naught, and I quickly fell into the narrative, each new voice adding a new level and dimension to a history only they know.

This oral history was certainly thorough. Starting at the dawn of New Hollywood and how that gave way to summer blockbusters like Star Wars, the editors take the reader all the way past the sequels and to the current television series like The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch. Not only is this volume as up-to-date as it can be, but each topic and area of franchise history is thoroughly explored from multiple angles. There is even discussion about The Star Wars Holiday Special, which I was not expecting to be included or mentioned given how Lucas generally pretends that television special never happened.

Whether you are a new Star Wars fan looking to explore the galaxy for the first time, or a fan from way back wanting to relive some memories from a new perspective, this new oral history is a fantastic addition to the Star Wars lore. The numerous voices contributing to the volume all seamlessly weave together to tell a history as grand as the Star Wars saga itself. Light on references or hard facts but heavy on personal experiences from those who lived the adventure, Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars is entertaining, educational, and a must-read pure delight for the Star Wars fan in your life.

A huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy of Secrets of the Force in exchange for an honest review.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another day, another oral history. This was fine. This might be unauthorized but nothing in here is that surprising to me.

Part of my reaction to this may be because I’m not a huge Star Wars fan. I’ve watched the original and sequel trilogies. I enjoyed the original and disliked the sequel and I’ve never seen the prequels. It was still interesting to hear the perspectives of everyone in this book but I don’t care about the nitty gritty that much. However, I got the sense even hard core fans wouldn’t find a lot new here.

This is certainly expansive but I feel like it just washed over me. Now that I’ve finished, nothing stands out. If you love Star Wars you may like this more but I don’t think it’s anything special.

[Chris Haught · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was provided with an e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I think "complete" might be the most apt word in that long book title. That's certainly not a bad thing, but it lead to a very long read. The writing was rather dry as well, with the main narrative from the authors being little bridge paragraphs to connect the quotes from directors, authors, actors, writers, critics, and production crews.

That said, there were fascinating bits throughout this book. The insights from Lucas and the primary players (on camera as well as behind the scenes) were invaluable. This is a great tribute to the body of work that is Star Wars, covering the phenomenon from its earliest draft beginnings to the present day Disney Plus productions. No stone was left unturned.

I can just think of two things I would have liked to seen. One, it would have been great to get George Lucas's comments about the sequels, though I suspect that to be something he's quite tight-lipped about. Two, it would have been nice if the authors left their personal political beliefs out of the narrative. It only happened a couple of times, but it was jarring, especially when they contributed such a small amount of personal insight to the book as a whole.

Overall, this was worth the time for a Star Wars buff, though I probably wouldn't recommend it to the casual fan. It was easy to skim over the parts that weren't as interesting and then slow down and soak up the good stuff.

[CallemedC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very little actual information regarding the making of the Star Wars films. Most of the information is about financing, studio and creative decisions. Majority of the interviews with people actually involved in the film making such as producers and actors seem to be from press surrounding the movies release and are thus very positive. For being "uncensored" there are very few critical opinions of people involved in the movies and the books instead relies heavily on "pop culture commentator" opinions. This makes the book feel more like a collection of opinions.

Overall I would say its an enjoyable read, and there is interesting information in the book. But the lack of details and the focus on story and behind the scenes things rather than the production side lowers the grade significantly.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Nonfiction on how Star Wars became what it is today. I liked the way George Lucas had a vision, or at least a piece of a vision, and how hard he worked to get this vision off the ground. I also liked the little pieces of history, the creative roles of those who had a hand in this and so much more.

But this felt so long. I did page math more than a few times. Then a new tangent was discussed to exhaustion...then on to the next. And so it went. So 3 stars.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The complete oral history of Star Wars, from the very beginning up to modern times. I thought this was a very good treatment of the subject matter. George Lucas came off as a bit in love with himself, but other than that, it was a very crisp narrative. I liked the way the subject matter was presented chronologically, starting with episode IV. This book is a must read for any true fan of Star Wars. A worthy effort.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was received as an ARC from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

We all love star wars especially now since the first one came out in the 1970s and with all of the episodes caught up after Rise of Skywalker, I am glad to see two fellow enthusiasts express their nerd-fighting attitudes and come up with this book composed of interviews with producers, directors and stars of each of the films. It was super interesting to read all of the life stories and idea sessions that went into pre-production of the franchise and I know when I saw the movies and the infamous I am Your Father line how shocked America was that the story has taken a whole new turn. I was so glad to have seen the entire saga from beginning to end and how the whole galaxy far far away has evolved throughout the years. The most interesting interviews had to have come from Mark Hamil and George Lucas and hearing the work they put in and all that went through behind the scenes. The ultimate Star Wars fans have to either own or read this book and will love all of the insights in it.

We will consider adding this title to our Non-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

[The Nerd Daily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by David Allen

Star Wars is a juggernaut. Since the release of the first Star Wars movie in 1977, retroactively titled A New Hope, the sci-fi fairy tale has spawned a multi-billion dollar franchise. Disney’s purchase of the franchise from creator George Lucas in 2012 for more than 4 billion dollars completed the series’ journey from underdog to corporate wunderkind.

Since Star Wars has become so ubiquitous, writers, and documentary filmmakers alike have said much about the making of the franchise. Adding something new about the making of these movies has become difficult. Still, Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars sets out to do just that.

Read the FULL REVIEW on The Nerd Daily

[Tim Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5...

This would be higher, but it is highly subjective and editorialized! Too be fair, in most cases there are quotes from interviews on both sides of opinions... but if you are looking for a clean, just the facts sir or ma'am, this is not it.

That being said, ANY fan of the Wars would love this book, as it really does walk you thru the complete history of Star Wars... from George Lucas growing up loving Flash Gordon, to the upcoming (hopefully sensational) Book of Boba. For me, it was absolutely a walk thru my childhood, and will give me at least a week of rights to geek out to my family. So, win for me (for them, not so much...)!

[Jason Georgiades · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is repetitive to the point of needing a serious editorial revision.

On page 313 Rick McCallum states"It's the story of Anakin and what happened to him and that inevitable moment when he chose between good and evil. Why did that happen and how did that happen? Where did he come from and how could he have made that choice?"

Then on 317, Rick McCallum again "It's the story of Anakin and what happened to him. Why did that happen and how did that happen? Where did he come from and how could he have made that choice?"

Come on guys...

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. All Gross and Altman did was string together interviews with the major Star Wars players, from both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, but without any sense of cohesion or helpful editing. If I want to hear eight-hours' worth of pointless details I'll go to work. I skimmed it. In my opinion, you're better off with books like Brian Jay Jones' "George Lucas: A Life"; Anthony Daniels "I Am C3P0"; Warwick Davis' "Size Matters Not"; or anything written by the People's Princess herself, General Leia (obviously). Get this one from the library if you're interested, it's not worth the $29.99 sticker price. (I got a deal during Amazon Prime day, incidentally.)

[Scott Nickels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just concluded the marathon read about the...well, let the complete title describe this book: “Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars.” This book, at close to 600 pages, has been designed for the Star Wars nerd. Now I am not a Star Wars nerd ( actually, I am a Star Trek- fella going back to the 1960’s ) but I did enjoy reading this historical look back exploring the nearly 50 year saga of Star Wars.
Following a similar book a few years back focusing on Star Trek World, this book uses any number of folks ( both behind and also in front of the camera) interviews as the voice of the narrative. I particularly enjoyed the details of the first movie trilogy and found that the book did not park nearly as long on the final trilogy. Some of the commentaries are fascinating; others are quite boring. But, all total, this book captures at a detail level the development of the Star Wars Universe and was very educational for this casual fan.
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this book—and now I am going to go binge The Mandalorian this weekend.

[John H · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a longtime Star Wars fan, I found this book an engrossing read. It’s an oral history covering a wide variety of topics surrounding Star Wars, including the movies, television shows (including the Holiday Special), merchandising, and to some extent the novels. It also covers some of the events surrounding the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney. It’s presented in chronological order, so it roughly covers the original trilogy, then the prequel trilogy, the Clone Wars TV show, the sequel trilogy, and briefly The Mandalorian.

The book has responses from an interesting range of people including: cast and crew, fansite creators, movie and pop culture critics, and George Lucas himself. It definitely doesn’t shy away from some of the negative views surrounding the prequels and sequels, and even Return of The Jedi, but I like that it has a range of opinion. Some of the critics’ views get to be a little repetitive because they stick with the same critics for all of the movies, but overall that’s a small complaint. I highly recommend this book to Star Wars fans.

[RumBelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - Read very little

This book was not what I thought it was going to be, going in. I expected chapters with pages of text, like normal books. This was just one topic per chapter, a short introduction to that topic, then pages upon pages of snippets of interviews from people. For example, the first chapter was about George Lucas pitching the idea of Star Wars and having it not be well received. After the intro it was 20-30 pages of small paragraphs, each from a different person about that topic. Some of the people included George Lucas, Mark Hamill and Alan Dean Foster.

The main problem with a book in this format is that it gets away from you, and begins to ramble, very quickly. Even in that first chapter, the interview excerpts stopped being about Star Wars in some cases. They began talking about Jaws, and summer blockbusters in general. The book just had little cohesion, and did not read well. Overall, I was disappointed by this.

[Leonard · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of this book is great. I would love a complete history of Star Wars. I would love to learn everything about it from when George Lucas first thought of the idea to the earliest versions of the screenplay (which is talked about in here) straight through to today. The problem I had with this is the "oral history" aspect. I just couldn't get into the style.

[Clumsy64 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Star Wars movies (excluding certain 3, no need to name them), so this kind of book was joy to read. This is my third book from Mr Gross and Mr Altman and I every time I’ve been happy for their work. They have refined their method to write these books. Add a good measure of honest fandom and they have a winning formula.

[Josh Trice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Subtitle should be changed to: “the complete, uncensored, unauthorized, oral critique of Star Wars.”

This book has some good, interesting stuff, but constantly feeds the “toxic Star Wars fan” narrative when “exploring” the prequels and sequels. It’s just too negative!

[B T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book informative, but also repetitive. It reads like a documentary you might watch. Different people providing blips of information, opinion or insight into different aspects of each production. So you can read that several different people had pretty much the same opinion about one of the movies and sometimes a critical comment about how someone didn't like something. Hearing from some of the lesser known people involved in the productions is probably the best aspect of the book.

Each segment on a movie generally follows the production evolution. Starting with choosing the Director, story development, script development, casting, production design, principle photography, special effects/CGI, any technology innovations, the score, post production, merchandising, movie opening/costs/worldwide gross, reviews and any ancillary events that followed. You can shift the sequence a bit for each movie, but that is pretty much the structure.

Each movie is not treated equally; Star Wars is 149 pages and rightfully so as the original movie. The other movies all take 30-60 pages for each movie more or less. However Rogue One is ONE PAGE yet they state in the book that "2016's Rogue One, which many consider the best Star Wars film since Empire Strikes Back". Why take 1 page to discuss it very superficially if you're the complete history of the franchise and this is the second best movie of all eleven? The much maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, which was so bad it only ever aired ONCE, takes 17 pages of why everyone thought it would be the train wreck it was. Solo (the only movie to be considered a critical and financial failure) also took 1 page for reasons that are never stated. Even the Star Wars TV productions take 30 pages to cover, discussing Clone Wars, Revels and the streaming productions like The Mandalorian and including some that are not released yet.

One of the best pieces I thought was the original story idea for Star Wars IX, the last film. The story idea that is outlined in the book feels like a much better ending to the Skywalker saga than Rise of Skywalker turned out to be. For me this was the highlight of the book. Also very good was the final chapter on the TV and Streaming series, and how Lucas weaves those plots into the backstories of the movies. Also a preview of Disney+ series to come.

But this was far from "complete".

[Karl Ikelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me by a friend that won it from the St Martin's Press giveaway. My friend knows what a Star Wars geek I am, and so she thought I would appreciate being able to read and review it. Which I do.

However, as extensive as the quotes that compromise this book are, there were very few "secrets" revealed. As a long time fan of Star Wars I already knew most of what this book had to offer, and I can't imagine that casual fans will want to read through the entire thing.

I appreciated quotes from people that were actually involved in the creative process such as any directors, writers, producers and actors, especially Lucas himself. There's been so much discussion and debate about what the creators intended, or didn't intend, over the years that there's kind of two versions of the making of these stories out there. Having the creators expressly say what they intended could have cleared up much of that confusion. Especially when it comes to Return of the Jedi and the prequel trilogy

I also appreciated that there was a section specifically about the notorious Holiday Special. The people who worked on it so earnestly believed they were creating something good, but in hindsight everyone talks about how terrible it was. And yes, it is terrible, but it has some nice family-friendly-1970s-TV-quality moments in it as well. It's more a Star Wars version of the Muppet Show then a TV version of Star Wars. And it's fitting that it has a place in this book.

This book would have benefitted from more quotes from creators, especially about some of the newer films (How did the Holiday Special get a chapter, but "Rogue One" and "Solo" didn't?).

The editors could have freed up a lot of space for more creator driven quotes by leaving out the extensive quotes from 'script consultant' Ray Morton and "pop culture commentator" Glen Oliver. Every time one of those two is quoted (which is A LOT, especially in Morton's case) they express an almost willful ignorance of what Lucas and the other creators intended. This book has so many quotes from Morton it could have been called "Ray Morton's opinion on why there are only two good Star Wars movies". Morton obviously has his own ideas about what makes a script work or not work, but he doesn't understand Lucas' storytelling style.

The real secrets of Star Wars are in stories like, why did the initial directors for "Rogue One" "Solo" and "The Rise of Skywalker" get fired, and how did the new directors approach what they were given to work with? Only the section for "Rise of Skywalker" talks about this at all, and it's far too brief. It would have been good to hear from Ron Howard and Gareth Edwards and Colin Trevorrow, but no, instead we're given Ray Morton's break down of the sequel movies and no information on the stand alone stories. I can only assume that Ray Morton is good buddies with the editors of this book.

I would've loved some insight from the current Star Wars story group on why they jettisoned the Expanded Universe stories just to continually take things from them.

And I would've liked to see more from JJ Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy as well as the story group on what they thought they got right and/or wrong on "The Rise of Skywalker".

Star Wars started out as the vision of one man, George Lucas, and much like the characters in his films, he fought difficult odds to realize his vision. And also like the characters in his movies, he gathered teams of people who could appreciate what he was trying to do and could help him do it. The first six movies are basically independent films with big studio marketing. They are very much George Lucas's stories.

Since Disney took over, the films became Big Studio films that lacked the independent vision. I assume it's because of this shift that there are so few usable quotes about the direction of the newer films.

I'm glad that there is what feels like an epilogue section involving The Mandalorian and the animated series that Dave Filoni has been involved with. Filoni was Lucas's padawan, and he seems to have the best understanding of what makes Star Wars work (along with Jon Favreau). So I hope in the future Kathleen Kennedy and Luasfilm continue to involve Filoni as a creative consultant on any new projects.

[Richard Guion · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great oral history that all Star Wars fans will love to devour. Although it may appeal more to Boomers & Gen Xers who saw SW in 1977 and everything thing else in order. While reading about the subsequent films, each one a little worse in story structure, it is like watching the Hindenburg explosion in slow motion. But if you’re into the behind the scenes stuff of how things were made, it is fascinating material. The most interesting & impressive story is how the first film was made. It was a bootstrap startup in terms of the special effects created in a warehouse in Southern California. In addition, 20th Century Fox dragged their feet into making the film, giving up sequel rights and later merchandising rights to George Lucas, which enabled him to reinvest his profits into creating ILM and Skywalker ranch. The coverage on The Empire Strikes Back is also very interesting as that is my favorite SW movie; I have read interviews where Lucas has said that Empire isn’t really that great. That is because the director Irvin Kershner, didn’t want to be micro managed by Lucas and pushed back when he tried to do so. The director on the third film, Return of the Jedi, is micro managed. The book covers the prequels and the latest sequel trilogy, and all the various things that went wrong as well as right. Rise of Skywalker is do despised that the authors didn’t want the book to conclude with that one, so the final chapter includes some coverage of the Clone Wars & Rebels animated series, both of them were superior to many of the later movies. There is a slight mention of the Mandalorian as well. It’s a very long oral history, but they probably could have ended with the films and done a separate volume on just the TV series.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secrets of the Force is everything the title promises it to be: a complete, uncensored, unauthorized oral history of Star Wars. Written by Edward Goss and Mark A. Altman, this is a novel full to the brim with Star Wars details and history.

This is a novel that delves into the making of the famous Star Wars films. It should go without saying, but if you don't like the franchise – you won't like this in-depth look at it. However, if you're a megafan, I feel like you will appreciate many of the details that come up within these pages.

Then again, if you're a megafan, you might already know a lot of what is going to be discussed here. There aren't a lot of secrets in this book – just perspectives and facts. They're still interesting, but it certainly evokes a different image.

As a fan of the franchise (one who has seen the movies/shows, read the books/comics, and collected lots of merch), I was blown away by how thorough Secrets of the Force ended up being. There is a lot of information to sift through here. Think about it – this book is nearly 600 pages long, and it is all about Star Wars. That's a lot of information to include and even more to go through. It was such a delight to read! I can't recommend this enough to fans of the Star Wars franchise, regardless of your experience level.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Dominic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman's series of books about the making of pop culture franchises. Their "Fifty-Year Mission" books about Star Trek are some of the most comprehensive about that franchise. Their style is to let the writers, actors, and crew tell their story by collecting interviews and ordering them in a way that makes the book feel like a narrative. It's an effective method that works for Star Wars as well.

However, I've also read a lot of books about the making of the Star Wars films, including Paul Duncan's The Star Wars Archives, Chris Taylor's How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise, J.W. Rinzler's The Making of Star Wars books, and The Secret History of Star Wars (Duncan and Rinzler take a similar approach in letting interviews tell the story). And, like those ones, "Secrets of the Force" focuses a bit too much on the Original Trilogy, which has already been covered extensively. Duncan's latest book covers the Prequel Trilogy in far greater depth than "Secrets of the Force" does. Longtime Star Wars fans will probably be looking for new revelations about the newer films, but unfortunately this book contains fewer than 100 pages about the Sequel Trilogy (and no chapters about Rogue One or Solo).

"Secrets of the Force" is probably more accessible than Rinzler and Duncan's books, both of which get into extensive minutiae about the making of the films. That said, if you've read any of those books, I don't know how much more you'll get out of "Secrets of the Force."