Blacksburg author to release 'Star Wars' book from new perspective

(Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

BLACKSBURG (WSLS 10) -- A New York Times best selling Blacksburg author is about to release his latest book, retelling part of the Star Wars saga.

Tom Angleberger, the creator of "Origami Yoda," wrote "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi-- Beware the Power of the Dark Side."

Recommended Videos



Disney-Lucasfilm Press chose Angleberger for the book.

"One day I got a phone call from the people at Lucasfilms. They said do you want to write a Star Wars movie book? They said I could pick one of the original trilogy and books and write a novel based on it. I knew right away I wanted to do return of the Jedi.

He and two other authors each took on one of the trilogy of books. Each was tasked with retelling the story but in his own way. Angleberger was required to stay true to the film while telling his own version of it.

"I've got a book here that's a factual as far as Star Wars goes but it's also my version of it," he said. "As you can tell, I'm a little over excited about Star Wars. The whole book is a little over excited about Star Wars."

Angleberger was required to stay true to the film while telling his own version of it.

"They needed to make sure that I got things right. So not only did I have an editor check it, but I had to Lucasfilms story group check it. These are the people that know Star Wars inside and out."

Angleberger calls writing the book, a dream job.

"I just wanted to pack in everything. I didn't want to leave anything out that I love. I didn't want to leave anything out that anybody else loved so I just kept pushing more and more in. The book got a little on the thick side and we ended up having to use footnotes for some of my little bits of information."

Angleberger said it was an honor to be able to do it and an incredible amount of fun.

"I've loved Star Wars forever and now all of a sudden I'm getting to completely immerse myself into it and write about it. And not just write about it for me but write about it thinking about getting today's kids to connect to it."

The trilogy will be released September 22 during a launch party at Imaginations Toy and Furniture in Blacksburg, starting at 6 p.m.. It's located at 1531 S Main Street.

Angleberger will sign copies of the book, draw pictures and teach fans to make Origami Yoda.