Who woulda thunk the fans would be on to the title of the third chapter in the Star Wars saga nearly 20 years before it was released? Well, a recent eBay find reveals that at least one savvy fan — an Ellen Randolph of California — published an unsanctioned 194-page fanzine novel entitled “Revenge of the Sith” all the way back in 1986, when Return of the Jedi had left theaters but its original title — Revenge of the Jedi — was still likely fresh in many a fan’s mind.
We’ve admittedly not invested ourselves into this hefty chuck-o-fan-fic, but we can glean a bit of the story’s plot from the introduction, which reveals the storyline comes nowhere near prequel territory:
“Nearly twenty years have passed since the Alliance learned the truth kept hidden by Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia: they are the twin offspring of the Jedi Knight who became the Dark Lord of the Sith. Condemned as traitors and criminals along with the entire Jedi Order, Luke and Leia fled to the desert world of Tatooine. At the secret Jedi Sanctuary there, training has continued as they prepare for a future in which the Jedi Knights will again take their rightful places in the galaxy…”
I want to read this.
Wow…
wow what a blast from the past!
Oh my goodness! I HAVE this…and I bought it back in 1986 when I was only 13 years old. I met Ellen at the 10th Anniversary SW convention…GOD…her stories rocked; I’m telling you, that whole thing with Jessyln and her being 20 years older than Luke, and falling for the Jedi Master. It was genuis! Ellen…you’re genius. WHY or WHY did you stop after Sanctuary with that whole Luke/Jessalyn thing??? “Sanctuary” is where they finally get married, and Ellen doesn’t tell us just HOW they got it on really, but she just jumps right into the marriage with a series of short stories throughout their life… these stories rule…too cool for fan-fic, and not your ordinary fan-fic.
Oh, and I can confirm it now…Ellen Randolph and Melanie Rawn are the same person. That story she admited to writing called “Skywalker’s Lady” is a short story in her third novel “Santuary”. I know, because I have it. I opened it up and doubled checked the Table of Contents, and one of the short stories (of many, like “Do I look like I’m ready?”) is in “Sanctuary”. There was only three novels to her Star Wars fan-fic timeline. Jessalyn is Skywalker’s Lady…and Jessalyn is the same character throughout her timeline (Luke’s romantic interest in her fan-fiction). So if she admited to writing “Skywalker’s Lady”, which is in Sanctuary and written by Ellen Randolph, than they are one and the same.
Wow…I knew she was a great writer, even when I read her Star Wars fan fic. And I met her too! Only wish she had written an actual story about how Luke and Jessalyn actually hooked up…because Randolph did a “fast-forward” and that always irked me. Anyway, Jessalyn was a cool character and I think the official Star Wars gaming industry ripped off Ellen’s/Melanie’s character. There is a Jessalyn character in a Star Wars video game, and like Ellen’s version, they both have red hair and green eyes, and their last names start with a “V”, and they are flight tech’s and a student of Luke’s. Only one difference, they remained friends where in Ellen’s/Melanie’s tale, they were lovers in Jabba’s Palace where Luke fashioned his final Jedi school as a hide-out (thus, the meaning of Sanctuary). Check out this link: http://sw1mush.wikia.com/wiki/Jessalyn_Valios