Willow (Chronicles of the Shadow War)

A novel by Wayland Drew, based on a screenplay by Bob Dolman, from a story by George Lucas.

A wondrous tale of a child…a prophecy…and the power of magic.

The Child
She was born with the mark on her arm. The mark of the one who would cause the downfall of Queen Bavmorda, and end her evil reign. If she survived…

The Prophecy
The legend told of the Queen that a child would be born who would destroy her. That prophecy was the Queen’s greatest fear…and now it was about to come true. Unless she could stop it…

The Power of Magic
Willow Ufgood had always wanted to be a magician, to be wise and respected in the community. His dreams were about to come true…but in ways he could have never imagined.

I’m sure by now we all know and love Willow Ufgood, Madmartigan and the amazing duo Rool & Franjean. Now this is a adaption of Lucas’s story by Wayland Drew who does a great job. By additional background information to a number of characters and additional scenes. For example by adding an encounter with a lake monter near Razel’s island. Fun fact, the scene was shot but never put into the movie, the only way you can even see these shots are in the Making of Willow documentary.

It’s a fun easy read and makes you wan to watch the movie. Lucas also outlined the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy to follow the film. The comic book writer Chris Claremont was hired on to adapt them into a series of books. The time line starts about 15 years after Willow. Now SPOILERS!!………………………………………… Look away if you don’t want to know……………………………

Elora Danan is now a teenager and is a central character, while Madmartigan and Sorsha are killed off almost immediately. I know!!! I almost stopped reading after that point. But the story does pick up and is amazing. The Books are:

Shadow Moon

Shadow Dawn

Shadow Star

In 2019, Ron Howard announced that a sequel television series is currently in development, with intentions for the series to be exclusively released on the Disney+ streaming service. Jonathan Kasdan will write the television series, while Warwick Davis will reprise his role from the original film.