Customer Reviews

Star Wars Revenge of the Sith

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Of all the prequels, I think there's unanimous agreement that Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the best of the bunch. Yet, even this finale faltered at times with choppy dialogue and unclear plot twists. Now, imagine you could reedit the movie and make perfect. That's what Matt Stover's Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is like. This novelization takes the movie as a base and makes it even more of an epic.

First, Stover's writing style mixes "stream of consciousness" sections, with glimpses into the minds of characters. While potentially risky, Stover pulls this off well, showing the inner emotional turmoil at which the film can only hint. Anakin's motives for joining the Dark Side become a lot clearer as we Stover explores the depths of his confusion. And he manages to really capture certain character dynamics well with just a few choice phrases, such as calling Obi-Wan and Anakin a team.

Beyond that, Stover also expands the plot beyond what was covered in the 2.5 hours of the movie. Palpatine's discussions with Anakin are longer and more intense. I particularly thought Palpatine's depiction of the Jedi-Sith conflict as a dispute over "philosophical differences" was quite clever. In the book, he's so effective at blurring the line between good and evil that I almost felt like I was falling for the Dark Side! Meanwhile, we actually get to sit in on the deliberations of the Jedi Council and hear some of the shockingly candid disagreements amongst Yoda, Mace Windu, and Obi-Wan.

Just as important sometimes is what Stover left out of the book. For example, Palpatine does not scream "Power, ultimate power" when he's zapping Mace Windu with lightning. Nor does Vader scream "Nooooo!" upon hearing about Padme's death. In fact, overall, the book and the characters' dialogue have a more dignified "age of heroes" feel. If only Stover had had a bit more influence over the final script.

Of course, the novel isn't a substitute for the movie, particularly for the action scenes. They're short and often not particularly exciting. I thought the first few pages of the space battle were the only slow part of the book, although they're a visual feast in the movie. It seems - wisely in my opinion - that Stover essentially left the epic action to the movie and focused on plot and dialogue.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is probably one of the most compelling Star Wars stories ever told. If for whatever reason - the acting, CG special effects, Jar Jar Binks - you were not enthralled with the story as told in the movie, you owe it to yourself to enjoy it as told through Stover's adaptation.

This book is the prime example of when a book is better than the movie. The book can go into so much more in depth insights into character motivation and behind the scenes machinations - that the story makes infinitely more sense.

Dont get me wrong, I am a star wars fan and I still saw the movie 3 or 4 times, and I liked it. But I still found myself going - why the &)*%# would they do that? What kind of response is that ? Etc...

I recomend this book to anyone who likes star wars, and especially if you are into the EU books. It is a rich and vibrant tale that should be mandatory reading after seeing the movie. I will grant there are moments the horse gets beats a bit to death, but it is a fair trade for buyable explanations of way the pieces fit together airtight.

Say what you will about the Star Wars prequels, no form of media captures Anakin's fall and Vader's Rise to power more than this book. A Sci Fi Greek tragedy at it's best. This piece of text captures Anakins spirit even more so that the clone wars series does, and let's not talk about the choice of the actor that portrayed him onscreen. I always feared and yet respected Vader as a kid and loved the legend of Luke's crazy father the Jedi General reckless hero that every other Jedi shakes their head at because of the way he gets results on the Clone Wars on cartoon network, but the way this book portrays Anakin and Obi-wan as literal superheroes coming to rescue the leader of the galatic republic, the depiction of each Jedi Fighting style's (especially Mace Windu's) and the manipulation of Anakin by Palpitine is just pure candy. The Detail of Order 66 was as chilling as anything I've ever read and very realistic, as I truly think that the Jedi would not see that coming. It will have you begging Anakin not to make the decision we all know hes going to makeBut the most chilling thing about this tradgey and the reason why I totally changed my opinion about Vader, since the end of Return of the Jedi, because lets face it, we heard all the stories but never really seen exactly how evil Vader was, but to actually witness (as much as you can reading books) the killing of the Younglings by Anakin/Vader and the pure hurt and damage done to Obi-wan's soul when he first found out and the shock and disbelief from Padme when he told her was actually felt real even though it was words off of a book. I challenge anybody who said the movie was terrible to read this book and not come out better for knowing the story the way it was meant to be portrayed.

For anyone who watched Star Wars Episode III and was unsatisfied with the quality of acting, scripting, or anything else, this book rectifies that. Matthew Stover takes some unusual chances with his writing style by breaking up the flow of narrative for character portraits, but succeeds beyond all expectations. The novelization brings depth and common sense to the sometimes shallow characterization and illogical flow of the movie, and in general is a far more believable story than the movie. Overall, this is a richly written, beautiful, and heart-wrenching rendition of the movie, bringing out all the high tragedy the story carries. Utterly beautiful.

Revenge of the Sith Matthew Stover (Star Wars) This book is amazing. I have read and re-read it multiple times and every time I do I find something new. In a way I prefer it to the film, there is so much more detail about things in the book. Matthew Stover's way of writing is so lyrical, it flows in such a way that it simultaneously excites and makes you shiver. In particular the last few lines are pure gold, and the italicized bits between sections are both beautiful and haunting. A lovely book, the only reason why it is 4 star in my mind is a tendency to get a bit confusing with all the politics and intrigue. Still a must-have for Star Wars novel collectors.

This has to be one of my favorite Star Wars novel besides Labrynth of Evil. Stover does an excellent job of filling the gaps left out of the movie. We see Anakin use the Force in various ways never mentioned in the movie. The movie wasn't hard to follow, it just seemed unable to grab the depth of the characters in a way, that expressed what was really going on inside each characters' inner turmoil.... whether it's Anakin or Padme. The novel gives you a real since of just how, not only, powerful Palpatine is, but the manipulative ruthless person he really is. From swaying Anakin's loyalty of the Jedi with his political ways, to the final act when it's all comes to a near drunken close when Darth Vader finally reveals himself. The novels helps tie all the loose ends together in one very tight little bow with Anakin and Padme's conflicts, the Jedi's position in the political arena, finding the Sith the Jedi finally learn about from the prior book (L.of Evil), and finally ending the Clone Wars that's don so much damage to the Galaxy. I wish the movie had been able to give us more depth of the characters the actors were trying to portray, and all the missing scenes on the beginning of the rebellion as read here in this very book. Liked the movie? Definitely read the book, you're missing so much already.

This book was one of my favorite Star Wars books I have read to date (and I have read several). It was an excellent expansion on the movie, particularly with regard to Anakin. It gave the story a whole new dimension and made it a great deal more poignant to "feel" Anakin's confusion and torment. It also gave you a better feeling for how he was manipulated into becoming Darth Vader; in the movie it felt a bit abrupt, and I was left with a "Ok...but I really am not sure I buy that being enough to convert him", but the book made it feel much more fluid and easy to follow the transition. It felt more like a gradual transition rather than abrupt break. Kudos to Stover. It definitely enhance my understanding of the character and the progression of the growth of the Empire. Worth the read.

I thought it was good. It left out some stuff that was in the movie but it was pretty close. definitly a good read.

I ordered this book not realizing the seller was located in the UK. I ordered it for my daughter and as anyone with kids knows explaining that the thing they want is going to take 4 weeks to arrive is very hard. Well, to our great delight the book arrived in about two weeks. The quality of the book was exactly what we expected, as good as buying it at the bookstore. THANKS!