Second Review - Audiobook: 13 May 2024

I heard the Star Wars audiobooks are entertaining AF. So, I thought, I would try one with a novel I enjoyed reading. I was not disappointed. The soundtrack from the movies is included, even the droid sounds - the narrator is an excellent voice actor, capturing the characters closely.

The Audiobook transferred me to the galaxy far, far away . . . I was all the characters. I do recommend the audiobook a try or any other Star Wars Audiobook.


First review - Novel: 15 January 2024
"This is a story of love and loss, brotherhood and betrayal, courage and sacrifice, and the death of dreams."

This is my 3rd movie novelization of Star Wars. I liked episode 1 and episode 2, but oooh boy . . . This was magnificent.

The novel is written in 3rd person narrative view. Many descriptions are set in everything, fights, thoughts, and emotions.

This is the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the birth of Darth Vader. The story tells a tragedy with so much drama and intrigue . . . I felt so connected to the universe, and this novel helped me understand the prequel trilogy with answered questions.

Anakin and Padme's tale are that of Romeo and Juliet - their love ignited the stars. I am satisfied with the characters in this prequel trilogy. The authors: Terry Brooks, R.A Salvatore, and Matthew Stover, understood how important it was.

This is also the tale of Sith, who had been forgotten for years. The Jedi became too confident that they would never return, but, without darkness, light cannot survive.

The debate remains - was it the Jedi's fault that Anakin became what he is?

I, who recently became a fan of this universe (to my husband's delight), can agree that this is a must-read for any die-hard Star Wars fan.

Onwards to the next novelization. ( )

Star Wars books are a guilty pleasure I guess. While many would not consider them science fiction and rather something more like a fantasy, I consider them science fiction.
I have seen the movie many times of course but I had always heard that the novelization of the movie was pretty good and considered one of the best of all the Star Wars novelizations. So, I decided to give it a try.
I found that I enjoyed it quite a bit. The books follows the movie of course. Events and scenes in the movie are in the book. Dialog as well is pretty much faithfully the same in the book. But what sets it apart and indeed what sets most novels apart from later movies make from the books is the additional detail and most of the inner dialog and thoughts that flow through a character's mind.
It is these inner dialogs and thoughts that provide a more colorful picture of what goes on in the movie. Most of this is conveyed in the movie but sometimes is awkward or incomplete rendering the scene either less impactful at the least or unintentionally funny or seen as a plot hole.
A good example is Ender's Game. The book is much better than the movie that was made because much of what make's Ender special is his thinking and motivations behind what he does that are conveyed in a single line of dialog in the movie.
Palpatine, Anikan and Kenobi all benefit from having their characters and interactions broadened and fleshed out more within the book.
If you are a Star Wars fan then you can't do wrong by reading this book.
( )

"Though this is the end of the age of Heroes, it has saved it's best for last."

Funny thing about this novelization: it's either breaking my heart or boring me to death. To be fair, it did mostly the former, but the second was enough for me to drop a star.

Anakin's pov here is made of everything that makes Revenge of the Sith my favorite Star Wars movie, and the way we can see how deeply he was groomed and precisely manipulated is gut wrenching. It also acknowledges that despite all the machinations, it was all still his choice, and I really appreciate not making him a simple victim. It has all of the aspects of the inevitability of a tragedy I love so much.

Now, this is definitely for the big fans of the movie. Differently from most of the more modern SW novels, this one doesn't deal so well with the action sequences, specially considering they are all ones we know the exact outcome of from the movie. It's where I got really bored and had to skim whole pages. Some things just don't translate exactly to another format like that.

I feel obligated to point out that this drinks a lot from Legends, and giving it was written before even Clone Wars was a thing I can understand it, but there were enough hints about "the jedi not evolving enough", leaning close to bashing Mace and Yoda in favor to Anakin and Obi-Wan, to make me uncomfortable. At the same time, the exterior povs, that narrated events like an onisciente being, gave a lot of nuanced insight on the intricate plot Sidious had and the sad situation the Jedi were.

Overall a good read, extremely well written, and that made me bleed for Anakin Skywalker's tragedy even more. ( )

The novelization of the final prequel film Revenge of the Sith hit shelves approximately six weeks before the film hit theaters, written by fantasy-science fiction writer Matthew Stover based on the script and story penned by George Lucas.

Stover sticks with the general outline of the film, especially at the beginning and the end of the novel but adds details that either Lucas cut from the film or details that added to the overall narrative. The book focuses more on Palpatine’s arguments to Anakin about the Jedi conspiring to destroy the Republic while his concern for Padme was subtly intertwined within the political aspects. While it added depth to Palpatine’s manipulation as well as Anakin’s character flaws, it would not have translated to a film. The scenes showing the birth of the Rebellion amongst Senators were nice touches that gives background to events that occur in the original trilogy. The best part of the novel was Stover’s descriptions of the characters throughout the novel especially their inner thoughts.

Revenge of the Sith is a great novelization that adds to what was included in the film as well as giving greater context. ( )

One of the most amazing Star Wars novels EVER. Best character development on the planet! ( )