Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Matthew Stover is a greater talent than Charles Dickens, Henry James and Proust all rolled into one. Ok, perhaps not. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith may not be *quite* as good as A Tale of Two Cities but it surely takes some kind of genius to take a Lucas prequel screenplay and turn it into a 5-star worthy novel; Lucas' movie, Revenge of the Sith is, afterall a laughable mockery of what originally made Star Wars so great. It's easy to write-off a terrible movie as badly written when one sees the finished result when in fact that problem lies elsewhere. Lucas' characterisations are wooden, badly acted, spout terrible dialogue and jump around horribly overproduced CGI sets. Perhaps these things led me to be overtly hung up on the implausibility of the central focus of the script, Anakin's hasty switch to the dark side, a seemingly irrational decision to turn his back on the Jedi Order and become evil through the hope of saving his one true love.These problems still exist within Stover's novel, of course, but I felt much more inclined to overlook them since – unlike when I watched Lucas' movie – I was enjoying myself reading it so much. In place of Lucas' lamentably sloppy direction we have a quality author at the top of his game who is able to paint the picture of a convincing and entertaining sci-fi opera with ridiculous ease. Within the first hundred pages, an extended sequence in which Anakin and Obi-Wan rescue Palpatine, kill Dooku and battle with General Grievous I felt completely immersed in the Star Wars universe in a way I hadn't since watching the original trilogy as a child. The writing isn't always dense, deep or lyrically beautiful but it is slick and made for the perfect space opera, shifting effortlessly between thoughtful scene setting, entertaining battle scenes to fully fleshed out character bios and convincing and credible emotions when its needed. Whereas, for instance, most novelization writers would simply detail the opening scenes of the movie, throwing in the occasional emotional phrase and internalised thought to break up the monotony and make the character seem real, Stover really switches it up and makes the screenplay his own by creating his own narrative structures, focusing on character more than event and making every single segment feel important to the bigger picture. When Anakin kills Dooku in the movie, Palpatine snarls and Anakin he simply kills Dooku (Lucas cuts away, of course, de-emphasizing the moment); it's just another run-of-the-mill action scene. When Anakin kills Dooku in the novel, there's drama and content. It feels hard fought, emotional and staggeringly important.More importantly Stover understands the Star Wars universe better than Lucas himself does nowadays. Whereas Lucas thinks that Star Wars is primarily about entertaining children, Stover gears his material firmly towards older teenagers, making it feel lived in and dangerous rather than childish. Also, whereas Lucas plays Anakin's transition from good to bad as a personal melodramatic tragedy, Stover treats it as pure crazed insanity. It's still unbelievable and over the top, of course, but Stover has belief and conviction in his material and he has the weight of his novel behind him to such an extent that I was twitching nervously as Anakin runs around slicing people to bits, feeling that this was genuinely quite an awful thing to have happened. I cared that Palpatine brought down the Republic, I cared that Padme died and I cared for the eventual fate of baby Luke and Leia. Why did I care? Because this novel is just such a lot of goddamn fun. Whilst there are a lot of ideas about light, dark, the force, Shatterpoints and copious amounts of other Jedi nonsense included within, it doesn't expect you to buy it as a deep and meaningful Shakespearian tragedy, but as the light hearted exciting epic that Star Wars was always meant to be. This is the Star Wars prequel that we'd all been waiting for, for years. This is the prequel that Lucas failed to deliver. This is a right good laugh and a highly recommended read. No, it really isn't Shakespeare, sorry but it deserves every one of its five stars regardless.
The turning point of the entire Star Wars saga is at hand...I just had to read this again. I can't find the right words to describe how awe-striking this book is. Matthew Stover has such a great talent that I won't be surprised if he becomes the next J.K. Rowling. This is a true Star Wars book... and one of the best ever written.The civil war in the galaxy is near the end. Chancellor Palpatine was abducted and two Jedi Knights were sent to rescue him. Thus the Republic falls... and the Empire rises. As Stover says, this is the story of love and loss, brotherhood and betrayal, courage and sacrifice, and the death of dreams. Stover wrote a piece of art I never thought words can do. Words never failed him, since he always find the best ones. Though it is true he did not write the heartbreaking story, he molded it into a way that made me addicted to it as much as I was addicted to The Hunger Games. It shows the movie in more depth; what's to come and omitted are shown. In the end, he gave hope to the depressing ending and was inspirational enough to make readers shed a tear. Though new Star Wars fans may be lost, I find the EU references great.The way he wrote the characters are excellent. He describes everyone just as they are, and how their emotions played so well in the story. Anakin, especially him, seemed to be now a better person than he was in the movie, and I felt sorry for him. Padme was shown as smart, cunning, and unafraid, yet tender and soft-hearted. I can almost understand why her fate was the way it is.It is hard to find flaws in such an amazing book, but I do find the Battle of Coruscant a bit too long. Some scenes needed to be removed, like Yoda on Kashyyyk, for the sake of the pacing. In conclusion, I recommend this book to everyone, whether you like Star Wars or not. Finding the flaws are near impossible. I thought about this book everyday since I first read it... and now, the words are still sticking in my mind. "The dark is generous, the dark is patient, and the dark always wins. But in the heart of the strength lies one weakness- one lone candle is enough to hold it back. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars."
What do You think about Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (2005)?
Stover's really done something impressive here, filling in the motivations and explanations so that this story finally makes sense and bringing the characters to the forefront, instead of the action. Stover is very good at the action sequences, but he understands that the point of them is as a medium to express the essence of characters, whose lives, inasmuch as they are warriors, play out largely in combat. I'd have to say that it's only in this book that I see what must have been Lucas's intentions for this story successfully carried out, hence a must-read for anybody interested in this fictional universe.
—Edward Butler
I am a second-generation Star Wars fan, so when my dad bought Revenge of the Sith, I definitely had to borrow it from him and read it. While I enjoyed getting to know the characters in a new way, I wasn't all that impressed with this book. However, that didn't surprise me, because I also wasn't impressed with the movie on which Stover based it.You do get more from the book than in the movie -- especially in terms of character development. I think that Stover went a lot more into Yoda's feelings about the fall of the Republic and he did a great job in showing the friendship between Obi-Wan and Anakin. I loved that. For me, it brought entirely new elements into the story line that I had never thought of and made Luke's story a little more interesting, even. However, the same problems that were in the movie still persist. I get that Anakin was tempted to the Dark Side, and that clouds his judgment, but he truly loves these people. In the book, how he feels for Padme and Obi-Wan is way more obvious than it is in the movie. Yet, within a chapter he changes and is ready to turn is back on Obi-Wan, who is practically his brother at this point, and then he even becomes suspicious of Padme, the woman he used to trust absolutely. I think a lot more development and explanation was needed for this character shift, because otherwise, it simply seems too convenient.Also, don't think that you can read this book without watching the movie. Stover relies heavily on the fact that the reader knows what he's talking about and what's going on. Not much description or explanation is given in terms of places, characters, and background information. This isn't a problem for those of us who have seen the movies (although it does make the writing feel less developed), but it would be a huge problem for someone who only wanted to pick up the book.However, for a Star Wars fan, Revenge of the Sith is still an okay read. I wouldn't say that you should go out of your way to read it, but it's kind of cool to get a different perspective on all the characters and what they're feeling about all the chaos that's going on in this novel. Star Wars in general is a brilliant story about growing up, love, friendship, doing what's right, and making hard choices. No matter what format it's in, that holds true throughout all the stories
—Alyssa Archambo
They really don't lie when they say that this is the turning point of Star Wars. It is truly a masterful book with incredible writing that can definitely warp the mind as much as it had warped Anikan's. People have got to remember that this wasn't just some idea that came to Stover. The entire story and much of the dialogue came from George Lucas' own script. The original script shows as much of the emotion, action, and speaking parts as this book. Stover also adds drama, creativity, and passion that doesn't worsen the book but improves it to outstanding levels. True, some might say that the book exceeds the movie. But I see it as completing it, making it a whole. A movie can only show so much and a small amount of time, and people can only talk when it is needed, but this book brings in a richer sense of character(s), a deeper perspective of the Sith, especially Palpatine, and incredibility in the details of the action.
—Samuel
