[ROTS]The novel

Now that we have all seen the movie, I'm sure a lot of us have picked up Matthew Stover's novelization, so I thought I'd start a thread for discussing it here in the NS forum.

I finished reading it today and, unlike any of the previous novelizations, I thought it was a very good book. I thought the OT and TPM novelizations were just decent, and AotC's was terrible, but Stover really did a good job here of translating the story to the printed page. There are some interesting scenes and lines that weren't in the movie (including the formation of the Rebellion subplot, which I liked reading about but found myself in agreement with GL that it wasn't necessary for the movie), but more importantly Stover's writing really brings the action and characters to life - we get fascinating insight into characters' thoughts that isn't possible on a movie screen.

"The Age of Heroes," the introduction to the novel, blew me away. It is about how Anakin and Obi-Wan have become heroes known throughout the galaxy, and how the adults of the Republic are distraught over the Battle of Coruscant and Palpatine's kidnapping but the children know that everything will be okay because "when Anakin and Obi-Wan get there, those dirty Separatists are going to wish they'd stayed in bed today." The introduction ends:

And so it is that these adults across the galaxy watch the HoloNet with ashes where their hearts should be.

Ashes because they can't see two prismatic bursts of realspace reversion, far out beyond the planet's gravity well; because they can't see a pair of starfighters crisply jettison hyperdrive rings and streak into the storm of Separatist vulture fighters with all guns blazing.

A pair of starfighters. Jedi starfighters. Only two.

Two is enough.

Two is enough because the adults are wrong, and their younglings are right.

Though this is the end of the age of heroes, it has saved its best for last.

I'd love to find out what others here think of the novel, and I'll add some more of the parts I found most interesting later.

 

I think the novel is alot better than the movie, at least in terms of dialogue, particularly between Anakin and Sidious. Their relationship has a heck of alot more depth, and Mace Windu's "I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi" doesnt come out of nowhere like in the movie. I also like the way the naming of the twins was handled as opposed to the generic scene in the film.

 

I also liked it a lot. I really liked the insight we got with Mace Windu especially.
I think it was well-written for the most part, though I don't really like the "This is how it feels to be <insert name here> right now" parts.
They are interesting because well... We see how they feel, but I don't like the way they are written at all.
Same with the "Age of heroes" stuff... I just can't bring myself to like it for some reason.

Still, a very good book. I really recommend it to everyone.

 

I really enjoyed the novel. It would've been great had all of it been in the movie but I understand that there were some scenes that just weren't meant to be put into film.

Can someone remind me what chapter (and/or page) it was on how the naming of the twins came about? Can't remember.

In the novel I loved the small scene when Padme and Anakin were talking and how Padme believed that their child would be a boy but when Anakin felt the baby kick he thought it would be a girl. Both were right in the end.

 

It was towards the very end. As Padme is giving birth she tells Obi-Wan that Anakin thinks it's a girl and she wants to name it Leia. Luke is born and Obi-Wan tells her it's a boy and she names him Luke. A girl is then born but before they can even tell Padme she is just talking about Anakin and then dies before she names the girl.

 

I like it but the pacing of the novel seems off. I'm on page 90 something and they're still in the Invisible Hand. Then everything from Mace's last stand to the end of the book is done in 100 pages.

It's great otherwise though. Wonderful writing, perfect introduction. I like how Stover does: "This is Obi-wan Kenobi" and so on. He really added a lot to Dooku's character.

 

I noticed while flipping through it that the OSB is most of it.

 

I agree with goodfellas in terms of pacing.
I love the writing style, only have a few pages to go.

It just seems like quite a bit of the novel is focused on the less important story while the major plot points get more rushed.

Stover is brilliant though.

-Seldon

 

The end of chapter one is definitely one of my favorite parts.

Whether Obi-Wan's legendary cleverness might beat Anakin's raw power, straight up, no rules, is the subject of schoolyard fistfights, crèche-pool wriggle-matches, and pod-chamber stinkwars across the Republic. These struggles always end, somehow, with the combatants on both sides admitting that it doesn't matter.

Anakin and Obi-Wan would never fight each other.

They couldn't.

They're a team. They're the team.

And both of them are sure they always will be.

To some people this might seem melodramatic, but it really affected me. I thought of this passage and other related ones from the novel about how Obi-Wan and Anakin are The Team when I was watching the movie today. It made me wish that Anakin could have gone after Grievous with Obi-Wan, and maybe then everything would have turned out all right.

 

I really loved that passage, too. I'm only a little ways into the novel, but I read that part a couple times. It made me so sad.

I also love the parts like, "This is Anakin Skywalker". I think they're good looks at certain characters.

 

One thing that is weird is that in the movie the opening sequence is probably 15-20 minutes, which is about 1/8 of the movie. In the book it is 100 pages, roughly 1/4 of the book!

 

I'm about 2/3 through the book and I've seen ROTS once so far - but I can safely say that the novel has given me more appreciation of the movie. Things that I felt were rushed/missed because they weren't explained (like the Rebellion) now have a background already formulated in my mind and gives each scene new depth. Which I think it the best thing that the book can do; so I am very appreciative. Kudos to Stover.

 

Although I have the novel, I'm waiting until I've seen ROTS a couple more times (I've seen it twice so far) before reading, as I don't wish to be distracted by thinking of the additional (either cut, or non-filmed) scenes...

 

After reading Shatterpoint and Traitor, I was excited to hear Stover would be doing the novelization. He really brings a very raw, violent, introspective style that is very appropriate for certain aspects of Star Wars, and for sure Revenge of the Sith.

I think the novelization is better than the film in the way a book is better than a movie. You just get more detail and insight.

I also really enjoyed the emphasis on Obi-Wan and Anakin as the team, as you said, Jeff, and just the expression of the depth of their relationship in general.

The scene where Obi-Wan, before setting out for Utapau, confronts Padme about her relationship with Anakin was also really interesting. He overtly admits he's known all along about them, but has pretended he didn't know because it made Anakin happy. In their final exchange, Padme asks, "You love him, too, don't you?" (or something to that effect), which I felt was really important in understanding Obi-Wan's role in the saga.

 

My favorite part of the novel so far (I have 14 pages to go) is the Death on Utapau chapter introduction. The tone and content is just exciting, great prose in that particular passage, an interesting way of looking at it.

-Seldon

 

I'm in the middle of reading it. I really liked seeing into Dooku's thoughts, that was interesting. And I definitely agree with Jeff that the rebellion stuff is interesting, but it needed to be cut. I really liked the bit about Anakin and Padme discussing the sex of the baby, I hope that is included in the DVD, or even added to it. I think Anakin is way more likeable in the movie though and it is hard to believe that he would even believe some of the things that Palpatine tells him. I like that the movie makes Palpatine way more subtle whereas the book he is practically screaming that he is the sith lord.

 

I just finished it and although I liked it, I did not think it was better than the movie. It was good in terms of character development but I found that all the action/fight scenes were tedious. They're more visually stunning in the movie IMO.

 

I agree that Palpatine in the film was much more brilliant than the one in the novel.

-Seldon

 

I kind of want to read it, but I am a little turned off by the writing sytle. Sometimes second person/present tense stuff has a good effect, sometimes it just gets old.

I admit I only read a few parts of the book, but it seemed like there was a bit much of that in it.



You are reading the introduction of the book when you get the munchies. You think about the pizza you had last night. Your stomache rumbles as you head to the fridge. But there is no pizza, there never was any pizza; it is just you and the burn on your chin form the molten lava on the nachos you had for lunch.

But the nachos forgive you. They will always be there, waiting in the pantry next to the cheese wiz.

This is how it feel to be hippie1kenobi. Forever.

 

Gold, hippie1. Just gold.

 

I just got the novel today and I'm up to the part where Obi-Wan's about to fight Grievous.

I must say, the whole part with Obi-Wan and Anakin's butt was quite amusing.

 

I must say, the whole part with Obi-Wan and Anakin's butt was quite amusing.

Yes, I agree. But for some reason something tells me it just wouldn't work that same way if it were in the movie.

 

I've only read the intro, which was amazing, and Stover's "This is Obi-Wan Kenobi" and "Anakin Skywalker". I really enjoyed those brief excerpts, I'm going to pick up the novel soon.

 

I must say, the whole part with Obi-Wan and Anakin's butt was quite amusing.

Yes, I agree. But for some reason something tells me it just wouldn't work that same way if it were in the movie.


All right, I gotta know, what's this all about?

I got a chance to flip through the book at a bookstore tonight, and I don't know, I thought it was kind of fan fiction-y. If I were to run across it on a random fic website, I'd say it was pretty good. But as a published real book? I don't know. Something just seemed off about it. Of course, I didn't get to really read it, so maybe I'm assuming too much. I'd like to pick it up eventually, just to see.

 

Yeah, I defintely laughed out loud when I read the part of Obi-wan and Anakin's butt!