Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH (spoilers)

I wil not be reading this book until after I see film. I have two very general questions about the book.

Jar Jar Binks does not seem play a signifcant role in ROTS based on the trailers. Is Jar Jar even in the book and does he have a major role?

The only major problem I had with AOTC was the Anbakin/Padme love story. For those who read the book and screenplay, did you like Anakin/Padme parts of ROTS?

Overall I am looking forward to ROTS, but my expectations for the Anakin/Padme part of the film is fairly low.

 

While Jar Jar has one line in the film, he is only mentioned once in the novelisation, and has no dialogue.

And in regards to Anakin and Padmé's relationship: the dialogue (especially in the film) is still very stiffly written, but let's just say that their relationship has gotten a lot more interesting.

 

9.7 I loved it...the fights were awesome though i thought palps and yoda was a bit rushed.

 

Counting 45 ratings: 427.1/45 = 9.49

 

I usually dislike novelizations, but god, this was bloodly brilliant. I'd have to see how it stacks up against the film, but as a novel on its own it is easily 10/10. The references to other Clone Wars events were quick and snappy, not that Luceno page listing. I was a bit annoyed a few Dark Rendezvous-esqe full names, but this rarely happened. I now can't wait for May 19, and I'll have to watch the OT tomorrow to asorb the full impact of ROTS.

 

Hah... it'll be more like how the film stacks up against the book. Doesn't look too good, if you ask me.

Jar Jar's one line was cut.

 

This book was simply amazing. From the opening {This is the twilight of the Jedi. The end starts now.} to the end {This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker. Forever...}, I was totally hooked. This, the Zahn trilogy, LOE, Dark Rendevouz, TUF, and Hard Contact are my favorite Star Wars books; and only this and the TTT are even some of my favorite books in general.

I am more than pleased to give this novel a 10/10.

 

Counting 47 ratings: 447.1/47 = 9.51

 

Bringing her up for those who were waiting to see the movie before reading the book.

 

I finally got the book last week, and read about 3/4 of it before I got to see the movie. I will have to put together a review...

 

Between the book and the film, ROTS raped my face.

10

 

Counting 49 ratings: 467.1/49 = 9.53

 

This review goes to 11.

But if 10 is the max, so be it.

Easily surpassed every expectation I set for it.

 

I haven?t actually read RotS all the way though, but I did listen to the unabridged audio book all the way through. I did that so I could more easily distance myself from the events and the emotions of the characters (as I?ve said before, reading is an exceptionally personal experience for me).

Thought I didn?t actually read the book, I most certainly liked what I heard. I?m sure this is due in large part to the different medium I received the material from. For example, had I read the book, I?m sure I wouldn?t have enjoyed the Introduction at all. However, after having listened to it, and thinking about it for five minutes, I found it hilarious. It goes into painful detail about the woes of the galaxy, and how the adults are bemoaning the loss of Palpatine, and how Obi-Wan and Anakin are hopeless, and how the separatists are going to break into their homes and steal their toilets, and so on? Then with two sentences Stover essentially says: ?But of course, they?re wrong. Obi-Wan and Anakin will save the day as usual, so let?s move on to the actual story?.

Had I read it, I?d have probably had any number of vehement admonitions about its inclusion. Having head it, though, it reminded me of similarly irrelevant descriptions in the Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy (I?ve been listening to the radio drama recently), and I instead just found it funny?after the fact, of course.

As a whole, I liked it. There are any number of instances where I think this book works better than Traitor. There were a lot of descriptions about Jedi letting the Force guide them, and the lack of such descriptions (or considerations) was one of the problems I had with the apparent ?lessons? of Traitor (which didn?t even present submission to the Force as an option). RotS appears to have a more accurate representation of the Force in general, IMO. Palpatine makes a heck of a lot more sense than Vergere did, and I like that?etc? On top of it all, the book has forced me to reevaluate my opinions of Yoda and Obi-Wan. In a lot of ways, I like that too.

I liked the inclusion of comic relief, and I understand why one couldn?t have included the same humor presented in the movie. There?s just something funny about seeing this little green Muppet casually slam two people up against a wall with the Force. In a book, it would almost just seem like common sense (?Of course Yoda can do that. What?s so funny about it??).

The ?Jedi baby? (p.368-369) scene was a bit odd, though. It was certainly funny, and I liked it? It just seemed out of character. Not so much that it?s not something either Obi-Wan or Yoda might do if it was beneficial, but I really don?t see how it was beneficial. They could have just as easily leapt out of the shadows and caught the guards by surprise that way. As it was, they had instead caught the guards by surprise when they showed up the way they did? *shrug* It?s funny, but it seemed like that was the only reason it was there. I usually wouldn?t even mention something like that, but Stover did such a good job of integrating the humor into the story in all other instances (including the downright hilarious ?Anakin?s butt? moment on page 101 and 102).

It?s dark, and not exactly fun, but I enjoyed it. In fact, after getting through half of it, I tried to stop before I completely spoiled myself? I couldn?t stop. I had to know what happened next.

Had I read the book first (instead of listening to it), I?m not sure I?d have liked it. But as it is, I do like it, and the more I think about it after the fact, the more I appreciate it.

I?ll give it an 8.3

As far as this being Stover?s best work? Somehow, I doubt it. It?s certainly my favorite, but given the very limited nature of the book? *shrug* I don?t know? Literary quality has always seemed a bit like an overly abstract concept to me. A lot of the time, it seems like the concept is independent of whether one actually liked the book.

I can?t tell you if it?s Stover?s best work, bu

 

Counting 51 ratings: 485.4/51 = 9.52

 

Anyone else read it?

 

Mas what do you think of the movie compared to the book?

 

It was really good and added some much needed depth to the film. I was disappointed that the story spent so much time on the opening battle, and some of the scenes that I was hoping it would go into great detail on, it glossed over.
9.5/10

 

From the Episode III thread:

Well, I saw Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and...

wow...

Not wow that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, which it was. But wow, my gut has just gone through a loop de loop. I was with my family and friends when I saw it, and after discussing it, we all decided to get together and see Return of the Jedi tommorow. Why?

It CAN'T END LIKE THIS DAMNIT!

If it sounds like I'm faking it, I'm not. I got more choked up at this movie than Return of the Jedi, and that movie was always a emotional rollercoaster for me as well.

That #!$)*&$!#@ Darth Sidious is going to get his at the hands of the Chosen One, the Empire is going to die, Luke is going to redeem Anakin, and ghost Yoda, ghost Obi Wan, ghost Anakin, ghost Padme, Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Wedge, Lando and the whole damn Ewok population are going to party the night away because good wins over evil !@(*^@#$.

...

It just can't end like this...

It CAN'T!

Flawless:

Rescue on the Invisible Hand:

The last mission of the Negotiator and the Hero with No Fear. Great Star Warsian dialog and action... but it won't last as this film is taking a trip to hell... sad

Anakin vs Dooku:

So long Sith Lord, looks like the Chosen One was a bit much for your evil old self.

Obi vs Grevious:

A fun fight with high stakes, I loved the twirling blades and Obi Wan really comes through with that blaster.

Anakin's fall:

*Interior monolog* "Damn it man! He's using you! D'oh! You'll lose your wife! Your kids! Don't do it! You're a good person! Gah! #()#&%!#@%&*!$"

Padme's death:

Appropriate it felt. I think you guys need to realise that her death was just like most of the other death in this movie, pointless and sad. There isn't a need for her to die at Anakin's hands. In fact, the realisation that he may NOT have killed her may have been one of the things Vader thought of as he made his choice to kill Sidious in Return of the Jedi. I don't feel Dark Empire ruined Vader's "revenge" on Sidious at all. He *did* kill him, and Sidious even said he was utterly destroyed by Vader and his Children (Who got their chance to pay him back for the loss of their mother). Again, when his last crippled, dying clone expired, his spirit is being held prisoner by ALL the Jedi, a task I'm sure Anakin is quite pleased with.

Anakin vs Obi Wan:

It's the fight we all wanted, and all knew had to happen, that doesn't make it any easier to take.

Mace Windu's death:

Way to go ya freaking moron! You just had to try to EXECUTE a man BEGGING for his life (whether he was faking or not is irrelevant), throwing the Jedi Code into the dang toliet, and giving Anakin an EXCUSE to join the darkside. Congradulate yourself. In the Jedi afterlife, I hope you aren't invited to parties. Good fight though. "UNLIMITED POWER!!!" MWHAHAHAHAHA! tongue

Death of the Jedi Order:

A surprise, this was actually pretty emotionally disturbing too. Seeing characters we've come to learn about gunned down as the violens played... really sad...

Too bad they're still self righteous idiots though who couldn't "possibly" have seen how trying to usurp the power of the legally elected Supreme Chancellor could have been "misconstrued". tongue laugh

On a serious note, it was still bloody sad to see the Jedi Order die.

Vader's awakening:

The final nail in the heart of a sick man in an iron mask. cry And it wasn't even true!

Bad:

A few lines came off as a little silly, but even the romance stuff was pretty good. I felt quite sick when Anakin said "this is the happiest day of my life", as it was the last day the conquering hero and his family would have without pain... And I *really* think the "Bush is the Emperor" comparisons were quite dumb. I didn't get that vibe at all. It was much more of a Julius Ceaser thing. More proof that Americans like pretending they're oppressed.

Ugly:

The transformation from Vader the man to Vader the Cyborg was actually quite emotionally disturbing. Sure, he may be the bad guy, but damn, Obi Wan was real

 

Well, finally wrapped it up yesterday afternoon and I loved it, although personally I wouldnt say that its Stover's best work (that honor is still held by Blade of Tyshalle, IMO). As Mastadge mentioned in his review, the book does have some flaws but thats probably due more to the source material than anything else. Even so, I still really enjoyed what is truly a companion novel to the film. Stover did a really great job fleshing out the characters and setting up Anakin's fall in a far less abrupt way than GL did in the actual movie. I also enjoyed the small Alliance subplot, and after reading it I reconsider my original stance and feel that it would've fit nicely into RotS if presented the way Stover did it in the novelization.

Anyway, great, great book, and once again Matthew Stover shows why he is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack out there today, SW EU or otherwise.

9/10

 

This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker forever:

10/10.

 

Counting 54 ratings: 513.9/54 = 9.52

I didn't include masterskywalker's review because it was clearly for the movie and not the book.

 

Mas what do you think of the movie compared to the book?

The book was quite good. The movie was awful.

 

10/10

I agree that the pacing is a bit off with too much time spent in the beginning and too little at the end, but this doesn't change how great the novel is.

The insight into the way R2 speaks was very interesting. One of my favorite parts is Qui-Gon Jinn at the end, it makes you really wish Liam was in the film.

My favorite part of the novel so far 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.

The writing style in general is very good (a great improvement from the typical James Luceno found in Labyrinth of Evil.) Here is a well written piece of EU, one that adds to the story, the characters, and is exciting to read.

A job well done by Matthew Stover, as was expected.
I loved the Shatterpoint connections.

-Seldon