Lit Thoughts on the novelizations?

How do you guys feel about the movie Novelizations? Im not asking what’s canon and what not, I get how that works. But do you read them? Do you like them? If you didn’t read why not? Is the time spent reading 500 pages worth the character insights in your opinion? Etc.

I’m caught up on all the other canon novels and so I scooped RO and TFA to complete the collection set. Figured I’d give them a try... can’t decide exactly how I feel about them. I’m reading RO currently. One chapter I’ll enjoy the little insights, and then the next I feel like I’m watching the movie in slow motion. Probably my favorite part though is the increased krennic/tarkin sparring. I enjoyed their dynamics in Catalyst, so I was happy to get another dose of their scheming.

I will say that I wish they would redo the PT and OT novelizations. Del Rey includes the original novelizations from before the reboot in their timeline, but Disney no longer considers them canon. If they’re going to have novelizations going forward (I believe that’s the plan) then it’d be nice to see a complete set of entries. But maybe that’s just my excessive preference for completion in my collections haha.

Thoughts?


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I've read the novelizations of the movies, but they keep losing their value. When I need a database to map what is and is not canon, the fun goes away. Especially when even canon isn't canon.

I will probably read/listen to the TLJ novel because the movie really needs explaining. My expectations are low.

 

ROTS is perfect.

 

I love the novelizations. At first, I was hesitant about reading them, but now I love them. They add a nice dynamic to the universe, also, more books are always welcome.

 

The OT has gotten two sets of "newcanon novelizations" - all junior ones - the ones written post-reboot (ANH: The Princess, The Scoundrel & The Farmboy, TESB: So You Want To Be A Jedi, RoTJ: Beware The Power of the Dark Side) and three by Ryder Windham, written back in 2004, and re-released with edits, for the newcanon.

So it's just the PT that needs "canon novelizations" at the moment.

 

Right. But the 2004 novelizations are no longer considered canon entries. Technically the things that line up with the movies 100% are obviously still canon.. since those events are present in the movies. After that, however, any of the extra tidbits and character developments that stray from and/or expand on the films events are no longer canon.

If you check any of the lists of canon entries the pre-reboot novelizations are absent. Except for Del Rey’s novel timeline.

the post reboot novelizations and their extra information are all considered canon. except for slight discrepancies from the films — Stuff like TFA novel has Rey cut Kylos chest, but in the film she cuts his face. Film trumps, so the face cut is canon. But the extra info in the 2004 novelizations was tossed post reboot.

As for the junior novels. I’m probably just being selfish but come on! Haha They make a novelizations, comic adaption, junior novel, some young reader version, a kids picture book, a graphic novel, and maybe even a 5 minute story version for most every major entry in the new canon. Is it to much to ask for a grown up book so I can recapture my childhood? Haha


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The point I'm making is, post reboot, some info was changed in the 2004 novelizations (DS2 is now 200 km diameter for example) and they were re-released, with those changes, and the rereleased versions are canon entries.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_A_New_Hope_(paperback_novel)
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Empire_Strikes_Back_(paperback_novel)
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Return_of_the_Jedi_(paperback_novel)

All three are tagged as "canon" on Wookieepedia at least.

 

Interesting. Didn’t realize they had made those updates. Appreciate the update man. Kinda hard to keep track of all the content updates. I’ll give it a look now.


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The ones for TPM, AOTC, Rogue One and ROTJ are all worth a read for the extra scenes and details they add.

The ROTS one is interesting for me because I read it a couple of years ago and loved it but when I gave it a reread a few months ago it seemed to drag on a bit. I would still say it's a good book but I’m not as keen on it now as I used to be.

The one for ANH is from that weird early EU period that Splinter of the Mind's Eye, The Han Solo Adventures and Lando Adventures are in so there is a lot of stuff that dosen't feel right now and the dialogue is different to what's on screen but I still respect it for being the first SW book. Also I can't mention this without saying the classic quote of "What's a duck?".

The TESB one was a straight up retelling of the film so there isn't much to say about that one.

The one for TFA isn't bad but the only new stuff of note is that there is scene that shows how Poe escaped Jakku which was neat and Snoke does a monologue to Kylo Ren about why the Empire fell that was interesting.

Looking forward to the one for TLJ.

 

Ok I see what you’re saying now. Those or the JN’s you told be about. You’re pointing out that the films were covered in a print form. And you’re right. My mistake. I should have checked my facts before my mini satire rant haha.

My point though, is that they still aren’t covered in an adult novel print that is considered canon. I don’t really enjoy the JN’s (just me personally), so I don’t really read them unless an entry gets great reviews. I think they’re kind of short and shallow in terms of content. So I don’t even include show them when I look at the timeline usually. If you look at entries like RO and TFA though, they have adult novelizations and the JNs.

Basically you’re saying there are canon novel entries for those films, and I agree. But I’d still like AN entries from the Del Rey timeline that provide a little more depth.


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Of the two Disney era ones, I would say that the TFA one was boring and mostly just recounted the movie, and the Rogue One novel was quite good and added interesting colour. I'm very hopeful that the TLJ one will fall into the latter camp because it's Fry.

 

Yeah the interdepartmental memos/emails at the end of RO chapters were a cool aspect I thought. I found this surprisingly interesting bc Freed kinda nailed the what it’s like trying to solve problems over an office email chain.

“Should I let Bill know?”
“He’s already CC’d on everything”
*sends bill email to cover own tail*

Haha


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Yes this is spot on with the canon debate. What the Wook has done which I agree with for pre-reboot is to determine that even where scenes match up, the film takes priority anyway, so what you are reading in ROTS novel for example is still, in effect non-canon as the film takes prioroty which I think was specified at the time.

I know some people take issue with this, but it has happened in the new canon too. The Cinestory Comics that have been released, whilst officially canon, are in effect non canon. All they do it literally depict scenes from the movie (or Rebels) and add in the same speech/script. As the movies take precedent, these books are meaningless to the canon. Needless to say they have not made it to my canon library.

 

RotS is still a masterpiece. The picture it painted of the Clone Wars was something only the films at best only hinted at. The introduction and epigraphs are still amazing.

 

Yep. Picture for picture when it comes to the comics. Man I picked up the PT graphic novel because it was pretty much the only entry at the beginning of the timeline I hadn’t read yet. I put it down half way through TPM. It was literally identical to the movie with a few things cut out. Which seems backwards to me. Print entries should enhance the movie story, not minimize it. Like I said with RO: the inclusion of email chains between Krennic, Erso, Tarkin, and others is a good example of using a different medium to add story texture in a way the film couldn’t.


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Really? I’ll keep that in mind for down the road. I think they could benefit by doing new canon novelizations for the PT. Since the dialogue was so bad in the films it’d be interesting to see if the right writer could liven up characters a bit (inner monologues and what not you don’t see in the films).


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I found the TFA novel a chore to get through (as I did with Approaching Storm). Was hoping I'd get something out of it since I don't care for the film but it's pretty much the film as written. RotS it ain't.

At least The Clone Wars novel is written from someone who dislikes the Jedi so the experience is somewhat different.

 

Only the ROTS one was good

 

There were lots of bonus scenes in all 3 PT ones, at least.

 

ANH just had this Dune-like epic quality to it. And I loved descriptions of spacecraft being blown to bits with "superheated pieces scattered to the corners of the cosmos".

ROTJ is underrated as a piece of writing. I broke down and read this before seeing ROTJ and it ruined nothing. It just made me want to see the film even more.

ROTS as others have said is one of the best books ever.

 

The ROTJ novel gave us Blue Leader and spoke of his fate. Though of course, people tend to think that Gray Leader was killed early, despite it clearly referring to his wingmate Gray Wing. The description for the assorted ships too - Corellian battleships (likely CR90 corvettes), Alderaanian gunships (Corellian DP20s crewed by Alderaanians), Sullustian cargo freighters (Quasar Fire-class bulk cruisers), Kesselian blockade runners (X4 gunships - thanks Rebel Files) - have always been my go too. Considering that canon stuff is now referring to this for fleet profiles, those descriptions will never leave my brain .

The other novels give us unique insight into what characters are doing or who they are off-screen. I still consider much of what they say canon unless directly contradicted. Be interesting if they ever decide to republish them or create new ones.

 

The original Star Wars novelization is pretty interesting in that it tackles everything without the benefit of the film or the film universe on which to draw. Some parts of it feel like a rough draft of the film, and not in an unpolished way.

I don't remember anything about the Empire novelization save for that it called lightsabers laser swords and wrote out R2-D2's dialogue as "Bleep bloop boop toot bleep" instead of writing something like 'Artoo let out a series of beeps and whistles.'

The Jedi novelization does the same thing with Artoo's dialogue and additionally writes Chewie's line as "RAWWR-AHHHR-RARR!" But everyone remembers it as the best thing ever because the scene where Luke takes Vader's mask off is written well.

The novelization of The Phantom Menace has some cool bonus scenes --- we meet Anakin on Tatooine at the beginning of the novel and follow his journey throughout the duration of the book. Later scenes, like the Senate session on Coruscant, are written from his point of view. Terry Brooks actually makes him feel like the protagonist of the story, which is something that Lucas attempted but failed at. TPM and Attack of the Clones are written by the two highest-profile fantasy writers that Del Rey ever snagged for Star Wars, so the writing's good, but AOTC doesn't offer that much. The Lars family get some extra scenes at the beginning, and Owen and Beru are real characters instead of background furniture like they are in the movie. That's about it.

Revenge of the Sith is great. Read it.

I never read the novelizations of The Clone Wars and Rogue One. The former had an awful cover and even worse marketing; it almost seemed like LFL reluctantly greenlit it out of what felt like an obligation.

The Force Awakens novelization is crap and pointless and don't read it.

I did enjoy the novelization of Caravan of Courage. It really got into Cindel's head and portrayed her grief over her missing parents in a heartbreaking way. The three straight chapters of the Ewoks teaching her quantum physics were weird, though, as were the interludes showing us the Gorax's daily routine. Did we really need to know the intricacies of how he brushed his teeth? I don't think we did.

The Battle for Endor's novelization wasn't as good, though, mostly due to behind the scenes drama. Wilford Brimley apparently hated the author and publicly blasted the project, leading to the author being very unfavorable to Noa's character. He writes him as wanting to eat both Cindel and Wicket but only changing his mind because he has a stomachache.

The Holiday Special and its novelization are like night and day. A campy mess of a ridiculous variety show and a masterpiece of horror fiction penned by none other than Stephen King. Up there with his finest works, like Carrie and The Shining. Hunt this one down at your local library if you can.

A more underrated book is the novelization of Celebration VI. But the worst novelization out there is the 500-page adaptation of when George Lucas appeared on Conan and revealed Admiral Motti's first name. It shouldn't have existed, and luckily Del Rey realized their error and quietly pulled it from bookshelves after just two weeks. Don't expect a Kindle edition any time soon.

 

I like the movie novelizations although some are better than others, as been mentioned already. I've read them all except R1 and TLJ, of course.

I find the PT novels to be more interesting and to add more details than the OT versions, which seemed to just retell the story of the films, if I remember correctly. TFA was ok, not great, although I really like the bonus novella about Bazine Netal that is included in the paperback.

It is worth the time to read them, if you love SW and reading, however, there are many more interesting SW books to read than the novelizations.

 

That's exactly what the ROTS novel does. It adds so much that's not in the film, to the point where I prefer its version of the story over Lucas's.

 

Indeed, the picture painted in the introduction of the Battle of Coruscant, Kenobi and Skywalker, and the Clone Wars in general did what the film only hinted at.