PT Prequel Films vs. The Novels?

I've read a number of reviews of the novelizations of the Prequel Trilogy from readers who said they enjoyed the Novels more then the films themselves.I've seen the Prequel Films but never read the novels and I'm thinking about reading them, what are the differences between the films and novels? Are the Novels better?

 

novels are books and films are movies.

 

The novels include scenes not seen in the movies and get into the character's heads better than in the movies.

 

TPM: I do admit I haven't read the entire book yet, but I know there are the deleted scenes. Also, one of the main golden nuggets is the history of the Sith.

AOTC: The novel starts off like a few days prior to where the movie begins. More of the Lars and Shmi's kidnapping. Anakin and Obi-Wan returning from Ansion. Padme talking with her sister and her security about possible threats. Also there are the deleted scenes and extended scenes. Now I already liked them, but after reading this novel, it sealed the deal and made Anakin and Padme one of my favorite couples.

ROTS: You really get inside the characters' heads. Here's a video where the author talks about it.

 

I think, with the style of George Lucas being what it is (that's not a slam), the novels proved to be a great way for people to get some of that more intimate nuance that the film's were only able to hint at. The only novelization I read was ROTS, and it has been a long time, but there's still some key things from that book that I carrie with me. I remember the added sequences of Palpatine testing Anakin's worldview, I remember a lot of great details explaining exactly what the state of the Galaxy was like, I remember the crushingly dark look into Anakins psyche one he had realized that he had lost everything. I remember it being a very emotional book to read, possibly moreso than the movie. That being said, I don't know if I could commit to saying it's better than the movie. I do know others have brought up that one of the major missteps Stover made was having Anakin make snarky jokes while cutting down the CIS members. I thought that was insanely dumb.

 

I actually do somewhat enjoy that. I still sometimes laugh at, "The transmission was garbled, he said you would be left in pieces." Though I suppose it's really not very Vader-like.

Also there was the other mistake where the novel states Padme was the youngest Queen ever elected on Naboo when she clearly states in AOTC that she was not. Other than that I can't complain too much, it's still one of my favorite novels.

 

Apology accepted Captain Needa?

 

I haven't read TPM or AOTC yet, but I found Stover's ROTS a bit too twee for my liking. He tends to get over sentimental when it comes to Obi Wan's thoughts ("this is what it's like to be him right now", Mace's "you are the master", "can't think of anything better than to watch Anakin's son"...). It's not very subtle, and the soppiness is weird especially since the film is so dark.

 

Not a fan of RotS novel. The other two are great, although nothing replaces the movies themselves.

 

I've only read the ROTS novel and that one stopped me from reading the others.

There is some nice additional information, especially conerning the policical situation, but I felt Stover got many of the characters all wrong. Anakin, in the movie, might be naive, gullible, even "stupid" - Anakin in the novel is simply insane. I don't want to see Anakin as an insane person. Anakin's "bug" (the way Stover makes Anakin see Padme) isn't portrayed very accurate as well, imo. Obi-Wan seems to be okay in the novel, though, from my memory.

Movies give you a chance to make the characters your own, in some way and to some extent. It's one of the things I like about them. And the Star Wars movies have much more exciting images and music than the novelizations

 

The ROTS novel is a masterpiece, and the novelizations of I and II definitely improve on the films in many ways as well. I'm a fan of the the movies but the novels definitely improve on their shortcomings - ROTS in particular, since my biggest issue with all of the prequels is Anakin's abrupt and poorly motivated fall, and the novel makes it much more believable and powerful.

There are aspects of Star Wars that only the movies can portray, but I consider the novels to enhance the experience rather than replace them.

 

I read each of the novels before seeing each of the films - and I ended up wishing a lot of the "deleted scenes" (or authorial invented scenes, like possibly the Needa one in RotS) had been on screen.

 

Stover's style isn't for everyone - but it definitely grew on me.

 

I like it but can't read ROTS too often. A bit too much after repeated exposure. For some reason I read the book twice within a months time (several years ago) and it was wearing on me that second time. Reading it once a year or every couple years makes the burnout bearable.

AOTC and TPM are not like that. I really need to those novels again.

 

Believe me, the novels for TPM and AotC are fortunately not like RotS. I would give them a chance.

 

There's also junior novels for all three. The RoTS one seems to fall midway between the adult version, and the movie, in terms of script.

 

This excerpt from ROTS is some of the best written moments from SW ever imo. Which, is why part of it is my sig.

This story happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It is already over. Nothing can be done to change it.

It is a story of love and loss, brotherhood and betrayal, courage and sacrifice and the death of dreams. It is a story of the blurred line between our best and our worst.

It is the story of the end of an age.

A strange thing about stories-Though this all happened so long ago and so far away that words cannot describe the time or the distance, it is also happening right now. Right here.

It is happening as you read these words.

This is how twenty-five millennia come to a close. Corruption and treachery have crushed a thousand years of peace. This is not just the end of a republic; night is falling on civilization itself.

This is the twilight of the Jedi.

The end starts now.

The introduction:The Age of Heroes rocks as well.

Really hit home that we were about to have all our questions answered on how the OT came to be.

 

The ending occasionally brings a lump to the throat as well:

The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins - but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.
Love is more than a candle.
Love can ignite the stars.​

 

I remember how when I was a kid and after I saw the movie I eventually read the novel of ANH. I forget when probably the early 80's and I thought the exact same thing. The book made Star Wars a much better film.

Of course it didn't really but what it really did was make it better for me by reading it and getting a lot of background material and flavour that can only be gained through other media like books, comics, names from toys and cards and the like.

It's really no different for the OT to the PT and hopefully the ST as well. Movies are movies and books are books and George used both to their best.

So if people find the novelizations make them enjoy the movies more then his methodology has proven to be true yet again.

What needs to be noted is that Lucas approved and did all final edits of the books and decided what needed to be expanded and explained that didn't need to be in movie form.

What also is of note all the people who swear scenes that were only in the books were in the movies. This is one of the reasons why people think that the Sith were in the OT when they weren't at all.

In 1991 Timothy Zahn wanted to show what Lord of the Sith meant by introducing the Sith as who they actually were was never revealed despite people who thought they did.

 

It really does.

 

The films will always be superior to me (I don't care what anyone says, the prequels are amazing on their own), but I do think the novelizations make great supplements. They just provide more thorough explanations for things that were understandably glanced over due to time restraints in the films. The same goes for the novelizations of the OT.

I think Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover is my favorite. I loved getting such a deep insight into Anakin's head during his transition into Vader. So good.