Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
by MATTHEW STOVER
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Book Summary Information
Author: MATTHEW STOVEREdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-04-02
ISBN: 0345428838
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: LucasBooks
Book Reviews of Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Book Review: Highly Critical Review
Summary: 4 Stars
*******Spoilers?? Ya damn right Skippy*******
Matthew Stover is arguably one of the best writers out there. His ability to portray characters and intertwine philosophical/emotion complexities is simply amazing. For the fall of Anakin Skywalker, no one could have done it better than Matthew Stover. With such glowing praise one would think this review would be a 5 star 2 thumbs up seal of approval endorsement, but sadly tis not the case. I would have loved nothing more then to give my favorite author a 5 star rating but after much self debating and excuses I made for Matthew Stover, I am ultimately rating the book. The book gets a solid 3 and a half stars, amazon does not let you vote half stars so I rounded up to 4 stars. Before you cry bohooo let me quickly clarify. For all of you Star Wars fans you will find this book is a gem deserving 5 stars but for all of us Matthew Stover fans it is only good. If you want to know what I mean, do yourself a favor and pick up Shatterpoint or Traitor (both are Star Wars novels) and if you really want to treat yourself to something awesome read one of his Caine novels (Mace Windu to the tenth degree)
Now to the reasons why the book is just on-par.
Could it be the pacing of the story? As other reviewers have noted the story-telling is erratic. Starting off slow it built to a mind numbing fight scene between Anakin, Obi-wan, and Dooku. Now this is an epic scene which reminded me of Mace Windu in Shatterpoint and Jacen Solo in Traitor. Matthew Stover's light saber duels are quite something truly to behold. These are the fights we all dream and fantasize about when younger. Reading these scenes makes me want to grab a plastic-stick-on-a-flashlight-wannabe-lightsaber and prance around in my jammies twirling, whirling, and accidentally videotape it, only to have it proliferate across the Internet ....errrrrrr got off on a tangent there, sorry ;P. Anyway Matthew Stover did a wonderful job with pacing until the dark side drew the curtains, at which time he decided its a wrap!!! Anakin has been converted and the liquid excrement just hit the fan, screw the fight between Anakin and Obiwan. Forget mini-me Yodi versus Lord Sidious. The birth of Luke and Leia, who cares we all know how this will end so lets just condense, summarize, and throw a low-carb cake version to the masses. ARrrggggg what were you thinking Matthew!!!!! How could you stiff us like that? How could you mesmerize and tantalize that carrot in front of us and pull the rug from under us???? Right after Anakin subverted the story-telling got butchered I tell you!!! BUTCHERED!!!
Okay enough ranting, even with the erratic story-telling I can still forgive Matthew Stover. So what could it be that brought this rating down? That can only be characterization. Matthew Stover is a genius when it comes to characterization. He literally puts you in the persons shoes so you can see through the character's eyes and understand what the character is thinking. With an author with this caliber you would think he'd be able to pull through with the seduction of Anakin to the dark side. Now in all fairness he did a wonderful job at the beginning, heck half the time Lord Sidious spoke to Anakin I could not help but nod and agree with every word. Those jealous jaded jedi's how could they do this to you Anakin! The art of seduction is a simple, subtle, and slow process that poisons the mind yet it would still need something to push Anakin over the edge. That something Matthew Stover did not provide. Anakin is a maturing adult and no matter how twisted the maturing process is a person always makes choices that they believe are right. Its the proverbial pursuit of happiness, no matter how evil a person is they will do what gives them some semblance of happiness. Lord Sidious embraces the dark side for unlimited power yet Anakin at the end joined the dark forces for what? Some could say for his love of his wife yet that is contradictory because in the end Matthew Stover would have us believe he loved himself more than her. Matthew Stover totally botched this one and here it is.
1 Palpatine is basically a father to Anakin, 2 he has twisted Anakin's way of thinking, 3 he successfully makes Anakin view the Jedi as corrupt, 4 he has shown Anakin the usefulness of the darkside powers, 5 he basically has Anakin thinking the Sith and the Jedi are the same, and 6 he has shown Anakin how corrupt the world is and the need for one strong "empire" for a new utopia of peace. So with all these reasons why would Anakin, a twisted maturing adult with more reasons to hate the jedi, ball up and cry like a baby after Palpatine reveals himself as the boogy man? Not only does he run away but he tat-o-tales on Palpatine his only father figure. And if that was not bad enough the sniveling snot Anakin, that is shaking like a leaf is converted to the dark side by perching his mind on top and looking down? So in essence he lets his body be controlled by the darkside so that he does not have to feel bad? WTF! When did the dark powers turn into a full blown poltergeist with the ability to change facial structure that would make a plastic surgeon jealous? Come on now, I feel like I am reading the exorcist here, whatever happened to the force being just a power that is synonymous to a gun in which the bearer uses for good or evil. But who cares about that because in a far galaxy far far away from here there was a poltergeist that took over Anakins body and turned him so evil that he would try to kill men, women, children, aliens, his mentor Obiwan that is like a brother, his wife that he loves not to mention the unborn child, and even his father figure that just converted and baptized him in the forces of darkness.
As you can see his free fall to the darkside is just not believable enough. What should have pushed him over the edge should have been more in line with the story. For instance, in what Anakin feels is a betrayal by the jedi. It would have been more convincing if Anakin thought the jedi left Obiwan to die fighting General Grevious or the jedi letting his wife die. Then he would have reason to purge the corrupt jedi and pursue a utilitarian galaxy. What would have been the best though would be Anakin sacrificing himself to the darkside to protect his children and turning into Darth Vader to erase his memory of the twins hah I should help George Lucas with his stories :P Another tangent sorry. Anyway the book is good but in terms of the crucial turning point (which is the whole reason for this episode) was too weak. No matter how I look at it there is no concrete reason why he accepted to be Lord Sidious's apprentice and became such a twisted soul. Besides that the story is decent and to be fair no one could have written this episode better than Matthew Stover, I cringe to even think if another person wrote it.
I can't blame Matthew Stover though, because his writing the book was a jedi trap. He probably had to stay as close to the screenplay as possible and with the screenplay being clouded by the dark powers of the Sith Lord Lucas writing a book this decent is commendable indeed. Also with a screenplay Matthew Stover didn't have much room to work without changing the entire story which is why Shatterpoint and Traitor are much better. I probably won't watch Episode III due to the craptacness of Episode II. Although I would put down 8 dollars at the movies any day to watch Jar Jar Binks roast on the end of Anakin's lightsaber. Heck I'll actually buy a ticket for all of my friends and family to cheer Jar Jar Binks to the after life but damn my wish won't be fulfilled, hey maybe I should prance in my
Summary of Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
The turning point for the entire Star Wars saga is at handAfter years of civil war, the Separatists have battered the already faltering Republic nearly to the point of collapse. On Coruscant, the Senate watches anxiously as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine aggressively strips away more and more constitutional liberties in the name of safeguarding the Republic. Yoda, Mace Windu, and their fellow Masters grapple with the Chancellor?s disturbing move to assume control of the Jedi Council. And Anakin Skywalker, the prophesied Chosen One, destined to bring balance to the Force, is increasingly consumed by his fear that his secret love, Senator Padmé Amidala, will die.
As the combat escalates across the galaxy, the stage is set for an explosive endgame: Obi-Wan undertakes a perilous mission to destroy the dreaded Separatist military leader General Grievous. Palpatine, eager to secure even greater control, subtly influences public opinion to turn against the Jedi. And a conflicted Anakin?tormented by unspeakable visions?edges dangerously closer to the brink of a galaxy-shaping decision. It remains only for Darth Sidious, whose shadow looms ever larger, to strike the final staggering blow against the Republic . . . and to ordain a fearsome new Sith Lord: Darth Vader.
Based on the screenplay of the eagerly anticipated final film in George Lucas?s epic saga, bestselling Star Wars author Matthew Stover?s novel crackles with action, captures the iconic characters in all their complexity, and brings a space opera masterpiece full circle in stunning style.
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