Book Review – Revenge of the Sith

It’s not unusual to leave a movie theatre feeling like you want more. That feeling is considerably more pronounced after having waited 27 years to see the last of six movies.

Having read the novelisations of episodes four through six, which each felt like they added about three paragraphs of insight to the movie content, I was a little sceptical about reading the book of the film for ‘Revenge of the Sith’. Within a couple of pages, my scepticism was starting to fade.

One thing that I felt was insufficiently explained in the movie was the change in the relationship between Anakin and both Padme and Obi-Wan, respectively, and the whole slide of Anakin to the Dark Side. Considerably more depth is given to this in the book, as you would expect. This makes the change appreciably more credible, which Anakin really deserved (whether you agree with his decision processes or not, it helps if you can at least relate to his motives).

I don’t think Matthew Stover is the best writer on the planet. In fact, I did find some of the passages a bit arduous and hard to focus on (and no, my eyes are fine). Nevertheless, it is a well-written book that is generally easy to read…indeed, hard to stop reading. I have never found it easy to read complex scenes about Rogue Squadron battles, and lightsaber duels are similarly technical, but this book does it’s best to convey the action to the reader.

That being said, there is no lack of understanding on the part of the author, and that is key. Not only does he understand the background but he is able to build upon it convincingly and add considerable depth to the story shown in the movie. The additional elements even explain some things that could be considered holes in the plot of the movie.

If you have walked out of the theatre and wished there was just a little bit more, then this novel is a great place to start. It has even inspired me to consider reading the novels of Episodes I and II.

Contributed by Robbie the Robot

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