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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
I bought this book a long time ago and I read it all the time! Perfect novel version of the movie and even gives a little more backstory and extra little things that never happened in the movies.
It was never going to be below a 5 ☆, that much was certain.
But...my love for this story only grows with time. The story is beautiful, heartbreaking and important. The battle with yourself and your inner light and darkness is always present. I bawled at the end of ROTJ, because the author painted the last moments of Anakin Skywalker beautifully. Luke, my baby boy, he is a beacon of hope and light and goodness and is everything that this galaxy needed. Leia, the other hope, was also stunningly powerful and capable while being in no way less than the lady and princess she truly is. Han, our trickster who grew a heart and accepted their friendship and love and grew alongisde them despite having lost faith in the galaxy. I love them all. But above all, the arc of Anakin Skywalker was completed in a beautiful and devastating way that makes you pity the man who fell so far. At least now he may rest with his brother, Kenobi, in the eternal force and look over his children with pride. Magificent, beautiful, groundbreaking, amazing, everything I needed and more.
But...my love for this story only grows with time. The story is beautiful, heartbreaking and important. The battle with yourself and your inner light and darkness is always present. I bawled at the end of ROTJ, because the author painted the last moments of Anakin Skywalker beautifully. Luke, my baby boy, he is a beacon of hope and light and goodness and is everything that this galaxy needed. Leia, the other hope, was also stunningly powerful and capable while being in no way less than the lady and princess she truly is. Han, our trickster who grew a heart and accepted their friendship and love and grew alongisde them despite having lost faith in the galaxy. I love them all. But above all, the arc of Anakin Skywalker was completed in a beautiful and devastating way that makes you pity the man who fell so far. At least now he may rest with his brother, Kenobi, in the eternal force and look over his children with pride. Magificent, beautiful, groundbreaking, amazing, everything I needed and more.
First, the last book.
I really enjoyed it. Not as much as Empire Strikes Back, but it was good and the ending was very fulfilling. The death of Darth Vader was definitely sadder than in the movie, it went on for longer and definitely made me feel for him. The author, as I said before, I really liked. His writing style was interesting and kept me wanting to read more, though again writing out sounds is dumb. I’m pretty sure Leia and Han have sex in the forest after the Death Star blows up, which is kinda gross but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
The characters?
Didn’t grow much from Empire. Luke got a lot wiser and less whiny, which definitely improved him. Han got more soppy, which did the opposite. The rest were about the same.
Things I liked?
During Lando’s parts, he makes a lot of comparisons to gambling. As he is a gambler, this makes him interesting and gives him the feeling of having a personality.
Probably my favourite part of the book is on pages 417 to 419, when the gang is trying to persuade the Ewoks to fight with them against the Empire. It was really enjoyable and it showed the reasons why the characters fight and it was just so good. Also, in the movie the Ewoks just fight with them, and it’s kinda assumed that it’s because they’re all buddies. But this gives a real, valid reason why and I love that.
On page 433, when Darth Vader is leading Luke to the Emperor, Luke has this big dilemma of who to kill, the Emperor or Darth Vader. And it’s also a struggle with the dark side, and his wish for revenge but then his belief of good in Vader. It continues when the Emperor is goading him, and during the whole battle with Vader. Of course I know what’s going to happen, but I really enjoyed his dilemma and struggles, he’s NOT some pathetic boy from Tatooine, but a dude trying to make the ultimate decision. I love it.
On the outside of the Death Star, there is the space battle. On pages 440 to 441, Lando is flying around with the other guys and it’s confusing, because it doesn’t describe the battle at first, just has people shouting. It doesn’t say who’s shouting, it just has the sentences. And, surprisingly enough, I liked that. It made the actual battle seem more confusing, more busy, faster. And that’s what the battle was.
Lastly, is Moff Jerjerrod. They fleshed him out a little bit, talked a little from his point of view. I liked this, because it’s interesting seeing less important evil characters growing a little. I kinda wish the other authors had done the same for Grand Moff Tarkin, but maybe that’s just because I love Peter Cushing.
Things I didn’t like?
Everyone seems to know so many languages. Why? There’s so many planets…so many different languages…and they just happened to know the correct, useful language? Are the rebels getting language lessons in their spare time? I’m so glad I don’t live in this galaxy.
Also, kinda connected, in previous books few people understood R2-D2. In the prequels it was wonky, but we’re not talking about those. In these ones, only C-3PO and Luke’s X-Wing can understand him. And yet! All of a sudden! Leia can understand him, Han can understand him, C-3PO no longer needs to translate. It seems everyone has brushed up on their droid language.
Misc. thoughts?
On page 430, it mentions some Ewoks (the important ones, like Wicket and the chief) and it mentions an Ewok called Warwick. Firstly, that’s supposed to be Wicket’s last name, but it already mentioned him earlier in the list of Ewoks. This is the only time Warwick was mentioned in the books, which is also strange. I was wondering if it’s because in the movie Widget was played by Warwick Davies, and it was sorta an easter egg type thing? Kinda silly, but meh.
On the same page, Han says "with just those guards this should be easier than breaking a bantha." Banthas are only on Tatooine…so is Tatooine well known enough for people to be saying that, or did Han just make that up? Makes me think.
Series as a whole?
It was pretty good. I didn’t like the authors for the prequels, especially the one who wrote the first book, but the sequels were better. A New Hope also had a crappy writing style, but George Lucas is not an author sooo. But the prequels seemed kinda stale, Anakin was unlikable, Padmé was unlikable, Jar Jar was worse than in the movies. But Obi-Wan was A+++, though the author of the third book kinda messed that up a little. Sequels? C-3PO is annoying but better than Jar Jar, everyone was kinda a dick to R2-D2 in Empire Strikes Back which was sad, Han was a dick in the first book but redeemed himself, Leia is to uppity and needs to get off her high horse, Luke is whiny and about as annoying as C-3PO and even Return of the Jedi couldn’t completely fix that, Lando went through an amazing change between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but he also does in the movies. Star Wars is a fairly shallow series to me, good versus evil and blah blah blah but it doesn’t seem to have many underlying themes, it’s just an action series. Which is cool cool cool, buuuuut I prefer more depth in my books. I guess we could go over Friendship is Magic and how they all become best buddies and learn how to trust each other but ew. It’s good for what it is, and there’s reasons why it’s such a popular movie series, but not super great books as a whole.
Would I read this again?
Yeah. Probably. Not for a little while, and I like the movies better, but sure.
How much would I like these if movies didn’t exist?
Meh. It was easy reading, not a lot of thought involved, the characters has personalities but didn’t really grow, didn’t describe anyone or anything well, so the series as a whole would probably be a 3 star. I would like them enough.
I really enjoyed it. Not as much as Empire Strikes Back, but it was good and the ending was very fulfilling. The death of Darth Vader was definitely sadder than in the movie, it went on for longer and definitely made me feel for him. The author, as I said before, I really liked. His writing style was interesting and kept me wanting to read more, though again writing out sounds is dumb. I’m pretty sure Leia and Han have sex in the forest after the Death Star blows up, which is kinda gross but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
The characters?
Didn’t grow much from Empire. Luke got a lot wiser and less whiny, which definitely improved him. Han got more soppy, which did the opposite. The rest were about the same.
Things I liked?
During Lando’s parts, he makes a lot of comparisons to gambling. As he is a gambler, this makes him interesting and gives him the feeling of having a personality.
Probably my favourite part of the book is on pages 417 to 419, when the gang is trying to persuade the Ewoks to fight with them against the Empire. It was really enjoyable and it showed the reasons why the characters fight and it was just so good. Also, in the movie the Ewoks just fight with them, and it’s kinda assumed that it’s because they’re all buddies. But this gives a real, valid reason why and I love that.
On page 433, when Darth Vader is leading Luke to the Emperor, Luke has this big dilemma of who to kill, the Emperor or Darth Vader. And it’s also a struggle with the dark side, and his wish for revenge but then his belief of good in Vader. It continues when the Emperor is goading him, and during the whole battle with Vader. Of course I know what’s going to happen, but I really enjoyed his dilemma and struggles, he’s NOT some pathetic boy from Tatooine, but a dude trying to make the ultimate decision. I love it.
On the outside of the Death Star, there is the space battle. On pages 440 to 441, Lando is flying around with the other guys and it’s confusing, because it doesn’t describe the battle at first, just has people shouting. It doesn’t say who’s shouting, it just has the sentences. And, surprisingly enough, I liked that. It made the actual battle seem more confusing, more busy, faster. And that’s what the battle was.
Lastly, is Moff Jerjerrod. They fleshed him out a little bit, talked a little from his point of view. I liked this, because it’s interesting seeing less important evil characters growing a little. I kinda wish the other authors had done the same for Grand Moff Tarkin, but maybe that’s just because I love Peter Cushing.
Things I didn’t like?
Everyone seems to know so many languages. Why? There’s so many planets…so many different languages…and they just happened to know the correct, useful language? Are the rebels getting language lessons in their spare time? I’m so glad I don’t live in this galaxy.
Also, kinda connected, in previous books few people understood R2-D2. In the prequels it was wonky, but we’re not talking about those. In these ones, only C-3PO and Luke’s X-Wing can understand him. And yet! All of a sudden! Leia can understand him, Han can understand him, C-3PO no longer needs to translate. It seems everyone has brushed up on their droid language.
Misc. thoughts?
On page 430, it mentions some Ewoks (the important ones, like Wicket and the chief) and it mentions an Ewok called Warwick. Firstly, that’s supposed to be Wicket’s last name, but it already mentioned him earlier in the list of Ewoks. This is the only time Warwick was mentioned in the books, which is also strange. I was wondering if it’s because in the movie Widget was played by Warwick Davies, and it was sorta an easter egg type thing? Kinda silly, but meh.
On the same page, Han says "with just those guards this should be easier than breaking a bantha." Banthas are only on Tatooine…so is Tatooine well known enough for people to be saying that, or did Han just make that up? Makes me think.
Series as a whole?
It was pretty good. I didn’t like the authors for the prequels, especially the one who wrote the first book, but the sequels were better. A New Hope also had a crappy writing style, but George Lucas is not an author sooo. But the prequels seemed kinda stale, Anakin was unlikable, Padmé was unlikable, Jar Jar was worse than in the movies. But Obi-Wan was A+++, though the author of the third book kinda messed that up a little. Sequels? C-3PO is annoying but better than Jar Jar, everyone was kinda a dick to R2-D2 in Empire Strikes Back which was sad, Han was a dick in the first book but redeemed himself, Leia is to uppity and needs to get off her high horse, Luke is whiny and about as annoying as C-3PO and even Return of the Jedi couldn’t completely fix that, Lando went through an amazing change between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but he also does in the movies. Star Wars is a fairly shallow series to me, good versus evil and blah blah blah but it doesn’t seem to have many underlying themes, it’s just an action series. Which is cool cool cool, buuuuut I prefer more depth in my books. I guess we could go over Friendship is Magic and how they all become best buddies and learn how to trust each other but ew. It’s good for what it is, and there’s reasons why it’s such a popular movie series, but not super great books as a whole.
Would I read this again?
Yeah. Probably. Not for a little while, and I like the movies better, but sure.
How much would I like these if movies didn’t exist?
Meh. It was easy reading, not a lot of thought involved, the characters has personalities but didn’t really grow, didn’t describe anyone or anything well, so the series as a whole would probably be a 3 star. I would like them enough.
This is a lovely leatherbound collection of the novelizations of the original Star Wars trilogy. Star Wars by George Lucas is retitled here to Star Wars: A New Hope, and was actually originally Ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster (who is credited in the introduction) based on Lucas' script. The other two novels are The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut (based on Lucas' story) and Return of the Jedi by James Kahn (based on the screenplay by Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan, and the original story by Lucas).
You almost certainly know the stories here. I read all three of these novels in the original paperback when I was a teenager, but didn't have more than a vague memory of the novel versions at this point.
The novels do a nice job of filling in some backstory and adding perspective to characters, particularly characters like Lando Calrissian and Admiral Ackbar, who don't actually get that many lines in the films.
There are also some scenes that did not make it into the films. Among those that stand out the most are a scene in A New Hope with Luke hanging out with friends on Tatooine, which just about doubles Luke's supporting cast back home and gives a nice picture of Luke as a young man trying to have some fun while stuck out in the boondocks of the galaxy.
Another scene that impressed me is an absolutely awesome speech given by Wicket, and translated by C3PO as Wicket makes an impassioned plea to convince the Ewoks to join the Rebel Alliance. I can see why there wasn't room for this in the movie version of Return of the Jedi, but it really changes the reader's perspective on Wicket as a character.
There was a certain level of awkwardness in some of the writing. There was a lot of Earth-based terminology, especially comparisons between alien creatures and Earth animals (the Rancor was the size of an elephant, etc), that current SF writers would most likely find other ways of working around. There was also a noticeably heavy reliance on big words, to the point where some passages felt like they were written with thesaurus-in-hand.
And of course, some of the continuity here is now outdated by the more recent films.
But all in all, this was a nice bit of nostalgia, some good peeks into the heads of the characters, and a set of three stories that still hold together really well.
You almost certainly know the stories here. I read all three of these novels in the original paperback when I was a teenager, but didn't have more than a vague memory of the novel versions at this point.
The novels do a nice job of filling in some backstory and adding perspective to characters, particularly characters like Lando Calrissian and Admiral Ackbar, who don't actually get that many lines in the films.
There are also some scenes that did not make it into the films. Among those that stand out the most are a scene in A New Hope with Luke hanging out with friends on Tatooine, which just about doubles Luke's supporting cast back home and gives a nice picture of Luke as a young man trying to have some fun while stuck out in the boondocks of the galaxy.
Another scene that impressed me is an absolutely awesome speech given by Wicket, and translated by C3PO as Wicket makes an impassioned plea to convince the Ewoks to join the Rebel Alliance. I can see why there wasn't room for this in the movie version of Return of the Jedi, but it really changes the reader's perspective on Wicket as a character.
There was a certain level of awkwardness in some of the writing. There was a lot of Earth-based terminology, especially comparisons between alien creatures and Earth animals (the Rancor was the size of an elephant, etc), that current SF writers would most likely find other ways of working around. There was also a noticeably heavy reliance on big words, to the point where some passages felt like they were written with thesaurus-in-hand.
And of course, some of the continuity here is now outdated by the more recent films.
But all in all, this was a nice bit of nostalgia, some good peeks into the heads of the characters, and a set of three stories that still hold together really well.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I admit that I only saw Star Wars in 2015 (when The Force Awakens came out) and then the rest in 2016. Bad nerd, me. But, my parents already think Doctor Who is strange.
Either way, this was a birthday present from myself. It was a good choice. Spent a good two weeks very entertained and a bit like I was walking round with all three films.
The story is well, the same, obvi. But there is a little extra scene where Luke meets with his friend before the person whose name I’ve forgotten goes off to join the rebellion. I think Luke and his daddy have a longer convo before he dis-arms him (hehehe), but I am not sure.
The best part however is the way Darth Vader is described. I think the author had a massive hard-on for him and basically it was amazing. I would have done the same thing.
Definitely an excellent present.
Either way, this was a birthday present from myself. It was a good choice. Spent a good two weeks very entertained and a bit like I was walking round with all three films.
The story is well, the same, obvi. But there is a little extra scene where Luke meets with his friend before the person whose name I’ve forgotten goes off to join the rebellion. I think Luke and his daddy have a longer convo before he dis-arms him (hehehe), but I am not sure.
The best part however is the way Darth Vader is described. I think the author had a massive hard-on for him and basically it was amazing. I would have done the same thing.
Definitely an excellent present.
I read and reviewed each of the three books collected here separately, so this is basically just for my own records. The rating for the collection's an average of the three individual ratings: A New Hope earned 3 stars, and both Empire and Jedi earned 2.
Look, they are not great. Novelisations, for me, need to do more than just rehash what's on the screen. Especially when the films are as excellent as they are, retellings as superficial as these just don't cut it. I read them because I've heard good things about the extended universe so thought I'd start from the beginning, but things better improve smartly is all I can say. Especially on the characterisation front - books have the opportunity to do that better than films, I think, so why that wasn't taken advantage of here I don't know.
Look, they are not great. Novelisations, for me, need to do more than just rehash what's on the screen. Especially when the films are as excellent as they are, retellings as superficial as these just don't cut it. I read them because I've heard good things about the extended universe so thought I'd start from the beginning, but things better improve smartly is all I can say. Especially on the characterisation front - books have the opportunity to do that better than films, I think, so why that wasn't taken advantage of here I don't know.
How can one go wrong when it's a beautiful book containing the original trilogy of Star Wars. Loved getting to experience the story again in book form.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm not sure how to rate this book to be honest, I think I'm settling on a 3 stars. I haven't seen the movies in a while so I really enjoyed re-experiencing them in novel form. That being said I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style. A minor thing that irked me was that the droids' names were spelled out phonetically, which, I guess that isn't bad on its own, but after seeing "see-threepio" or "artoo detoo" after the nth time just started kinda irking me, like I don't mind "Threepio" or "Artoo" but for some reason it just kinda bothered me after a while.