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A review by mysta
The Clone Wars by Karen Traviss
4.0
See, now this is what I was hoping for from the Attack of the Clones novelization: a novel that gives you more than what you could see for yourself on the screen (and is also well-written and presumably smooths over any of the awkardness the Star Wars movies are so prone to rather than somehow making it even more awkward).
Admittedly, I haven't actually seen the movie this was based on. I did watch the clone wars series, but I had no idea there was also a movie until right now and assumed this was based on a series of episodes I'd completely forgotten, so I can't judge how much was added or changed, but there was a lot of wonderful character insight that I don't think would ever come across in a movie. Every single viewpoint character, including (maybe especially) the villains, were interesting to read about. In particular, I love that Jabba was elevated as a character from a one-dimensional mafia-gangster stereotype to a being with emotions and intelligence and even a sense of morals (if somewhat different morals from our own). I would never have thought that to be a feasible task before reading this novel, to be be perfectly honest, but here I am, almost wishing I could know more. My only major complaint about this book is that some of the quote choices at the beginnings of the chapters were... odd, to say the least. But that's easily overlooked. I also found Obi-Wan being described as eager to go into battle strange, but he plays such a minor role that it was really only momentarily distracting.
Unlike the Attack of the Clones (and, to an extent, the Phantom Menace) novelizations, this feels like it was written by someone who cares a great deal about the source material and has put significant thought into how the characters think and feel and why they behave the way they do and make the decisions they make. Though I'm working my way through the Star Wars novelizations, I don't read a lot of novelizations in general (because like book-to-screen adaptations, they usually aren't as good as the source) but this one was an absolute joy to read.
Admittedly, I haven't actually seen the movie this was based on. I did watch the clone wars series, but I had no idea there was also a movie until right now and assumed this was based on a series of episodes I'd completely forgotten, so I can't judge how much was added or changed, but there was a lot of wonderful character insight that I don't think would ever come across in a movie. Every single viewpoint character, including (maybe especially) the villains, were interesting to read about. In particular, I love that Jabba was elevated as a character from a one-dimensional mafia-gangster stereotype to a being with emotions and intelligence and even a sense of morals (if somewhat different morals from our own). I would never have thought that to be a feasible task before reading this novel, to be be perfectly honest, but here I am, almost wishing I could know more. My only major complaint about this book is that some of the quote choices at the beginnings of the chapters were... odd, to say the least. But that's easily overlooked. I also found Obi-Wan being described as eager to go into battle strange, but he plays such a minor role that it was really only momentarily distracting.
Unlike the Attack of the Clones (and, to an extent, the Phantom Menace) novelizations, this feels like it was written by someone who cares a great deal about the source material and has put significant thought into how the characters think and feel and why they behave the way they do and make the decisions they make. Though I'm working my way through the Star Wars novelizations, I don't read a lot of novelizations in general (because like book-to-screen adaptations, they usually aren't as good as the source) but this one was an absolute joy to read.