August Reviews

I'm Star Wars trash and that's a fact.

Let's not even waste any time.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks

Yes, I decided this month would be all Star Wars books to build up to the Ahsoka series that comes out August 23rd. Obviously I had to read them in series order, so that meant starting with The Phantom Menace novelization my coworker gave me for my birthday.

Essentially just the movie with some extra bits, this was a very faithful following of the story. I appreciated the extra bits with Anakin, since they added more to his character. So much of Anakin's story focuses on after he leaves Tatooine (and I fully understand why, that's the whole story) but I really enjoyed getting these snippets of him before the plot catches up with him.

I maintain that The Phantom Menace is underrated, though I will admit that the battle bits I skipped over while reading. I don’t need to know how Jar Jar Binks does in battle, I already know it's not great. There are definitely parts that do better on a screen, like the podracing and battle scenes, but the quieter moments I could really appreciate. I will also readily admit that as a movie and story it's truly a wild course of events. Trade federations and tax evasion, betting on human beings, the plot hinging on a literal child winning a race, it's a weird plot to follow, but it sets up SO MUCH for the greater Star Wars story. Plus I'm so fascinated by the handmaidens and Amidala, and they really get to shine in this part.

I will admit that I enjoyed reading EK Johnstons book about Padme before and during the events of episode 1 (Queen's Peril) more than I did this book. But I still had a fun time.

Yay Star Wars!

Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones by R. A. Salvatore

This is my favorite movie of the prequels, so I was stoked to get to the novelization. Overall it was a faithful adaptation (obviously, it's based on the movie and screenplay with some extra George Lucas approved bits thrown in) with some interesting observations that wouldn't necessarily have been my interpretation of things. I don't even know if that's the right phrasing, I think it was just cool to see the internal thoughts of certain characters during pivotal points.

I will say, absolutely no shade intended, but I liked the writing better in this book than The Phantom Menace. The action sequences were a bit more interesting to follow, though I did end up jumping around a bit during big battles (a perk of knowing this movie super well is I could picture exactly what was happening even without the book descriptions).

The extra scenes we got were mostly in the beginning with Padme and her sister and Shmi with her new family on Tatooine. I appreciated the Shmi parts because I just think her character is so underutilized (rip being fridged for male feelings), but the Padme bits felt a little off to me. They revolved a lot around the idea of family and children vs work, and while that is fully and understandable and pretty universal female experience, this felt like...you could tell it was written by a man. And I appreciate his work and how it adds to Padme's character and where her arc is going (she obviously needs to feel some yearning for a family to fall for Anakin and want a life with him), certain phrasing and aspects of it just felt forced and a little distant. But that could just be me not wanting kids so the dilemma is not relatable to me, who knows.

Overall this was a fun look at media I'm already familiar with.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover

I've seen quotes from this floating around the internet and have been genuinely excited to read it for a while, and I have to say I was not disappointed.

This was the best novelization of the movies I've read thus far. The others were fine, if a bit clinical feelings, but this one sang. The language Stover uses made it feel almost like a new story while simultaneously so familiar. But the feeling is deeper, everything even more meaningful than the original tragedy.

And the way it's written is really beautiful. The opening paragraph alone got me so in my feelings and excited. His phrasing and pacing are great, everything coalesces into loss and betrayal and horror, and it's unstoppable, it's already happened and can't be changed.

I appreciate this book so much for what it gives the movie and as a standalone. Truly worth the hype. This is such a short review because I'm still reeling from how actually really good this book was.

The Star Wars Trilogy by George Lucas, Donald F Glut, and James Kahn

I wrote a review for this and then my phone deleted if, so welcome to round 2 where I definitely forgot most of what I wrote.

This is essentially three books in one, so that's how I'm going to treat this review.

George Lucas obviously created and wrote the original trilogy movies, so it was kind of funny to me that they had other authors come in and write the novelization of two of the three. They did a pretty good job, but it was still surprising to me.

What was even more surprising though was the changes made to very critical and recognizable phrases?? In both A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back the plot followed the movies and included some deleted scenes I've seen floating around the internet, but Leia's plea for help and Leia and Han's very iconic love declaration were changed, which was wild to me. The shift from Luke as red five to blue five also threw me off too.

I will say, the OT mirrored the PT in that the third book adaption was the best of the three. Return of the Jedi was the most compellingly written, at least in my opinion, and Kann wasn't afraid ro breathe a bit more life and emotion into certain moments, which was appreciated.

Overall it was an interesting read for each story. They're definitely better as movies than books, that's just the nature of it, but the writing was interesting and the story was compelling, so I had a good time with it.

I will say, I did expect a bit more from George, but I did know that the editing did a lot of heavy lifting in Star Wars, so I shouldn't have been surprised the writing was a tad dry. Glut wrote in a similar manner, but it did have a bit more life to it in places. Kann was my favorite by far.

If you can believe it, I have four other Star Wars books I was hoping to read this month that I didn't get to, so we'll have another Star Wars month of reading at some point. I'm gonna take a space break though and read some other stuff in September.

So, keep reading!

Literary recommendation: In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune, because it's part of my friend book club and my best friend got married this month so I'm all up in my friend feelings

Media recommendation: You'd think I'd recommend the Ahsoka show, but it's actually been kinda disappointing for me, so instead please go listen to Hozier's new album Unreal Unearth because it slaps so hard and I'm obsessed with it.