Revenge of the Sith book - (spoilers)

[Selena]

This the book discussion thread - there are spoilers for the upcoming movie.


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Spoilers!



Do not read this thread if you want to remain spoiler free for the movie.


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Last chance to turn back!



You have been warned .... proceed at your own risk!







I've just finished reading Revenge of the Sith. :eek:
I must say that parts of this book were very enjoyable and filled with tension.

But overall I was extremely disappointed that hundreds of pages contained nothing more than battle sequences that seemed to be repeated over and over again.

There was so much more of the the back story that could have been told and Anakin accepted the dark side far too easily.

I found it highly unbelievable that Obi Wan - who was as strong in the Force as the book leads us to believe, and was as close to Anakin as it describes - would not feel the ripples in the Force when Palpatine reveals to Anakin that he is Darth Sidious and then goes through the transformation. Nor did he feel the ripple when Anakin gave himself over to the Dark side. That should have alerted every Jedi as it was a huge event.

How too could Anakin walk into the Jedi compound without any of the Jedi that were within - or the padawans - being alerted to the approaching danger?

In episode IV A New Hope, Obi-Wan picks up on the demise of regular people on a planet that are blown up - yet he does not feel the massacre of hundreds of Jedi. :dunno:

Anyone feel the same way???

[NebariNookiee]

As a massive Star Wars nut who has never been beaten at SW Trivial Pursuit I might be able to answer this – Throughout the first two prequels, none of the Jedi had any inkling what was really going on right in front of them. The Dark Side of the Force is very strong and it seems that Darth Sidious had used the Dark Side to shroud his actions. Even Yoda, as strong as he is with the Force, couldn’t see what was happening. You should go back and watch the first two films and pay closer attention to the dialogue. I'll guarantee you'll pick up on it.

[matt_boy]

I loved the book. It had it's flaws but over all I think it was great. I loved the way Stover got into the characters heads at points. I love battle sequences and his were good but they felt a bit rushed. Over before they really got started. Still, there were so many that it's hard to blame him with it. One thing to keep in mind is that this was a novelization of the movie and not a Novel. I think that partially explains the quick change in Ankin to the darkside. Lucas only has 2hrs to do it and so it was bound to be rushed. I think that probably translated into the novel.

But if nothing else I thought it was well worth it for the insights into the characters and the plot of the whole Saga. Especially when Yoda realized why he could not beat Sidious and Why Vader is less powerful the Anikin.

[Selena]

I did like the way he gave the thoughts of the individuals in the story. They were good insights.

I just felt that Anakin turned to the Dark Side far to easily. Perhaps it's an interesting discourse on how one can become corrupted to do the unthinkable if the situation is right and events escalate out of control. It was almost as if he totally lost his conscience and cared nought for the consequences.

[freckle]

Especially when Yoda realized why he could not beat Sidious and Why Vader is less powerful the Anikin.

explain this to me i am stupid and have never read any starwars books!...
why is Vadar less powerful than Anakin? i thought the dark side would make you more powerful as you were using ALL your powers good and bad?

[Selena]

I have no idea freckle - I got the impression that Vader was still growing in power - or so the book suggested at the end.

Yoda too I think felt that the Force was no match for the "darkness". Yoda claimed that he had not learned all there was to learn about the Force in over 800 years.

From the way this story was written I got the impression that Obi-Wan was stronger in the Force than even Yoda - especially where hw was fighting Grevious.

I liked the illustration that the darkest shadows are cast in the brightest light.

[matt_boy]

At the end of the book When Vader comes too in his new mechanical body it mentions how his grasp of the force had lessened. I lent the book out or i would get the exact wording but what I got from it was that with the loss of so much of his body went so much of the force control he took fro granted. This also explains why he never overthrew Palpatine.

What I got out of Yoda's insight was that becuase the Jedi Order and the Jedi themselves had remained static they had not grown. Nature loves change, hates permance. And the Force is nature itself. The Sith changed to meet the Jedi but the Jedi never changed and therefore were not equpiped to deal with the new Sith.

I liked the illustration that the darkest shadows are cast in the brightest light. Oh I loved this line. It has so many great layers.:D

Edit to say: Can I just say how nice it is to be able to talk about this book. Everyone I know doesn't want to be spoiled.

[freckle]

...

What I got out of Yoda's insight was that becuase the Jedi Order and the Jedi themselves had remained static they had not grown. Nature loves change, hates permance. And the Force is nature itself. The Sith changed to meet the Jedi but the Jedi never changed and therefore were not equpiped to deal with the new Sith.

.

ahhhhh clear now everthing is !!!
lol lol lol!!!
must stop laughing at own jokes

[pendragon]

At the end of the book When Vader comes too in his new mechanical body it mentions how his grasp of the force had lessened. I lent the book out or i would get the exact wording but what I got from it was that with the loss of so much of his body went so much of the force control he took fro granted. This also explains why he never overthrew Palpatine.



Lucas talked about this in one of his interviews: basically you're right. The mitachorines (sp?) are basically at the cellular level and run through your body like blood. Anakin had a very high concentration of them because he didn't have a father (his father WAS the force). So he was more powerful than even the Emperor (and Yoda and Obi Wan) when he was whole. As he was "chipped away at" and lost a good percentage of his physical body, the number of these little force holders lessened: making him merely normal in perspective. By the time he became Darth Vader, he was more machine than human so he was basically just a lap dog for Palpatine.

[Frunium Slip]

Maybe it was just me, but I for one did not like the writing style. I felt that it was not necessary to delve into all the thoughts every character was feeling, and a little more effort into the story telling aspect would have given the same effect. It just became a bit tedious to read...

I also felt it would have been better for Anakin's turn to be more subtle, but that is not necessarily the writer's fault, it goes back to Episodes I and II. The path to the dark side should have been by subtle turns of events, such as when Anakin goes to rescue his mother, just having him walk brooding out of the tent, then being accosted by a couple of Sandpeople. It would have been a small spark to trigger his rage, and then let him slaughter them all, especially using his love against him...

His feelings about not abandoning a friend/loved one to their fate, despite the consequences, is defintely a more human trait than the Jedi idea of sacrificing a colleague for the greater good. Especially since everyone kept acknowledging Anakin's power, there would have been that feeling of 'I can do anything.'

It would have been much more effective if one could look back at each little turning point and think, I could have done the same thing. The old 'there but for the grace of God, go I.' Such would be the power of the dark side, not by radical turns, but subtle machinations, the idea that not only would every one have a bit of the Force, but also, a bit of the Dark Side, a shadow to counter the light... it was stated, but I felt, not followed through in the story...

I like the story, but it could have been great...

*of course it's just an opinion... feel free to flame the irrascible rapscallion... I promise you won't hurt my feelings... I don't have any...

[Selena]

I totally agree Frun. I felt the book was more about the battles than the story of Anakin Skywalker and how he became Darth Vader.

I did not care for the writing style either. I think I've been spoiled by Timothy Zhaan. ....

Is that how he spells his name???
:think:

[Selena]

....Edit to say: Can I just say how nice it is to be able to talk about this book. Everyone I know doesn't want to be spoiled.

I am a book nut - goes back to childhood ... I have a very vivid imagination so books always, are way better than any movie. But I don't feel like I've been spoiled for the movie as movies rarely follow a book in its entirety anyway.

I find I can still enjoy a movie after reading the book first, because the movie is spectacular in its visual and artistic components. I don't have to concentrate on the story to the exclusion of the visual spectacle.

So even though I've read the book, I still can't wait for the movie to hit the screen as the music, the SFX, the costuming, the acting and the characters as directed by George Lucas are so dynamic and so much a part of what Star Wars is all about.

My sis and I were discussing how things often don't turn out the way we want them to and how much our childhood experiences affect us as adults, especially if we've had a traumatized childhood - as Anakin did. Many things in our past rear up to haunt us or shape the way we respond to the world and influence our subconscious and conscious behavior no matter how hard we try to rationalize our actions at the time. And all of us have had an experience where we've been sold a bill of goods and believed it 100% only to find later - sometimes years later how wrong we were at the time.