Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

By: Matthew Stover

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The turning point for the entire Star Wars saga is at hand.

After years of civil war, the Separatists have battered the already faltering Republic nearly to the point of collapse. On Coruscant, the Senate watches anxiously as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine aggressively strips away more and more constitutional liberties in the name of safeguarding the Republic. Yoda, Mace Windu, and their fellow Masters grapple with the Chancellor's disturbing move to assume control of the Jedi Council. And Anakin Skywalker, the prophesied Chosen One, destined to bring balance to the Force, is increasingly consumed by his fear that his secret love, Senator Padme Amidala, will die.

As the combat escalates across the galaxy, the stage is set for an explosive endgame: Obi-Wan undertakes a perilous mission to destroy the dreaded Separatist military leader General Grievous. Palpatine, eager to secure even greater control, subtly influences public opinion to turn against the Jedi. And a conflicted Anakin, tormented by unspeakable visions, edges dangerously closer to the brink of a galaxy-shaping decision. It remains only for Darth Sidious, whose shadow looms ever larger, to strike the final staggering blow against the Republic...and to ordain a fearsome new Sith Lord: Darth Vader.

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Critic reviews

"Stover fills in the blanks regarding one of cinema's most fascinating villains with respect and relish, providing answers to such questions as why Vader looked so weird and how he became Luke's dad. This is the perfect companion to the blockbuster film." (Publishers Weekly)

I thought I knew the whole story.....

I thought I knew the whole story.....but Matthew Stover's novelization of SITH is rich in detail, subtext and prose. This adaptation of the film is so much more closer to the perfect version of this modern tragedy. Make no mistake, EPISODE III is a tragedy.
What I truly loved the most about this rendition were the various instances of the author describing how a particular character was feeling or thinking. For example, " This is what it's like to be Annakin Skywalker for now..." I absolutely LOVED this style of describing the character's inner thought process.
I really enjoyed this novel and have counted it as one of the top SW stories in my collection. if you have not heard the story and are thinking of buying this audio book, waste no more time and purchase it. And you might have already seen the film, but without hearing this version: you truly don't know the whole story!!!!

A great listen

I recommend this to all Star Wars fans. If you felt let down by episode III you need to listen to not read this book. Unconstrained by movie run time you start to truly see the decline of the Republic and Anakin.

My all time favorite Star Wars Book

Complete with great audio! This novelization does a great job of fleshing out many of the movies' problem areas, especially with regards to why characters act a certain way. In particular, exactly how Palpatine is manipulating everyone is much more accessible in this format, than in the movies, where it seems to be more vaguely implied and, therefore, more likely to be interpreted as a poorly conceived, convoluted mess of a movie plot. It also greatly helps flesh Anakin out and make his actions, particularly towards the end of the movie more understandable, as opposed to simply being the actions of a bratty, psychotic spaz.

Despite my unrelenting love of this novel and my across the board 5 star rating, it wasn't perfect. For one, this novel doesn't try terribly hard on developing Padme and Anakin as a couple. The relationship isn't particularly irritating. The book simply relies a bit on you knowing other source material or on you being willing to just accept how passionately the two love each other, instead of feeling the need to sell the relationship to you. I consider this a flaw of the medium (that being a novelization) more than that of the book itself, though. All the time spent on those two characters' relationships with Obi-wan more than make up for it, anyhow.

On another note, I'm not sure I entirely agree with the author's interpretation of Mace Windu. (Though, his interpretation is, by no means, uninteresting.) The author is also significantly more interested in light saber fighting styles than I am. However, even if you don't like any of these aspects, they never overpower the book.

Anyhow, I fully recommend this one to everyone with a pulse. Unless you, like, have an irrational hatred for all things Star Wars or something. In a lot of ways it made the prequels more enjoyable for me. And anything that makes you not hate Anakin is good, right?

Jedi Tears and Sith Smiles

As Star Wars books go, this one has pleased me greatly. All of the little behind the scenes thoughts, intentions and emotions really get brought to life. Having moments when we get to feel what it's like to be each character. The ego Count Dooku resides behind, the fighting styles of each Jedi, the constant fear inside of Anakin... simply marvelous.

If nothing gets you wanting to continue at this point and know everything about the Star Wars Universe like this book, just stop now and never claim to love sci-fi again.

Much better than I expected.

This novel expands on the film quite a bit and fits nicely into the trilogy. Anakins fall to the dark side is foreshadowed better. Even though I think ROTS is still a great movie, this is a great novel for Star Wars fans.

better than the movie, or just reading the book.

it was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. the same general plot as the movie however it expounds deeper into all of the aspects of it. the narration was very good and was quite enjoyable when doubled with the music and sound effects. deeper insight into different characters psyche and outlooks on life. and it does a better job at helping the viewer ( or listener in this case) to understand just exactly the conundrum and difficulties Anakin was having and how he was manipulated into eventually doing what it was he did and what it's like to live with the consequences of your actions. well worth a listen and an audible credit!

Novelizations can be good?!

The God of War novelization was the Audible Deal of the Day.

My friend and I had both agreed it was the best game of 2018. It was up there with Chrono Trigger for me as one of my favorite games ever. But, the novelization?

"Well, novelizations aren't all bad." My friend said.

"They're not?" I replied incredulously.

"Not at all. Take the Revenge of the Sith novelization. That's one of my favorite books period." He claimed.

"You're kidding. Episode III??

So, taking his recommendation I turned to the internet. Into the search bar went the words:

"revenge of the sith novelization GOOD????"

He wasn't kidding. This is a beloved book, and many will tell you it is one of the best Star Wars books. That's saying something. There are a LOT of Star Wars books. So what gives here? Matthew Stover wrote a small handful of Star Wars novels culminating with this take on the movie, and all I can tell you is that maybe a certain someone should have consulted him before releasing the film.

Maybe you don't like Star Wars. If you don't. . . thanks, that means a lot that you've read this far. I grew up on Star Wars, and while I'm certainly not a hardcore fanatic I have thought about dropping a few hundred dollars on a custom lightsaber. . . not sure how much jedi robes cost. Somewhere in the world there is a local news clip of eight year old me after a premiere showing of The Phantom Menace saying "That was awesome!" That said, I've only seen Revenge of the Sith (ROTS as the cool kids say) once all the way through.

Does one italicize movie titles? Video games? . . . Oh well.

For me, this book is comfort food. There's plenty here that should be cheesy but it's not. There are some literary devices that I thought would turn stale, but didn't. Despite efforts in the past decade to make the good guys seem bad and the bad guys seem relatable this is the first time I've really been able to look at them differently. I can more understand Anakin's temptation. The Jedi seem way out of touch and misguided. Oh wow, yeah, Obi Wan is amazing and a true peer of the other masters. Somehow even General Grievous doesn't seem like a complete clown.

All in all this is the way I want to remember the movie. I'm tempted to watch again it now, but I'm afraid it might spoil the book.

Excellent

This is for anyone who either just wants to read the book, or watched the movie and wonders about those gaps. The gaps in the characters where you wondered how or why these things happened. The background in each characters thoughts, the background to why things came to be, and insight into Anakins true fall, his thoughts leading up to his end, and his entrapment in darkness

Great listen, great read, great narrator.

Loved it. Great listen, great read, great narrator I would recommend this to any one.

builds the story out into something more

I hope to read more by Matthew Stover after this. He adds detail and perspective and nuance that builds out the story into something that feels like what the movie was trying to be but fell short of.

He adds perspective from characters like Master Windu that gives a lot more emotional depth to plot points and makes the story much more impactful. The writing is not just strong but even haunting and beautiful in parts. Jonathan Davis once again does a great job bringing it all to life.