William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back

By: Ian Doescher

Narrated by: Daniel Davis, Jonathan Davis, Ian Doescher, Jeff Gurner, January LaVoy, Marc Thompson

Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Hot on the heels of the New York Times best seller William Shakespeare's Star Wars comes the next two installments of the original trilogy: William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back and William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return. Return to the star-crossed galaxy far, far away as the brooding young hero, a power-mad emperor, and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for power, and soliloquize in elegant and impeccable iambic pentameter. These two plays offer essential listening for all ages. Something Wookiee this way comes!

Read by Daniel Davis, Jonathan Davis, Ian Doescher, Jeff Gurner, January LaVoy, and Marc Thompson.

©2014 Random House Audio; 2014 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization.

As with the movies, even better than the 1st

As with the movies, this play is even better than the first. The added hilarity that Marc Thompson, who reads most of the good Star Wars audiobooks anyway, is cast here is just icing on a cake of perfection.
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up for the third play in our series!

If You Loved the First One

Would you consider the audio edition of William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back to be better than the print version?

Yes, I would because it is written as a play and therefore, is better when performed (either on stage or in audio form).

What did you like best about this story?

Yoda.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

The things that were singing in Cloud City. I don't know what they were called but it was great.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was totally taken by surprised by the singing and had to stifle my laughter because we were listening to this while I waited for my daughters to go to sleep.

Just as good as the first!

These are so fun to listen to. They follow the movie almost line for line and I find myself waiting to hear the popular quote. With what cleverness and wit these are writ. Love them!

Brilliant!

I loved the introduction of back stories for Lando and Boba Fett. I hope we see something like this for the Force Wakens and the newer Star Wars movies.

sheer delight!

You can hear how much everyone loves this play from the joy in their performances.

These Shakespearean adaptations are superior to the films in many ways.

Liked the first one? You'll love the sequel.

I had a blast with Verily, A New Hope, and multiple listens gave me something new to appreciate in that venerable old tale. I'm guessing you did too, otherwise why would you be seeking this one out? The Empire Striketh Back proves to hit the same marks. On the surface, it's just fun. The actors clearly had as much fun performing it as I did listening. Combine that with the John Williams music and the classic sound effects, it's hard not to love this. Where else will you hear dialogue for a wampa, a space slug, and an AT-AT walker?

As with the original, I want very much to see this performed on a stage in an all-out production. A work like this just demands the full treatment.

Hilarious!!

Great fun!!! l couldn't help roaring with laughter whenever Lando spoke! I highly recommend it!!

Most excellent

Talking AT-AT's and Wompa. Yoda was perfect. Love the inner monologue pieces. Time to start the next one!

awesome strikes back!

I love the acting. the best! I wish other books were like this. I love the author's creativity.

What I didn't like: NOTHING

Even though I am a huge Star Wars fan (and have six different Star Wars costumes in my closet to prove it) and also love Shakespeare, I approached this mashup with trepidation. I thought, well, I’ll get the first one because my geek cred will suffer if I don’t check this out. But the audio version of “Verily, A New Hope” was so damned good that I immediately downloaded the other two installments and ended up binge-listening to all three in less than a week.

What I liked:

Soliloquys that reveal the characters’ inner thoughts (especially the space slug!!)
Storm Troopers as comic relief (particularly one section where they sound like two geeky fanboys as they speculate about the possible reasons why every structure the Empire builds has a huge chasm next to the pedestrian walkways)

Singing Ugnaughts

C3PO’s “Seven stages of war” speech (an alternate take on the “seven ages of man” speech from As You Like It)

The voices of the actors, each perfectly suited to the characters, but particularly Obi-wan

Han and Leia as Romeo and Juliet

What I didn’t like: NOTHING!