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William Shakespeare's The Force Doth Awaken  By  cover art

William Shakespeare's The Force Doth Awaken

By: Ian Doescher
Narrated by: Jessica Almasy,Daniel Davis,Jonathan Davis,Ian Doescher,Jeff Gurner,Ralph Adriel Johnson
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Publisher's summary

Experience The Force Awakens as a Shakespeare play, complete with Elizabethan verse, Shakespearian monologues, and theatrical stage directions!

As the noble Resistance clashes with the vile First Order, Rey, Finn, Poe Damaron, Kylo Ren, and BB-8 are pulled into a galaxy-wide drama - in iambic pentameter! Star Wars fans and Shakespeare enthusiasts alike will enjoy the authentic meter, reimagined movie scenes and dialogue, and hidden Easter eggs throughout. Chewbacca speaks! Leader Snoke gives a soliloquy! And the romance of Han Solo and Leia Organa takes a tragic turn that Shakespeare would approve of. The story may take place in a galaxy far, far away, but you'll be convinced it was written by the Bard.

Cast of narrators:

  • Jessica Almasy
  • Daniel Davis
  • Jonathan Davis
  • Ian Doescher
  • Jeff Gurner
  • Ralph Adriel Johnson
  • Sean Kenin
  • January LaVoy
  • Marc Thompson

©2017 Ian Doescher (P)2017 Random House Audio

What listeners say about William Shakespeare's The Force Doth Awaken

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Excellent addition to the series.

Excellent addition to the William Shakespeares Star Wars series. I wish they'd do the prequels.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The Force is with Doescher's team!

Of all the audiobooks I've bought from Audible, the ones I've enjoyed most and replayed the most are Doescher's Bard-inspired take on Star Wars. This one is no exception. Before the pre-order was announced I was afraid that this series had stopped but I was glad to see there was more coming.

It has everything I've liked in the other 3 audiobooks and has a few improvements as well. The original voice cast returned and includes new voices as well. More movie music from the prequels is here and Chewie gets hits lines translated into English this time! Leah also stages a song after Han's death and is probably the best one in the series so far.

I've only listened to it once so far so if I have any complaints, I'd single out BB-8's bleeps of dialogue. It sounded quasi-French to me and less fitting than R2's from past audiobooks. Doescher's afterword said this was in 'skip code' but I've never heard of these things before so BB-8's dialogue makes no sense to me either in audio or print.

In any case, Ian Doescher and Co. have delivered once again. I'll look forward to replaying this one in the near future. My only wish would be for the prequels (#1-3) to be made into audio while we wait for the upcoming episodes 8 & 9.

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5 people found this helpful

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Loved this book much more than the movie

Another amazing book! I didn't like Episode 7 but this book made it enjoyable for me.

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4 people found this helpful

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Exactly What You’re Expecting

I’ve read several of Doescher’s Shakespearean Star Wars books and they are all excellent. This one is equally compelling, if only for the sheer novelty of it. The language is flowery and intriguing in nearly every aspect of the book. Dramatic scenes involving Rey, Kylo Ren, Leia and even Chewbacca are enhanced by poetic soliloquies on loss, life and destiny. Unfortunately The Force Awakens film contains significant stretches of visual storytelling that do not translate well to the stage. Also the film’s comedic beats fall flat when translated to Shakespearean English. Finally the droids are given long and aggravating stretches of spoke gibberish which ought to have been replaced entirely with sound clips from the film. But overall this is a fun listen that adds depth to the more dramatic moments from the film.

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3 people found this helpful

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Wonderful save the droids

Loved every moment except the droids. They might read fine on paper but when spoken out loud it’s beyond silly. Even sillier than the rathtar song.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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NEED MORE!!!!!

What a joy to listen to! The voice actors were phenomenal, and the sound effects amazing, as always! I sincerely hope the author will finish the latest trilogy. Hoping he also writes the prequels!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I want 9 hours of this

Impatiently awaiting the next audiobook. So glad I listened to it instead of reading it myself. The voice actors did a great job with the characters. Not 5 stars because of the droid speak. It was a bit much and I found myself laughing at how ridiculous it was. I understand in the afterword that it can be translated if you know the coding but to someone who doesn’t plan to dive that deep, it’s unclear if it was supposed to be funny. Aside from that, the way this was done was excellent. I wish it were a play I could see.

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Worth it alone for Kylo Ren.

I wish they would do the prequels and Jedi the Last. Unfortunately they might not, but this is still a wonderful production and Kylo Ren is perfect for Shakespearean dialogue. They handle the big death scene incredibly well and Chewie finally having dialogue was a nice touch. And I loved all of the Hamilton references.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Ian does it again.

A brilliant adaptation of The Force Awakens. Hoping more films are adapted into Shakespeare's style, and I'm sure more will be. Hope Ian can write more of these for other films.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • kk
  • 10-29-18

Good language and performance

I have the first 3, and enjoy them all, and listen repeatedly. I don't expect exact voices as in movies, and allow for interpretation, but I am struggling with the actor that performs 'Rei'. I keep hearing a 15 year old doing a 'Kathryn Hepburn' imitation, and is a little distracting.

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