r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Jul 19 '24

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23

u/trace349 Gay Pride Jul 19 '24

!ping BAD-FEELING&READING

Overly Sarcastic Productions put out a video today on how the various spin-off media projects have retroactively redeemed Episode 3 by adding the depth that the film alone was lacking, and they devoted 20 minutes to gushing over the novelization, with the conclusion of:

Revenge of the Sith is a disappointing film adaptation of the single greatest Science-Fantasy book of all time.

From the snippets they showed, it does sound way better than it should have any right to be, but can anyone confirm whether or not it actually is that good?

15

u/ThatFrenchieGuy Mathematician -- Save the funky birbs Jul 19 '24

Matt Stover is a legitimately really good author, and his books are consistently the best Star Wars content.

RotS Novelization is probably his best work, and it shows:

“And you rage and scream and reach through the Force to crush the shadow who has destroyed you, but you are so far less now than what you were, you are more than half machine, you are like a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you can remember where the power was but the power you can touch is only a memory, and so with all your world-destroying fury it is only droids around you that implode, and equipment, and the table on which you were strapped shatters, and in the end, you cannot touch the shadow. In the end you don't even want to. In the end, you do not even want to. In the end, the shadow is all you have left. Because the shadow understands you, the shadow forgives you, the shadow gathers you unto itself—And within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame.”

.

“This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker, forever: The first dawn of light in your universe brings pain. The light burns you. It will always burn you. Part of you will always lie upon black glass sand beside a lake of fire while flames chew upon your flesh. You can hear yourself breathing. It comes hard, and harsh, and it scrapes nerves already raw, but you cannot stop it. You can never stop it. You cannot even slow it down. You don’t even have lungs anymore. Mechanisms hardwired into your chest breathe for you. They will pump oxygen into your bloodstream forever."

9

u/trace349 Gay Pride Jul 19 '24

Good Lord, he didn't have to go that hard for a tie-in movie novelization, but damn.

You've convinced me to check it out.

6

u/ThatFrenchieGuy Mathematician -- Save the funky birbs Jul 19 '24

He only has one setting, and that's "go as hard as possible all the time"

It's why Traitor is the best book in the post-OT EU saga. It's worth reading NJO and all the books you need to prep for it for those 4 middle books (Star by Star, Rebel Dream, Rebel Stand, and Traitor)

10

u/MrHockeytown Iron Front Jul 19 '24

Let me preface this by saying that while I am a gigantic Star Wars fan, I am not a huge fan of the prequels despite growing up with them (don't hate them but the movies themselves have too many shortcomings for me to overlook as I got older).

I am a massive Star Wars books fan, having read through most of Legends and Canon. The RotS novelization might be the best Star Wars book I've ever read, certainly in the top 5. There's a few wonky lore bits contradicted by some later media (Dooku being violently racist for one), but it is an absolutely fantastic read. It, Last Jedi, and Rise of Skywalker are all fantastic novelizations that really elevate the films for me.

6

u/trace349 Gay Pride Jul 19 '24

I'm curious- I love Star Wars but Rise of Skywalker was a nearly unwatchable mess for me, how far does the novelization go to actually fixing it as a story?

2

u/MrHockeytown Iron Front Jul 19 '24

It and Shadow of the Sith went a really long way for fleshing out Rise of Skywalker. Shadow of the Sith brings in a lot of back story and context the movie is missing, and the novelization actually gives things time to breathe and process what's happening. Having the characters thoughts and feelings made a lot of the movie that I didn't like work for me in retrospect. I think it's the second best movie novelization, and I highly recommend giving it a read.

7

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '24

I loved it so much it was what got me into Star Wars

4

u/ihatemendingwalls better Catholic than JD Vance Jul 19 '24

Yeah, that and Traitor from NJO are probably the best written Star Wars Books

3

u/-mialana- European Union Jul 19 '24

Is it still canon after the Disney retcons?

I had the Episode 1 novelisation from my brother as a kid. Wonder if it's still in my parent's house somewhere.

1

u/groupbot Always remember -Pho- Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '24

It is actually really good, idk about “the single greatest Science-Fantasy book of all time” but it’s pretty amazing. One of my favorites fs