Book Review: Star Wars Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith

When anyone asks me what my favourite Star Wars movie is, I can happily claim with no amount of hyperbole that it is Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.  I still remember so vividly the day I went to go see the movie at the cinemas with my parents and brother back in 2005.  The emotional roller-coaster ride the movie took me on still resonates with me to this very day.  While everyone argues the political intrigue and constant exposition of the prequels devalues its quality, I would argue the build up from Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones needed to be heavy for Revenge of the Sith’s payoff to be so grand.  The tragedy of Anakin Skywalker’s transition to becoming Darth Vader was amazingly realized as it smartly bridges itself up with the proceeding events of A New Hope.  As part of my drive to celebrate the movies 20^th anniversary in 2025, I went to re-watch the movie in cinemas and replayed the tie-in game on PlayStation 2. I figured with the year coming to its end, now was the perfect time to cap off my celebration of this phenomenal story by reading its well-regarded novelisation by Matther Stover.

Set in the final days of the Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith follows Anakin Skywalker has he tragically falls to the dark side under the influence of the evil Darth Sidious.  After a successful rescue of Chancellor Palpatine in a battle over Coruscant, Anakin’s trust in the Jedi is tested as he is asked to serve as the Chancellors personal Jedi representative and spy on him.  Meanwhile Obi-Wan Kenobi is tasked by the Jedi Council to venture to the Outer Rim planet of Utapau to locate and neutralize the Separatist leader, General Grievous in hopes of ending the Clone Wars for good.  As the two friends are set on separate paths, tragedy unfolds as Darth Sidious enacts his final plan to destroy the Jedi and bring forth the rise of his new Galactic Empire.  Anakin becomes a willing apprentice to the dark lord as he aids in the destruction of the Jedi.  This sets him and Obi-Wan on a collision course which will define their very fates with a duel which will leave both men scarred for the remainder of their days.

If you’ve watched Revenge of the Sith then the course of the book’s narrative will be familiar to you for the most part.  I mean the book is a novelisation so it’s devotion to the core premise it’s adapting is understandable.  Matthew Stover noted that he wrote this book in conjunction with the development of the movie at the time, so while he didn’t have the final edited product to work off, he was given access to the latest scripts and concept art to help him visualize the structure of this narrative. I think the fact that Stover wrote this without the fully realized movie to work off actually works to the book’s benefit however.  It easily captures the emotional beats of the story so easily but is actually able to find smart and intricate ways to define it in different ways to the movie. As much as I love the movie in itself, I’m not going to deny the dialogue can be rather stunted at times and it’s not the best means of translating the deep and complex internal struggles Anakin is going through especially.  The benefit of the prose format is you get a more intimate look at these defining moments and Stover expands on the set pieces and characters in such beautiful detail that compliments the movie’s existing structure.

In terms of tone and pacing, the book captures the darker nature of Revenge of the Sith in exquisite fashion.  Like the movie, this contrast of the lighter, more humorous tone of the prior two films against this story really goes a long way to cement the gravity of the dark times that are looming.  Anakin’s struggle with the dark side, Palpatine’s evil coercion, The Jedi Order’s tragic downfall, these are all heavy themes and Stover does an amazing job in layering each of these plot elements with a great sense of weight and emotion.  It’s a well-paced story too, primarily following the same course of events from the movie but the benefit of this format it gives each sequence more time to be fleshed out appropriately. As someone who loved the movie, you’ll find zero complaint from me when it comes to spending more time fleshing out key sequences, it just makes me love and appreciate the story all the more because of it.

I usually consider novelisations as an additional look at an existing story. I don’t tend to rate them all that high mainly because the main bulk of the heavy lifting already was done for them from an existing source. In Revenge of the Sith’s case however, I think Matthew Stover penned something truly exceptional. Yes, it’s a story primarily based of George Lucas’ existing script, but Stover clearly devoted a lot of effort to defining his interpretation of this narrative to not only adapt the story, but expand on it in so many interesting ways. His interpretation of this story gives each character and sequence more definition and in turn makes the emotional impact of everything that much more memorable.  Revenge of the Sith is my favourite piece of Star Wars media, celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year has been an absolute privilege. Whether it’s on the big screen, on a game console or in a book, I will always adore everything about this story because of how it’s able to put me right back in that cinema seat as a 9 year old boy feeling everything for the first time each and every time.