Product Description

"We'd be living a lie", Thursday, June 17, 2010

"We'd be living a lie"
Ten years have passed since Qui-Gon died, the Trade Federation blockaded Naboo, and young Anakin became a Padawan. Times have changed. Padme is now a Senator; Obi-Wan is a Jedi Knight; Anakin is a Padawan learner. The Republic is in turmoil as the Separatists, led by former Jedi, Count Dooku, threaten to secede. An attempt on Padme's life leads the Jedi into startling discoveries...and possibly war.
NOTE: Based on audiobook and novel.
R. A. Salvatore is probably best known for his Drizzt Do'Urden character; in Star Wars EU, he is best known for Vector Prime and SPOILER killing Chewbacca END OF SPOILER. And his job here isn't easy: take a script of a movie, that isn't very brilliant, well acted, well directed, or well edited and bring some life to it...and have it MAKE SENSE.
Salvatore did a remarkably good job--in many ways, much better than Terry Brooks did with The Phantom Menace. Salvatore opens with Shmi Skywalker and Cliegg Lars' life on Tatooine. We get to see how they interact with each other, with Owen Lars, with his girlfriend, Beru, and even the memory of Anakin. Their scenes are tender and emotional and definitely make the impact of what happened to Shmi more pronounced and moving. I would say they are, hands down, the best part of the novel.
The other scenes that Salvatore provides that were not deleted scenes were the ones between Jango and his son, Boba. These are also very charming, very moving, making what happens to Jango heart-breaking and giving both characters some good characterization (beyond the movies).
Most of the book is a strict "embellishment" of the movie, i.e. taking the script, adding adjectives and adverbs, and making complete sentences. That part isn't so amazing. It would have been nice to have seen more scenes that weren't in the movie. However, it does provide a lot more insight into why things happen. Through the book, we learn that Anakin is mentally kicking himself for speaking out of turn, something that Hayden's horrible acting couldn't convey. The scene in the garage, when Anakin reveals the Tusken Raider incident to Padme is MUCH better handled. In fact, the book smooths over Anakin's character completely, making him seem more like a confused, conflicted but highly gifted apprentice and not the whiny brat we see in the movie. We also get Padme's point of view, something I critiqued harshly in Brook's Menace. We understand why Padme is vulnerable to Anakin's advances and her interactions with her family. While I find some of her logic odd (she has been in politics a mere 10 years, much less than most people) and hate how she relies on the traditional view of female happiness (BABIES!), I definitely get a deeper understanding of her. However, I still question how anyone can take Padme's strict stance of no army seriously when only 10 years ago she was pleading for military aid for her planet. Sounds like a case of hypocrisy, if you ask me.
Salvatore also includes the deleted scenes from the movie, including Padme addressing the senate immediately after her attack, meeting her parents, and Padme and Anakin talking with Dooku. Honestly, that only added to the enjoyment of the story, making it more cohesive, more understandable, more fluid.
I also liked how Salvatore improved the Obi-Wan and Anakin relationship/banter. In the movie, it came off so stiff and strange. Here, it feels a lot better (of course, the book doesn't have Hayden portraying Anakin). Of course, Salvatore's Mace Windu is a little naive, thinking there's nothing wrong with Anakin. Suuuure...
I will note that Salvatore occasionally uses odd ways to describe people, such as this one I found for Anakin: "His blue eyes flashed repeatedly, as if bursts of energy were escaping." Uh...huh? Eyes that flash repeatedly? And what the heck do bursts of energy escaping look like?
I also want to comment that the actions sequences were unmemorable. The speeder chase wasn't bad, but the final battle was completely glossed over. It was as if Salvatore realized he spent too much time on the first half and hurriedly wrapped up, racing through the battle (and what should have been an excellent climax with Count Dooku). After listening to it, I can honestly not remember anything of note from these scenes. I've heard that Salvatore is good at rendering action, which makes it a shame he didn't expand on the action scenes in the movie.
As for the audiobook, I normally don't say a lot, but I have one complaint: the narrator pronounces Kamino correctly and Kaminoans completely incorrectly (Kam in o ans instead of Ka mi no ans). This makes no sense; if he had no idea how they were pronounced, he should have pronounced both the planet and the people incorrectly, not just the people.
This was a decent novelization. There are parts that I wish were better, and there were parts that really improved my understanding of the movie. Overall, it was enjoyable and I'd probably rate it 3.5 stars, but I'll be generous and rate 4.

Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*

Rating: 4 out of 5

Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones, by R. A. Salvatore

While this is a novelization of the film, it is also more, as Salvatore fleshes out and adds to the "Attack of the Clones" story. He introduces readers to Padmé's family, Shmi Skywalker's new family, including Owen and Beru whom fans will remember as Luke's aunt and uncle, and just gives some great background information on lots of other aspects that fans will appreciate.

Personally, I enjoy reading this book rather than watching the movie when I need a refresher on the events of "Attack of the Clones." I think Salvatore was a good choice for the author; his writing fits perfectly in the universe, and he captures the essence of each character neatly. I could hear Anakin's grumpy teen voice in my head, I winced at Threepio's annoying whining, etc. Salvatore is also good at writing battle scenes, but I do think that some of them were rushed - I didn't get the grand feel of battle when Yoda brought in the clones on Genosis, but Obi-Wan and Jango Fett's battle on Kamino was perfect.

The additional insight into the primary and secondary characters is the best value of this book. In the movie, Anakin and Padmé's relationship was always a little to quick for me, but thanks to Salvatore their relationship gets some much needed development before the marriage.

4/5.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Salvatore does it again, Monday, July 13, 2009

R.A. Salvatore is a perfect match for the Star Wars Universe in my opinoin. And in writting the novelization of Episode 2 he proves that he can get into any characters head even a nightmare filled one such as Anakin Skywalker. It was a great novel and I recommend it to any fans of both Salvatore and Star Wars.

Rating: 4 out of 5