theliteraryapothecary's review against another edition
4.0
This was a book selected by my patner, John, for his "birthday read" - every year I let him select one book to add to my tbr during his birth month (September). This year he chose The Star Wars Trilogy - which was actually 3 books and that's why it's taken me now to the end of October to finish.
The Star Wars trilogy is actually the novelization of the first 3 Star Wars movies: Epsidoes 4, 5, and 6 (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi). This is a unique idea being that usually books are turned into movies, not the other way around. And while I did enjoy experiencing these stories in this mode, I thought that the nostalgia wore off a bit after A New Hope and that some scenes worked better in film than in book format - they were just hard for me to imagine sometimes, on my own.
See below for my CAWPILE Breakdown of all 3 books and the average CAWPILE score, which is where the trilogy rating comes from:
A New Hope CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 8
Atmosphere/Setting: 9
Writing Style: 8.5
Plot: 8
Intrigue: 7
Logic/Relationships:9
Enjoyment: 9
Atmosphere/Setting: 9
Writing Style: 8.5
Plot: 8
Intrigue: 7
Logic/Relationships:9
Enjoyment: 9
Total = 58.5/7 = 8.3 = 4.5 stars
The Empire Strikes Back CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 7
Atmosphere/Setting: 8
Writing Style: 8
Plot: 7.5
Intrigue: 6
Logic/Relationships: 8.5
Enjoyment: 8
Atmosphere/Setting: 8
Writing Style: 8
Plot: 7.5
Intrigue: 6
Logic/Relationships: 8.5
Enjoyment: 8
Total = 53/7 = 7.5 = 4 stars
Return of the Jedi CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 9
Atmosphere/Setting: 8.5
Writing Style: 7 (one difference in writing style with this author compared to the first two, this one wrote out Chewbacca's and Artoo Detoo's speech as dialogue instead of just saying something along the lines of "Artoo said in a series of beeps..." At times it was distracting, but then I got to a point I just skipped over those lines and felt like it wasn't needed.)
Plot: 8
Intrigue: 6
Logic/relationships: 8
Enjoyment: 7.5
Total 54/7 = 7.7 = 4 stars
Atmosphere/Setting: 8.5
Writing Style: 7 (one difference in writing style with this author compared to the first two, this one wrote out Chewbacca's and Artoo Detoo's speech as dialogue instead of just saying something along the lines of "Artoo said in a series of beeps..." At times it was distracting, but then I got to a point I just skipped over those lines and felt like it wasn't needed.)
Plot: 8
Intrigue: 6
Logic/relationships: 8
Enjoyment: 7.5
Total 54/7 = 7.7 = 4 stars
Trilogy CAWPILE Average:
8.3 + 7.5 + 7.7 = 23.5/3 = 7.8 = 4 stars
monique3's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.5
Star Wars
8th Oct - 12th Oct
The Empire Strikes Back
13th Oct - 17th Oct
The Return of the Jedi
17th Oct - 23rd Aug
8th Oct - 12th Oct
The Empire Strikes Back
13th Oct - 17th Oct
The Return of the Jedi
17th Oct - 23rd Aug
mickb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alfiew's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
artemisreads's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
marieskywlker's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
sustainably_lucia's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the extended scenes but the writing was a bit clunky at times. Still a fun read.
mistermatthias's review against another edition
5.0
What can I say? It's Star Wars! "A New Hope" is kinda weird because it uses an older version of the script, but Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi follow the movies more faithfully. Each book adds more insight to the story that would have been missed in the movies. For example, prior to the prequels, those that read the books already knew the Emperor's name was Palpatine.
There's more neat stuff like that, and overall, it's a fun read. Would recommend.
There's more neat stuff like that, and overall, it's a fun read. Would recommend.
shadowcas's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like I must preface this review by stating that I am not an avid Star Wars fan. I do, however, love movies and I love getting more insight into what the characters are thinking and feeling through the course of a story. I have also never read a novelization of a movie script before. I have read books that movies were later based upon and I have read books that were sequels to movies. Apparently a novelization of a movie script adds very little to the movie itself.
George Lucas’s A New Hope was basically the exact same thing as the movie. It was written with third person point of view with no omniscience. Which basically means, while reading it, I had no idea what the characters were feeling or thinking unless they told someone outright. In movies, it’s easy to convey emotions because most of the time you can read their body language and hear their tone of voice. With a book that has no omniscience narration, you have to rely on adjectives that sometimes fall short and “insider knowledge” from seeing the movies.
Otherwise, A New Hope is very well written with both plot building and dialogue. It’s a quick read and since I read it while I waited for the DVD release of Episode 7, it was an uncomplicated yet detailed refresher.
The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut was what I was looking for when I started reading the trilogy. Glut was able to build upon each of the characters that had been established in the first novel. This time, I was given actual thoughts and emotions conveyed as such by the characters internal narrative. Much is still the same between both the movie and the novel but thankfully, there was enough of a difference that I remained interested in it.
Also, as a big plus, especially since I was reading the novels straight through, the “voice” of the story seems cohesive. There wasn’t a major shift in the style of storytelling so it was not a jarring experience to go from one novel on to the next between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
Return of the Jedi, written by James Kahn, did not offer the same shift in writing styles. Kahn did really well when it came to providing more detail with characters’ feeling and thoughts. I felt like I could really understand what was driving the protagonists through the plot line. With that being said, Kahn also made a jarring change in dialogue styles that, while staying true to the story and script, felt very divergent compared to the two previous novels. It gave a dissimilar “voice” that knocked me a tad off-kilter.
Overall, it’s a novelization of the original three Star Wars Episodes. No real huge revelations are given to the Star Wars Universe. You won’t learn any new secrets that you didn’t already know from watching the movies. They are quick reads that did not leave me feeling like I learned anything more than that I could read a 675 page novel in a few days. It’s a good read and a great addition to the bookshelf, nothing more.
I’ll give the Trilogy a total of 4 out of 5 stars. It isn’t a profound read but it was still enjoyable.
George Lucas’s A New Hope was basically the exact same thing as the movie. It was written with third person point of view with no omniscience. Which basically means, while reading it, I had no idea what the characters were feeling or thinking unless they told someone outright. In movies, it’s easy to convey emotions because most of the time you can read their body language and hear their tone of voice. With a book that has no omniscience narration, you have to rely on adjectives that sometimes fall short and “insider knowledge” from seeing the movies.
Otherwise, A New Hope is very well written with both plot building and dialogue. It’s a quick read and since I read it while I waited for the DVD release of Episode 7, it was an uncomplicated yet detailed refresher.
The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut was what I was looking for when I started reading the trilogy. Glut was able to build upon each of the characters that had been established in the first novel. This time, I was given actual thoughts and emotions conveyed as such by the characters internal narrative. Much is still the same between both the movie and the novel but thankfully, there was enough of a difference that I remained interested in it.
Also, as a big plus, especially since I was reading the novels straight through, the “voice” of the story seems cohesive. There wasn’t a major shift in the style of storytelling so it was not a jarring experience to go from one novel on to the next between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
Return of the Jedi, written by James Kahn, did not offer the same shift in writing styles. Kahn did really well when it came to providing more detail with characters’ feeling and thoughts. I felt like I could really understand what was driving the protagonists through the plot line. With that being said, Kahn also made a jarring change in dialogue styles that, while staying true to the story and script, felt very divergent compared to the two previous novels. It gave a dissimilar “voice” that knocked me a tad off-kilter.
Overall, it’s a novelization of the original three Star Wars Episodes. No real huge revelations are given to the Star Wars Universe. You won’t learn any new secrets that you didn’t already know from watching the movies. They are quick reads that did not leave me feeling like I learned anything more than that I could read a 675 page novel in a few days. It’s a good read and a great addition to the bookshelf, nothing more.
I’ll give the Trilogy a total of 4 out of 5 stars. It isn’t a profound read but it was still enjoyable.