William Shakespeare's Star Wars Episode 4-6 by Ian Doescher, William Shakespeare's Star Wars 4-6
Episode IV: Verily, A New Hope
Inspired by one of the greatest creative minds in the English language—and William Shakespeare—here is an officially licensed retelling of George Lucas's epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. ’Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearsome Stormtroopers, signifying...pretty much everything.
Episode V: The Empire Striketh Back
Return to the
star-crossed galaxy far, far away as the brooding young hero, a
power-mad emperor, and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for
power, and soliloquize in elegant and impeccable iambic pentameter.
Illustrated with beautiful black-and-white Elizabethan-style artwork,
these two plays offer essential reading for all ages. Something Wookiee
this way comes!
Episode VI: The Jedi Doth Return
Return to the star-crossed galaxy far, far away as the brooding young hero, a power-mad emperor, and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for power, and soliloquize in elegant and impeccable iambic pentameter. Illustrated with beautiful black-and-white Elizabethan-style artwork, these two plays offer essential reading for all ages. Something Wookiee this way comes!
I intentionally wanted to put these three books together for review because for every self respecting Science Fiction fan the story of Star Wars should be known in the fine details. Saying that where these books are unique in is the story telling
To be honest I actually didn't find these books for myself (yes big shame on me) but my girlfriend pointed these books out to me! Anyway, as you can read from above with the mention of William Shakespeare, these books are written in a Shakespearean style, meaning to say in verse. I have been reading Extended Universe books for about two years but these books are something quite different. Brilliantly good stuff.
I confess to never have read a full Shakespeare book, I read passages from them and of course sometimes it's featured in movies. But we all know how the verses go and at first I was hesitant in if it would truly do the Star Wars universe justice. But what Ian Doesscher does with the style is pretty darn good amazing. My hesistancy was from the fact of how the story would be narrated and if it would actually have any flow and a nice pacing, well it definitively has.
When you just read the story it might be just one long opera, but when you look at the different characters of the book, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and even the small robot R2-D2 each have been given a different style of verse and this is really what makes the story rock solid, here Ian Doescher gives the characters much more depth and personality.
And with writing the episodes in the Shakespearean style comes another big plus and that is a really sharp and witty humor. Take for example Han Solo, he is considered the rogueish type, trickster like. This is precisely what Ian Doescher shows with the verses of Han, they will put a smile on your face. The same counts for Lando. Furthermore the robots likes R2-D2 C3PO and even the AT-AT's are much more than just those static beings, R2-D2's and the AT-AT's [aside] moments are just the things that will crack you up. Very nicely executed.
For the bottomline. These books are simply put a must read for every Star Wars fan, if you haven't read them, you can't be calling yourself a fan. They are fast paced and lot of fun to read, perfect for a afternoon. And just recently I found out that Episode I is already published as well and that II and III are in the making due to be published soon !
Episode IV: Verily, A New Hope
Inspired by one of the greatest creative minds in the English language—and William Shakespeare—here is an officially licensed retelling of George Lucas's epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. ’Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearsome Stormtroopers, signifying...pretty much everything.
Episode V: The Empire Striketh Back
Return to the
star-crossed galaxy far, far away as the brooding young hero, a
power-mad emperor, and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for
power, and soliloquize in elegant and impeccable iambic pentameter.
Illustrated with beautiful black-and-white Elizabethan-style artwork,
these two plays offer essential reading for all ages. Something Wookiee
this way comes!Episode VI: The Jedi Doth Return
Return to the star-crossed galaxy far, far away as the brooding young hero, a power-mad emperor, and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for power, and soliloquize in elegant and impeccable iambic pentameter. Illustrated with beautiful black-and-white Elizabethan-style artwork, these two plays offer essential reading for all ages. Something Wookiee this way comes!
---------------------------------------------
I intentionally wanted to put these three books together for review because for every self respecting Science Fiction fan the story of Star Wars should be known in the fine details. Saying that where these books are unique in is the story telling
To be honest I actually didn't find these books for myself (yes big shame on me) but my girlfriend pointed these books out to me! Anyway, as you can read from above with the mention of William Shakespeare, these books are written in a Shakespearean style, meaning to say in verse. I have been reading Extended Universe books for about two years but these books are something quite different. Brilliantly good stuff.
I confess to never have read a full Shakespeare book, I read passages from them and of course sometimes it's featured in movies. But we all know how the verses go and at first I was hesitant in if it would truly do the Star Wars universe justice. But what Ian Doesscher does with the style is pretty darn good amazing. My hesistancy was from the fact of how the story would be narrated and if it would actually have any flow and a nice pacing, well it definitively has.
When you just read the story it might be just one long opera, but when you look at the different characters of the book, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and even the small robot R2-D2 each have been given a different style of verse and this is really what makes the story rock solid, here Ian Doescher gives the characters much more depth and personality.
And with writing the episodes in the Shakespearean style comes another big plus and that is a really sharp and witty humor. Take for example Han Solo, he is considered the rogueish type, trickster like. This is precisely what Ian Doescher shows with the verses of Han, they will put a smile on your face. The same counts for Lando. Furthermore the robots likes R2-D2 C3PO and even the AT-AT's are much more than just those static beings, R2-D2's and the AT-AT's [aside] moments are just the things that will crack you up. Very nicely executed.
For the bottomline. These books are simply put a must read for every Star Wars fan, if you haven't read them, you can't be calling yourself a fan. They are fast paced and lot of fun to read, perfect for a afternoon. And just recently I found out that Episode I is already published as well and that II and III are in the making due to be published soon !
Comments
Post a Comment