Lend us your ears and comlinks, good folk, as we share a tale of tragedy, hubris, and doomed romance. Within this Shakespearean retelling of Star Wars: Episode 3, galactic treachery abounds. A once-heroic knight is transformed into the darkest of villains. The Jedi suffer slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. The Republic falls, an Empire rises, and so begins the long wait for a New Hope.
SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF CORSUCANT!
Don’t miss this final chapter in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, presented Shakespeare-style with masterful meter, stirring soliloquies, and intricate Elizabethan illustrations. It’s a perfect melding of classic literature and epic pop culture!
So we finally reach the last – for now – of Ian Doescher’s Star Wars movie adaptations with Tragedy of the Sith’s Revenge and the culmination of all the many and varied events of the prequel trilogy so far. But the big question remains – can Doescher deliver on the delicious promise of the previous two prequel entries, which were themselves an unexpected bonus? I’m happy to say that yes – for the most part – he can.
One of the shortcomings of Revenge of the Sith was the sidelining of the Padme Amidala character. While the prequels were undoubtedly the story of Anakin’s slow slide to the dark side, central to the plot were his brother (Obi-Wan) and his lover (Padme). Where the film, for whatever reason you chose to believe, left Padme away from the action for much of the film, the book has the chance to give us a deeper insight into her character. Sadly this doesn’t happen, instead having Padme ruminate on the dark times ahead. To be fair, of all the films in the saga so far Revenge of the Sith is by far the most tragic, so Doescher can’t entirely be blamed for taking this tack, but it does feel like a missed opportunity.
But don’t be discouraged by this as I certainly wasn’t. Doescher gives us all the smart and inventive word plays we’ve come to expect, from the play-within-a-play exchange between Anakin and Palpatine in the Coruscant Opera House to the fractured rhyming of Anakin and Padme’s quatrains as their relationship falters. Yes, it’s the bleakest of all Star Wars stories so far but that doesn’t mean that Doescher has taken his foot off the smart pedal. This is every bit as satisfying as the other five entries in the seires.
So now we wait and hope that, in time, we are treated to a Shakespearean telling of The Force Awakens. With the benefit of some hindsight and time to soak in it should be every bit as clever and likeable as these six prequel and sequel entries have been. Personally I’m hoping for Harry Potter and Star Trek versions to follow, but whatever happens in the near future I’ll certainly be watching Ian Doeschers career with great interest.
Many thanks to Sam at Quirk Book for the review copy.
