Book Review | Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
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Max Nocerino 
Max dives into Matthew Stover’s 20th Anniversary Edition of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Let’s discover together if this beloved novel still shines!
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is officially 20 this year, and if that doesn’t make you feel old, I don’t know what will!
A little over twenty years ago, an 11-year-old boy cut school with his mother and best friend to see Revenge of the Sith in theaters on May 19th, 2005. The age of the internet was still in its infancy. So aside from trolls on message boards, there was really no way the movie could be spoiled for a kid who didn’t even have an email address yet! Wookieepedia had just been created, and ravenous Star Wars fans could not wait to see the story that had been “prophesied” since 1977.
That little boy was me, and even though I had made sure to avoid non-digital spoilers, the name of the infamous location of the fiery lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin had been revealed to me in one of my Jude Watson chapter books (ugh). And, of course, the legendary Revenge of the Sith adult novelization was already on the shelves in Barnes and Noble. While this may seem to have been an egregious affront to fans who wanted to see the story unfold on the silver screen, there is no denying that Matthew Stover’s novel was a gem. May I be as bold as to say it was one of the best-written novels in all of Star Wars mythos? Yes, it was that good.
20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Now, why would I waste my time reviewing a re-release, though? Surely, it’s the same book with nothing new to add, right? Not quite. This deluxe anniversary edition is heavily annotated with thoughts and revelations from Matthew Stover himself, explaining why and how he wrote key scenes and how the entire writing process unfolded. Sounds boring, I know. Yet, Matthew is far from a boring man, and many of his insights were both eye-opening and humorous (at times).
Matthew reveals how nervous he was in the prologue as he was selected to write the novelization and was brought before “The Man Himself” to pitch his contribution. In typical George Lucas fashion, he quietly told Stover, “Do whatever you want; just make it good”. I would be terrified if I received those vague instructions. No guidelines, no rules, no nothing? Just make it good. Hmm. Very tough nut to crack. Yet, I had to give Stover a lot of credit. He really took those words to heart.
ANNOTATIONS
As I was reading the annotations, I really admired how much effort Matthew put into the writing. With minimal access to the onscreen dialogue and plot pacing, Stover crafted his own unique spin on this tragic tale. The annotations often let us know that he approached it very much like a Greek tragedy, which it was frequently compared to. I also like how he added his own ironic humor in the dialogue of the characters, and one exchange that stood out to me (and which I had long forgotten in the sands of my memories) was a very poignant and chilling quote that Palpatine utters on the Invisible Hand, at the beginning of the first act. Anakin says to the Chancellor, “So you get your way after all”. Palpatine responds with a slight, unreadable smile, “I often do”.
Wow! You can feel the cloaked mockery and sense of self-superiority radiating off the Chancellor. Yet the characters are none the wiser to his overall grand scheme. He also whispers like a snake in Anakin’s ear in the same scene, telling him how this war will only be won by him and that he is better than all the other Jedi. Stover put into words, basically, what was the whole unspoken, underlying axiom that Palpatine had for Anakin’s future, to coax him to the dark side. Stroke his pride and make him feel empowered! He is the Chosen One! And nothing should stand in his way.
MATTHEW STOVER
Matthew is also a true fan and managed to handle the former canon with kid gloves, while also dishing out some innovative and groundbreaking plot points. He said many times throughout the annotations how important it was to add throwaway lines from the greater Star Wars lore for the fanboys to feast upon, even though he acknowledged that it would be incomprehensible to the casual fan. He actually killed two birds with one stone with this, though, as the casual fan could follow along. I immensely admire the threading of the needle he had to do as a writer.
There are so many fun factoids that Stover gives throughout, but the two that really stood out to me were these:
Many fans often wondered why the Jedi were so clueless as to the identity of Darth Sidious, when he had been standing there in front of their noses the whole time. They also know from Dooku that Sidious was in the shadows, manipulating the political scene (and the war) the entire time, and it doesn’t make sense that they wouldn’t suspect the Supreme Chancellor himself. Yet, Stover fixes this with one short quote. You don’t even need to dig into background lore, it’s really that effective!
“Palpatine is not a suspect,” Mace Windu says. “Because he already rules the galaxy”.
QUOTES
For me, this one quote is so brilliant and beautiful. It gives us, in such a short byte of dialogue, how the Chancellor remained anonymous simply because the Jedi overlooked his presence with their arrogant and narrow-minded reasoning—hiding in plain sight and hiding behind a technicality. Sure, he already rules the galaxy, so how could he possibly be Sidious? It’s too apparent, the Jedi must think. It couldn’t be that simple. Yet sadly, it was.
Stover also weighed in on another thing many fans have questioned for the last twenty years. Why did Obi-Wan and Yoda split up instead of going after Palpatine together and deal with Anakin later? My theory, throughout my young life, was that Yoda did not want Obi-Wan with him during the confrontation because he would be too concerned with protecting him and wouldn’t be able to fight at his fullest. Also, Palpatine, being the conniving, evil sage that he was, would sense this and instantly take advantage of that weakness.
The theory seemed pretty solid if I do say so myself. But Mathew’s theory was much better and turned me on my head when he revealed it. Apparently, his take was that attacking both of them separately might actually distract or hinder Palpatine, as the two (Master and Apprentice) had just been linked to the dark side and might be connected in more ways in the Force than one. To be clear, Stover acknowledges that this is what he believes Yoda and Obi-Wan think, so he isn’t providing a definitive answer and risks being creative by making something definitive and immovable.
ALWAYS TWO THERE ARE!
Instead, he is giving the characters the belief, and their belief alone, that could very well be just their erroneous opinion. This effectively absconds him from backlash from fanboys and fangirls if they don’t like this fact about the story. You can’t say he said it’s true! To Yoda and Obi-Wan, it is true. Very nicely played, Matt! Also, there actually is some skin in the game for his theory anyway, as Palpatine does have a premonition of Anakin’s defeat (shortly after he chased Yoda away) and was visibly worried. So much so that he went to Mustafar as fast as he could. Maybe this distraction came a bit too late to hinder his dueling performance, but hey, it’s the will of the Force after all!
If you don’t want to add this book to your collection due to money constraints or a dislike of repetitive items, I understand. However, I feel that Stover’s insights are so insightful that it’s worth shelling out for this book and adding it to your collection. As I was reading them, I felt transported back to my youth, as if I was experiencing the story with the same bright-eyed wonder I had all those years ago. The humor, the depth, the elegance, the sophistication. All of the writing choices made by Stover had so much reasoning behind them that I really hope that Disney Canon brings this brilliant man back someday.
VERDICT
Stover, in his last annotation, humorously and humbly admits he has a temper and that he angrily screamed at and cursed out his publisher when he was instructed to get rid of all those sun-dragon descriptions, as a metaphor for Anakin’s hidden anger, a few weeks before the book was to hit shelves! But by George, Matt made it work. And he could make it work again.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is available to buy from all good bookshops now.
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
