Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (audiobook) Review

One of the nice things about the compact disc format - other than the fact that it spun off the CD-ROM, the DVD and Blu-ray discs - is that it made audio versions of books (especially the unabridged editions) more enjoyable and manageable.

Although I prefer traditional hardcover or paperback editions of books in any genre, there have been times when in the past I've wanted to listen to an audio version of, say, a Tom Clancy novel such as The Hunt for Red October or Red Storm Rising.  My reasons tend to vary; sometimes I want to hear a good voice actor read a story to me in as in the days when stories were told orally, while at other times I might be at my computer and want to take a "reading" break and still be at my desk.

If audiobooks on CDs had been more common back when I was in college, I'm sure my collection would be far larger than the one I now have.  The few audiobooks that I did buy in the late 1980s were on cassette and came in two flavors - abridged but pretty straightforward readings or full-length dramatizations that resembled the National Public Radio Star Wars Radio Dramas.

Naturally, more often than not I had to settle for the former variety, which basically had two flaws.  First, if you owned the original novels that were abridged, you'd notice everything that was missing or altered.  This was maddening, to say the least, because no matter how good the narrator was, you'd be distracted by all the changes made in the transition from print to audio.

Second, cassettes don't last as long as CDs because of their intrinsic nature.  Tapes sound fabulous -if the cassette player is regularly cleaned and in good shape - the first time they're played, then lose their clarity and high fidelity with each subsequent use.  No matter how well they're stored or handled, however, tapes wear out, get caught in the player's mechanisms or simply break.

Finally,  unabridged editions on cassettes were very expensive and quite bulky.  I remember seeing a set of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings on cassette at my favorite Waldenbooks store.  I wasn't yet too keen on that fantasy novel, but a friend of mine was and I thought about getting it for her as a birthday present.  Not only was it expensive - $120.00 - but it came in a wooden box with something like 15 cassettes.

With the advent of  the CD and its various offshoots , publishers have been releasing more and more unabridged editions of books in audio format.  They still require lots of CDs to hold a 300-page novel's content, and they're a bit more expensive than hardcover editions, but if you like to listen to a good story while you're on a long car drive or cleaning your house, they do give you your money's worth in entertainment value.

Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith               

The turning point for the entire Star Wars saga is at hand.

After years of civil war, the Separatists have battered the already faltering Republic nearly to the point of collapse. On Coruscant, the Senate watches anxiously as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine aggressively strips away more and more constitutional liberties in the name of safeguarding the Republic. Yoda, Mace Windu, and their fellow Masters grapple with the Chancellor's disturbing move to assume control of the Jedi Council. And Anakin Skywalker, the prophesied Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force, is increasingly consumed by his fear that his secret love, Senator Padme Amidala, will die.

As the combat escalates across the galaxy, the stage is set for an explosive endgame: Obi-Wan undertakes a perilous mission to destroy the dreaded Separatist military leader, General Grievous; Palpatine, eager to secure even greater control, subtly influences public opinion against the Jedi; and a conflicted Anakin--tormented by unspeakable visions--edges dangerously closer to the brink of a galaxy-shaping decision. It remains only for Darth Sidious, whose shadow looms ever larger, to strike the final staggering blow against the Republic...and to ordain a fearsome new Sith Lord: Darth Vader.

Based on the screenplay of the eagerly anticipated final film in George Lucas's epic saga, bestselling Star Wars author Matthew Stover's novel crackles with action, captures the iconic characters in all their complexity, and brings a space opera masterpiece full circle in stunning style - from the package blurb.

Because I've owned the Del Rey hardcover edition since before the film's premiere, I didn't really need this Random House Audio edition.  I've read Matt Stover's novelization of Episode III several times over the past few years and every time I do, I discover passages or simple turns of phrases I either missed or forgot about in previous readings.

Indeed, when I bought this on eBay in 2007 I was actually looking for its Classic Trilogy forebear, the Alan Dean Foster-penned novelization of Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope in audiobook format.  I searched high and low but there weren't any available.  Perhaps out of a desire to make a good situation out of a bad one, I broke down and ended up buying the 15-CD set of Revenge of the Sith instead.

My Viewpoint:  Like all Star Wars audiobooks, the Random House Audio edition of Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith  is a mixture of straightforward (but dramatic) reading by a talented voice actor (Jonathan Davis) and Star Wars sound effects and bits of John Williams' scores from other films of  the saga.

The audiobook has a total running time of 14 hours and comes in 15 compact discs packaged in two compartmented folders and an outer box with the novel's cover art on the front and the book's "jacket blurb" reproduced on the back panel. 

For the most part, executive producer Jacob Bronstein and producer Kevin Thomsen do a good job at adapting Stover's literary version of George Lucas' saga-concluding - or at least Prequel-closing - story of the rise of the Galactic Empire and the transformation of Anakin Skywalker from heroic Jedi Knight into the black-armored Sith Lord Darth Vader.  They kept most of the text pretty much intact save for a few "for audio" changes, so the cadences and nuances of Stover's writing come alive in this edition.

Of course, if you have ever listened to audiobooks, you know that they either work or don't depending on who the reader is. 

In this case, I got lucky, because Random House Audio has actor Jonathan Davis as its go-to guy for Star Wars audiobooks.  This one is the only one I have so I can't speak about the other 19 or so Star Wars books he has narrated, but Davis is a good vocal performer.  He can mimic the accents of young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious pretty well, and he channels Anakin Skywalker's youthful intensity nicely.  His C-3PO is a bit off, but Anthony Daniels is a tough act to follow, so I can pretty much forgive him on that one.

His General Grievous is also a bit off; because the novel was written before the movie was done, there's no mention of the cyborg villain's constant coughing and irregular breathing.  I'll give Davis and Stover a pass on those "oversights" as well.

The strangest characterization Davis has to do is, naturally, Padme Amidala, the lovely 27-year-old Senator from Naboo and Anakin's secret wife.  Had I been the producer, I'd have hired a female reader to do her dialog, but audiobook readers often have to follow oral storytelling tradition and "do" characters of all races and both genders.

On the whole, the audiobook edition of Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is worth at least a trip to the public library to borrow it.  It's still "in print" and sold at most bookstores; Amazon has new copies for $35.99 ($14.00 off the regular price), and used copies are also available there and on eBay.