On 2nd April 2005, Matthew Stover and Del Rey published the best-selling novel tie-in to Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It delves more into the psychological aspects of the main characters as they deal with the coming close of the Clone Wars. Synopsis: 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 Padmé 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 to turn 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.
The novel opens with an introduction that sets up how the (original[1]) Clone Wars was going on, how, because of Jedi such as Depa Billaba (Star Wars: Shatterpoint (A Clone Wars novel) and Sora Bulq (Star Wars: Clone Wars Volumes 1, 4, and 8), the galactic peoples don't trust Jedi anymore, plus a recap of James Luceno's climactic battle of Coruscant (Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil) and Palpatine's capture by General Grievous. The Battle for Coruscant is detailed heavily in Karen Traviss's Order 66: A Republic Commando novel. For the next hundred pages, Anakin and Obi-Wan battle their way to Grevious' flagship, Invisible Hand, and attempt to rescue Palpatine. Dooku, meanwhile, has a conversation about the future of the Republic with Darth Sidious and it's revealed there that Sidious is Palpatine (not that it was that well hidden in the first place). Anakin and Obi-Wan duel with Dooku; Obi-Wan's knocked out and Palpatine orders Anakin to kill Dooku. Dooku tries to plea for his life, but Palpatine retorts that since Dooku tried to kill Anakin and Obi-Wan he (Dooku) must die. Anakin kills Dooku. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Palpatine, and R2-D2 get captured by Grievous. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and R2-D2 take the bridge and Grievous flees. Commander Lorth Needa alerts Jedi Grand Master Yoda about Anakin crashing Invisible Hand onto Coruscant. Mace Windu greets them and sees through his special gift of shatterpoint that Anakin, Palpatine, and Obi-Wan are heavily tied together.
Palpatine assures the few senators that come to greet him (Tundra Dowema, Fang Zar, Terr Taneel, Chi Eekway, Mon Mothma, Malé-Dee) that everything is fine. Now, that ship that you see in the movie that's a YT-1300 CEC ship that's supposed to be Millennium Falcon, is in fact that ship; why it's there is detailed in James Luceno's Star Wars: Millennium Falcon. Anakin finds out that Padmé's pregnant and Anakin soon has visions of Padmé dying. Anakin seeks advice from Yoda, but finds the aged Jedi Grand Master very unhelpful. Obi-Wan remarks that Anakin's late to the report on the Outer Rim Sieges: Saleucami has fallen (Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume VIII: The Last Siege, The Final Truth by John Ostrander) and that Jedi Master Quinlan Vos has moved his troops to Boz Pity for a refit before joining Master Luminara Unduli on Kashyyyk after Delta Squad and Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Mukan wrap up sabotaging the CIS's stronghold to pave the way for the GAR to move in, which Delta Squad (Star Wars: Republic Commando) is currently wrapping up. Obi-Wan tells Anakin that Palpatine wants to see him. Palpatine orders the Jedi Council to appoint Anakin to the Council, which they do, but give Anakin no vote since he's a representative for Palpatine. Anakin fumes at this, but Obi-Wan tells him that the Council approved this for Anakin to find Darth Sidious, whom the Jedi tracked to 500 Republica when the Battle for Coruscant began (the events of Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil).
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Mace bid Yoda farewell as he goes to join Vos, Unduli, and Tur-Mukan on Kashyyyk. Anakin meets with Palpatine in the Galaxies Opera, where (in the movie, anyway) you can see important figures such as Romeo Treblanc, Chi Eekway, Papanoidia, all watching Squid Lake, a Mon Calamari water ballet. Palpatine brings up that Republic Intelligence discovered General Grievous on Utapau (detailed in Star Wars: Order 66); he also brings up some Sith lore, especially about a Sith Lord named Darth Palgueis and how he could use the Force to create life and save people, but himself. Bail, Mon Mothma, Padmé, Chi Eekway, Terr Taneel, Fang Zar start the beginnings of what will become the Rebel Alliance. Anakin informs the Council and they assign Obi-Wan the task of taking out Grievous. Obi-Wan, after talking with port master Tion Medon, locates Greivous. They fight and Obi-Wan bests him, then chases him across the sinkholes until Obi-Wan finally kills Grievous with a gun, noting how uncivilized this was. The 212th Attack Battalion arrive to fight the CIS droids. Cody informs the Council that Grievous is dead and Mace sends Anakin to inform Palpatine. Palpatine tells Anakin that he's Darth Sidious; Anakin's too fragile to deal with this and, shakily, informs Mace of the fact. Mace gets Saesee Tiin, Agen Kolar, and Kit Fisto to go and arrest Palpatine. Palpatine stages a fake recording, then kills Tiin and Kolar, before dueling Fisto and Mace. Anakin arrives to watch Mace and Palpatine battle it out; Anakin prevents Mace from killing Palpatine, and Sidious uses Force Lightning on Mace to kill the Jedi Master.
Sidious names Anakin Darth Vader, then sends him to kill every Jedi in the Temple; Anakin kills Gate Master Jurokk, Whie Malreaux, Bene then hunts down Shaak Ti, Cin "The Troll" Drallig, and others, even children. Order 66, a contingency order, is executed on the biggest battlefields: Mygeeto, where Ki-Adi-Mundi dies; Felucia, where Aalya Secura and Barriss Offee die; Kashyyyk, where Luminara Unduli dies and Quinlan Vos is rendered unconscious; Cato Neimoidia, where Plo Koon dies; Saleucami, where Stass Allie dies--just to name a few. Obi-Wan, after hours, manages to escape Utapau via Grievous's secondary hidden ship. Bail Organa, having managed to sneak off Coruscant after the Jedi Rebellion, finds Yoda in an escape pod and gathers both him and Obi-Wan to smuggle them back to Coruscant. Obi-Wan rewrites Emergency Code 913 to warn any surviving Jedi away from Coruscant; this was left in the movie to provide an excuse for the Expanded Universe where Vos, Jerec, Qu Rahn, Empatojayos Brand, Vima da-Boda, An'ya "Dark Woman" Kuro, K'Kruhk, Sian Jeisel, and dozens of others survived. Vader arrives on Mustafar and kills the Separatist leaders, saying to Nute Gunray that "The transmission was garbled. [Sidious] said you would be left in pieces." Palpatine, before the Galactic Senate, declares the Jedi enemies of the state and announces that the Galactic Republic will become the Galactic Empire that will last for 10,000 years; Padmé prevents Bail from trying to stop this because Fang Zar, Malé-Dee and the others were arrested for treason. Obi-Wan and Yoda learn that Anakin became Darth Vader and serves under Darth Sidious. Yoda goes to take on Sidious while Obi-Wan smuggles himself aboard Padmé's shuttle to Mustafar to confront Anakin.
Yoda gets his ass handed to him; Anakin Force Chokes Padmé, then duels Obi-Wan in a failing Techno Union facility. Obi-Wan lops off Anakin's remaining organic limbs, takes Anakin's lightsaber, then leaves him to burn on the lava bank. Sidious arrives and spirits Anakin back to the Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center on Coruscant to encase Anakin in a suit of armor; Anakin demands to know where Padmé is and Sidious says that Vader killed her. Vader rages at Palpatine but can't kill him as he's no longer strong enough. On Polis Massa, the medics help Padmé birth Luke, then Leia; before she dies, she tells Obi-Wan that there's still good in Anakin. They drop Padmé's body off at Naboo where she has a state funeral. Bail takes Leia to his wife, Queen Breha, on Alderaan to raise as his daughter. Yoda, in an escape pod, returns to Dagobah where he'd dueled a Bpfasshi Dark Jedi many years ago. Darth Vader joins Darth Sidious on a bridge of a Star Destroyer to observe the construction of the Death Star with a sector governor named Wilhuff Tarkin. On Tatooine, Obi-Wan rides an eopie to the Lars homestead and delivers Luke to Owen and Beru. Then, Obi-Wan rides off into the Judland Wastes to make a life as a small time moisture farmer (the events will be detailed in Star Wars: Kenobi by John Jackson Miller this 27th August 2013).
All in all, a decently paced novel that delves into Obi-Wan Kenobi's mind, as well as Anakin's, Padmé's, Mace Windu's, General Grievous', Count Dooku's, Bail Organa's, C-3PO's, and, abstractly, Darth Sidious/Palpatine. It is an inspired novel that branches out to connect the vast majority of the plot points left dangling, though some things aren't resolved, such as the surviving Jedi. The Expanded Universe wrapped up those with such works as Dark Force II: Jedi Knight, The Thrawn Trilogy, The Dark Empire Trilogy, Dark Times comic series, Last of the Jedi series, and others. Stover proved once again why many fans love him; both his previous works Star Wars: Traitor, and Star Wars: Shatterpoint are still acclaimed novels by the fans. Stover did what Lucas couldn't--produce the tragic downfall of Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader and how his choices shattered the galaxy.
[1] The original multimedia project: the Clone Wars novels, games, and the 2002-2004 TV show (not the current CG animated show)
The novel opens with an introduction that sets up how the (original[1]) Clone Wars was going on, how, because of Jedi such as Depa Billaba (Star Wars: Shatterpoint (A Clone Wars novel) and Sora Bulq (Star Wars: Clone Wars Volumes 1, 4, and 8), the galactic peoples don't trust Jedi anymore, plus a recap of James Luceno's climactic battle of Coruscant (Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil) and Palpatine's capture by General Grievous. The Battle for Coruscant is detailed heavily in Karen Traviss's Order 66: A Republic Commando novel. For the next hundred pages, Anakin and Obi-Wan battle their way to Grevious' flagship, Invisible Hand, and attempt to rescue Palpatine. Dooku, meanwhile, has a conversation about the future of the Republic with Darth Sidious and it's revealed there that Sidious is Palpatine (not that it was that well hidden in the first place). Anakin and Obi-Wan duel with Dooku; Obi-Wan's knocked out and Palpatine orders Anakin to kill Dooku. Dooku tries to plea for his life, but Palpatine retorts that since Dooku tried to kill Anakin and Obi-Wan he (Dooku) must die. Anakin kills Dooku. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Palpatine, and R2-D2 get captured by Grievous. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and R2-D2 take the bridge and Grievous flees. Commander Lorth Needa alerts Jedi Grand Master Yoda about Anakin crashing Invisible Hand onto Coruscant. Mace Windu greets them and sees through his special gift of shatterpoint that Anakin, Palpatine, and Obi-Wan are heavily tied together.
Palpatine assures the few senators that come to greet him (Tundra Dowema, Fang Zar, Terr Taneel, Chi Eekway, Mon Mothma, Malé-Dee) that everything is fine. Now, that ship that you see in the movie that's a YT-1300 CEC ship that's supposed to be Millennium Falcon, is in fact that ship; why it's there is detailed in James Luceno's Star Wars: Millennium Falcon. Anakin finds out that Padmé's pregnant and Anakin soon has visions of Padmé dying. Anakin seeks advice from Yoda, but finds the aged Jedi Grand Master very unhelpful. Obi-Wan remarks that Anakin's late to the report on the Outer Rim Sieges: Saleucami has fallen (Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume VIII: The Last Siege, The Final Truth by John Ostrander) and that Jedi Master Quinlan Vos has moved his troops to Boz Pity for a refit before joining Master Luminara Unduli on Kashyyyk after Delta Squad and Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Mukan wrap up sabotaging the CIS's stronghold to pave the way for the GAR to move in, which Delta Squad (Star Wars: Republic Commando) is currently wrapping up. Obi-Wan tells Anakin that Palpatine wants to see him. Palpatine orders the Jedi Council to appoint Anakin to the Council, which they do, but give Anakin no vote since he's a representative for Palpatine. Anakin fumes at this, but Obi-Wan tells him that the Council approved this for Anakin to find Darth Sidious, whom the Jedi tracked to 500 Republica when the Battle for Coruscant began (the events of Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil).
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Mace bid Yoda farewell as he goes to join Vos, Unduli, and Tur-Mukan on Kashyyyk. Anakin meets with Palpatine in the Galaxies Opera, where (in the movie, anyway) you can see important figures such as Romeo Treblanc, Chi Eekway, Papanoidia, all watching Squid Lake, a Mon Calamari water ballet. Palpatine brings up that Republic Intelligence discovered General Grievous on Utapau (detailed in Star Wars: Order 66); he also brings up some Sith lore, especially about a Sith Lord named Darth Palgueis and how he could use the Force to create life and save people, but himself. Bail, Mon Mothma, Padmé, Chi Eekway, Terr Taneel, Fang Zar start the beginnings of what will become the Rebel Alliance. Anakin informs the Council and they assign Obi-Wan the task of taking out Grievous. Obi-Wan, after talking with port master Tion Medon, locates Greivous. They fight and Obi-Wan bests him, then chases him across the sinkholes until Obi-Wan finally kills Grievous with a gun, noting how uncivilized this was. The 212th Attack Battalion arrive to fight the CIS droids. Cody informs the Council that Grievous is dead and Mace sends Anakin to inform Palpatine. Palpatine tells Anakin that he's Darth Sidious; Anakin's too fragile to deal with this and, shakily, informs Mace of the fact. Mace gets Saesee Tiin, Agen Kolar, and Kit Fisto to go and arrest Palpatine. Palpatine stages a fake recording, then kills Tiin and Kolar, before dueling Fisto and Mace. Anakin arrives to watch Mace and Palpatine battle it out; Anakin prevents Mace from killing Palpatine, and Sidious uses Force Lightning on Mace to kill the Jedi Master.
Sidious names Anakin Darth Vader, then sends him to kill every Jedi in the Temple; Anakin kills Gate Master Jurokk, Whie Malreaux, Bene then hunts down Shaak Ti, Cin "The Troll" Drallig, and others, even children. Order 66, a contingency order, is executed on the biggest battlefields: Mygeeto, where Ki-Adi-Mundi dies; Felucia, where Aalya Secura and Barriss Offee die; Kashyyyk, where Luminara Unduli dies and Quinlan Vos is rendered unconscious; Cato Neimoidia, where Plo Koon dies; Saleucami, where Stass Allie dies--just to name a few. Obi-Wan, after hours, manages to escape Utapau via Grievous's secondary hidden ship. Bail Organa, having managed to sneak off Coruscant after the Jedi Rebellion, finds Yoda in an escape pod and gathers both him and Obi-Wan to smuggle them back to Coruscant. Obi-Wan rewrites Emergency Code 913 to warn any surviving Jedi away from Coruscant; this was left in the movie to provide an excuse for the Expanded Universe where Vos, Jerec, Qu Rahn, Empatojayos Brand, Vima da-Boda, An'ya "Dark Woman" Kuro, K'Kruhk, Sian Jeisel, and dozens of others survived. Vader arrives on Mustafar and kills the Separatist leaders, saying to Nute Gunray that "The transmission was garbled. [Sidious] said you would be left in pieces." Palpatine, before the Galactic Senate, declares the Jedi enemies of the state and announces that the Galactic Republic will become the Galactic Empire that will last for 10,000 years; Padmé prevents Bail from trying to stop this because Fang Zar, Malé-Dee and the others were arrested for treason. Obi-Wan and Yoda learn that Anakin became Darth Vader and serves under Darth Sidious. Yoda goes to take on Sidious while Obi-Wan smuggles himself aboard Padmé's shuttle to Mustafar to confront Anakin.
Yoda gets his ass handed to him; Anakin Force Chokes Padmé, then duels Obi-Wan in a failing Techno Union facility. Obi-Wan lops off Anakin's remaining organic limbs, takes Anakin's lightsaber, then leaves him to burn on the lava bank. Sidious arrives and spirits Anakin back to the Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center on Coruscant to encase Anakin in a suit of armor; Anakin demands to know where Padmé is and Sidious says that Vader killed her. Vader rages at Palpatine but can't kill him as he's no longer strong enough. On Polis Massa, the medics help Padmé birth Luke, then Leia; before she dies, she tells Obi-Wan that there's still good in Anakin. They drop Padmé's body off at Naboo where she has a state funeral. Bail takes Leia to his wife, Queen Breha, on Alderaan to raise as his daughter. Yoda, in an escape pod, returns to Dagobah where he'd dueled a Bpfasshi Dark Jedi many years ago. Darth Vader joins Darth Sidious on a bridge of a Star Destroyer to observe the construction of the Death Star with a sector governor named Wilhuff Tarkin. On Tatooine, Obi-Wan rides an eopie to the Lars homestead and delivers Luke to Owen and Beru. Then, Obi-Wan rides off into the Judland Wastes to make a life as a small time moisture farmer (the events will be detailed in Star Wars: Kenobi by John Jackson Miller this 27th August 2013).
All in all, a decently paced novel that delves into Obi-Wan Kenobi's mind, as well as Anakin's, Padmé's, Mace Windu's, General Grievous', Count Dooku's, Bail Organa's, C-3PO's, and, abstractly, Darth Sidious/Palpatine. It is an inspired novel that branches out to connect the vast majority of the plot points left dangling, though some things aren't resolved, such as the surviving Jedi. The Expanded Universe wrapped up those with such works as Dark Force II: Jedi Knight, The Thrawn Trilogy, The Dark Empire Trilogy, Dark Times comic series, Last of the Jedi series, and others. Stover proved once again why many fans love him; both his previous works Star Wars: Traitor, and Star Wars: Shatterpoint are still acclaimed novels by the fans. Stover did what Lucas couldn't--produce the tragic downfall of Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader and how his choices shattered the galaxy.
[1] The original multimedia project: the Clone Wars novels, games, and the 2002-2004 TV show (not the current CG animated show)
