Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Simply put, this book is EPIC! Taking place during the years between Episode III and IV of the Star Wars film saga, this book is the film that should be made as Episode 3.5.

It is so epic, I cannot write too much about it for fear of spoiling all the awesomeness for the next person. I cannot believe it took me so long to get around to reading this. SO, SO much more well written that your typical Extended Universe Star Wars novel. Plus, this novel really puts meat on the bones of the Star Wars story that we already love and gnaw on...

Wow - I really enjoyed this novel! I think what I enjoyed most was the widening view of Force-users and indeed Jedi. If all you know about the Jedi comes from Episodes IV, V, and VI you would think Luke was the last hope to resurrect the Jedi from extinction. This novel widens the story beyond the Starwalkers and gives texture and depth to the world around the movies. Also - good writing! And an ever expanding idea of "the dark side" and "the light side".

This was pretty good, but it was not great. I mostly say that since the pace slows down a bit in the middle of the book. I rarely pick up books new, but the bookstore I bought it had it on a deep discount, and being curious, I bought it. I was a bit leery since it is based on a video game, but it was a pretty good escapist read. I think Star Wars fans will probably like it. It does bring in some nice perspective on the birth of the Rebellion, and we get another look at Darth Vader's plans. Once you get past the middle, the pace picks up again nicely.

Have had to start/return/lather/rinse/repeat on this book several times, but _finally_ finished this past summer.
Best parts of it were the PROXY snark, seeing Master Shaak-Ti again, and hearing Lt. Crashdown's voice in my head as The Apprentice.
Of course, now that all EU is un-canon... *sigh*

The premise: Darth Vader has a secret apprentice who he's been training in the Dark Side of the Force. This apprentice is meant to help Vader overthrow the Emperor, but as always, when it comes to the Sith, nothing is what it seems. Soon the apprentice is on his own with only his pilot, a woman named Juno, and his training droid, PROXY, as his companions. He's conflicted about his missions, about his loyalty to the Emperor and his Master, and more important, about how he feels about that pilot of his. He might know all about the Dark Side of the Force, but he knows NOTHING about women, and that might be just what undermines his goals to take over the galaxy.

My Rating

Buy the Paperback: to be honest, I kind of wish I'd bought the graphic show more novel instead. That too is an option. Reasons being were because as I mentioned before, I got really bored with the predictable rate of action scenes, and unless I've given impeccable descriptions of the visuals, it's all kind of muddy in my head anyway. And let's face it: any book that's a novelization of a VIDEO GAME is bound to be, you know, VISUAL. I'm not blaming Williams for this at all. I think he did well enough with what he had, but frankly, his other Star Wars work and his ORIGINAL work is much, much better. As for the game itself, I don't know. I'm not a gamer, but Greg's downloaded the PS3 demo for me and I'll see how I do and how fast I get impatient with the level of difficulty and the controls. I'll be honest, about the only video games I can handle are Lego: Star Wars and Lego: Indiana Jones. No, I'm not kidding. :)

But as far as the novelization goes, it's a fine idea in and of itself, but I'm really not convinced it warranted a hardcover publication, and if I'd had a choice between a hardcover and a mass-market, I'd take the mass-market. The books seems more geared for that anyway, but since I like the author, I hope he's making some money out of this deal. This isn't at all a solid example of Star Wars novels and what they have to offer, so if you do read this, and it's your first SW novel EVER, don't let this book be the judge and jury of exploring more SW titles. There are MUCH better stories out there, with familiar characters and non-familiar characters, that you can sink your teeth into.

The full review, WITH MAJOR SPOILERS, may be found at my LJ. Comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Sean Williams's STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED

Happy Reading! :) show less

Star Wars The Force Unleashed hits the ground running and doesn't stop. The action is continuous throughout the book and the plot is quite involving. Sean Williams did an excellent job adapting the video game from Lucasarts. Unlike the Playstation 2 game, the story fits in with the Star Wars movies. Darth Vader secretly takes an apprentice whom he trains in the ways of the dark side to do his bidding. But can anyone truly hide anything from the Emperor? Filled with a constantly winding, twisting plot, lots of battles, secrets and betrayal, The Force Unleashed is one of the best Star Wars action adventures ever written.

based upon the videogame of the same name. A nameless secret apprentice of Darth Vader's ends up helping to create the rebellion.

This book was yet another good reason why most games don't make good books. This read like a game. Go here, do this, go there, do that. The character development was pretty nil. The contradictions in this story were huge, imo. A sith apprentice who easily switches over to the light? He changed the course of a StarDestroyer for goodness sake, with darkside power. That should have twisted him beyond recognition.

It was just one big piece of crap. I didn't enjoy reading it and am glad it is not the beginning of a series, for I would have to skip it.