Product Description: The full story of Anakin Skywalker, from his birth in slavery to his death as the powerful Darth Vader ... told for the first time in its entirety by NYT bestselling Star Wars author Ryder Windham. Spanning all six Star Wars movie and including the pieces of the story that fill in the gaps, this novel will be a must-have for any Star Wars fan.
Awful It's funny, my first instinct was to go "on the internet and register my disgust throughout the world."
This has pretty much already been said, but still.
Save your money. Watch all 6 movies, maybe read a couple expanded universe novels, and you'll get more than if you read this book. It was like an 8th grader was forced to write a summary of all 6 movies and did so with boredom and disinterest. I had high hopes for some additional insight, some uber-geekiness, to know what happened in between movies, to know what went on inside his head. You'll get none of that here. It summarizes everything you already know, and does not fill in the gaps.
Looks like lots of us wanted this book to be so much more. BOO!
Disappointment I was disappointed with the fact that all the book was is a recapitulation of all the events from Phanton Menance to Return of the Jedi. It offers very little of anything new to Star Wars fans, including myself. I would not recommend this book to anyone familiar with the Star Wars saga.
What? I too was very disappointed by this book. Mostly, it's 200 pages of recycled Vader episodes we're all familiar with, and I might even suggest that the author did a poor job of that recycling. There is not much new or insightful here (with the exception of Luke's aunt & uncle, the only *plus* of this book, and I'm sure I could find it in another). The author does a poor job of relating events we all suspected were loosely related anyway, and there's no development here--of Anakin's virgin birth, realizing that his son brings balance to the force, the hand-chopping as relates to Vader's "life-support suit" [I guess that's what it's called], hand-chopping between father & son, etc. I was hoping for something that might creatively probe into Vader's psyche a little bit, but the author keeps him evil, never even shows he's conflicted with a morsel of good until the very end. (This was the same scene as in Return of the Jedi, and depending how you watch it, just isn't true.)
In short, whatever your hopes and dreams would be for a book about the rise and fall of Darth Vader, this is not it.
As another user said on this site, "I could write a better book than this"; I couldn't agree more. Apparently, $10.99 is not enough money to buy something that's imaginitive. My stomach churns when I think of how many Star Wars books this Windham guy has written. I hope that they are all not like this.
If I could have rated this book lower than a single star, I would have.
Wonderful book We are loving this book. All encompassing book on Darth Vader and his life. Answered some questions that my kids had on his life. We love this book!
If you've never read a Star Wars young adult book, this is a great one to start with. If you've never sampled the young adult Star Wars fiction, you've missed some really quality stuff. I've read several YA books from the Last of the Jedi, Boba Fett and Jedi Apprentice series. While the writing style is certainly geared towards a younger audience, the stories are not childish at all. In fact, there are bits of continuity in YA books that can't be found anywhere else.
The latest YA book I read was The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader. Essentially, the book tells the story of all six Star Wars films from Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader's perspective. In itself, this is a cool idea. It's very cool to see the events of all six films just from Anakin's perspective.
But, we get more than just a compilation of scenes from the movies. Again, there are bits of continuity that you can't find anywhere else. (Or, at least, I've never read them anywhere else.) For instance, I had never read what happened when Shmi and Anakin arrived on Tatooine. In fact, I assumed Anakin was born on Tatooine.
It is also very cool to see all the references to other parts of the Expanded Universe. You don't have to be an EU expert to enjoy the book, by any means. But, my extensive exploration of the EU over the last few years really added some cool moments as I read bits that I knew had come from sources as disparate as the KOTOR video game, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, and the Return of Ben Kenobi newspaper comic strip.
For me, that's one of the most rewarding things about being such a voracious EU reader. As I've become more versed in the EU, these little connections between all of the various books and comics and video games and other material become visible to me. It adds an addition layer of enjoyment for me.
The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader was outstanding. While it comes in at over 200 pages, it's really the equivalent of an adult e-book. I finished it in one day. If you've ever been curious about the young adult Star Wars books, I highly recommend this one as a great starting point to see how good they can be.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
