Title The Empire Strikes Back
Author: Donald F. Glut
Pages: 217
Time: 2 ABY

Introduction
My journey through the EU takes me to the novelisation of arguably the best of all the Star Wars movies. Does the novel live up to the reputation of the movie or does it fail miserably? As is often the case the answer is somewhere in the middle. I will put you at ease: although it is not as great as the movie, the novel does provide a great experience.

Novel quality
I'm not even going to pretend that that there are people around here that do not know the storyline, so I will focus on the additions to the story in stead of the story itself. Like in almost all novelisations the difference between the novel and the movie isn't really the story, which has been predefined by the movie-maker, but is the depth of the scenes and at some points the interpretation of the scenes. This is both the reason why many people hate novelisation and why many others think they are fantastic. The great thing about this novel is the real OT-feeling you get from it. Yoda is this unfamiliar yet apparently enormously powerful Jedi-master, Darth Vader is this frightening personification of evil and the Emperor is even scarier. How can someone as powerful and dominant as Darth Vader be completely under control of this guy? How powerful would he have to be? I feel this way of looking at things will provide you with a good view on exactly how dominant Palpatine has become during the years since his rise to power.

Also the "introduction" and the behaviour of Lando felt completely different from the way I experienced it when I saw the movie. He feels a bit less like a traitor this time around, you actually feel for him. Something I did not experience while watching the movie. A last feeling I want to share with you is the feeling I got during final battle and the revelation in the end of it. The battle and the dialogue during it give the scene so much more depth and really make it feel different from the movie. The revelation-scene is interesting, because we get a peak inside Luke's head. It looked like it in the movie, but in the novel we actually read that Luke kind of knows that Vader's claim is true. It's not huge, but it is definitely a nice little extra that the novel provides.

Overall this novel provides for a great read. It will give you a slightly different view from the movie and it will undoubtedly make you feel very nostalgic. This is great for both people who've grown up with the OT and with the PT. For OT people it is a nice flashback to the way the movie(s) felt before the PT. For the PT-raised people the novel will provide a nice peak into the way the OT felt before we knew what happened to Anakin. I recommend everyone with a Star Wars hart to read this novel. It isn't very long, it will make you feel nostalgic and it will actually add something to your Star Wars galaxy. Don't expect to be blown away, but this novel will make you feel good. Just pick it up and give it a shot, you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 82/100

Personal tilt
This isn't a fantastic novel and it also isn't one of the best novelisations I have read so far. All that doesn't matter at all however, this is the novelisation of "The Empire Strikes Back"! What I liked about the novel is the real OT-feeling you'll get from reading this. Reading through the adventures of Luke and co. really takes you back to the days when there was no PT and when Darth Vader was still the great unknown villain with an even greater evil out of sight but close enough to provide you with a serious feeling of looming disaster. (Palpatine... DUH!). The novel will also help people who have grown up with the PT get the "true" and primal Star Wars feeling. Any Star Wars fan should read these novelisations. They might not be great books, but they are definitely an addition to the movie and just reading the story will make you forget about any flaws.
Rating: 90/100

Overall rating: 85.2/100

- - - -

See my Book review summary for other reviews and a my personal top ten.