3/5 Rancors

I've been a fan of R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf books ever since the late 80s publication of his Forgotten Realms novel The Crystal Shard, loyally keeping up with the adventures of Drizzt Do'Urden and company. I eagerly read Salvatore's first Star Wars novel, Vector Prime, and was very curious to see what he would bring to the table for his novelization of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Overall, I was pleased and felt this book gelled better than the novelization of The Phantom Menace. I'm not sure how enamored I am of Salvatore's writing style per se as I am with his imagination and strong characterization and story-telling skills. He excels at writing fight sequences but is restrained in that regard in this particular book.

Like I mentioned in my review for The Phantom Menace, I like for a movie novelization to add something significant to the film, since the story itself is already largely taken care of before the author ever puts pen to paper. Similar to the Episode I book, the opening chapters of this one are completely incremental to the movie. The first is a really nice touch when you're reading the books in order, as it serves as a flashback occurring immediately before the opening of The Approaching Storm. Added detail on the Lars family on Tatooine is welcome, as are the chapters dealing with Padme and her growing need for something more than political service to fill her days.

Salvatore skillfully adds some touches that serve to deepen the characters shown in the film. Padme's interest in Anakin is fleshed out, as is her inner conflict as her attraction to the gallant but troubled young Jedi wars with her conscience. I was very impressed with how the book explains exactly why Palpatine chooses Jar Jar Binks in particular to make the motion giving the Chancellor emergency powers. Also intriguing is the additional material exploring Jango and Boba Fett's life on Kamino. Essentially, by the conclusion of the novel Salvatore manages to add some additional depth to each of the main characters. Anakin's angst makes more sense, Padme's conflicts are clarified, Obi-Wan's life dealing with a troublesome apprentice is illuminated, and several other less important characters also benefit.

One place I would have liked to see more detail is the conclusion. Perhaps Salvatore felt the action-packed climax would be better served on the screen than on paper. The arena feels a bit rushed, and then we breathlessly speed through the lightsaber duel and are at the conclusion in just a couple more pages. Granted, the duel in Attack of the Clones is less meaty than most of the others in the films, but still I would have liked to take a little more time in the closing battles. Somewhere before the concluding sequences the book almost seemed to run out of the time to do its own thing and started hewing to the film script very closely indeed.

I'm a big fan of Attack of the Clones, including the love story debated so frequently by fans, and this book serves the story well. While nothing in the book transcended the film, there were many thoughtful touches that will clearly enhance my next viewing.