There's no surer way to grapple with one's mortality in 2025 than to realize that Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is now 20 years old. But the silver lining is that the movie is returning to theaters in May as part of Lucasfilm's anniversary celebration. And not only that, but author Matthew Stover's surprisingly excellent Revenge of the Sith novelization is also getting a 20th anniversary rerelease, available for preorder at Amazon.
As revealed by Collider, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is getting a new Deluxe Edition hardcover set to release in October. This edition features new cover art, red foil-edged pages, a removable acetate jacket, and over 170 new annotations by Stover.
Image Credit: Lucasfilm/Penguin Random House
"We couldn’t be more excited to publish this incredible deluxe edition of the Revenge of the Sith novelization," said Tom Hoeler, Editorial Director of Fiction and Special Projects for Random House World, in a statement. "It has been thrilling to work with author Matthew Stover and Lucasfilm to create a fully annotated edition that gives readers unprecedented insight into the creation of this masterpiece. Across nearly 50 years of Star Wars books, it stands alone, and even among film novelizations, its approach to adapting characters and story from screen to page is unique. Two decades later, this novelization is as essential, enduring, and influential – on readers and creators – as it has ever been. Bringing the book back to hardcover in a stunning deluxe keepsake edition is a perfect way to celebrate 20 years of Revenge of the Sith.”
Out October 14
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: Episode III - Deluxe Edition (Hardcover)
$60.00 at Amazon
For those who have never read Stover's Revenge of the Sith novelization, the book is widely regarded as one of the best Star Wars novels, often considered superior to the film itself. While it generally follows the plot of George Lucas' screenplay, the book greatly embellishes many scenes and subplots and offers a deeper look into the minds of characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Count Dooku. The book also uses a recurring system of second-person narration, which stylistically sets it apart from the rest of the Star Wars line. For example, the following passage offers a much different take on Anakin's tragic reawakening as Darth Vader:
And you rage and scream and reach through the Force to crush the shadow who has destroyed you, but you are so far less now than what you were, you are more than half machine, you are like a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you can remember where the power was but the power you can touch is only a memory, and so with all your world-destroying fury it is only droids around you that implode, and equipment, and the table on which you were strapped shatters, and in the end, you cannot touch the shadow. In the end you don't even want to. In the end, you do not even want to. In the end, the shadow is all you have left. Because the shadow understands you, the shadow forgives you, the shadow gathers you unto itself—And within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame.
By comparison, here's how the film handles that scene:
And that's why sometimes it pays to crack open a book.
The Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith novelization is available in paperback and audiobook form now, with the Deluxe Edition hardcover releasing on October 14. You can preorder a copy on Amazon.
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