Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Deluxe Edition Book Review

2025 marked the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith. Our review of the newly released Deluxe edition of the novel features an in-depth overview of the physical features of the book.

We received a physical copy for review before its official release on October 14.

What you get with the Deluxe Edition
Novel Review: An amplified version of ROTS
Listening to the audiobook
Final thoughts

What you get with the Deluxe Edition

The novel was written by Matthew Stover and originally released in 2005. This new deluxe edition comes with a few extra features, including a removable transparent acetate jacket with a stamped silhouette of Darth Vader.

Since this is acetate, it reflects all light, as the following picture shows. Taking a casual photo of it is not the easiest thing to do.

Click or tap on an image to enlarge it.

Under the acetate jacket, there’s a full-wrap illustrated bookcase of Anakin and Obi-Wan dueling on Mustafar.

It also comes with illustrated endpapers. One has Anakin and Padmé in a cozy room, and the second shows the birth of Darth Vader. A very accurate way to tell the beginning and ending of this tragic story.

Online websites where you can pre-order this version state that it comes with a red satin ribbon marker. However, ours is black. This is me being nitpicky; this has no impact on the experience itself. It’s just something curious.

The book is divided into three parts: Victory, Seduction, and Apocalypse. All are signified with black pages.

One of my favorite things are the red foil edges with black text of what I’d argue to be the most iconic line of the novel, and the best way to summarize Anakin Skywalker’s existence after Order 66.

Last but definitely not least are the annotations and new introduction by Matthew Stover. Annotations provide a decent amount of insight into what the author was thinking, the reasoning behind some decisions, and even the sources. Definitely the most valuable things for fans who want to know as much as possible about the book.

All of these details and features are great. It gives the book a fresh and modern look with a few extra treats that actually have value for the most dedicated collectors and fans of the franchise.

Novel Review: An amplified version of ROTS

Revenge of the Sith is an iconic film of the franchise and arguably the most intense of them. The novelization amplifies everything that is experienced when watching the movie. All moments are very detailed, not only the environment, but also what’s happening in the characters’ minds.

Reading about internal monologues or thoughts that are never explained in the movie gives another layer of complexity to an intense story. My favorite part about this is that we also get to know more about perspectives outside of the main characters.

This is done very carefully, as it never overshadows the main plot. A good metaphor would be adding new shades of color to an already colorful painting. It won’t distract you from the most important things, but the extra details are more than welcome.

For example, it takes between 2-3 hours for Anakin and Obi-Wan to rescue Palpatine from The Invisible Hand. In the movie, that happens a lot faster. There are a few moments that feel too prolonged, but that is compensated for by those that are taken to the next level.

Padmé’s anguish, Obi-Wan’s sadness, and Palpatine’s malice are shown in ways that, due to the format, we simply can’t get into a movie. Despite the fact that these characters have been around for decades and in multiple Star Wars media, this lets you appreciate them even more.

However, I am not convinced about how this novel displays Anakin’s character. We all know that he’s immature and unstable. As powerful as he was, that could never compensate for his flaws, and Palpatine was more than aware of this.

He planted a seed and grew it for years until he could get the advantage of it. While it’s true that Anakin is in a very vulnerable position, the way he reacts to some of the things that Palpatine makes him look like one of the dumbest characters in the franchise.

Since this is based on the movie, the author can’t take too many creative liberties. Though that doesn’t remove the bitter taste it left. I wouldn’t presume to say that I know how it should have been done, but as the reader, I shouldn’t be thinking of a way to make Anakin behave in a less idiotic way.

It was very frustrating to see how he was dumbed down in a way that’s not believable, at least to me. As far as criticism, this is my only one. Everything else was super fun and entertaining.

It felt like a 13 hr extended version of my favorite Star Wars movie. I could picture all the scenes in my mind while also creating new ones based on what was happening in the book.

Most of the Star Wars books I’ve read aren’t adaptations from other media, so having something visual as a reference made this a very different and enjoyable experience.

Listening to the audiobook

Just like with my other Star Wars book reviews, I wanted to get the most immersive experience with the audiobook. Despite being two decades old, it holds up incredibly well.

Jonathan Davis does an amazing job voicing all the characters. It’s not only the accent or pitch, but the attitude behind it. It’s not easy to handle all these aspects. Many narrators struggle with it, but Jonathan nails it.

The sound effects used were great. Many of them are from the movie itself, so it felt very familiar to me. Nothing over the top, just the right amount to grant that extra layer of immersion.

The choice of music is also spot on. It helped create the right atmosphere during the most important events. In theory, this should happen with all Star Wars books, but it doesn’t, so I’m glad that the issue wasn’t present here. Overall, a very pleasant audio version and easy to listen to.

Final thoughts

The Revenge of the Sith novel by Matthew Stover is great for anyone who loves the movie. It adds extra details and explanations that are missing in the movie. There are a few of them that I don’t agree with, but since the movie dictates everything, I understand that the author is limited to what he can do.

The action sequences are vibrant and intense, while the sad moments are devastating. Even those that involve non-living characters like R2-D2. Obi-Wan, Padmé, and Palpatine are portrayed incredibly well. Even if you already saw them on shows like Clone Wars, this still adds something extra to them.

The Deluxe Edition is a great addition to any collection, especially because of the annotations and how they help us see a bit into the process of writing the novelization of an iconic movie.

However, if you already read the novel when it came out twenty years ago and aren’t interested in these extra features, you may skip it.

This entire review as well as the summary in the review card below are all based on our own opinions as fans of the franchise. We would love it if you shared your thoughts.

Full Title:

Revenge of the Sith (Deluxe edition)