Star Wars as it would be told by Shakespeare... Funny to flip through, beautiful Elizabethan-style illustrations.

Goes as a surprise RABCK to a reader whose wishlist this book is on.
Happy reading!

Thanks so much for the wishlist book! (And thanks to BCer J4shaw for suggesting it!) It arrived safely today, and I'm delighted to have another volume in this series.

I discovered the books via Doescher's Phantom of Menace, retelling the plot of the Star Wars "Phantom Menace" film in Shakespearian form, and loved it. Since then I've read the rest of that trilogy and "Verily, A New Hope", so I'm ready for this one!

This volume retells the plot of The Empire Strikes Back in Shakespearian style, with most lines in iambic pentameter ("...in time so long ago begins our play, in in war-torn galaxy far, far away") but with some exceptions - including Yoda's lines: here, he speaks in haiku!

I get a kick out of the way Doescher pulls in Shakespearian quotes and some from other sources; for example, the scene on snowy Hoth opens with "If flurries be the food of quests, snow on!" And I like it when some of the movie-version's monsters get lines of their own, as when the savage wampa gets to explain its motivation in going after Luke: "I prithee know I strike but for my food".

While I enjoyed the whole thing, my favorite bit was the scene where a couple of guards on Bespin are chatting - much in the vein of typical Shakespearian Rude Mechanicals - and they get onto the subject of the weird building codes that seem to mandate that every important passage runs by a yawning abyss with no safety railings. And they come up with a reason for this! I couldn't stop chuckling...

The conclusion's amusing, too, with the nice little shout-outs:

"Ye must leave empty, sighing lack-a-day,
Til we, by George, a brighter play compose.
Our story endeth, though your hearts do burn,
And shall until the Jedi doth return."

I appreciated the afterword, too, where the author explains some of his choices. Another fine entry in this very well-done series!

I plan to leave this book on or near one of the colorfully-painted pianos on Main Street; hope the finder enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2018 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2018 Royalty release challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2018 Movie release challenge. ***