Reviews

William Shakespeare's Star Wars Collection by Ian Doescher

Only show reviews with written explanations

tjeoconnor's review against another edition

5.0

The idea of the book was hilarious, and putting all of A New Hope into iambic pentameter is a very impressive feat. I'd love to see this on a stage!

tregina's review against another edition

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3.0

I love Shakespeare, and I love Star Wars, so the potential was there for me to love this. However, it read a bit too much like someone threw Shakespeare's canon and A New Hope at one another just to see what stuck. The iconic lines that were pulled from Shakespeare's plays and repurposed here rarely worked, and it rested too heavily on the Chorus and on asides to tell its story.

It's possible I just wanted it to be something it wasn't, because as a pastiche it was perfectly serviceable and certainly enjoyable for the Star Wars fan. I just wanted it to be more Shakespearean, I wanted the language to be more beautiful. And there was huge potential for light saber dick jokes that was squandered. Shakespeare would've been all over that. (Though there was a suggestive exchange between Han and C-3PO that I think was unintentional.)

It had its moments, though, my favourite of which might've been Han's suave cover-up in the detention block of the death star:

—’Tis no matter, Sir—
A slight malfunction of the weapons here.
But all is well, and we are well, and all
Within are well. The pris’ners, too, are well,
’Tis well, ’tis well. And thou? Art also well?

Now that is how I wanted it to go down throughout.

llfoofaye's review against another edition

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3.0

That was fun

trin's review against another edition

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3.0

I mean, it's sort of a one-note joke, but it's not a bad note.

lacrimaeignis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Star Wars and Shakespeare is the combination I never knew I needed in my life until I discovered these books. I love absolutely everything about this book from the story to the illustrations (they are such a mood!). To say I am obsessed is an understatement. This book and series makes my nerd heart so happy especially because the author took the time to not only reinterpret the films into a Shakespearean world but also to present the lines in iambic pentameter! All the characters are so much more dramatic as a result. To get the full experience, I definitely recommend reading this out loud, even better if you do it with a group!

caaleros's review against another edition

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4.0

I expected to have quite a few laughs while reading Verily, A New Hope, and I was not disappointed, but I was surprised that it also managed to go into greater depth with character thoughts and motivations due to its style. Modern sci-fi action doesn’t translate well into a Shakespeare play because the Elizabethans wouldn’t have had the ability to bring it to life on the stage. The story and the characters were drawn through words instead of relying on visual effects for entertainment. This is something that Ian Doescher really gets in his adaptation! Because the movies are always moving forward with the action, these adaptations bring something new to this galaxy far, far away by slowing down and drawing out those important character moments.

I also appreciate that these adaptations really pull from Shakespeare's style in such a way that in certain soliloquies I can pick out which Shakespeare play the author is drawing on for that speech. This combination of Shakespeare and Star Wars covers so many levels of nerdiness and it is simply amazing. I’m excited to see what he does with the rest of the Skywalker Saga.