If there’s one undeniable truth about 2025, it’s that realizing Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is now two decades old feels like confronting your own mortality. However, there’s a silver lining to this cosmic inevitability: the film is returning to theaters in May as part of Lucasfilm’s anniversary celebration. On top of that, author Matthew Stover’s critically acclaimed novelization is receiving a 20th-anniversary rerelease, available for preorder on platforms like Amazon.
As Collider reported, the Revenge of the Sith Deluxe Edition hardcover will hit shelves in October. Alongside stunning features such as new cover art, red foil edges, and a removable acetate jacket, this special edition includes over 170 new annotations from Stover himself.
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. “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 remains 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 unfamiliar with Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization, it’s widely regarded as one of the best Star Wars books, often surpassing the film it adapts. While it stays true to George Lucas’ screenplay, the book enriches numerous scenes and subplots while offering a deeper dive into the minds of iconic characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Count Dooku. Its distinctive use of second-person narration sets it apart from other entries in the Star Wars literary universe. Here’s an example of how the book reimagines Anakin’s transformation into 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. In the end, you cannot touch the shadow. In the end, you don’t 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.
Compare this to the film’s version of the same moment:
Clearly, sometimes it pays to crack open a book.
The Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith novelization is currently available in paperback and audiobook formats, while the Deluxe Edition hardcover releases on October 14. Preorder yours today on Amazon.
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