October 1st was already was a significant date on author Matthew Stover's calendar, but this year had an added surprise. "Shelly Shapiro [from Del Rey Books] actually called me on my anniversary, October 1st, to find out if I was interested in writing the Episode III book. Which I responded, of course, I'm interested!"
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Stover joins the ranks of such bestselling authors as R.A. Salvatore and Terry Brooks in adapting a Star Wars screenplay into a novel. What makes the prequel adaptations notably different from the novelizations of the original trilogy is the opportunity to expand on the stories. The novels for Episode IV, V, and VI do not tread far what's seen on screen. The prequel tales, conversely, include several original scenes created specifically to expand and enrich the film's story.
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As he gears up to write the adaptation, Stover has already read the Episode III script and has positive words to share. "I've never done an adaptation before, so I don't know what kind of pitfalls may be awaiting me, but on this end, so far, it looks like it's going to be a great experience. From having read the script, it looks to me like the story is so strong, I don't really anticipate a lot of difficulty."
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Though this is his first adaptation, Stover has already penned two Star Wars novels. His first was Traitor, a standalone paperback in the epic New Jedi Order series notable for its unconventional storytelling techniques and controversial examinations of the Force. The second book, Shatterpoint, was a hardcover novel focusing on Mace Windu's return to his homeworld during the Clone Wars. It too was unique for a Star Wars novel in its gritty depiction of the horrors of war.
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"Shatterpoint gave me an opportunity to do a lot of research," says Stover. "Doing that novel in particular made me feel very comfortable in the Star Wars universe. Traitor was a very specialized piece of work. It was a very, very specific incident in The New Jedi Order. Pretty much all of the heavy lifting had been done for me already in the previous books. Traitor was an extraordinary opportunity to write a book where I didn't have to do any backstory at all, because that was all done for me."
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Both books touch on the dark side of the Force and offer the inner thoughts and perspectives of prominent Jedi characters. These qualities are expected in the Episode III adaptation. "I think that Lucasfilm and Del Rey feel I have a certain insight into the dark side. That is, after all, what I was writing about in both of my previous Star Wars books," says Stover. "Also, this is going to be action packed, and I think they like the way I do my action scenes."
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Early in 2004, Stover will travel to Skywalker Ranch to meet with George Lucas, who is currently busy overseeing the editing of the first cut of the film. "The next step for me now is meeting with Mr. Lucas and finding out the things that he wants to emphasize about the story, and the tone that he wants it to take," he says. "I have some ideas of what I would like to do, but of course, all final decisions are entirely up to him."