William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope Hardcover – July 2, 2013

Twins, separated at birth, brought together by fate to fight a war for the good of all, pitted unknowingly against their own father. With combat, subplots with comic relief, a ghost, and an antihero on the side, sounds like a pretty good Shakespeare play to me.But really, it's the plot of "Star Wars." So why does it sound so much like an Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy? Because George Lucas based his screenplay on the same literary archetypes and structures Shakespeare used (and is often credited for creating) in his writing.Now Ian Doescher has taken these two icons and brought them together in "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope". This script, for it is written in script format, follows scene by scene "Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope" but is completely in Iambic Pentameter, with the added flourish of some Elizabethan Early Modern English.Fans of the Bard and Star Wars will find plenty of in-jokes throughout the text that are not directly from "A New Hope". For example, Luke has a rousing speech that references both "Julius Caesar" and "Henry V", and Han Solo waxes sentimental about his days as a nerf herder. For those who are fans of only one or the other, many jokes may go by unnoticed. For those unfamiliar with both source materials, this is unlikely to be a book of any interest.There is a scholarly element to this book for those who wish to look for it, but all in all, it's just a lot of fun. I laughed out loud at moments (not something I'm apt to do when reading), and as a theatre artist, found myself thinking of possible staging solutions for battles in space. And there are illustrations, some of which I would happily frame and hang on my wall.There are some flaws, of course, mostly in structure. Shakespeare was a wordsmith and very spare with stage directions; it was all about the language. And "Star Wars" tells a lot of story visually. As a result, Doescher employs a Chorus to deal with much of the action, and said Chorus is perhaps a bit too present within scenes. Also, as previously mentioned, the entire thing is written in Iambic Pentameter. Although this was the primary verse form in which Shakespeare wrote, nowhere in his work is any play written ENTIRELY in Iambic Pentameter. He would use prose or another form of verse to identify class, relationship, and even social situations. The TYPE of verse, or prose, was just as important in Shakespeare's writing and it seems Doescher missed that element of the Bard's style. But then again, this is the nit-picky, scholarly bits.I'll just bring it back to this: If you are a fan of Shakespeare and "Star Wars" read this book. Enjoy it. Have fun. Laugh. And if anyone has plans to mount a stage production, call me. (Review also posted on Goodreads.com)

As an unabashed lover of both Star Wars and the Bard, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to read a mash-up of the two. Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars is great fun to read. The author manages to capture the quintessential myths underpinning Star Wars and make them over using an Elizabethan idea of drama. All of the elements of good Shakespearian drama are present and Doescher uses the medium to explore the characters in new ways.Shakespearian plays are the settings of high drama, regardless of genre. This version of Star Wars manages to bridge the gap between the Flash Gordon-inspired films and Shakespeare’s sensibilities regarding destiny, power, and the struggle between good and evil. If you’re a writer and you haven’t borrowed an archetype or two from the Bard, you’re not doing it right. Even Lucas drew from the same well of myths as Shakespeare, which he discovered through the writings of the late Joseph Campbell. Doescher makes every effort to reconcile these two threads. The dialogue is clunky at times (even by Shakespearian standards). It’s difficult to picture the more fantastical elements (such as Vader’s duel with Kenobi or the Death Star trench run) working on stage.The characters we know and adore take center stage in this adaptation. Doescher allows his chosen form to reveal character traits through asides and soliloquies, much like Shakespeare did. Each of the main characters gets their chance to stand center stage and reveal their desires, their fears, and their doubts to the reader (as they would on stage). There are moments, like with Obi-wan contemplating telling Luke about Vader’s identity, which were only told through expressions and body language in the film.The writing takes prominence in this book. Doescher uses iambic pentameter effectively most of the time. Given the constraints of merging Elizabethan phrasing with technobabble, Doescher does an excellent job. The information is conveyed in such a way through the text that a reader could grasp what the characters are trying to say. Doescher also manages to find interesting ways to throw in the most memorable lines from the film into the dialogue. The downside of iambie pentameter (aside from it not being a familiar cadence for modern readers) is the often indirect ways something has to be said. There are times the dialogue is spotty or more of a mouthful than would be comfortable. Sometimes the dialogue meanders its way to where it needs to go, which can be a problem for those not familiar with Shakespeare’s plays. The first two acts are quick reads, as is the fifth act. The third and fourth are the most problematic in terms of writing and feel like they drag on and on. These acts are incidentally the escape from the Death Star sequence.Despite the sometimes laborious sections, I heartily recommend this book for Star Wars fans and fans of the Bard’s great works. It isn’t often that I’m surprised by a book but this book accomplished that feat.

Hark! Let it be known, verily, that we acquire this tome not for a mere quest of story's revelation: The tale, known to all, doth reside within our minds and is familiar to us, woven into the fabric of our minds through countless viewings of the moving pictures. This volume, purchased with intent, bears the merit in its rendering of the narrative. Methinks the tale is told with utmost excellence, as if the bard, with quill in hand, hath penned it himself!