‘The Empire Striketh Back’

The Empire Striketh Back – Published March 18th by Quirk Books, 176 pages (8 out of 10).

Shakespeare’s English was perfectly understandable to the people of his day, including the lowlifes in the cheap seats who howled at his brilliant wordplay precisely because they understood the language he wrote in.

We’re a far country away from that language today. Not as far as we are from Chaucer, for sure, but far enough to make slogging through Shakespeare a real intellectual chore. Any literature that needs explanatory notes means that the art itself hasn’t done its job of taking you into its understanding and inspiration.

However, Shakespeare was never meant to be read. It was meant to be watched-just like any other play. William Shakespeare’s Star Wars – The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher is the sequel to William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, a retelling of George Lucas’s space saga in the style of William Shakespeare. And it is meant to be read, or is it?

Any Star Wars fan knows the story of T.E.S.B: Luke, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and crew are on the rebel base on the planet of Hoth. When things go South, Luke flees to get training from Yoda and the rest of the crew flee to seek help from Lando with the Empire hot in pursuit. There is definitely a lot of drama here and it lends itself to Shakespearean style well. The O.G. Star Wars trilogy contains a lot of strong themes which would have been as relevant in Shakespeare’s time as today: love, betrayal, youthful impetuousness, struggle against tyranny.

There are moments where The Empire Striketh Back is just sublime. Boba Fett’s first speech (written in Shakespearian prose to distinguish him as a member of the lower class) is epically awesome. The Emperor’s dialogue is truly fitting for this setting as well, as he already had something of a grand, Elizabethan bent to begin with. And if there’s one thing that Doescher deserves sincere credit for, it’s his development of Yoda’s voice. Yoda’s already-irregular speech patterns have been adapted to the Japanese 5-7-5 of haiku. It’s a simple decision, and it makes all the difference in the world. You truly appreciate the fact that he and Luke are literally from two different worlds. It’s a blending of East and West that I wouldn’t have thought to use, but there’s no denying that it works beautifully here. Yoda’s sincerity and his simple but gorgeous dialogue makes him the absolute best part of The Empire Striketh Back.

As with the last book there are a number of well done black and white illustrations throughout, these are done in an etched sort of style and again add a lot of humor to this parody.

The Shakespearian Star Wars trilogy continues to be a strange and innovative combination that will entertain both readers in love with the English poet and the vast Star Wars universe. I am eagerly anticipating the final book in the trilogy, The Jedi Doth Return, that is scheduled to release in July 2014.

-Dagobot

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