Papyrus to Datapad

As a novelisation, this book falls far short. As an independent work of science-fiction, it falls even shorter. Alan Dean Foster is capable of far better than this.

The book itself is scene-for-scene a replication of the movie, which often feels awkward. The writing itself overflows with pointless adjectives that make the text itself flow terribly, and the story is an exact copy of the movie with few added scenes and very little added characterization.

The descriptions, whilst overusing adjectives, tend to be sparse and insufficient, requiring that the reader has seen the movie even to understand what it is that is being described (X-wings and Y-wings as classic examples.)

The book also fails to take advantage of the movie it is based on by re-writing some of the famous quotables. Even lines such as "Wretched Hive of Scum and Villany" fail to make it into the book without being rewritten to lose their punch and become bland.

In other words, read without the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia, this book is barely adequate, cannot be understood without having watched the movies, and cannot be enjoyed if you have.