William Shakespeare's Star Wars

by Ian Doescher Narrated by Various

Overview

Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas's epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare's greatest plays. 'Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearsome Stormtroopers, signifying...pretty much everything.

Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter, William Shakespeare's Star Wars will astound and edify Rebels and Imperials alike. Zounds! This is the audiobook you're looking for.

This audiobook is read by Daniel Davis, Jonathan Davis, January LaVoy, Marc Thompson, and the author, Ian Doescher.

Includes an afterword read by the author.

Editorial Reviews

OCTOBER 2014 - AudioFile

Dost thou jest? The space opera STAR WARS performed as if written by the Bard himself? Yea, verily, and it is good. It’s amazing how easily and naturally the STAR WARS epic is translated into the Shakespearian tongue and how expertly the full cast, including Daniel Davis, Jonathan Davis, January LaVoy, and others, delivers the work. The characterizations are so spot-on, the delivery so outstanding that the listener quickly accepts the premise. Luke Skywalker works perfectly as a futuristic Hamlet, Obi-Wan echoes Prospero, and Darth Vader makes a compelling Macbeth. The performance is joyful and even musical as the story set in the future uses the beautiful language of the past. The audiobook is also short enough that the listener will not tire of the experiment. M.S. 2014 Audies Finalist, Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

Ian Doescher has reimagined the entire first Star Wars film as an Elizabethan play, complete with iambic pentameter and elaborate illustrations. It's geekception.”—The Mary Sue

“...the book is so brilliant you’ll wonder why someone didn’t think of it sooner.”—Paste Magazine

“..another smart tribute fans will enjoy."—The Star-Ledger
 
“If you are looking for a neat way to get acquainted with Shakespeare or you are a teacher whose students are having a rough time accessing the genius of the Bard of Avon, I highly recommend you give William Shakespeare’s Star Wars  a try!”—GeekMom

“Is it all a great, geeky, inter-galactic goblet of literary fun? Verily!” —AmericanProfile.com

“...a quirky addition to the genre-busting canon...”—Entertainment Weekly
 
“...what Doescher made is delicious.”—Charleston City Paper
 
“...brilliant...”—Deseret News
 
“This is a great read. Author Ian Doescher may not have bested Shakespeare, but he’s certainly one-upped Lucas.”—Asbury Park Press
 
“As Shakespeare would say, you might think, this be madness, yet there is a method in 't.”—Newsday
 
“...charming...”—The Courier-Journal
 
“...the ultimate fan fic.”— ABC News Radio

“Doescher’s pseudo-Shakespearean language is absolutely dead-on; this is one of the best-written Shakespeare parodies created for this audience and it is absolutely laugh-out-loud funny for those familiar with both The Bard and Star Wars.”—School Library Journal
 
“At last, the mother of all mashups is upon us."—CNET.com
 
“...outstanding.”—Geekdad
 
“Nicolas Delort's woodcut-style illustrations are a fabulous mixture of old and new.”—Boing Boing
 
“Delightful.”—PortlandMercury.com
 
“For anglophiles, scifi nerds, and probably 9th grade English students.”—The Bookreporter
 
“[William Shakespeare's Star Wars] is a a brilliant and super-cool way to meld pop culture and high culture”—Bella Online
 
“William Shakespeare’s Star Wars is Exactly What You Need For Your Next Geeky Houseparty.”—Tor.com
 
“Doescher’s attempt to recreate a Shakespearean play is noteworthy and clever.”—Blogcritics.org
 
“If there’s one book perfect for any age, gender or planet of origin, this must be the book.”—Asbury Park Press

“The Bard at his finest, with all the depth of character, insightful soliloquies, and clever wordplay that we’ve come to expect from the Master. For those who wish to read the Star Wars legend in the original Elizabethan, this is the book for you.”—Timothy Zahn, New York Times bestselling author of Scoundrels

“I'm delighted to have William Shakespeare's Star Wars, and have read it with great pleasure. What a fine idea, to set this in the world of Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 C-3PO and Darth Vader! A period of civil war, rebels, the Galactic Empire, the death star. A star-crossed galaxy! Ian Doescher does iambic pentameter well. This is a hoot!”—David Bevington, Phyllis Fay Horton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, University of Chicago and co-editor of The Bantam Shakespeare series
 
“Well-read geeks have breathlessly waited
For what Ian Doescher hath created
This book's cover is the door
To a Star Wars ne'er seen before”
—Daniel Wallace, New York Times best-selling author of Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Characters
 
“An elegant translation for a more civilized age. Let's face it—if you love Shakespeare or Star Wars half as much as I do, you've already bought this.”
—Adam Bertocci, author of Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, writer-director of Brooklyn Force and Run Leia Run, and moderator of TheForce.net
 
“Zounds, the Forsooth is strong in this one!  Two of the most creative minds in the universe collide with spectacular, hilarious and surprisingly touching insight into the original classic.  This truly is Star Wars as you like it.”—Joe Schreiber, author of Star Wars: Death Troopers and Lenny Cyrus, School Virus
 
“Whether your tastes run to Alderaan or Avon, this reimagining of Star Wars overflows with heart and wit.”—Jason Fry, author of Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—"…In time so long ago begins our play,/In star-crossed galaxy far, far away." Inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare, this is the story of Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope, retold as a five-act play, complete with blank verse, couplets, and Elizabethan stage directions. Even Jabba the Hutt and R2-D2 speak (or beep) in iambic pentameter. Luke, Leia, Han, Darth Vader, and the rest of the cast battle to determine the future of the galaxy while parodying various well-known lines and speeches from Richard III, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Henry V. Luke's soliloquy, "Alas, poor stormtrooper, I knew ye not," accompanied by an illustration of Luke holding up a stormtrooper helmet, is a standout comic moment, as is Leia's "songs of nonny," sung as the planet Alderaan explodes. Doescher's pseudo-Shakespearean language is absolutely dead-on; this is one of the best-written Shakespeare parodies created for this audience and it is absolutely laugh-out-loud funny for those familiar with both The Bard and Star Wars. It is most likely to be appreciated by snarky AP English students and drama club members, but an imaginative English teacher could find ways to use it in the classroom to engage reluctant readers of Shakespeare. May the verse be with you! —Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171933418
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Series:	William Shakespeare's Star Wars , #4
Edition description:	Unabridged

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