Box Set Review: 'William Shakespeare's Star Wars Trilogy: The Royal Imperial Box Set'

(C) 2014 Quirk Books and Lucas Books/Lucasfilm Ltd. 

What if William Shakespeare had created Star Wars a long time ago in Elizabethan England far, far away? What would George Lucas’s late 20th Century techno-myth be like if his classic trilogy had been written in iambic pentameter - and for wooden stage sets?

Most of us who have experienced Star Wars as a cultural phenomenon know that Lucas’s six-film saga, (not to mention the more recent Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the forthcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi) were created in the Age of Cinema. From 1977, when Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope premiered, to the 2005 release of Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,  millions of moviegoers saw Lucas’s space fantasy depicted on film and home video as ultra-modern special effects extravaganzas.

Because Lucas’s films are written for modern audiences in casual American English, the notion of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader, or even R2-D2 speaking like Shakespeare’s characters seems like a crazy idea.

Darth Vader: Thou speakest well, my stormtrooper, and yet

Not well upon my ear the message falls.

I turn to thee, thou rebel. Aye, I lift

Thy head above my own. Thou canst now choose

To keep thy secrets lock’d safe in that head,

And therefore lose the life thou holdest dear,

Or else to keep thy head and, thus, thy life.

My patience runneth quickly out much like

The sands across the dunes of Tatooine.

So tell me, else thou diest quick: where shall

We find transmissions thou didst intercept?

What hast thou done, say, with those plans?

Crazy idea it may be, as Yoda might say, but in July 2013, Quirk Books published first-time author Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope. Inspired in part by the best-selling parody novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Doescher took George Lucas’s script for Star Wars and reimagined it as a Shakespearean play.

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars received rave reviews (Newsday’s book critic wrote,”"As Shakespeare would say, you might think, this be madness, yet there is a method in 't.") and became a New York Times best-seller.

Three months later, Quirk Books released  William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back: Star Wars Part the Fifth, a darker, richer story based on the 1980 movie directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Lawrence Kasdan.  It, too, earned positive reviews from book critics and Star Wars fans alike.

Doescher completed his William Shakespeare’s Star Wars trilogy in July 2014 with The Jedi Doth Return: Star Wars Part the Sixth, In addition to iambic pentameter-speaking heroes and villains, a Huttese-speaking Jabba, and prose-talking Boba Fett,  Doescher added pidgin-speaking Ewoks to his inspired take on Return of the Jedi.

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy: The Royal Imperial Box Set

May the verse be with you! Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this retelling of George Lucas’s Star Wars® Trilogy in the style of the immortal William Shakespeare.





This Royal Imperial Boxed Set includes all three volumes in the original trilogy: Verily, A New Hope; The Empire Striketh Back; and The Jedi Doth Return. Also included is an 8-by-34-inch full-color poster illustrating the complete cast and company of this glorious production.

In October 2014, Quirk Books released a box set that collects the complete William Shakespeare’s Star Wars saga in a sturdy illustrated slipcover case.

As is the case with DVD and Blu-ray sets of multi-movie series, I find that multi-volume collections like William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy: The Royal Imperial Box Set are convenient and economical. The cardboard slipcover is not only durable and helps keep the books safely in one place, but it’s also nicely illustrated by Nicholas Delort.

Delort’s woodcut-style illustration features Star Wars’ pantheon of heroes, villains, and sidekicks, depicted in Elizabethan era outfits but wielding blasters and lightsabers straight from George  Lucas’s modern films. ‘Tis a strange combination of visual styles, but somehow it works.

The books in the Royal Imperial Box Set  are nicely conceived and manufactured. The slim hardcover volumes, without their protective dust jackets, look aged and worn, as if they have been owned and handled over a span of several decades  Each “play” also features 20 black-and-white illustrations by artist Nicolas Delort; these are mashups of iconic Star Wars characters or scenes from the film rendered in 17th Century-style woodcut art.

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy: The Royal Imperial Box Set is a nice collectible for fans of the Classic Trilogy, Shakespeare buffs, and lovers of English literature. Its suggested retail price of $44.85 plus tax isn’t too bad considering that it contains three hardcover volumes. However, sometimes online stores such as Amazon offer the Royal Imperial Box Set at more affordable prices.

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy: The Royal Imperial Box Set - Product Details

• ISBN: 978-1594747915
• Book Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 2.6
• Page Count: 520
• Release Date: October 28, 2014