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Star Wars Junior Novelizations #2
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
The biggest movie event of 2002 in a stellar novelization by acclaimed author Patrica C. Wrede.
Anakin Skywalker is now age eighteen and facing temptations of love, violence, betrayal, honor, and above all, the dark side of the Force.
Anakin Skywalker is now age eighteen and facing temptations of love, violence, betrayal, honor, and above all, the dark side of the Force.
167 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2002
107 people are currently reading
742 people want to read
About the author
Patricia C. Wrede
66 books4,002 followersPatricia Collins Wrede was born in Chicago, Illinois and is the eldest of five children. She started writing in seventh grade. She attended Carleton College in Minnesota, where she majored in Biology and managed to avoid taking any English courses at all. She began work on her first novel, Shadow Magic, just after graduating from college in 1974. She finished it five years later and started her second book at once, having become permanently hooked on writing by this time.
Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.
She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters.
Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede -- all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished -- formed the writer's group that later became known as "The Scribblies." Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail).
In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own.
Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. She has no children.
Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.
She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters.
Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede -- all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished -- formed the writer's group that later became known as "The Scribblies." Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail).
In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own.
Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. She has no children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
June 18, 2020
Despite the fact that it is widely considered to be one of the worst, if not the worst, film set in "a galaxy far, far away," Attack of the Clones will always hold a special place in my heart, for more than one reason: Not only was it the first Star Wars flick I ever saw in theaters--and, to this day, the only one from the franchise I've experienced in IMAX format--but, the novelization by R. A. Salvatore was the first Star Wars novel I read, though it wouldn't be for another two and a half years or so before I discovered the entire Expanded Universe. So, even though people complain left and right about that film--especially the leads' acting--it will always be special to me.
That may make me a bit biased, but, I enjoyed this kiddie novelization of the flick. While the level of additional content is nowhere near that of Salvatore's adaptation, there's still enough extra details to make it worth reading for fans of the movie.
That may make me a bit biased, but, I enjoyed this kiddie novelization of the flick. While the level of additional content is nowhere near that of Salvatore's adaptation, there's still enough extra details to make it worth reading for fans of the movie.
July 4, 2021
I just finished this book on vacation and it was a good light read, especially if you’re a star wars fan! But I chose this book because episode 2 is my favorite movie in this trilogy and the book made me really reflect on what happened…. I love anakin and padme, but i never realized that padme KNEW anakin was going into a bad/different direction and she didn’t do anything about it. She thought it was a part of his grief but still it seemed that she put some of her morals aside in order to protect him. Just something to think about because I always thought of padme as a strong and driven character but love is love i guess😂 (anakin is hot tho so i’d probably do the same thing)
April 7, 2024
Another solid novelization, this time around I read mostly in suspense of how the romance between Anakin and Padmé would be justified - Wrede ultimately accomplishes this by adding some quite sinister notes to the closing wedding scene.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2017
Great for filling in some motivations and thoughts. Also, the battle scenes were much reduced and the gruesome bits downplayed, so as to be suitable for readers as young as my son (7.5 years).
February 15, 2021
Apparently this is the "junior novelisation" - and that shows. The pace is blinding and the book is short on descriptions, especially of things that are shown in the movies. That said, I guess it makes sense to do so for younger target audience so I can hardly blame it for that.
September 11, 2016
Little Man tells me to read a book, I darn well read a book.
November 17, 2025
Uhmmm I read this in like a few days and damn anakin rlly going off the rails…. My jaw was on the floor when his arm was chopped off, just starting to realized that luke skywalker is a thing and anakin is gonna become darth Vader I think…. Not good news I don’t want that to happen,, I want anakin to hit a resolution story like /: why did the tucked raiders kill shmi and where did count dooki and the clone army come from…. Lots of questions now, the politics are entertaining but why do I kinda want the conflict to resolve😔
May 11, 2020
5 🌟
This is the junior novelization of the second Star Wars film Attack of the Clones.
It has been 10 years since the Phantom Menace. Anakin and Obi-wan are master and apprentice. They are asked to guard senator Padme Amidala from assassins. It also shows the clones army and the start of the Clones Wars. Also Anakin's mother dies and he experiences his first taste of the dark side. He and Padme get married.
This is the junior novelization of the second Star Wars film Attack of the Clones.
It has been 10 years since the Phantom Menace. Anakin and Obi-wan are master and apprentice. They are asked to guard senator Padme Amidala from assassins. It also shows the clones army and the start of the Clones Wars. Also Anakin's mother dies and he experiences his first taste of the dark side. He and Padme get married.
November 28, 2022
An attack on Senator Amidala leads the Jedi Order into investigating the assassination attempt and sets Padawan Learner Anakin Skywalker on the dark road to becoming the Sith Lord, Darth Vader.
This junior novelisation of 'Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones' streamlines the convoluted plot of the film, which removes a lot of the wrong-headed comedy moments and (strangely for a novelisation aimed at younger readers) makes the story quite dark and disturbing.
This junior novelisation of 'Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones' streamlines the convoluted plot of the film, which removes a lot of the wrong-headed comedy moments and (strangely for a novelisation aimed at younger readers) makes the story quite dark and disturbing.
January 21, 2023
Watch Star wars the attack of the clones
Read
May 24, 2025Most of this just hurts knowing what’s coming, but on the flip side, hello to the clones!!
September 2, 2019
What I think of the overall book:
Like The Phantom Menace, the writing in this book was impressive -- I especially liked the opening paragraphs of Chapter 1:
^To be honest I didn't expect that level of imagery in a book meant for children.
Overall, like in The Phantom Menace, the book wasn't dumbed down/simplified; adults can enjoy this just as well as children, and can help them understand more aspects of the movie that isn't made completely obvious. While this book was almost exactly verbatim from the movie, it also had extra scenes and details. (Anakin and Obi-Wan's banter were thankfully included, which I appreciated.)
But 2 things about this book stood out to me the most:
1. Anakin's feelings for Padme really were a bit cringey/unsettling, especially in the first half, when Padme would just describe Anakin "intensely staring" at her. I didn't really notice this so obviously in the movie, but in the book, their interactions didn't come off as completely romantic. But their conflicted feelings were still definitely there.
And when Padme confesses her love for Anakin before they enter the arena, the book gives her an additional line that I don't think was in the movie, but basically summarizes their relationship (in my opinion),
2. Anakin's tantrum after slaughtering the Tusken Raiders. In the movie, we see his anger -- but in this book, we also see his regret.
And that conflict Anakin feels just added so much more to the scene.
In the movie, the scene ends with this dialogue,
But in this novelization, what caught me was the added dialogue after Anakin's line:
I'm so upset that Anakin's shame and regret wasn't shown in the movie; it adds to his character, and also proves how corrupt the Jedi actually were. The Jedi do not form attachments nor feel negative emotions such as fear and anger -- but they are, like what Padme said, very human and normal to feel. But the fact that the Jedi tried to restrict Anakin in that way resulted in that massacre, because he didn't know how to properly deal with those type of feelings (especially since he was trained "late" and had already developed human emotions that he then had to somehow get rid of). So when he is faced with them, everything explodes out and he loses control of himself, which is what typically happens if you bottle up your emotions for a long and unhealthy amount of time. And when this keeps building up over time... of course he would eventually fall to the dark side, where he was free to embrace his emotions instead of restricting them.
(But of course, like all things, there has to be a balance, which is something the Jedi nor the Sith fully understand -- you shouldn't restrict your feelings all the time, nor should you just embrace and express your feelings uncontrollably. There has to be a level of control on each side, a balance -- which I believe is what the sequel trilogy is building towards.)
---------
What I think in terms of connecting this to the sequel trilogy
(Just like in my Phantom Menace review, in anticipation for The Rise of Skywalker, I'm also reading these books through a lense of defending the ST, which I am a huge fan of. This is gonna be a really long ramble because I'm just very passionate about the sequel trilogy. SPOILERS -- so be warned.)
Flaws of the Jedi Order (Part 2)
Throughout this book, it was pretty much emphasized how the Jedi do NOT want to fight in a war; they weren't meant to be the warriors portrayed in something like The Clone Wars. They were just supposed to be peace-keepers.
When Lama Su was showing Obi-Wan the clones on Kamino, Obi-Wan thought,
And later on, Yoda says,
They didn't want a war, but they had no choice but to participate and fight in it, leading the clone armies -- which I guess goes against everything they stood for.
Where I'm going with this is: Luke confronting Kylo Ren on Crait via Force projection. It wasn't an "epic" lightsaber duel, it was more one-sided with Kylo doing all the offense, and I guess one of the main critiques that I'm aware of is the fact that people wanted Luke to fight and defeat Kylo? Personally I'm glad it didn't play out that way, otherwise it would've gone against everything that Luke was trying to teach Rey throughout the course of the movie: the Jedi -- the old, violent concept of the Jedi -- have to end.
So the fact that Luke used the Force in one of the most peaceful and nonviolent ways possible in order to help his nephew release his anger, as well as help allow the remaining Resistance escape, was one of the truest displays of Jedi values, and true to his character arc: not using violence to drive out the darkness, but instead bringing light and therefore peace.
Like The Phantom Menace, the writing in this book was impressive -- I especially liked the opening paragraphs of Chapter 1:
Senator Padme Amidala stared out the main window of her spacecraft at the approaching planet. Even from space, Coruscant looks different from other worlds, she thought. Most worlds showed colors on their daylight side -- the greens of the forest worlds, the blues of watery planets, the glittering white of ice worlds, the sandy yellow of desert planets like Tatooine. On their night side, most planets were dark, with an occasional twinkle of light marking the largest cities.
Coruscant's day side was a dull, metallic gray, the color of the millions of buildings and platforms that covered its entire surface. Its night side glowed amber from the lights of those same buildings, like the stars of the galaxy in miniature. Only on Coruscant is night more attractive than day, Padme thought.
^To be honest I didn't expect that level of imagery in a book meant for children.
Overall, like in The Phantom Menace, the book wasn't dumbed down/simplified; adults can enjoy this just as well as children, and can help them understand more aspects of the movie that isn't made completely obvious. While this book was almost exactly verbatim from the movie, it also had extra scenes and details. (Anakin and Obi-Wan's banter were thankfully included, which I appreciated.)
But 2 things about this book stood out to me the most:
1. Anakin's feelings for Padme really were a bit cringey/unsettling, especially in the first half, when Padme would just describe Anakin "intensely staring" at her. I didn't really notice this so obviously in the movie, but in the book, their interactions didn't come off as completely romantic. But their conflicted feelings were still definitely there.
And when Padme confesses her love for Anakin before they enter the arena, the book gives her an additional line that I don't think was in the movie, but basically summarizes their relationship (in my opinion),
"My love for you is a puzzle, Annie, for which I have no answers. I can't control it -- and now I don't care."Yeah, definitely a puzzle.
2. Anakin's tantrum after slaughtering the Tusken Raiders. In the movie, we see his anger -- but in this book, we also see his regret.
"They're like animals," he spat, "and I slaughtered them like animals. I hate them!" Then the angry mask crumbled away, and he broke into sobs.
... "Why do I hate them?" Anakin stammered between sobs. "I didn't -- I couldn't -- I couldn't control myself. I don't want to hate them... but I just can't forgive them."
"To be angry is to be human," Padme said.
And that conflict Anakin feels just added so much more to the scene.
In the movie, the scene ends with this dialogue,
Padme: "To be angry is to be human."
Anakin: "I'm a Jedi. I know I'm better than this."
But in this novelization, what caught me was the added dialogue after Anakin's line:
"To be angry is to be human," Padme said.
"To control your anger is to be a Jedi." Anakin sounded lost, and she could feel him shaking. That's it -- he's afraid they'll tell him he can't be a Jedi, she thought. But Jedi aren't superhuman. He knows he shouldn't have done this. They'll understand.
"Shhh," she told him, rocking him gently.
"No," Anakin argued, "I'm a Jedi. I know I'm better than this. I'm sorry -- I'm so sorry."
"You're human. You're like everyone else."
I'm so upset that Anakin's shame and regret wasn't shown in the movie; it adds to his character, and also proves how corrupt the Jedi actually were. The Jedi do not form attachments nor feel negative emotions such as fear and anger -- but they are, like what Padme said, very human and normal to feel. But the fact that the Jedi tried to restrict Anakin in that way resulted in that massacre, because he didn't know how to properly deal with those type of feelings (especially since he was trained "late" and had already developed human emotions that he then had to somehow get rid of). So when he is faced with them, everything explodes out and he loses control of himself, which is what typically happens if you bottle up your emotions for a long and unhealthy amount of time. And when this keeps building up over time... of course he would eventually fall to the dark side, where he was free to embrace his emotions instead of restricting them.
(But of course, like all things, there has to be a balance, which is something the Jedi nor the Sith fully understand -- you shouldn't restrict your feelings all the time, nor should you just embrace and express your feelings uncontrollably. There has to be a level of control on each side, a balance -- which I believe is what the sequel trilogy is building towards.)
---------
What I think in terms of connecting this to the sequel trilogy
(Just like in my Phantom Menace review, in anticipation for The Rise of Skywalker, I'm also reading these books through a lense of defending the ST, which I am a huge fan of. This is gonna be a really long ramble because I'm just very passionate about the sequel trilogy. SPOILERS -- so be warned.)
Flaws of the Jedi Order (Part 2)
Throughout this book, it was pretty much emphasized how the Jedi do NOT want to fight in a war; they weren't meant to be the warriors portrayed in something like The Clone Wars. They were just supposed to be peace-keepers.
When Lama Su was showing Obi-Wan the clones on Kamino, Obi-Wan thought,
The only thing you can do with an army is fight a war. But Jedi didn't fight wars; they worked to keep the peace and the laws of the Republic without fighting.
And later on, Yoda says,
"Through negotiation, the Jedi maintains peace... To start a war, we do not intend."
They didn't want a war, but they had no choice but to participate and fight in it, leading the clone armies -- which I guess goes against everything they stood for.
Where I'm going with this is: Luke confronting Kylo Ren on Crait via Force projection. It wasn't an "epic" lightsaber duel, it was more one-sided with Kylo doing all the offense, and I guess one of the main critiques that I'm aware of is the fact that people wanted Luke to fight and defeat Kylo? Personally I'm glad it didn't play out that way, otherwise it would've gone against everything that Luke was trying to teach Rey throughout the course of the movie: the Jedi -- the old, violent concept of the Jedi -- have to end.
So the fact that Luke used the Force in one of the most peaceful and nonviolent ways possible in order to help his nephew release his anger, as well as help allow the remaining Resistance escape, was one of the truest displays of Jedi values, and true to his character arc: not using violence to drive out the darkness, but instead bringing light and therefore peace.
April 9, 2019
3.5🌟
"El miedo es el camino hacia el lado oscuro".
Sin sorpresas realmente, pero está siempre ha sido de mis películas favoritas, por lo que disfrute la lectura
*Después de volver a ver la película tengo que decir que definitivamente leer los pensamientos de los personales durante determinados acontecimientos definitivamente enriquece la historia, y definitivamente, leeré el siguiente.
"El miedo es el camino hacia el lado oscuro".
Sin sorpresas realmente, pero está siempre ha sido de mis películas favoritas, por lo que disfrute la lectura
*Después de volver a ver la película tengo que decir que definitivamente leer los pensamientos de los personales durante determinados acontecimientos definitivamente enriquece la historia, y definitivamente, leeré el siguiente.
October 5, 2022
Attack of the Clones By: Patricia C Wrede
In the beginning a senator named Padme lands on Coruscant. Her ship explodes. She is put under the protection of 2 jedi. Obi-Wan tracks to assassin to a planet called Kamino. There is a secret Republic clone army. The assassin is Jango Fett. He escapes to Genosis. Obi-Wan follows him but is captured. Anakin and Padme try to save Obi-Wan but are captured. They get put in a pit with 3 beasts. The jedi come and save them. Battle Droids come to kill them, but the clone army saves them. Obi-Wan and Anakin fight Count Dooku. He defeats them. Yoda fights Dooku but he escapes.
The author tells things in a straightforward way. The book is a movie novelization, so it follows the events of the movie. The book is told in chronological order. I think this makes it easier to read. Padme pulling away from Anakin shows that she takes some time to warm up to him. Anakin rushing to fight Dooku shows how he is impatient.
I would give this book 3.5 stars. I rated it that way because the book just felt cliché sometimes. I really recommend this to any age as it's Star Wars and plenty of people like Star Wars.
.
In the beginning a senator named Padme lands on Coruscant. Her ship explodes. She is put under the protection of 2 jedi. Obi-Wan tracks to assassin to a planet called Kamino. There is a secret Republic clone army. The assassin is Jango Fett. He escapes to Genosis. Obi-Wan follows him but is captured. Anakin and Padme try to save Obi-Wan but are captured. They get put in a pit with 3 beasts. The jedi come and save them. Battle Droids come to kill them, but the clone army saves them. Obi-Wan and Anakin fight Count Dooku. He defeats them. Yoda fights Dooku but he escapes.
The author tells things in a straightforward way. The book is a movie novelization, so it follows the events of the movie. The book is told in chronological order. I think this makes it easier to read. Padme pulling away from Anakin shows that she takes some time to warm up to him. Anakin rushing to fight Dooku shows how he is impatient.
I would give this book 3.5 stars. I rated it that way because the book just felt cliché sometimes. I really recommend this to any age as it's Star Wars and plenty of people like Star Wars.
.
February 22, 2023
Sokkal jobb voltak az eredeti filmregényeknél ez is, meg a The Phantom Menace is, mivel a filmregények sajnos inkább csak forgatókönyv-szerűek voltak, vázlatosan leírták mi történt a filmekben minden plusz nélkül. Míg ezekben a könyvekben annyira sok plusz gondolatot kapunk, ki mit miért csinált, és a belső monológok formájában sokat megtudunk a karaterek mozgatórugóiról is, sőt néha egy-egy kis jelenettel ki is bővítik a film cselekményét. Nem is értem, ilyenkor miért nevezik ezeket 'ifjúságinak'? Most komolyan, sokkal bővebbek belső történésekben mint az eredeti filmkönyvek, pont azt adják, amit az ember várna, hogy ne csak leírják amit a filmen úgyis láttunk már. Szóval ezt az első két részt mindenképp ajánlom a prequel-ből elolvasásra (sajnos ismét zseniálisan sikerült csak a sorozat leggyengébb részét lefordítani magyarra), pedig ezeket kéne, sokkal jobb lenne!
October 21, 2022
So the reason this is rated as just okay is that the story is in my opinion the weakest of the prequels. I thought the writer did a good job turning it into a young reader novel. She added some character depth to certain parts, some of the dialogue was a little different and some parts were glossed over sometimes to the betterment of making it a kids book and sometimes to the detriment of the story.
June 5, 2022
Just like the kids novelization of Episode I this version is so good! I can’t remember if I read it as a kid so it doesn’t have the nostalgia factor but the author does an excellent job of filling in some pieces that are missing from the movie. It’s better than the movie but not as good as the adult novelization. A solid 4.1 stars.
December 5, 2023
Although I did like this, I really just wanted to watch the movie the whole time. My theory for why I liked the phantom menace book more is because, from my perception, the film just drags on, and that book felt like I was getting the most important parts.
Overall, decent, but doesn’t touch the film.
Overall, decent, but doesn’t touch the film.
July 7, 2020
A retelling of the movie.
This novel basically retells what happened in the movie Attack of the Clones. Darth sidious is attempting to play all sides of a civil war so that he ends up on top. The Jedi are blocked by the dark side of the force from seeing his moves.
This novel basically retells what happened in the movie Attack of the Clones. Darth sidious is attempting to play all sides of a civil war so that he ends up on top. The Jedi are blocked by the dark side of the force from seeing his moves.
September 18, 2021
A short little novelization of Attack of the clones. It's an accurate rendition of the movie, that adds little or nothing to the story. Completely adequate, but nothing special if you've watched the movie.
July 1, 2017
Review by B.H.: "I like the movie a lot, and it is a good book, too. I would recommend this book."
October 16, 2017
I like this book because it says what happens in the beginning instead of just going to the bounty hunter part. I hope that George Lucas like this version.
February 2, 2018
the book was really good. there are two jedis that have to save the world from the bad guys. and there are a bunch of other books so i recomend this book to people.
April 30, 2018
Adaptation for children. Does a good job without missing important plot elements. Also is not simplistic or talk down.
May 28, 2019
great high level overview of the story, but written for 12 year olds.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2019
This was also a fun read, but ew to Padmé and Anakin's "love" story. BLEURGHHHHHHHH
February 11, 2020
With each book of the series, I am finding the universe created by Mr. Lucas to be eve more fascinating. The book did not disappoint.
April 17, 2020
Read this as apart of a 24hr Star Wars readathon I'm doing by myself.
Wasn't the best which is sad.
3/5
Wasn't the best which is sad.
3/5
April 28, 2020
good for a light read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews