"Something is rotten in the state of Coruscant!"
"William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge" -- the final installment of author Ian Doescher's Shakespearean "Star Wars" prequel parodies from Quirk Books -- hits bookshelves on September 8, and CNET got an exclusive look at the cover.
The gorgeous artwork portrays the evil cyborg General Grievous from "Revenge of the Sith." We also see Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Kenobi's loyal steed, the varactyl Boga.
Using Shakespeare's original plays as inspiration, Doescher reimagines "Revenge of the Sith" in both Elizabethan verse and themes.
In "William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge," we see the heroic but misguided Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader -- one of the darkest of villains to ever befoul the galaxy.
Anakin suffers the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" typical of a classic Shakespeare play. The Republic falls, the Empire rises, and thus the long wait for a New Hope.
Beloved "Star Wars" characters recite revealing soliloquies and embark on dangerous quests that you would usually expect to unfold on the stage of the Globe.
"William Shakespeare's Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge: Star Wars Part the Third" will sell for $15 (about £10 or AU$20).
All three prequels by Doescher -- "Phantom of Menace," "The Clone Army Attacketh" and "Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge" have been released by Quirk Books this year, in the runup to the December 18 release of the new film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."