About the Book:

May the verse be with you!

The saga that began with the interstellar best seller William Shakespeare's Star Wars continues with this merry reimagining of George Lucas's enduring classic The Empire Strikes Back in the style of the immortal William Shakespeare himself, complete with authentic meter and verse, and theatrical monologues and dialog by everyone from Yoda to a hungry wampa.

Many a fortnight have passed since the destruction of the Death Star. Young Luke Skywalker and his friends have taken refuge on the ice planet of Hoth, where the evil Darth Vader has hatched a cold-blooded plan to capture them. Only with the help of a little green Jedi Master – and a swaggering rascal named Lando Calrissian – can our heroes escape the Empire's wrath. And only then will Lord Vader learn how sharper than a tauntaun's tooth it is to have a Jedi child.

Authentic meter, stage directions, rescripted movie scenes and dialogue, and hidden Easter eggs throughout William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back will entertain and impress fans of Star Wars and Shakespeare alike. Every scene and character from the film appears in the play, along with twenty woodcut-style illustrations that depict an Elizabethan version of the Star Wars galaxy. What light through Yoda's window breaks? Methinks you'll find out in the pages of William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back!

What people say:

"...enormous fun…." — AVClub.com

"Good luck getting to the end without rolling off your chairs. This book is a hoot." — McClatchy Tribune

"So what are you waiting for? Get thee once more to a galaxy far, far away." — McClatchy Tribune

"...an inspired illustrated mashup that retells the space adventure in artful iambic pentameter and answers the question: What light through Yoda's window breaks?" — Tampa Bay Tribune

"Classic literature blended with fun is the best way to describe William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back...." — San Gabriel Valley Tribune

"Illustrated with beautiful black-and-white Elizabethan-style artwork, [William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back] offer[s] essential reading for all ages." — East Bay Express

About the Author:

Ian Doescher is an American fiction writer known for his William Shakespeare Star Wars series and the Pop Shakespeare series. He has loved Shakespeare since eighth grade and was born 45 days after Star Wars Episode IV was released. An ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he has a B.A. in Music from Yale University, a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in Ethics from Union Theological Seminary. He is currently a Senior Copywriter at CareOregon, a nonprofit health care provider in Portland.