Gaffer Tape said:
Wait. That just made me think of something. He based his novel off of the script? Which script? Didn't Lucas alter significant portions of the story during production? Wasn't the shift made from "dark side seduction" to "driven mad by lost love" done in pick-ups? So how close is the novelization to the movie?
That might be why the novel was good. Both of those are in it, but it goes even deeper, dwelling on Anakin's overwhelming fears, mostly of death.