miker71 said:
I remember reading the novelisation of TPM before seeing it at the cinema and thinking the story played out pretty well. So it's a flawed execution. Poor direction. Did Lucas even leave the video village?
I also read the novelizations of the prequels and you are correct; they are significantly better than the films. Contrast this to the novelizations of the OT - where the writers couldn't really capture the fun of the films. I thought Jedi had the best novelization from an emotional point of view. I love the last lines: The Empire was dead. Long live the Alliance.