I liked the original starwars movies, but all of the new ones blow. And I think peter jackson did a fine job of translating the books over to the big screen. Definitely not a "mutilation." To be honest, I liked the hobbit, but the books in the lotr tril were kind of slow. I've never read the starwars books though. Ever read the wheel of time series by robert jordan, or the song of ice and fire series by george r r martin? Should check em out.