Darth Plagueis review

[scvn2812 504]

I just finished reading the book today and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me of Game of Thrones in a way. One thing I definitely appreciated was it's accessibility. It wasn't necessary to have an in depth knowledge of the rest of the expanded universe to understand the book, although there are references to books I haven't read that do tie in to the novel in non critical ways. This is a major plus for me as I have for some time been very picky about what Star Wars books I read. Luceno, Stover and Zahn are my top tier but I will give others a chance now and then.

 

I like the way the Sith are presented. They are complex characters who are still vaguely relatable as people. Given that they can successfully hide in plain site, one would expect them to at least be functioning psychopaths. I liked the presentation of Sidious and Plagueis, they have an interesting fun house mirror version of the master and apprentice relationship with a small bit of genuine camaraderie amidst the cruelty.

 

There are a lot of good parallels to the movies as well in the story telling that seem like genuine foreshadowing and exploration of common themes rather than retelling the same old stories with little twists.

 

The only thing that really bugged me is that this book really could have used a character list just to help keep track of who was who within the various conspiracies. There are a lot of plans within plans and a lot of unfamiliar and not especially memorable names in this book and you almost need to take notes. Although admittedly, intricate political intrigue is something I have a hard time following.

 

I recommend this for anyone looking for an interesting perspective on Palpatine, his rise to power and the Sith.

[Airlocke 12,014]

This book was supposed to have been released in 2009, but was canceled. When I saw that it had been released a while back I was very pleased.....then totally forgot to pick the thing up. DOH!

[scvn2812 504]

It's well worth it, Luceno has always been a very consistent writer and he draws excellent parallels to the modern world, building on George's rather blunt analogies and adding some nuance. There's a few eye rollers like Naboo plasma being a stand in for oil and a repetition of the million man army for a galactic war stuff, but on the whole it's pretty solid.

[Khas 12,158]

Didn't Luceno write "Labyrinth of Evil"? If it is the same author, than I might just pop a look at "Darth Plagueis".

[scvn2812 504]

He wrote that and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, the latter I strongly recommend for anyone who feels like exploring the gap in Anakin's character arc from ROTS to ANH. Luceno excels at naturally developing characters and accepting and building off of the themes of the movies rather than rewriting his favorite stories and changing the names around.

[Airlocke 12,014]

He also wrote 3 books in the NJO, and I think he has done one or two other SW novels, as well.

[scvn2812 504]

What I've read of NJO makes me inclined to skip those, too many characters from books I didn't read or didn't like taking too many pages away from more familiar characters.

[Khas 12,158]

NJO also featured the death of Chewbacca, where the Yuuzhan Vong dropped a MOON on him.

[scvn2812 504]

To this day I still don't really know how I feel about that. I recognize that they wanted to start off the series in a dramatic way to show that the Vong are Serious Business, that there will be Consequences to this arc and up to that point the trilogy characters, except for a few minor ones, had managed to get away with adventure after adventure without their lives being seriously altered or even anyone's luck running out. I think it was a good death overall but it seems like too much of a publicity stunt. I suspect that the powers that be recognized even at that point that the readers were getting tired of trilogy after trilogy of Really Important Stuff You'll Never Hear About Again but the Vong war was really the end of my love affair with Star Wars EU. It got to the point where there was nothing to read anymore that could be appreciated on its own.

 

I have a poor eye for plot holes unless they're so bad you could fly a Death Star through them, so issues like dramatic power differences in characters and ships from story to story didn't really bother me - still don't really - Plagueis does many things right and a few wrong in that regard but it didn't affect my appreciation for the book significantly - but I got tired of jumping into the middle of character arcs of people I had never read about before with no effort to even summarize who they were, what was happening to them and why I should care. Its like watching the pilot for Battlestar Galactica 2k3 and then tuning in at the climax of all that final five stuff....except instead of one series progressing linearly, its half a dozen series and two dozen or so one shots that are all over the timeline.

 

I've reached that point as well with other series where the author(s) just assume you remember a minor character from five books back who is now important. I have a friend who worships Honor Harrington and I quit after the end of the second Haven-Manticore war, its just so far removed from the original premise that drew me in and I can't bring myself to care about any of the dozen or so characters being explored besides the title character - herself becoming increasingly unlikable as she progresses from a character who - in gaming terms - just seems to have taken flaws for the extra experience to boost her already min maxed abilities - nor even about the political and strategic changes to the setting.

[Airlocke 12,014]

NJO also featured the death of Chewbacca, where the Yuuzhan Vong dropped a MOON on him.

 

EPIC SCENE

[Afishymeadow 534]

Thanks for the review scvn!