Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
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What People Think |
Major disappointment - 08-Nov-06
Shri Durga |
| There are several problems with this book beginning with the sad fact that there is no real story, just a loosely woven collection of vignettes featuring a collection of minor characters that are best forgotten. Vader never develops as a result of any of the events depicted between this book's covers, although the author claims that Vader makes a major breakthrough in understanding the darkside. Unfortunately, we're never shown why, how, or what that possibly means. Secondly, the book is populated with minor characters (Vader isn't introduced until nearly page 50) that are really nothing more than fodder for the Dark Lord, characters that are stood up only so they can be knocked down. Except for their names, they are indistinguishable. Which speaks to the major shortcoming of this book, the very poor writing. I was never once "drawn" into any of the scenes or the lives of the characters. The writing was flat, the characters d.o.a., and the story missing in action. |
| Not bad but not that good! - 26-Oct-06
Darth Depravus |
| This book gives us a useful insight into the early days of Anakin in the suit. We can see the struggle Vader has within himself and his contempt for Sidious. However as a novel the story lacks any proper direction or serious plot. The end is very flat and the Jedi characters are both undeveloped and unappealing. The way the Jedi escape the purge was both unimaginative and uninspired IMO and this left me feeling a little disappointed. This boook really gives little depth to the Star Wars universe, other than a bit of filler between Episodes III and IV. Having said all that I did enjoy reading it and it is nice to read about Anakin/Darth to see how he develops between the prequals and the original trilogy. |
| A Good Read - 20-Oct-06
Jedi Apprentice |
| I have to say that I am a big fan of James Luceno. He is probably one of my favourite authors and he once again does credit to the Expanded Universe. This has to be one of the best books I have read for a long time I thought this book was an excellent sequal to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I thought it was a very well written book and I liked the way that James Luceno focused on how Darth vader struggled in the early days in the suit. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the way that the main Jedi characters survived Order 66. Personally I think that he could have come up with a better plot than he did. I also found the Jedi characters a little week but not enough to spoil what was essentially a good read! Definately five stars for me! |