Simon Goinard's reimagined cover art of the final entry in the trilogy effectively depicts the harsh, tragic beauty of the ruthless outcast, Darth Bane, & his deceitful Sith apprentice, Darth Zannah.When I first picked up 'Darth Bane : Dynasty of Evil' I confess I had very high expectations for the novel, which were founded almost completely upon the incontrovertible truth that the first two books in the trilogy, 'Path of Destruction' & 'Rule of Two' are so well-written & faithful to the Sith lore & heritage upon which they are grounded. Within Star Wars canon, the character of Darth Bane has such a dramatic impact on Sith ideology & its governing philosophies that it cannot be overemphasized. I think it was of the utmost importance when these books were being written that extra care was taken, to ensure that the tale of Darth Bane was told in a way that would do the character, the Sith, & most importantly the Star Wars mythology, proper justice. 'Darth Bane : Dynasty of Evil' most emphatically demonstrates that Drew Karpyshyn is well-versed in the skills necessary to successfully write compelling science-fiction & this final installment is a great way to bring the saga of Darth Bane to a close. I'll elaborate more thoroughly on why I feel that way, as this review proceeds.Looking at the way 'Dynasty of Evil' is written, I noticed that the author more or less maintained the same pacing & style which was established with the preceding two entries. Karpyshyn has a pretty direct, upfront way of narrating his stories. The characters are fairly straightforward, they're believable, & the dialogue doesn't come off as over-the-top. There's no literary metaphors or hidden plot details concealed in linguistic subtlety that you must pore over the same passage for fifteen minutes before you get what he's trying to explain, which I personally am grateful for. I don't mind writers who hide clever witticisms or plot information in their work, I'm just not very adept at picking up on them when I encounter them.There's a relatively small cast of main characters in this novel, & Karpyshyn has remained fairly consistent to that throughout the Darth Bane trilogy of books. Where he deviates slightly here from his formula is in that in 'Dynasty of Evil' the 3 or 4 new characters that are introduced, have entire chapters written from their perspectives, as opposed to just Bane & Zannah. The Iktotchi mercenary known as the Huntress is new to the plot, as is the Dark Jedi Set Harth. Another two female characters from the first two books in the trilogy also appear in 'Dynasty of Evil', one of them from 'Path of Destruction' the other from 'Rule of Two'. I won't tell you who they are, but I can say that I thought they were both well-depicted & integrated into the plot very effectively by Karpyshyn.I have always been intrigued by the villains in the stories I read, or in the movies I watch for as long as I can remember. I like the idea of different aspects of 'evil' eventually coming into conflict with one another, the mythology of Warcraft serving as a prime example with Illidan & Arthas representing disparate incarnations of humanity's uglier tendencies. The two factions were able to co-exist up to a point before their mutually exclusive interests rendered their subsequent conflict an inevitability. In 'Dynasty of Evil' there's a similar disparity which exists between followers of the Sith when compared to the Dark Jedi. Both of these are absolutely followers of the Dark Side of the Force but a Dark Jedi is a former Jedi who has a substantially different set of ideals & motivations that govern their behavior & conduct when compared to an actual Sith. Generally, a Dark Jedi has a very short-sided & materialistic mentality, they seek personal gain & material wealth at the detriment of any higher purpose or long-term priorities which might affect their social standing or govern their behavior & force them to adhere to a code that compromised their immediate desires for gratification. Set Harth is a prime example of a Dark Jedi. A Sith is a completely different 'beast' so to speak. Bane & his Sith apprentice Zannah care very little, practically nothing, for how they are perceived by the rest of civilization. Worldly possessions & social standing provide no satisfaction to true Sith, if anything, they merely weaken an individual who might otherwise be made stronger by foregoing them. Material wealth merely provides the means to an end, if indeed it is even necessary to acquire it. Social position is pursued only when such power as would be gained upon attaining it furthers the Sith prerogative.Karpyshyn's final installment in his Darth Bane trilogy takes place on a very intriguing group of planets in the Star Wars universe, many of them not appearing often in the mythology, either in the movies or in the literature. There was a particular element to Darth Bane, resulting from his relentless obsession with the acquisition of Sith knowledge above all else in his life, including his physical well-being, that rendered his ability to effectively dissimulate with the rest of society immensely challenging. He was left with no choice but to delegate many of the difficult social deceptions, which Sith excel at under normal circumstances, to his apprentice, Darth Zannah, while Bane was forced to skulk in primitive camps, eking out a meager, sub-human existence on the outskirts of remote, unsettled planets to avoid arousing suspicion. When 'Dynasty of Evil' picks up, the 'handicap' Bane had to endure has ceased to be a concern, which leads to his & Zannah's decision to purchase an opulent estate on the outskirts of Daplona, the capital city of the plentiful world Ciutric IV, orbited by its twin moons. Karpyshyn does a nice job of fleshing this part of the novel out for the reader, I think it accentuates the story well, particularly with regard to the choice of false identities Bane & Zannah adopt while residing on Ciutric IV. The politically-turbulent, industrial mining world of Doan is well-depicted by the author, & serves as a nice contrast to the resplendent tranquility of Citric. Karpyshyn is a veteran writer, adept at crafting effectively all types of settings for his stories. The work he does here is no different.The ancient Sith Lord Darth Andeddu plays a significant role in the narrative of 'Dynasty of Evil'. Born thousands of years before the events of the Bane trilogy, Andeddu was proclaimed 'God-King of Prakith' which Bane travels to throughout the course of this book. When Andeddu fell, knowledge of him was outlawed by the Jedi Order & the planet Prakith's location in the 'Deep Core' was deliberately cut off from known, regularly-used hyperspace routes. Also appearing is the infamous home-world of the Hutt species, Nal Hutta & its crime-infested Smuggler's Moon, Nar Shadaa.I've droned on with this review for quite long enough. I will say that 'Darth Bane : Dynasty of Evil' is most assuredly worth your time to pick up if you haven't already. It's well-written, engaging, & should meet your expectations as a worthy finale to the Darth Bane trilogy. 'Dynasty of Evil' serves as the capstone in the saga of the legendary Sith Lord Darth Bane, the enigmatic warrior who fought his way to a position of authority in the Sith Army, serving in the 'Gloom Walkers' under the supreme command of the Dark Lord Kaan before being sent to the Academy on the Sith planet Korriban to study under the instruction of Kas'im, Kopecz, & Qordis. Darth Bane eventually masterminded the 'Rule of Two' which governed the way Sith Lords & Apprentices trained in subsequent generations & permanently etched his signature on every man or woman in history who has claimed to be worthy of the title 'Darth'. He essentially revolutionized the very nature of Sith Order, for all time. Darth Bane & his apprentice, Darth Zannah, are beautifully imagined characters, appearing in a great trilogy, written by a talented writer.