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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2019
A few caveats to start with.
I enjoy reading Star Wars books, and I have for a long time now. I also believe that one of the hardest genres to capture is novels written primarily from the villain’s or villains’ point(s) of view, especially when it’s already-established characters, and *especially* when it’s going from a visual to a written medium.
With all that in mind, this novel takes an interesting premise (what if a rebel group tried to assassinate Emperor Palpatine) and has some fun with it. I felt like the use of Vader and his part in the story was especially nicely done, with a characterization that feels like a reasonable mix of original trilogy Vader and prequel trilogy/clone wars Anakin—it’s a sort of halfway point take on Vader, without trying too hard to be its own thing.
I do feel that the book has some potential that it didn’t quite realize, with a few interesting storylines sort of winding down without the payoff I was expecting.
Perhaps most importantly, I also went into this book with somewhat skewed expectations, thinking that the majority of the novel would be based around the premise of the Emperor and Vader being trapped on a planet alone, fighting their way off. I think some of the marketing or word of mouth might have given me that idea. However, this is just part of the overall story, and the real premise is more focused on the above-mentioned assassination attempt and the way in which Vader and Palpatine survive it (no spoiler, obviously, since it’s a prequel to the sequel movies). I think the book lives up to that premise more fully.
Either way, this is an interesting book for its unique approach to Star Wars, especially for any Sith or Vader fans out there.
I enjoy reading Star Wars books, and I have for a long time now. I also believe that one of the hardest genres to capture is novels written primarily from the villain’s or villains’ point(s) of view, especially when it’s already-established characters, and *especially* when it’s going from a visual to a written medium.
With all that in mind, this novel takes an interesting premise (what if a rebel group tried to assassinate Emperor Palpatine) and has some fun with it. I felt like the use of Vader and his part in the story was especially nicely done, with a characterization that feels like a reasonable mix of original trilogy Vader and prequel trilogy/clone wars Anakin—it’s a sort of halfway point take on Vader, without trying too hard to be its own thing.
I do feel that the book has some potential that it didn’t quite realize, with a few interesting storylines sort of winding down without the payoff I was expecting.
Perhaps most importantly, I also went into this book with somewhat skewed expectations, thinking that the majority of the novel would be based around the premise of the Emperor and Vader being trapped on a planet alone, fighting their way off. I think some of the marketing or word of mouth might have given me that idea. However, this is just part of the overall story, and the real premise is more focused on the above-mentioned assassination attempt and the way in which Vader and Palpatine survive it (no spoiler, obviously, since it’s a prequel to the sequel movies). I think the book lives up to that premise more fully.
Either way, this is an interesting book for its unique approach to Star Wars, especially for any Sith or Vader fans out there.
