The original Star Wars films presented an exciting, swashbuckling world of adventure where good and evil were clear, wounds were clean, and deaths were quick. The prequels began to muddy these pristine waters, where evil was everywhere (to quote the opening scroll of Revenge of the Sith) and the saga grew progressively darker. At their core, the Clone Wars represent a horrifying manipulation of billions of lives to serve the lust for power of one man. This is grim stuff, and with Shatterpoint, Matthew Stover delves into the shadows and offers us a stark and gripping portrait of one Jedi Master struggling to come to grips with his world disintegrating around him.
Shatterpoint is the Star Wars re-telling of Joseph Conrad's classic story Heart of Darkness, famously recast into Francis Ford Coppala's brilliant film Apocalypse Now. This book grabbed me from the opening line, immediately shedding new light on the events of the Battle of Geonosis from Attack of the Clones. Mace's agony over his decisions on the arena balcony is logical and easy to empathize with. The Jedi have not faced sweeping open warfare for centuries. They can hardly be expected to smoothly adjust to leading armies after acting largely as localized peacekeepers for so long. Mace's ability to see shatterpoints (essentially showing him the key fault lines of any given situation or person and all the consequences stemming from that various actions available to him) is a well-conceived addition to the various Force powers we've seen Jedi and Sith use.
Stover's technique of alternating between a standard telling of events and looking at things through the device of Mace's journal entries keeps the story fluid. He's not afraid to play with chronology when it makes a particular sequence more interesting and this pays off multiple times, such as the Balawai outpost in the jungle where Mace finds the children. His writing is intelligent, lively, and engaging - it's great to have him writing Star Wars books where this level of quality isn't always present.
Kar Vastor and Nick Rostu are the two standout new characters from this novel. Nick can be a bit irritating but is an intriguing and lively foil to Mace's stolid wisdom and practicality. His optimism carries him through the horror of the Summertime War, enabling him to survive and even thrive in the worst of situations. Kar also thrives out in the jungle, but in his case sheer rage and primal power propel him. Kar is a superb antagonist for Mace, showing Mace everything he could have become if the Jedi order had not taken him away for training as an infant. It's nice with Kar to see an author break so cleanly from the usual Light Side/Dark Side conflict presented in Star Wars and to show a wholly different and very organic approach to using the Force.
Haruun Kal is a compelling setting and I would love to see a future novel set post-Return of the Jedi revisit it. It would be fascinating to explore the impact the Empire would have had on this society. Considering the Korunnai's extreme natural aptitude for the Force, Palpatine might have dealt with them quite harshly to prevent a possible source of opposition to his reign.
Stover invests the Mace Windu-Depa Billaba relationship with a deep amount of sensitivity and pain, making a far stronger emotional connection to the transformation Depa has endured than I ever felt with Kurtz in Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now. The Star Wars movies don't have time to get into motivations and characterizations of minor characters (or even Mace to a certain extent) and that's where a thoughtful book like this brings so much to the table.
My only hesitation in giving this one a five-star rating was deciding whether it is excessively dark for the Star Wars universe. If this was a film, it would be guaranteed an "R" rating with its graphic violence and bloodshed. Beyond that, the psychological themes of the novel are quite chilling. However, the book is so well done that I concluded the darkness was appropriate and indeed, vitally necessary to the story. Kudos to Matthew Stover for a job very well done.
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Mace has a full arc that was satisfying in the end.
Star Wars: Shatterpoint was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Matthew Stover.Shatterpoint takes place during the Rise of the Empire Era, it is the 27th book on the Expanded Universe timeline . The tale takes place 22 years before the events of A New Hope.SUMMARY:Mace Windu is irritated with himself, he had the opportunity to rid the galaxy of Count Dooku, but failed to execute the Separatist leader. Windu is living with that failure daily, his living nightmare, as the galaxy is now in a full scale war. Master Yoda and Mace Windu meet with Chancellor Palpatine to discuss some disturbing evidence that was discovered involving Master Windu's former Padawan, Council Member Depa Billaba.Depa Billaba is on Haruun Kal (WIndu's homeworld) to train natives how to fight as a guerrilla resistance force against the Separatists. An audio file was found at a massacre on Haruun Kal with Depa's voice. It appears, that she has turned potentially turned to the dark side. Mace will take it upon himself to go to Haruun Kal to investigate matters on the planet, to find out if this is true.The planet is an absolute warzone, Windu is met by violence and betrayl. He's captured by militiamen, but let go, in order to find the "Jedi problem in the wilderness" Windu has a lot to learn about Haruun Kal, not just about the war taking place between the Republic and the Separatists, but the war that's taking place between the Haruun Kal people, the Balawaii and Korunnai. This war, is known as the Summertime War.Will Mace Windu find Depa Billaba? Has his former Padawan, a member on the Jedi Council, turned to the dark side? Well the book has been reprinted and is now available in an unabridged audiobook, I suggest you give it a read or listen to find out!CHARACTER:Mace Windu, Jedi Master on the High Council, is guided by the force to see shatter points. He's able to see weaknesses/breaking points of people or events, and how they can effect everything around them. (for example, Dooku is a shatter-point for the civil war. If he could be broken, the war could potentially crumble away.) Windu is lean, intense, intellectual, and very strong willed. It's why he had become a council member before the age of 30. The Jedi Master had been on the council for more than 20 years before the battle of Geonosis. He's tempted many times to go against what is right, he's even got a temper, but he does have excellent self control.Kar Vaster: He's the leader of the Upland Liberation Front. The man is a creepy mystery. He's got an aura about him that's shrouded in darkness. In his youth, he witnessed the death of his family, which changed him for the worse. As a child, he had to survive on his own in the jungle. He's now a witch doctor, a fierce warrior, and a manipulator. People fear him. When he walks through the jungle, it's as though the trees and brush move aside.OVERALL THOUGHTS:I enjoyed this book, mostly. The first half was very strong, Stover was clear in all that was happening. I found the characters interesting and true to how I've seen them on screen and how I imaged they would be in another story. I felt that the second half of the story was weighed down heavily with far too much action. Yes, I know - Star WARS, but it was just too much at times. That said, I was still fully engaged in the story, even if some details escaped me.Mace Windu is basically dropped in the Vietnam War of the Star Wars universe. His birth planet, Haruun Kal is such a brutal place with constant war and lush jungle full of danger. Militiamen, nasty insects, a dark force, a rogue Jedi... it's not a fun place to be. Mace has a full arc that was satisfying in the end. He had to fight not just the enemies around him, but he had to fight the darkness creeping within.There are sections in the book labeled, "From the Private Journal of Mace WIndu" I think it's an interesting way of getting in Mace's head, to know what he's thinking. I enjoyed the entries - Mace giving his thoughts and recording facts about what he's witnessing and experiencing. These journal entries are encrypted immediately, and uploaded to the Jedi archives, so they can't be altered or deleted. A cool touch.There is one thing I found a bit too silly, it's implied that Mace Windu flips up the middle finger to a couple bad dudes. It was humorous, but it wasn't that funny.The ending of this book without spoiling anything, is one of my favorite types of endings in a book. I'll just say, I love a good tragedy. That's not a spoiler... because you don't know what I find tragic. The outcome of the characters and the results of what plays out on Haruun Kal, is fantastic.RATING: I will give Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover, a B+Do I recommend Star Wars: Shatterpoint? The answer, is yes. I like Mace Windu, and I'm glad we have novel with him as the main character.
Top reviews from other countries
Sanchita
Interesting premise but not so interesting read
Reviewed in India on September 17, 2022L Schultz
A great book on Mace Windu!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2021
