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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * For the infamous, power-hungry Sith, beholden to the dark side, the time has come to rise again. "Full of lightsaber battles, the Jedi philosophy, and lots of new life-forms."--Chicago Sun-Times After years of waiting in the shadows, Darth Sidious is taking the first step in his master plan to bring the Republic to its knees. Key to his scheme are the Neimoidians of the Trade Federation. Then one of his Neimoidian contacts disappears, and Sidious does not need his Force-honed instincts to suspect betrayal. He orders his apprentice, Darth Maul, to hunt the traitor down. But he is too late. The secret has already passed into the hands of information broker Lorn Pavan, which places him right at the top of Darth Maul's hit list. Then, in the labyrinthine alleyways and sewers of Coruscant, capital city of the Republic, Lorn crosses paths with Darsha Assant, a Jedi Padawan on a mission to earn her Knighthood. Now the future of the Republic depends on Darsha and Lorn. But how can an untried Jedi and an ordinary man, stranger to the powerful ways of the Force, hope to triumph over one of the deadliest killers in the galaxy?… (more)
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Given that this book leads into the events of The Phantom Menace, the final outcome is assured. The story is pretty entertaining, though, amounting essentially to one long chase scene with plenty of action and a couple of side stories thrown in (Pavan's animosity toward the Jedi; Obi-Wan Kenobi skirting around the edges and nearly learning of Darth Maul's existence). Darth Maul in the film had a lot of promise as a villain that obviously wasn't realized, but ample evidence of his badassery can be found here.
Now, all that being said...this was my second reading of this novel, and I found as I went through it that I had only the vaguest recollection of reading it the first time around. As entertaining as it is, it's eminently forgettable, with no particularly memorable characters or events. I felt like Pavan and Assant were a hollow attempt at recreating the dynamic between Han and Leia in the original trilogy and some of the better novels. But I suppose the real point of this book is for Darth Maul to chop off some heads, and I can't give it any less than an A+ in that regard.
It's a really easy to read book - there is nothing particularly complex about it, the only thing that might require Expanded Universe knowledge is that "the Black Sun" is the name of a criminal organisation - but even that isn't really necessary. If you've only seen the Star Wars films, you can enjoy this book.
Essentially it tells us more about the mystery that is Darth Maul. But in a way that kind of doesn't really tell us much at all. But while I loved Darth Maul in this book, the thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the two characters introduced in it - Darsha Assant and Lorn Pavan. The first a Jedi, the second a kind of lowlife. Reaves writes both of them really well - and the changing relationship between them even better.
I also enjoyed learning more about the Jedi. This was the first book in which I read the Jedi Code, and we learn more about how jedi are taught - as well as what they would sacrifice to protect others. It's quite an uplifting book, if somewhat tragic, and a really nice entry into the extended universe.
A lot of Star Wars books are enjoyed mainly by fans of the Extended Universe. This one is one that I believe can be enjoyed by anyone, and easily read. As I said at the beginning of the review - it's not the best book in the world. But it's one that opens the door to many others (There are over a hundred books in the Star Wars franchise). It's a great book - and an excellent first Star Wars books.