Drew Karpyshyn

Dessel has lived all his life in the small mining community on the far-off planet, Apatros, in the Outer Rim; and he's probably going to die there too. If his chances of getting off the planet were slim before, it feels like a distant day dream once his father dies and his debts are transferred to Des. But when he kills a Republic soldier in self-defense after an intense card game, he realises he'll be lucky if he gets out of the trial alive. With the help of a friend, Dessel is smuggled off show more Apatros to join the Sith army in their war against the Republic and their Jedi.

At first he is skeptic about his new allies. Even if he's never been a fan of neither the Republic or the Jedi Knights, he's never really cared about the Sith either. But as he advances within the Sith military, the Sith Lords soon discover his force sensitivity; that strange gift Dessel has had for as long as he remembers. Soon, he is sent off to study at one of the Sith Academies along with other brilliant young minds.

Although as Dessel notices the mistakes of his Masters at the Academy and as he reads all the old texts in the library they simply ignore; he starts to realise that the Sith has forgotten the proper Sith way. There is only one solution. They must all go. The only one capable of carrying on the Sith flag is Dessel - as Darth Bane shall he rule as the single Dark Lord until his apprentice is strong enough to kill him; because there can only be two. The Master and the Apprentice. One to embody power, the other to crave it.

This was such a good read. I really like reading the stories taking place a long, long time ago as it often lets us see different sides of the Sith, and this book definitely didn't disappoint me. Dessel was an interesting character who changes quite a lot throughout the story and it was a pleasure doing that journey with him; he just becomes more and more evil. He reminds me a little bit of Tom Riddle, actually, except Dessel struggles with guilt and remorse for quite a big chunk of the novel. It was interesting to see him struggle like that because it's more common to read about Jedi Knight struggling than a member of the Sith.

Even though I disagreed with most of his actions and his philosophy, it was hard not to like Dessel. He felt very human; especially considering his background. I will also admit that his work is quite impressive even if it is terrifying. I firmly believe he would have been a good Jedi if they would've found him first.. show less

It's 2 years after the Jedi Civil War. Most of the Jedi are dead and the Republic has to recover from the devastating war. With Revan still recovering from the loss of his memories, he soon begins having a repeating dream of a storm-covered world. Revan soon has difficulty sleeping and seeks answers. The next day, Revan travels to a small cantina to meet an old friend. Canderous Ordo is a Mandalorian warrior from the Mandalorian clan Ordo. Canderous tells Revan of a search for the mask of show more Mandalore that the clans are conducting. Mandalore was the warrior ruler of the Mandalorians. His mask is like a Mandalorian crown. Whoever claims it is the new Mandalore. Revan and Canderous travel to Rekkiad, the barren ice planet where Revan supposedly hid the mask before the loss of his memories. There, Canderous meets his friends and family from Clan Ordo. Revan must hide his identity as a Jedi, as most Mandalorians are not fond of the Jedi, due to the war between the Jedi and the Mandalorians that led to the destruction of the majority of the clans. What results is Canderous becoming the next Mandalore and the reunification of the clans. Now Revan begins his search for the storm-covered world. As always with a book, the real question is not will he find it, but will he be prepared for what is there amongst the storms and darkness?

Finally, a book about Revan! Revan was my favorite Star Wars character, simply because of how strong and wise he was. This was a man who knew both the light and dark sides of the force had their own strengths and weaknesses, as he walked both of them. He drew on his emotions for power, yet always used them for protecting the weak and innocent. This is why I love this book by Drew Karpyshyn. It shows both of Revan's sides, his good and his bad. We never saw both when we played the games about him, only the good or the bad. This was a better look on the character's story. Easily one of my favorite books. show less

SO I kind of decided I didn't want to read this one, because I like the KOTOR games so much, but at the same time I want to read the good non-canon / lore/ legends Star Wars books while waiting for my Chronological Star Wars Film & TV watching to reach the next canon book in the time-line. Quite a few people say this is one of the good ones...but not so many of the fans of the games, and hooo-boy, I can see why.
I've played KOTOR 1 & 2 many, many times, on many different games consoles and show more computers, over the years. I've played all ways, good, bad, and in between. I've romanced different characters, I've played them modded, I romance Kaiden in Mass Effect purely because he's voiced by Carth Onansi (well, by Raphael Sbarge, who voices both). My icon on gaming sites is often Bastilla, as a kick ass jedi lady. I'm a fan. This book, despite being called Revan; despite being written by Drew Karpyshyn, who usually Knows His Stuff; despite featuring Revan, Bastilla, The Exile, Canderous,, and T3-M4 - does not feel like it's a fan.
Revan doesn't feel like Revan, (and not just cause I prefer my Revan female) - he's all over the place, and at no point do you feel like he has much in the way of amazing power, or tbh much in the way of brains. Big dumb hero? Yeah, more of that. Bastilla - fantastic, powwerful, mysterious, complex role-maodel Bastilla? Well, I don't think this one could possibly be voiced by Jennifer Hale. Bastilla is sat at home waiting for her man, barefoot and pregnant or as a single mum being jealous of the Exile. I mean sheesh. Canderous is in it for a bit and yeah, I guess he's okay. Big dumb hero was never too complicated in the games either. T3 gets treated so poorly by the end of the book I'm not even going to talk about him. Carth, Juhani, Atton, Jolee, others are just forgotten, I guess Mission, Zaalbar and HK-47 get a passing mention, but literally one or two lines. There's no more where that came from, guys. Oh and The Exile, omg, prehaps Drew Karpyshyn hasn't played KOTOR 2? That's all I can assume.
Aside from that whole thing - the book is, hmm, okay. It starts well, and seems exciting (once you can recover from PointlessLittle WifeyBastilla, that is), but quickly becomes the quite good story of Lord Scourge, a sith whose path eventually connects with first Revan, and later The Exile (Meetra Surik). I quite liked his story, but it was nothing to do with the characters I expected. They turned up, did their thing, and were dealt with in one way or another. Apart from the couple of interludes with wifey, there was very little about them when NOT interacting with Lord Scourge, whereas we got all the history and backstory and side characters and locations etc - all the set dressing - for Lord Scourge's side of the story. I think calling the book SCOURGE and renaming the two jedi and their droid to be anyone else at all, would probably have made a much less annoying book. That might have made a 3 or 3.5 star review, but this is fairly lucky to be a 2 star. Now I have to try to find out, without spoilers, if the next Old Republic book is going to be worth me reading or not, or if I just jump ahead.
As others said before me and I foolishly failed to listen - if you love KOTOR, if you love Revan, the Exile, and Bastilla, - don't bother with this one. I wish I hadn't! show less

SO I kind of decided I didn't want to read this one, because I like the KOTOR games so much, but at the same time I want to read the good non-canon / lore/ legends Star Wars books while waiting for my Chronological Star Wars Film & TV watching to reach the next canon book in the time-line. Quite a few people say this is one of the good ones...but not so many of the fans of the games, and hooo-boy, I can see why.
I've played KOTOR 1 & 2 many, many times, on many different games consoles and show more computers, over the years. I've played all ways, good, bad, and in between. I've romanced different characters, I've played them modded, I romance Kaiden in Mass Effect purely because he's voiced by Carth Onansi (well, by Raphael Sbarge, who voices both). My icon on gaming sites is often Bastilla, as a kick ass jedi lady. I'm a fan. This book, despite being called Revan; despite being written by Drew Karpyshyn, who usually Knows His Stuff; despite featuring Revan, Bastilla, The Exile, Canderous,, and T3-M4 - does not feel like it's a fan.
Revan doesn't feel like Revan, (and not just cause I prefer my Revan female) - he's all over the place, and at no point do you feel like he has much in the way of amazing power, or tbh much in the way of brains. Big dumb hero? Yeah, more of that. Bastilla - fantastic, powwerful, mysterious, complex role-maodel Bastilla? Well, I don't think this one could possibly be voiced by Jennifer Hale. Bastilla is sat at home waiting for her man, barefoot and pregnant or as a single mum being jealous of the Exile. I mean sheesh. Canderous is in it for a bit and yeah, I guess he's okay. Big dumb hero was never too complicated in the games either. T3 gets treated so poorly by the end of the book I'm not even going to talk about him. Carth, Juhani, Atton, Jolee, others are just forgotten, I guess Mission, Zaalbar and HK-47 get a passing mention, but literally one or two lines. There's no more where that came from, guys. Oh and The Exile, omg, prehaps Drew Karpyshyn hasn't played KOTOR 2? That's all I can assume.
Aside from that whole thing - the book is, hmm, okay. It starts well, and seems exciting (once you can recover from PointlessLittle WifeyBastilla, that is), but quickly becomes the quite good story of Lord Scourge, a sith whose path eventually connects with first Revan, and later The Exile (Meetra Surik). I quite liked his story, but it was nothing to do with the characters I expected. They turned up, did their thing, and were dealt with in one way or another. Apart from the couple of interludes with wifey, there was very little about them when NOT interacting with Lord Scourge, whereas we got all the history and backstory and side characters and locations etc - all the set dressing - for Lord Scourge's side of the story. I think calling the book SCOURGE and renaming the two jedi and their droid to be anyone else at all, would probably have made a much less annoying book. That might have made a 3 or 3.5 star review, but this is fairly lucky to be a 2 star. Now I have to try to find out, without spoilers, if the next Old Republic book is going to be worth me reading or not, or if I just jump ahead.
As others said before me and I foolishly failed to listen - if you love KOTOR, if you love Revan, the Exile, and Bastilla, - don't bother with this one. I wish I hadn't! show less