Rule of Two

I'm going to begin by saying I'm a Star Wars fan. That is to say, I enjoyed the original films - and yes, I do think they should have been left alone and yes I do find a lot to hate in the prequel trilogy - and believe there are lots of interesting concepts to explore in that universe. That does NOT mean that I think everything that gets branded Star Wars is amazing, I don't think Boba Fett is an awesome character who needs to be center stage of the galaxy, and I don't believe everything needs to be Star Wars all the time. I guess that might make me NOT a Star Wars fan by a lot of people's definition... oh well.

I had to put that out there to preface my next statement. I absolutely HATE most Star Wars novels. I've read quite a few - show more generally because I need something to read, nothing else jumped out at me, they are cheap, found everywhere and make for quick reads in the bathroom or in doctor's waiting rooms. I find 90% of them to be nothing but better-edited fanfiction, constantly fapping about Obscure/Unimportant Character X and how they're REALLY the ones who saved the galaxy (Boba Fett being one of the most common, of course, and never mind anything like continuity or timelines.)

This one is a little different. To be sure, there's the usual amount of geekdom present - being told exactly how a Holocron is made is a little tedious, and the frequent mention of "he dropped into Lightsaber Style III" or the like is decidedly dull description - but it doesn't drown you in such things. When it does, there's usually a purpose. (And when tossing about things like Lightsaber Style III, the way it's phrased makes you wonder if the author had a checklist somewhere and was paid to drop these terms in X times, lest he not be branded a Star Wars novel.) The difference here is that the author doesn't assume that everyone reading has read every single other Star Wars novel, seem every version of the films 8,000 times and is practicing their lightsaber combat and Force Choke abilities at home. So, while he might begin a paragraph with "Bane dropped into Lightsaber Style VI" - which is all many other authors, the supposedly great-and-illustrious Timothy Zahn among them, would have said on the matter - Karpyshyn instead continues with: "The fierce, aggressive style and its caution-be-damned, brutal overhead chops and quick, sneaking thrusts would serve well against the overly cautious Jedi facing him." Now for someone who DOESN'T already know what Djem So is, we've just been taught. Even if we do - and I feel slightly ashamed to admit I do know these things - we aren't just playing stock footage of Maul or Vader in our heads, we're seeing how Bane is doing it and why.

That sums up why I rate this book so highly, in particular when compared to other Star Wars novels; the author is good. His language and technical style would be welcome among so-called "real" authors, and not just considered acceptable in the "barely above fanfiction" market that makes up most sci-fi serial novels. He explains things - not just in the "geeks will know this, tee hee" way, but in the "I'm painting you a picture" way - and does it well. He makes his characters believable rather than pulling from the stock tropes - Bane is a Sith Lord, yes... but he has feelings. He has logic. He has reasons to do things other than "I"m a Sith and spooky and evil, duh!" and those reasons are made understandable and, though terrible and often "evil," still intelligent and sympathetic. Unlike most Sith apprentices, Zannah isn't either the "mindless slave of the Dark Side" or the "troubled teen who must be returned to the light;" she has motivations, character conflict both internally and externally, and plans and feelings that aren't always focused on her standing as a Force-sensitive. Nearly every character is fleshed out and doesn't feel like you could replace them with any other character from any other Star Wars material. Saying Bane is a Sith Lord is telling you his job, not fully describing his character.

The plot is decent, too. It feels more personal than a lot of similar novels. It's not about quashing the Galactic Republic - though that's one of the goals - it's not about disposing of the Jedi - though it's on the agenda, too. It's about one man on a quest to restore his religious/mystical beliefs to their proper state, and taking someone along for the ride with him. It's about a young woman growing up under the tutelage of someone who could be considered evil, twisted and vile... but still coming out a whole person with complex emotions both regarding herself and her master and the world around her. Also, thankfully, there are no insane alien creatures developing ever-better methods of countering Jedi and Sith (IE: D&D Power-Mongering, which seems to be what most Star Wars novels are about) and there are no planet-destroying space stations (because, really, how many of those can there be before the Republic/Jedi Order/Sith/Whoever-Has-To-Stop-It-This-Time just get bored and say "Really? Again?" before traipsing off to blow it up.)

Overall, I would recommend it, even to people who aren't normally into Star Wars; it stands as a decent sci-fi novel almost in spite of its origins, and Karpyshyn is always worth at least a peek, even if a lot of folks belittle him for his choice in subject matter. It shows "Hey, just because this is geek/movie/video game material doesn't mean you can't hold it to the same standard as any other fiction," and then surpasses that standard admirably. show less

Darth Bane, the founder of the Sith order that culminates in your favorite and mine, Emperor Palpatine, was totally awesome in his original depiction in the comic book Jedi vs. Sith. A stone-cold dude who did what he had to do to get the job done and took no prisoners, probably the most successful new Sith since the original Palpatine/Vader duo. Karpyshyn's depiction of the man in his novel Path of Destruction was good-- not as all-out awesome as that of JvS, but still well done, though I had some quibbles. In this book, the sequel to Path of Destruction, however, I was thoroughly underwhelmed by Bane. After the cool introductory chapters with Bane on Ruusan and Dxun, he then totally lames it up by getting covered with alien parasite show more things that either sap or add to his power depending on the paragraph you are reading. The best part of this book is the dealing with the fallout of JvS: Lord Farfalla is always awesome, of course, and it's nice to see how the Jedi Order was forced to restructure after the Battle of Ruusan. JvS characters Zannah and Darovit get good play here, and I even liked the annoying padawan character.

But then the book takes a ten-year jump and becomes totally uninteresting. Bane himself does nothing other than obsess over the creation of a holocron. We skip all the good years of Zannah's development, jumping to the point where she's essentially pure evil already, which is disappointing as her fall is one of the best parts of JvS. The plot here is mostly some banal intrigue gone wrong, which somehow ends up involving Darovit-- and then kills him off, totally undermining the excellent ending the character got in JvS. Mostly, this part of the book just feels nonessential. Why should I care about what's going on with these characters anymore? It's not just that they're so divorced now from what excellent work was done with them earlier, either. This part of the book, including the so-called "climax", is just flat and dull.

Oh, and Darth Bane looks progressively lamer with every visual depiction he gets. He looked like he was hewn from rock in JvS; on the cover of this, he looks like a chubby man with face paint like you see at a football game. At least they didn't show the stupid orbalisks all over his body. show less

Karpyshyn's meditations on the nature of the force and the conflicting ideologies of the Jedi and Sith continue in another edge of the seat Darth Bane novel: 'Rule of Two.'

His body infected by parasitic force augmenting arachnids, Bane continues training Darth Zannah in the ways of the force. Meanwhile, the Jedi are bombarded with an onslaught of intelligence from various corners of the galaxy that the Sith have survived. The high council dismisses this information as being fanciful paranoid claims even though veteran warrior and maverick Jedi Knight Johun Othone, Bane's nemesis, argues otherwise.

In compliance with his radical doctrine of there ever being two Sith, Bane continues his hunt for ancient Sith archives in order to solidify show more his legacy. He deputes Zannah to unearth any archival material on how he can rid himself of the suffocating arachnids latched thereon.

While the Sith duo involve themselves in pursuing their aims, Othone comes across Zannah's cousin and failed Jedi Darovit who confirms his worst fears, the Sith are still alive. Zannah, in the meantime, has infiltrated the Jedi temple to acquire a cure for Bane's parasitic woes and also chances upon Darovit with whom she suddenly escapes.

Darovit's escape after his testimony to the Jedi that their feared nemesis is alive convinces the Jedi High Council to dispatch two strike forces to finish off Bane. In the first round Bane and Zannah slay all their opponents including Othone. In the process however Bane's Sith lightning is suddenly redirected against him literally roasting him. This also has the added advantage of weakening the parasitic armor plaguing him which falls off after inserting subatomic toxins in his bloodstream.

Landing at the legendary healer Caleb's door, Zannah spins a tale of betrayal and deceit to have Bane healed while she prepares to confront the second Jedi strike force. At the end, this Jedi strike team happens upon a heavily mutilated corpse and suddenly chance upon an enraged lightsaber wielder who they cut down after considerable effort. They report back to the council that it seems that the Sith Lord had healed himself, slaughtered his apprentice in a fit of rage and then succumbed to whatever madness was afflicting him.

Bane and Zannah, meanwhile, shelter underneath the Jedis' very feet and watch them depart. They hurry past Caleb's remains and Darovit's corpse lacerated with multiple lightsaber wounds. The duo escape with Bane confessing that Zannah will indeed be the end of him.

With such a bloodcurdling tale, what more could one want from Karpyshyn? The twist at the end is worth reading the entire book. May the Dark side of the Force be with you! show less

It's been ten years since Darth Bane slaughtered nearly all of the Sith Lords; saving only himself to keep the Sith going by the rule of two. To keep the Sith as alive and powerful as possible, there should only ever be two – the master and the apprentice. His pupil, Zannah, is still young but she is powerful and bright; and he is certain she has a connection to the dark side that one day will help her surpass his abilities by far.

Partly as a piece of her training and partly a small step in their plan to completely and utterly destroy the Jedi Order; Zannah is on the mission to encourage the anti-Republic rebels to attack their government prematurely to first planned. If the Senate and the Jedi Order are focused on violent rebels, show more they won't be as hard to mislead when it comes to keeping the Sith duo hidden in the shadows where they can go on with their plans and research without worrying.

But it's also her mission as Bane is nearly completely covered in orbalisks – whilst they create an armor that not even a lightsaber can get through, he makes quite an unusual sight. Standing out in a crowd is definitely not something they can risk. But when Zannah manages to find a cover strong enough to allow her to visit the library on Coruscant, a too familiar face pops up.

I really do find the story of Darth Bane and Darth Zannah quite interesting, so I was quite excited to pick up the sequel. And for the most part, I was not disappointed. It was an adventure from start to finish with lots of battles and a focus on lightsabers. But other than during the battles, there is so much description about things. It stops being just descriptive details and starts becoming long paragraphs about things that you don't really care about, or it is just repeating something you already knew, until you are confused about what happened before the description.

Despite being quite a stereotypical Jedi, I'm so into exploring the dark side of the force; especially when it is pre-films. Both Bane and Zannah are quite different from the Sith we are used to from the movies, and I'm loving it. I'm loving all the blatant lightsaber porn. It was honestly all I wanted. show less

If you liked Path of Destruction, you will like this one. It continues right where the previous book left off. The strong suit of the series is on the character development and on seeing how the Sith come to be One Master/One Apprentice. Actually, if one looks closely at what Bane is doing, he really is planting the seeds for the eventual fall of the Jedi we see in the Clone Wars films, which in terms of timelines, happens about a 1000 years later or so. Patience is one of the Sith's weapons. Also interesting is the relationship between and Zannah, Bane's apprentice. They argue; they get angry at each other; they are playing against each other even as they depend on each other. In the end, readers can see that Bane chose his apprentice show more well, but I won't give the ending away here. Meanwhile, the Jedi come to believe that indeed the Sith are gone, showing the high costs of complacency.

As I have stated before in other reviews, I am not what people would call a "hardcore" Star Wars fan. I do enjoy the films (Classic more than new), and some of the fiction, but I don't lose sleep over very minor detail. So I do have a bit of a hard time with people who have been very negative on this series: either they are getting their Star Wars underoos in a bunch, or they just take themselves too seriously as if reading a little fluff (I have no problem calling this fluff; it is fun reading) would somehow soil their aspirations. Overall, the book was good entertainment. And it lays the ground quite well for what comes later in the Star Wars universe; for that alone, it is worth reading. But it is a pretty good tale too. I am definitely looking for the next one. show less

Like a light saber battle, the action is lightning fast This book focuses mostly on Darth Bane who goes Indiana Jones in search lost Sith knowledge from Sith Holocrons. Zannah, his new Sith apprentice, struggles with her past and conscience to become a worthy Sith apprentice. I struggled with the third storyline with Johun, the Jedi who still believed some Sith survived. It was weakest part of the story.

I really enjoyed this book and learning about the Sith. I really could have seen this book delving deeper into the Sith philosophy, Darth Bane's haunting by the past Sith masters, or maybe more about this Supreme Chancellor.

The light saber battles, especially the one with five Jedi masters against 2 Sith, invigorating. Much better than show more the pathetic battle of Palpatine and Mace Windu.

I look forward to seeing the final book of the trilogy. show less

This is totally more interesting then the first book. Better put together too. Although this one sounded like it was more rushed.

The story line of Bane's apprentice Zannah is the most compelling plot line. Bane's was ok, just a lot of him searching out information but not really doing much.

General Hoth's apprentice Johun is developed over the course of the book. He was trying to live up to General Hoth's ideals. Also him protecting Chancellor Valorim's ancestor Chancellor Valorim was pretty cool too. And also a small plot in there about the Count's of Serenno where Duko descends from is pretty fun too.

Again this is a dark demented book. Your cheering for Bane and Zannah to unleash the power of the dark side and kill everyone and show more defeat the Jedi. There is a really awesome battle at the end where Bane and Zannah take on 5 Jedi. Would love to see that filmed.

Not as much action as some other Star Wars books. Though since Bane and Zannah need to hide they can't revel themselves. But really well done and well written. show less