As far as I know this is the first Star Wars book Drew Karpyshyn has written, though he is a writer for Bio-ware and probably best known for his work on the KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC video game. He does a solid job with the book. The characters are strong and the dialogue is surprisingly spry for this type of book.

Maybe the best decision Karpyshyn makes is to spend the majority of the readers time with Bane. Almost the whole narrative is spent with the main character. Only the most minimal amount of time is spent with the “good guys” or Bane's adversaries, and it’s only the absolute minimum.

Bane is the strongest and most interesting character and the author knows this and plays to that strength. He ends up being an atypical villain. I’m not sure if this is due to other stories featuring Bane or the authors choices. In any case Bane is much more sympathetic and interesting than I expected him to be.

The overall story isn’t going to be a surprise to anyone who reads the dust jacket and becomes apparent early on that this book is just the first phase of Bane’s life. That’s fine though because the story arc is nicely handled and the conclusion is satisfying. Watching Bane develop his ideas about how to refine the Sith is great entertainment.

Karpyshyn’s writing isn’t without faults though. A large portion of the beginning of the book takes place during a card game, one you’ll recognize if you’ve played the KOTR video games Karpyshyn wrote. I didn’t bother to learn the card game in the video game (play cards when I can kill people with a glowing sword?) and I didn’t find it particularly interesting this time out either.

To his credit, the author uses the card game to draw out some interesting dialogue that helps to know Bane’s character as well as the state of the republic at the time. But the outcome of the card game will be no surprise to anyone who’s seen a western movie and could have been truncated. Luckily after the card game, the narrative moves at a brisk pace.

I also wish Karpyshyn had given us a little bit more of the alien diversity of a universe as big as star wars. The variety of species isn’t too large and I think at least three or four characters are Twi’leks (though, again to the author’s credit, the Twi’leks aren’t sex slaves). We visit some neat planets and sometimes see some residents of the planets, but not much biodiversity going on here.

Some thought about the technology of the time would have been nice too. I don’t want Tom Clancy levels of exposition about fighting machines, but it would have been nice to have a little bit more information about the technology of the time.

There are a few things that felt a bit too video-gamey. Much talk is put into battle sequences. It works, and maybe it only bugged me because I knew the games Karpyshyn had written. He does a good job in discussing why battle sequences are important to a Sith’s technique, but it bugged me a little.

Also, the main female in the book seems too Video-gamey as well. The character of Githany. She is the closest thing to Bane’s “love interest” in the book, but seems to speak more to Karpyshyn’s own kinks (especially if you look at the female lead in the KOTR video game as a comparison).

She’s presented as the sexpot and I suppose I can see that as the focus of her force skill. It’s not necessarily a bad idea, but whenever sex is brought into the Star Wars realm, it has to be handled pretty carefully not to come of as fetishism. Which brings us to the worst part of the character and perhaps the thing that bugged me second most (the spoiler section has what bugged me most), Githany has a “light whip”.

I know lightsabers don’t make sense either, but c’mon, a light whip?

I think it illustrates Karpyshyn’s lack of interest/skill in presenting the tech side of Star Wars. I hate to harp on this point, but it’s also too much like a video game weapon.

It tips the character way into kitsch. It’s a shame because the idea of a female Sith using her sex to manipulate others is a good idea, but having no other strong female role and then surrounding her in kitsch reduces her to a 14 year old’s version of the dangerous female.

If I remember correctly, she’s the ONLY female in the book. Really, if you can’t write a realistic female, if your deep down your scared of women and can only present them as angels or devils, leave the females out of it, you’ll do yourself a favor. Again, it only aggravates me because her role in the story could have been a very good one and you see glimpses of it here and there.

Also, the cover, terrible. While it’s not inherently flawed, the combination of art and the design makes it look like Dungeons and Dragons guide.

Ok, the back to the good things, because it is worth reading if you can get over the flaws.

I was surprised at the level of moral shading in the book. Moral ambiguity and the struggle to the right thing is the true core of the Star Wars movies (imo) but outside the movies this ambiguity is usually handled badly or not handled at all.

Karpyshyn does a terrific job handling the wavering of faith in both the Jedi and the Sith. Motivations aren’t all that simple, even when a characters try to convince themselves they are right. Karpyshyn also makes Bane’s position understandable and sometimes appealing without it being in a first person narrative.

The most surprising and fun part of the book is that Karpyshyn really has a nice handle and take on the role of the Force . If you’re a Star Wars nerd then there is a lot going on here in regards to the nature of the force itself, more on that in the geek spazz section.

Not sure if a non-Star Wars fan would enjoy this, but is an enjoyable read. If you’re not a Star Wars fan but like it when “villains” are the lead character, I recommend this one. Bane’s thought process is quite a bit of fun to read. 

You have to read it if you are curious about the teachings of the Sith and the history of the dark side, but uh, I’ll put that in….

GEEK SPAZZ:

Maybe my favorite part about the book, other than Bane himself, was Karpyshyn’s writing about the force. Out of all the Star Wars material I’ve read (3 in recent months, the rest I haven’t read in years) Karpyshyn’s book might go the deepest into the Force. There is certainly a focus on the dark side, but also a lot about the light side of the force too, the author compares and contrasts them quite often.

The force was maybe my least favorite aspect of the original trilogy, mainly because it could come too close to becoming a Deus Ex Machina, but also because Yoda and Ben’s ideas about the force seemed a little too distant and hippie-ish to me.

LABYRINTH OF EVIL, THE RETURN OF THE SITH novel, and THE RISE OF DARTH VADER really helped expand the force as something more than a vaguely hippy notion of connection and into something that breathed and seethed, something that came close to conscious fate. More than that, it also established that there were more than two ways to view the force, not as just a “dark” and “light” side. Those were the two divisions of motivation, but there was a lot of variance in the way individuals could approach it. (I can see it a little now in the movies, but the books opened it up for me).

This book really digs into it. It’s always pretty clear that the dark side of the force consumes and destroys those who use it, but it also points out that the Jedi can also be consumed by the light side of the force. There are many a crisis of faith in both the Jedi and the Sith and a lot of dissention in both their ranks.

We also visit a few war torn planets where you realize that no matter who was in the “right”, the battle between the Jedi and Sith hasn’t been good for those caught in between.

Also some interesting compare and contrast between Jedi and Sith. The Jedi preach about giving yourself fully over to the force, but they never really seem to for extended periods of time. Where as the Sith probably give themselves over to the force for longer periods of time. It’s easier for them to do, they can listen to what they perceive the force to be telling them without having to worry about hurting anyone else.

The simple split is that the Sith believe they are using the force as a tool, where as the Jedi believe the force is using them. The paradox though is that to “use” the force, the Sith must give themselves up to it and break all barriers including moral ones. Meanwhile, the Jedi seem to be building more and more barriers to the force as they seek the force’s will. Every connection to another person is one more barrier between themselves and the force, yet it’s those connections that maintain a moral balance within a Jedi.

It also brings up some interesting thoughts on the force. Both the Sith and the Jedi are seeking the will of the force, moving with it, using it, etc. So is the force part good and part bad or is it that only the way they use the force determines good and bad?

Or is it inconsequential the way a Sith or Jedi uses the force? Is the force a conscious fate that is always trying to keep good and bad in “balance”? If so, why should the Jedi or the Sith really trust where the force guides them?

*******SPOILERS*********

 Ok, a complaint here. The “Thought Bomb”. This may just be me, but come up with a better name. I think Karpyshyn chose the name because it’s good short hand, but it just seems out of whack with the language in the rest of the books.

 I liked the way the conclusion was handled, it was nice to see Bane’s plan play out, even if we already knew where it was going. It’s an interesting narrative approach because the central character isn’t really “in” the scenes of his greatest triumph. Also when Githany struggles to get out of cave, wedging herself into a crevice too small for her, it adds a nice little touch of terror.

Anyway, if you managed to read all this, you might as well go out and buy the damn book.

*******END SPOILERS*********

PERSONAL STUFF:
All in all, I liked the book. I obviously liked the Dark Side stuff and seeing what the Sith were like at that period of time.

 It was a good book and not terrible which makes me hopeful to read another, at the same time the flaws give me even more trepidation about picking up another Star Wars book. There is a “boys only” mindset at work, which plenty of Sci-fi falls into. By that I mean that those writing these books tend not to know how to write a realistic female. Star Wars seems especially prone to this considering that Leia is the only well rounded female in the movies. Buy that’s just my opinion.

Basically, I’m still as lost as ever as to what Star Wars books to read next. More James Lucerno and Stover I guess.