Book notes: Star Wars: Dark Lord by James Luceno

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Star Wars: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno

Synopsis:

“Throughout the galaxy, it was believed that Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, had died on Coruscant during the siege of the Jedi Temple. And, to some extent, that was true. Anakin was dead.

From the site of Anakin Skywalker’s last stand, on the molten surface of the planet Mustafar, where he sought to destroy his friend and former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a fearsome specter in black has risen. Once the most powerful Knight ever known to the Jedi Order, he is now a disciple of the dark side, a lord of the dreaded Sith, and the avenging right hand of the galaxy’s ruthless new Emperor. Seduced, deranged, and destroyed by the machinations of the Dark Lord Sidious, Anakin Skywalker is dead, and Darth Vader lives.

Word of the events that created him, the Jedi Council’s failed mutiny against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the self-crowned Emperor’s retaliatory command to exterminate the Jedi Order, and Anakin’s massacre of his comrades and Masters in the Jedi Temple, has yet to reach all quarters. On the Outer Rim world of Murkhana, Jedi Masters Roan Shryne and Bol Chatak and Padawan Olee Starstone are leading a charge on a Separatist stronghold, unaware that the tide, red with Jedi blood, has turned suddenly against them.

For the handful of scattered Jedi, survival is imperative if the light side of the Force is to be protected and the galaxy somehow, someday reclaimed. Yet more important still is the well-being of the twin infants, Leia and Luke Skywalker, the children of Anakin and his doomed bride, Padme Amidala. Separated after Padme’s death, they must be made safe at all costs, lest the hope they represent for the future be turned to horror by the new Sith regime, and the unspeakable power of the dark side.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I picked up this book mainly to continue my streak of Star Wars books. I’ve enjoyed the last two, so I’ll keep going with this trend for now since I like Star Wars anyway.

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Key notes:

Part One: The Outer Rim Sieges

• The 3 Jedis survived the stormtrooper ambush and managed to escape
• They also received mixed signals to return to Coruscant, but also to stay away and go into hiding

Part Two: The Emperor’s Emissary

• One of the Jedi was killed by Vader but the other two stayed hidden

Part Three: Imperial Center

• On the flight, the Jedi Roan Shryne’s mother ran into him and told him she was his mother
• His mother Jula told Shryne how she was also force-sensitive and didn’t want to give him up to the Jedi Temple
  • But his father accepted this was the right decision and was confident in it
  • This disagreement led to them splitting up eventually
  • Jula took up piloting afterward because she felt she would bump into Shryne eventually
• Starstone, the apprentice, warned Shryne not to become the 21st out of only 20 Jedi knights or masters to ever leave the order
• Half a dozen Jedi survivors met up to discuss their situation
• Vader reflected on how he destroyed the Jedi because he was convicted they were corrupted by their own arrogance
• Senator Organa knew the truth of Palpatine’s rise to power and tried to lay low and pretend to be aligned with him to protect Leia
• They narrowly escaped from Darth Vader though he managed to kill the senator they were trying to smuggle out

Part Four: Kashyyyk

• The Wookiees owed the Jedi a debt and would help them
• They confirmed that two of the masters died on the planet but Yoda escaped and might still be alive

End Credits

• Vader took down all the Jedi except Starstone until Shryne came to take him on
• Vaders lightsaber style was very straightforward to protect his center control panel on his body
• As Shryne was dying and cornered, Vader admitted that the emperor was Darth Sidious and that he was the former chosen one Anakin Skywalker

Epilogue

• Qui-Gon reached out to Obi-Wan in the force to tell him that the force will determine Anakin’s fate, and that Anakin is currently imprisoned in the dark side. And that Vader will never set foot on Tatooine out of fear

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Closing thoughts:

This book was an easy listen and a fun side-story to the larger Star Wars narrative. Unfortunately, it seems like the main characters in this story are mostly inconsequential to the main narrative, but it was cool to see Vader in action and a peek into his thought process. This is something we don’t normally see or hear about in other spin-off stories.

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Nutshell:

Anakin, newly reborn as Darth Vader, hunts down a group of surviving Jedi as he follows his master’s orders to continue wiping out the Jedi order.

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Similar books:

• Star Wars: Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston
• Shatterpoint: Star Wars Legends by Matthew Stover
• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
• Armada by Ernest Cline
• Dune by Frank Herbert

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Rating:

3.5/5

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