Star Wars Darth Plagueis

If you like the political intrigue from Star Wars episodes I-II-III this book is for you. It tells how Palpatine ascended to power in detail and it's quite great to know how he became a Sith Lord. He is not a mastermind alone: he's following his Master's steps, Darth Plagueis. The book is well written and it feels you're seeing the prequel trilogy from behind the scenes. Several important questions are answered in this installment. Darth Plagueis is a great character in this grand scheme of the Revenge of the Sith, although the book is misleading. Although the book is called Darth Plagueis, the character is practically secondary to his apprentice, Darth Sidious.

My problem with this title is that it's quite exemplary of how bad old SW Expanded Universe has become in its final days (I'm not saying that the Disney Cannon is better either; I still prefer the old EU). It shows this unnecessary (and quite annoying) urge to connect all the dots between movies, previous books, videogames and comic books as well. I was constantly thinking about the huge library research Luceno did to “fill all the gaps” just to fulfill the LucasBooks Licensing editorial demands. Sometimes it seems it was more important to know when and where this or that came from than the story itself (ie. if you want to know why Count Dooku uses his well tailored cape, you will find the answer here; what that matters to the main plot Is the big question).

What do Dooku, Tatooine, Kamino, Jabba, the Hutt and those beautiful chrome-nosed Nubian starfighters of Naboo have in common? Apparently everything, and that is the problem. I have this feeling that Star Wars galaxy is amazingly small because everyone knows everyone and everyone lives and/or goes to the same places because of this unjustified need to connect all previous publications. I still don't understand why they have to be at Tatooine all the time (I don't know what's so appealing with that huge dust ball) or even to meet Jabba the Hutt just because he's an iconic character.

Anyway, if you're looking to take a different look at what happened before the prequel trilogy and you really dig the political schemes from episodes I-II-III, it's a must read.

Star Wars books are a dime-a-dozen nowadays, so it takes something unique to stand out in the overwhelmingly mediocre crowd. Darth Plagueis, by James Luceno, is one that has the potential to do just that. Detailing Palpatine's apprentice-ship, and revealing more about his Master, Darth Plagueis that he told Anakin about, the novel veers into new territory for the Star Wars series.

Synopsis for Darth Plagueis:

“Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.” —Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith

Darth Plagueis: one of the most brilliant Sith Lords who ever lived. Possessing power is all he desires. Losing it is the only thing he fears. As an apprentice, he embraces the ruthless ways of the Sith. And when the time is right, he destroys his Master—but vows never to suffer the same fate. For like no other disciple of the dark side, Darth Plagueis learns to command the ultimate power . . . over life and death.

Darth Sidious: Plagueis's chosen apprentice. Under the guidance of his Master, he secretly studies the ways of the Sith, while publicly rising to power in the galactic government, first as Senator, then as Chancellor, and eventually as Emperor.

Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, Master and acolyte, target the galaxy for domination—and the Jedi Order for annihilation. But can they defy the merciless Sith tradition? Or will the desire of one to rule supreme, and the dream of the other to live forever, sow the seeds of their destruction?

Star Wars

Star Wars

Darth Plagueis

some

Darth Plagueis

Star Wars

Darth Plagueis

Set before the events of Episode one, Darth Plagueis takes the reader through the behind the scenes setup that foreshadows the prequel movies. In it we see Plagueis, Palpatine's master, rise to power, the training of Palpatine, and ultimately the rise of Palpatine to the position of power and influence that we see in Episode 1.

Darth Plagueis did two things that I didn't thing the EU could do, and it does them well.

First, while it does not redeem all of aspects of the prequel movies, it does tie many of the desperate elements together. Through the eyes of Plagueis and Palpatine we see the events unfold and answer many of the unasked/unanswered questions from the movies themselves and the EU as a whole. How was Palpatine trained, Who was Darth Maul, How was the Old Republic engineered fall, How does the Rule of Two affect the Sith through the thousand years from Bane to Palpatine? These and many more are revealed and explained within this novel.

Second, and most starlings, the novel uses the dreaded plot device (midichlorians) in a way that doesn't make me hate it. [This will likely be a hot topic for diehard fans, but my recommendation is that they read the book before unleashing hate for the topic.] In the novel, Plagueis is Sith Sorcerer working on methods of extending his own life indefinitely through the force. Through well written experimentation and revelation the reader is given a much more palatable explanation for the relationship between midichlorians and the Force, and possible alternate causes for Anakin's “miraculous” conception through the Force.
For all these reasons and more I recommend Darth Plagueis

**As a side note I got my copy of Darth Plagueis through a GoodReads contest for preview/review copies. So thanks to GoodReads for facilitating my enjoyment of this novel.