Books So... is the Darth Bane trilogy any good?

I don't agree. Kreia only ever really "lied" by omission -- at least to the Exile. Her words themselves were usually true. Well, insomuch as words are ever true.

That's not to say she was right about everything, of course.

 

Nor is it to say that she wasn't.

 

I loved all three of these books. I highly recommend them.

 

Seconded.

Drew K definitely has some clear writing limitations, and I am not an advocate of his TOR books (especially Revan...although I thought Annihilation a good deal better).

However, I REALLY liked his Bane Trilogy. Highly recommended indeed!

 

By the way, all three were recently released as unabridged audiobooks (the books formerly did not even have abridged audiobooks). I plan to listen to all three.

I would argue that they gave these books the full audiobook treatment well after they were originally released speaks for the general popularity of them.

 

Wait, Sith characters have to be "likable" now? Doesn't that kind of miss the point?

 

Scratch the "likeable" part, then. I guess when dealing with Sith characters the most important thing to focus on is to make them interesting. But on that note, I wouldn't mind if they would make more relatable Sith characters.

 

I'm going to have to sort of....disagree with your there. While they were clearly "bad guys," Bane and Zannah were the protagonists of the stories, and so it was important for the reader to like them in some sense and root for them. I thought that was exactly one of the more interesting aspects of the books: that these were villains you liked, were interested in, and rooted for. Luceno pulled off something similar in Darth Plaguies (for both Sidious and Plaguies).

Now liking and rooting for evil fictional characters is not the same as condoning those actions. For example, I really like the characters Hannibal Lecter and Darth Vader--but I don't condone slaughtering children or eating people's livers with fava beans and a nice chianti.

 

That is exactly what I loved about these books. It was a good change of pace to see things from a Sith perspective. They were somewhat likeable, or at least intriguing.

 

You've clearly been using the wrong chianti.

 

Lost Tribe contains quite a few relatively likable Sith, even if most of them form a society of evil (one has to wonder how a society of evil can fundamentally function...)

 

I get what you're saying, but for Sith-centric books to be feasible, then yes, they have to be likeable. Plagueis and, ironically, Scourge (the one literary positive Karpyshyn has ever made to SW) are the closest we get. Maybe Vader, too.

ROTS actually laid out Plagueis to be a sympathetic figure if you take Sidious's words at face value.

 

I like a ton of Sith characters. I like any character that entertains me. I don't hate a villain for being an entertaining villain.

Vader, Sidious, Maul, Dooku, Traya, Sion, Malak, Naga Sadow, Marka Ragnos, Freedon Nadd, Lumiya....

Darth Vader is one of the most likable characters ever created.

There are few characters I "hate" in any fiction. The only characters I "hate" are those that not only fail to entertain me but also annoy me to the point of ruining any chance at being entertained when they're involved. Anakin Skywalker, for example.

For me, few villains fall into the "love to hate" category, I mostly just love them. Characters like Borsk Fey'lya, however, make me hate them so much I love to root against them and see them get their comeuppance, so in that way they provide drama. Borsk, however, stuck around far too long and never really got what was coming to him. I can't think of a better example, atm.

 

Likewise, but some of those characters would and do make horrible "protagonists" with respect to written works. Sidious, for example, is rotten to the core and unsympathetic. I question the decision to have scenes from his viewpoint in books unless it's as affable, ambiguous Palpatine.

 

You read Knight Errant?

 

I don't really need to sympathize with protagonists, I just need to be entertained.

I liked Bane and Zannah just fine, even if they were simple, stale and at times stupid. Their evil ways were amusing enough.

Sidious seems like a fun guy, I'd love to hang out with him, even though it would be dangerous and he'd certainly manipulate me.

Look at this guy, life of the party:

The book? It's been sitting on my shelf untouched for about a year now, I bought it before I went on my ongoing Star Wars break.

 

I agree with this. You don't necessarily root for them, just like you don't root for Palpatine or Vader (Or at least I don't) but they can still be interesting and have traits you admire or even share with the character.

 

True, but I'm really just more of a beer drinker. Er, I mean, that's just wrong, and you are a sick, sick person!

 

I was always rooting for Bane, he was a fantastic character IMO. Zannah on the other hand i found to be boring.

 

Yes definitely. And ignore what others say - if you're interested in the Old Republic then it's important to read all the books including Revan and Annihilation

 

I read all three and found them entertaining. They were not the best books ever, but I enjoyed them.

I read Star Wars purely for entertainment though. All I care about is if the story keeps me engaged.

 

I liked them all about the same.

To say the least, I didn't like them very much...

 

Ugh. Flaming with you first post. Can see where this is headed.

 

Did you register just to bump a 2+ year old thread with that?

I am curious what circles consider the Darth Bane trilogy "the best Star Wars novels."

If we were talking about the Thrawn trilogy, I might accept that without comment, but for the Bane novels? This requires deeper investigation.

 

On Amazon all 3 books in both trilogies have 4 and 1/2 stars

On Goodreads POD and DOE has a 4.22/5 while The Rule of Two has a 4.13/5. On the other hand Heir To The Empire has a 4.09, Dark Force Rising has a 4.11 and The Last Command has a 4.18. Not only is POD and DOE the highest rated Star Wars books on there, The Rule of Two (which is considered the weakest in the trilogy) is rated higher than 2/3 of the books in the Thrawn Trilogy.

On Audible POD and DOE both have 4.7/5 and The Rule of Two has a 4.6/5. Dark Force Rising and The Last command both have 4.7, but interesting enough the other unabridged version in the trilogy is missing and the unabridged versions are the versions with the most votes. For the integrity of the discussion I propose that audible should be somewhat inadmissible.

Popular perception is slightly in the Bane Trilogy's favor. Also I registered because you people gave inane explanations at to why you feel as though this trilogy sucks and some of you didn't give any explanation at all. I just loathe contrarians and/or GOODBYE..