Full Series Star Wars the Clone Wars: Dark Disciple (SPOILERS)

I read it when it first came out. I loved it, it would have been amazing to see.

I like to imagine that seen in which the whole council reacts to Ventress coming to them is the one we were told about in which Oppo Rancisis appears with his lightsaber. It just all seemed amazing, nice to have a bit of world building, but still feels like Star Wars, something I notice very few books really accomplish in my opinion.

Also I think its hilarious that Dooku was awarded the "Raxoinian Humanitarian Award" If they only knew....

 

Just finished the book and....I thought it was terrible.

Really really bad.

And I love Christie Golden's work but....no one came out looking good in this.

 

Heh. You and anakinfansince1983 will have a great time talking about it.

Sorry I had to remind you of the horrible book AFS.

 

Sometimes I wonder if maybe having it play out over several smaller arcs and with the great voice work of TCW it would have been made more palatable, but then I think no, no it wouldn't. Doing romance and love stories has always been a big weak point in nearly all SW media, at least in the mainstream parts, and this is just another example of that.

 

Hm, I loved it. Still remains one of my favorite SW novels. Thought it was a fitting end to Ventress's story, and I actually liked the romance between her and Vos. A lot of great moments throughout for me, and I could just picture it playing out in my head. Great work by Golden.

 

I don't agree that she was a character that needed to be killed off but she was becoming rather pathetic by Season 5 she was reduced to getting beaten by Bariss and slapped around in the alley by angry Anakin - was like all of a sudden her fighting ability and Force powers were gone and she was reduced to being scared. I didnt feel the "good" turn made her any stronger, just more fearful and she lost her edge at the hands of the writers. But I think the worst part was how many times Darth Tyranus gets defeated in the book. They have a Dark Side Vos defeat Dooku two times in the same book.

 

I always thought Dooku's position in this as well as Maul messing with him in Son of Dathomir pointed to his descending in power which foreshadowed Anakin besting him in RotS. I can see how it diminishes a powerful villain, but looks like they erred on the side of foreshadowing his downfall.

 

I don't know Watto, I suppose that is course a certain interpretation or way to look at it. If the Dark Side is some kinda living energy field, then maybe it just picks and chooses. However, we see a very capable Dooku in taking on both Anakin and Kenobi. Even in Season 6 he was doing crazy stuff against them, but then there is that Yoda vision/illusion stuff where again (a semi Vader)Anakin cuts down Dooku in record timing(but that same quasi Vader- Anakin stood no chance at all against Sidious). Surely he would've felt otherwise or felt his own health and power diminishing. He just went in there oddly with Super Battledroids rather than his yellow Magnaguards as he often surrounded himself with on TCW. Maybe something do with age which is always something Sidious wants in his apprentice that he equates with strength but other times age really doesn't matter. And/ or Sidious was somehow affecting the outcome of the fight by manipulating the Force, but that is kinda weird. Sidious was becoming winded when he fought both Savage and Maul and Maul almost bested him one one one but Sidious has greater mastery of the Dark Side of the Force that he had to have been using to sustain his endurance and power levels in the match. But Dooku making very short work of Kenobi in ROTS always was odd no matter what. That same Kenobi was able to hold his own and defeat a fully complete, young and virile Vader while just earlier that Anakin-Vader defeated a powerful(Dooku was also supposed to be one of the greatest duelists) Sith Lord warrior . While Vader made the arrogant evil mistakes for the good guy to win when he fought Kenobi, its still strange. Was not like Vader was doing all sorts of Force stuff like Sidious or Dooku. Kenobi and Vader's hands almost tough even, showcasing their power was essentially equaled and their dueling is also. Yoda not being able to stop Tyranus in AOTC. Vos had to be around Kenobi's age or a bit older even, from the book it was clearly the Dark Side that aided or favored him. Seems they pick and choose when the Dark Siders are more powerful when it suits them which is something that always kinda bothered me as well. I never really liked the ROTS duels.

 

You never liked WHAT ?

 

Vos sure did. He trounced Dooku in combat, something that only Yoda had done previously. That's pretty impressive.

 

I'm working on a review now. Anyone want to see it when it's done?

 

I definitely would. Always enjoy hearing your perspective on Star Wars and other fantasy genres, Charles. Your blog has some good content on it.

 

My Incredibly Harsh Review of Dark Disciple

By. C.T. Phipps

Yeah, I don't know how to summarize my opinions on this book. I don't want to to insult Christie Golden as I absolutely adore her and still consider her novel, Arthas, one of my all-time favorite novels. Certainly, she can do romance since I found the Jaina Proudmoore/Arthas Menethil romance to be one of my favorite in the World of Warcraft universe. But this? Well, I just didn't like it.

Before we begin, I should also mention this book isn't like Star Wars: Bloodline or Lost Stars. It's not a book a causal Star Wars fan can just pop open and read. Instead, this book depends heavily on your knowledge of The Clone Wars television show. Much of the story focuses on popular villainess Ventress, Count Dooku's brief Sith apprentice, and is designed to wrap up her story arc that was cut short by the show being cancelled. I understand this book was supposed to be a few episodes on television and it's a shame they weren't filmed since I think they might have worked better on screen.

The premise of the book is Count Dooku orders the extermination of an entire planet of innocent aliens and the Jedi Knighthood decides this is the bridge too far. They must assassinate Count Dooku and rid the world of the Sith once and for all (oh, how little they know). Rather than send Anakin Skywalker, who is HILARIOUSLY just sitting in a corner waiting for them to call him, they decide to send Jedi Master Quinlan Vos to recruit Asajj Ventressin order to help him do this.

Okay, this stinks because I'm not even finished with the summary and there's already way too much wrong with this to properly parse. First of all, Count Dooku was intending to survive the Clone Wars. He was keeping his hands clean while General Grevious did all the dirty work and atrocities. You're telling me he ordered an Alderaan-scale massacre and pretty much no one noticed?

Next, the Jedi Knights sending Quinlan Vos after him is a hard enough pill to swallow. I'm not sure what the canon Quinlan brings to the table which would allow him to defeat the galaxy's greatest swordmsan after Mace, Yoda, Anakin, and Obi-Wan. What is Quinlan Vos' special ability that makes them think he can take Dooku? It's certainly isn't psychometry. That doesn't help fight a Form II Master.

After that, we go into the fact the Jedi Council wants Quinlan Vos to join up with Ventress, a failed SITH LORD. Shouldn't the Jedi Knights be trying to track her down and arrest her for all of the war crimes she committed? Yeah, I regret she's come to regret being a Sith but even if the Jedi are planning on offering her a pardon to help kill Dooku, this seems like an insanely risky plan for almost no reward.

The story proceeds to go on with Quinlan hooking up with Asajj as a bounty hunter before they start a flirtacious relationship which, eventually, blossoms into love. After Quinlan reveals he's a Jedi, which she already knew, Asajj starts teaching him the Dark Side of the Force so he can have the power to defeat Dooku. Quinlan, a supposed Jedi Master, thinks this is a good idea and things go pear-shaped from there. Not the least because it turns out that Asajj has done bad things to Jedi Quinlan knows.

My God, I really don't know how to judge this book because there's just so much nonsensical stuff going on here which never gets sold to me as the reader before something equally weird happens. The stuff I listed above is just the beginning, really. I mean, I don't even know where to begin analyzing the stuff which didn't work for me because I can't just say everything.

Let's go with the fact the majority of the book is a romance, or an attempt to do a romance. The portrayal of the book is Ventress is a skilled seductress and femme fatale who Vos finds captivating. Well, I guess some people would find Ventress appealing. She's certainly a dominant female and Dark Side ladies have their appeal but mostly I've always found her a really nasty character with a smoker's voice.

Even so, there's a history of her and Obi-Wan Kenobi flirting, which gets mentioned. I could maybe, kinda, buy them having an attraction since he's the opposite to her
in virtually every way. The Yin to the Yang and vice versa. Quinlan Vos generally acts like a complete pushover who tosses aside decades of training to go along with her statement the Dark Side is more powerful. What does Ventress see in him? Especially, you know, when he goes from following her around like a puppy to murderous rage?

There's also a bit where Count Dooku decides to team up with Quinlan Vos to try to take down Emperor Palpatine. This is actually the one part of the book I liked. Unfortunately, it occupies only a small section of it and goes in some bizarre directions. Not the least of which being that Count Dooku only wanted to kill the Emperor because Palpatine ordered him to kill Ventress in the first place, eventually resulting in the destruction of the Nightsisters. Getting some of that complicated relationship deconstructed would have been great but do we? No. Also, Quinlan Vos while Drunk on the Dark SideTM is able to kick Dooku's butt from here to Mustafar.

Which, no, I'm sorry, I don't buy that.

No spoilers since Revenge of the Sith happened but Quinlan Vos doesn't kill Count Dooku in the end. The thing is, the Jedi Knighthood learns a "lesson" about the evils of assassination and vow never to do it again. Except, in Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is feted for killing Count Dooku and they intend to do the same thing with Palpatine. They also send Obi-Wan to (successfully) kill General Grevious. So they learned exactly nothing from the events of this book.

As a finale for Asajj Ventress' story arc, I have to say I was rather disappointed in it as well. Ventress, for all of her flaws, was one of the most formidable female characters in the Star Wars Expanded Universe(s). I never quite bought her redemption stories, though, because all of her personality was focused on being a ruthless murdering psychopath.

Here, she never really rejects the Dark Side and when she does, it's for the somewhat prosaic reason of romantic love. I can't help but think I would have preferred her story to have something less traditional like wanting to take down Dooku for his crimes or facing Anakin Skywalker. Indeed, in the Republic comics, Ventress' best death (she had several) was when Anakin murdered her to protect the secret of his marriage. A pity that wasn't her canonical end.

I can't say I much cared for the book's interpretation of Quinlan Vos either. The character was popularized by John Ostrander in the Republic comics before being brought to mainstream canon by the The Clone Wars show. He had an extensive arc where he was corrupted by the Dark Side, tried to assassinate Count Dooku, and fell in love with a beautiful thief but this story lacks all of that story's oomph. We also don't have Aalya Secura as Quinlan Vos' padawan in this book, which seems just plain strange given her popularity.

In conclusion, I recommend reading the Wookieepedia summary of the book instead of actually reading it.

4/10

 

Yoda and Dooku were evenly matched in AOTC . Neither one being able to gain the upper hand and Dooku could not risk a prolonged encagment as the Republic forces and other Jedi were quickly closing in on him.

 

I loved it and like how they didn't go the "safe" route with Ventress which is done too often and is very boring. Really hope we get to see these animated some day, they both feel so crucial to the series. Also I agree that it would have been better as a comic because at least then we would have had some neat artwork and a better idea of what the story would have been like.

 

Nah, Yoda was superior. Dooku ran away lol.

 

Dooku after defeating both Kenobi and Anakin, fought Yoda to a stalemate. So yes they were evenly matched and it was not as comical as the duel between him and Sidious in ROTS. Dooku retreating rather than risking a prolonged engagement where a deciding victory on his part was not a sure thing and risking capture as the Clones and Jedi were on the way, is tactical.

 

You do know that Yoda is the greatest Jedi ever, right? Dooku would take an L if he stayed longer.
And Yoda vs Sheev wasn't comical.

 

Wish they never killed Ventress off......would of loved to have seen her in Rebels....

 

I did like that dimension to her character in Star Wars: Obsession when Obi Wan in some Darth Revan-like get-up goes searching for Ventress. Apparently he was driven to finding her, scurrying the depths of Courscant and Nauton IV, searching for traces of her and finding bits and pieces, like people missing limbs & lightsaber burned scavengers and a decapitated Jedi Master. . He went to Mauk where was she was a leader of some strange cult. The rituals on Mauk where cultists dedicated their sacrifices to a pale goddess of death[Ventress}.

 

I've read the book twice now, and thought it was amazing each time. I shouldn't be feeling sympathy for Ventress, but I was. This would have been so awesome to see animated

 

I'm in the "book was great" party. It WOULD'VE been better with a different ending and a clearer explanation of what Vos's plan was at the end. Was he really under Dooku's influence? Was it just a ploy? I might be mis-remembering, but the book never gave a clear explanation, did it? The entire second half was a somewhat confusing read.