Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: YODA: DARK RENDEZVOUS (spoilers)

First shot at doing this sort of quick review, so be kind . . . I'll give it a 7.65/10.

_YR_ is a decent effort at entertainment (which, in my estimation, is all Del Ray has an obligation to provide). Stupid hyphenated last name aside, I admired Scout; I guess I just like determined characters. I couldn't care less what happens to her (or to Whie---or to anyone in the book but Yoda, Dooku, Ani & Obi), but by her nature, she's just a filler character to get us to buy books between films. That's fine.

I understand the criticism about the writing being childish in a way (though the repeated criticism of "full names" seems a bit overwrought IMHO). It is. There's also a competition in the middle portion of the book that smacks of a directed "let's make adolescents compete for Harry Potter-esque stakes." And, for some reason, I absolutely loathe the concept of a "powered down" lightsaber.

On the other hand, if I were to complain about "childish" SW books, this novel wouldn't immediately spring to mind. There is a depth in _YR_, especially in the isolated moments of Yoda/Dooku, that is endearing and establishes it as a more mature effort than, say, the JAT (I know; damning with faint praise).

Okay, all that aside: Did the book entertain? Yes, to an extent. I found I did care about the master/apprentice(servant?) relationships. I found especially interesting the way those relationships criss-crossed in the course of the novel. For instance, Ventress is merely a servant to her Sith master, though she aspires for more; on the other hand, Scout begins the novel as a servant (literally even; she's little more useful than R2 on the sail barge) and is half-resigned that she will remain that way, yet she becomes elevated to an apprentice through force of will and an acceptance by those in power that her will should be commended. If only the two stock Jedi masters had not been of the most flat stock: the empathic-instructor and the stoic-warrior-who-is-proud-at-his-death.

 

Great book ... but sadly it's got some lenghts.
I'd give it a
8.9/10

 

i agree w/ others here that it took way way too long for yoda to get to Vujn (or however its spelled), and i wish that we got to read about them leaving said planet instead of *bam* "well we're at courscant now wasn't that a great adventure getting this ship!".

i don't think that dooku obviously not going to turn wasn't that big a deal because yoda also knew that dooku wouldn't turn but went to meet him anyway. the last negative i could find is the title. at one point i looked at it and thought "how could it be named this? yoda is hardly in it". i feel that Dark Rendeznous would have been ok.

wow for all those negatives i still thought that it was enjoyable (finally seeing what life is like for a normal padawan) and a nice new perspective on jedi and sith ethics. it was worth the $ but i'm glad it was PB instead of HC.

all in all i give it a 7 outta 10. a good read but i prob won't go over it a second time

 

I waited five weeks for Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, and I finished it in a day. I waited five weeks after ordering it. Naturally, I expected a lot.

Unfortunately, I didn't get much.

The novel begins with dusk on Coruscant, which is a metaphor for the fall of the Republic, destruction of the Jedi and rise of the Galactic Empire. "Blatantly unsubtle" is a suitable description of the foreshadowing in this scene, I think. As Padmé waits for Anakin to return (doesn't she have anything better to do with her life?) in one of her three rather brief scenes, you really are left to wonder if we need another reminder that bad things are going to happen. I mean, come on Del Rey - we've seen the trailer, we've read the spoiler reports (well, most of us have). Nevertheless, the scene isn't written poorly or anything, as Stewart utilises his "darkly poetic" (as I have come to call it) style quite well.

Over the course of the next few chapters, we're introduced to all of the mains: Yoda, Scout, Whie, Jai Maruk, Maks Leem, Dooku and Ventress. As the story progressed, do you know how many of them I cared about? None. For characters to be effective, the reader must care about them. I'm not saying I didn't find any of the characters interesting; sure, Dooku was compelling, and yes, Maruk was okay, but there was little real character development in this novel. Scout notices at the end that Whie has changed, but where was the evidence of this? I, for one, didn't notice him going on any sort of well-developed journey, though perhaps you did. But there it is: differences in perception, inevitable at the end of any tale.

Many people (even some who liked the book) have said this, but I'll say it again: the "Yoda" fragment of the title should not be there! He's there, yes, and I suppose that he is one of the two major players in the story (along with Dooku), but he just doesn't have enough of a presence in the novel for his name to be included in the title. Rarely is the story seen from his point-of-view, and when it is his thoughts are generally quite mechanical, though with a few exceptions. Like all other SW authors before him, Stewart's Yoda-syntax is slightly off, which always irks me. At times in the story, it was hard to take the "unfortunate garden gnome" (as Dooku perceives him in the flashback) serious. I mean, I know he has a sense of humour, but it's supposed to be a wise, kind one - not one in which he pokes his tongue out at droids and giggles like a maniac in the midst of battle. And come on, we all know that Yoda's "humour" in ESB is just a test of Luke's patience, not a reflection of his true character! After this moment, he is quiet and thoughtful for the rest of the film, so why Stewart found it necessary to make his Yoda frequently silly is beyond me.

Before I move on to what I did like about the book, I have to discuss one more negative point. This story was very slow. The journey to Vjun went on, and on, and on. By the end of the trip, the only reason there was any sense of urgency left for Yoda's mission was on my part, as I felt urgent to get to Vjun in the vain hope that something exciting would happen. Yoda and Dooku's "showdown" was, unfortunately, like all such in encounters in the Clone Wars books: brief, generic and cliché. Thankfully, the two had some interesting conversations prior to their little duel, or I wouldn't have enjoyed their interaction at all.

Okay, enough whinging. Now on to what I liked.

The middle of Dark Rendezvous was great, and it was from here that I (being heavily spoiled fpr Episode III) get a sense of how it is trying to set things up for the final film. Obviously, I can't post spoilers here, but the scenes in here (the Senate scenes especially) are designed to provide some transition for the state of things to change into how they are for Revenge of the Sith. I'm glad that I'm spoiled for ROTS, because it improved my enjoyment of DR.

Obi-Wan and Anakin were great in this novel. They were characterise

 

I wasn't sure what to think of Dark Rendezvous when I finished with it. When the book took itself seriously, I thought it was actually really good. I liked the scenes with Dooku, and to a lesser extent the contrast between Maruk and Leem. But when things got silly, as has been mentioned, I wondered why.

Didn't care for the Padawans at all, really; I did like the battle/assassin droids, though.

Asajj... the only real exposure I've had to her is her pagetime in the novels, though I did page through a Quinlan Vos/Mace Windu comic that I think was one of her earlier appearances. So maybe I'm wrong, but I didn't much care for her characterization here. Yes, it was more depth than has been shown in say, Cestus, but I had a hard time buying the Big Bad Asajj image sometimes. I wasn't fond of her just running away from Anakin and Obi-wan, and the way she acted around Dooku was almost childish; Maul's interactions with Palpatine, on the other hand, and Vader's for that matter, are always serious and submissive. I prefer the purely malevolent, I-can-go-toe-to-toe-with-Jedi-Masters Asajj of Cestus (and perhaps that one scene where she fought Leem and Maruk). Maybe that makes me shallow, but maybe not - I did really enjoy all of Dooku's scenes.

I give it a 7, I guess. It had several moments that stood out, like when Yoda was actually serious, but there were also too many little things that annoyed me.

 

Alright. This was a truly awesome book. It shows sides of Dooku, Ventress and Yoda we haven't seen before. I liked the tournament at the coucil and Scout and Whie were great new characters. Sidious actually somewhat plays a role in this book and Obi-Wan and Anakin are great minor characters for a change. It was cool to see Vjun again. There was plenty of action and the ESB Yoda finally shows its face, I was cracking up when he kept hitting the serving droid. Anyway its very rare I give a perfect 10 but this will join the elite (see my profile for the elire). 10/10 Nuff said

 

Any chance of getting an update on the average rating?

 

Sure, no prob. -0.5

 

Very subtle, Excellence. I really should lower my rating to a 6, but I won't just for kindness' sake.

 

I personally thought that Sean Stewart did a great job on DR. I would give DR a 10/10. It had emotional depth, interesting gear, well-developed characterization (inc. the droids), and over all moments of laughing out loud. Especially certain R2 moments. I really would like to see Sean Stewart write some more Star Wars books.

 

My god, saying this was a lackluster novel is an understatment. For a novel that is supposed to be about a rendezvous, why does half the novel involve padawans beating the crap out of each other in the Temple with powered down lightsabers? Why does Yoda switch between refering to himself in the first and third person? Is there a reason Stewart keeps saying a person's full name? Add this with some generic characters, and you've good a bad novel. I'll never touch this book again.

My rating, 0/10. Considering I'm usually a big Del Rey EU fanboy, I can't believe this got published, or why people enjoy this novel so much.

 

Announcement: Seeing as though the average rating hasn't been figured out yet, I'd like to lower my rating to 6 out of 10. I've had some more time to absorb the book now, and it really doesn't deserve the 6.75 I gave it earlier.

That's the way, Sniper_Wolf! While I wouldn't give it a 0, the lower the rating, the better, because that means a lower average!

 

Counting 52 reviews: 459.85/52 = 8.84

 

You know, 9 out of 10 doctors agree if you don't like this book, you are dead inside.

10/10

I'm no good with reviews. But I liked it.

 

I enjoyed it the first time through, as a rather irrelevant in the large scheme of things piece of fluff. The insights into Dooku and Ventress were nice, but I doubt I'll read it again often if ever.

6.5/10

 

At times reading this, I thought I'd give it perhaps a 10. At times, I felt sick and I was about to give it a 0. But after reading it and reflecting on it for several weeks, I'm going to give it an 8.

Likes:
Jai Maruk was cool.
I like Ventress.
Obi-Wan and Anakin were portrayed well.
Scout and Whie were faily interesting.
Seeing the droids from the Jabiim comics was good.
Dooku getting a decent role.
Whie's dreams made me feel sick, in a good way. Sick
and scared.
The tournament was very good, especially the final battle.

Dislikes:
Some aspects of Dooku's portrayal galled me. They were my main qualms with this book. I've always seen him as very calm, very composed, very controlled. He's got all these big plans, and he's just sitting there, watching everything unfold, showing no emotion.

Tripping over foxes. Spilling wine on himself. Sitting at his desk, oblivious to Yoda tapping on the window.

Yuck.

Yoda acted too silly for my liking as well. Yes, the occasional humour is ok, but stealing drinks from little kids - no. Just no. And all that rubbish with the Artoo unit.

But you can't help but deny the feeling of...darkness as you read Stewart's unsettling prose. Jason Fry said that this book was "spooky and mysterious and dark", and it was. It has moments of humour (though the claim that it's funnier than Starfighters of Adumar is plain ludicrous) but is still dark, is still sickening, and I think I got something out of reading the novel.

On a par with Jedi Trial, 8.

 

though the claim that it's funnier than Starfighters of Adumar is plain ludicrous

Starfighters of Adumar wasn't funny. It was...boring.

 

Yes, if "boring" equates with "the best damn novel in the EU".

Of course, that's just my opinion.

 

Yes, if "boring" equates with "the best damn novel in the EU".

Of course, that's just my opinion.

I don't know why but I just couldn't get into it. I don't think I ever laughed aloud.

 

I agree Sidious. I hated Starfighters. Probably one of the few EU novels I hate more than Dark Rendezvous.

 

So I do have fellow Anti-SOA-ers here. I thought I was the only lightning out of the cloud.

(I opened the book yesterday by accident, saw Electrocution Death flightknife, and pronounced a class-two profanity quite well)

 

Excellence, Sniper Wolf is your clone baby, aren't they?

 

So I do have fellow Anti-SOA-ers here. I thought I was the only lightning out of the cloud.

We disagree about this book but, yeah, I'm not big on SOA. I enjoyed Stackpole's a lot more.

 

Counting 55 ratings: 485.35/55 = 8.82

 

Loved Yoda?s portrayal, as well as the general problematic atmosphere Stewart depicted for the Jedi in a time when they were quickly dying out. The ?every Jedi is a child whose parents realized they could live without? theme kept me intrigued, as did the Yoda/Dooku relationship that was nicely developed into something other than their one minute sword fight from Attack of the Clones. I dug the new Jedi and how they died, and also thought the humor was working in a way that Star Wars fiction has been lacking for quite a while. In the end, Dark Rendezvous wasn?t quite as good as Shatterpoint, but still it was close.

9/10