James Luceno has written many fantastic Star Wars novels and short stories, but which one of them is your favorite? I have not yet read the Agents of Chaos dulogy, The Unifying Force or Millennium Falcon, but from the others my favorite is Labyrinth of Evil. It ties in perfectly to ROTS, has an enthralling storyline and references many other EU works like the Republic comics, Clone Wars microseries and Star Wars Insider stories. I very much prefer the Battle of Coruscant presented in this novel over the version we saw in the Clone Wars microseries.
For me it really comes down to Labyrinth of Evil vs. Darth Plagueis, with Unifying Force being a solid third place. I haven't read Agents of Chaos in probably 7 years, and don't remember much of it. Millennium Falcon was more of an anthology than a coherent novel, while Dark Lord could have been fantastic, but it focused too much on yet another completely random band of Jedi. I voted for Plagueis because it has a bit more impact behind it, but also because it was a continuity goldmine and a politically based thriller that actually worked (unlike Cloak of Deception, which had its moments but wasn't nearly as compelling,) which was kind of a step off the beaten trail for a Star Wars novel.
I haven't read all those. I thought MF was alright considering it was just after LOTF... I liked TUF - a great ending to a great series.
Even though it's light on continuity references (for a Luceno book at least), Dark Lord is probably my favorite. It was one of the earliest "Vader in the dark times" stories, and I loved his characterization here.
Plagueis and Unifying Force are right up there. Went with Plagueis based on how often I've listen to the audiobook. Agents of Chaos I is pretty good. Can't remember II Dark Lord is fun but a little too light.
Labyrinth of Evil, since I have only read Agent of Chaos Duology, The Unifying Force, and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, and I intend to read Darth Plagueis, Cloak of Deception, and perhaps Millennium Falcon eventually. There is something special about Labyrinth of Evil and Revenge of the Sith novelization.
KKruhk and I have the same books left unread. Among the others my favorite is Labyrinth of Evil, with Plagueis as a close second.
It's undoubtly Labyrinth of Evil for me. It was the perfect lead-in to RotS and full of new and rewarding POVs. Grievous is a total badass in it and Kit Fisto has his moment, which I loved. The Unifying Force is second for me. I wasn't sure even Luceno could adequately wrap up the huge NJO, yet he did. It was massive, awesome and had a great revelation towards the end. It is also sad in that after TUF the direction of plots was meh. Dark Lord is third for me. I thought the new characters introduced were great. The duels on Murkhana and Kashyyyk were my favourite parts, along with Bail's realisations about the New Order on Coruscant. Cloak of Deception and Darth Plagueis are equal forth for me. They both greatly enhance TPM (and AOTC for that matter) in terms of plot. I too loved the action/intrigue combination in these novels.
I like them all; Luceno's one of my top authors. I went with Cloak of Deception, as it's such a unique political thriller and it's very well told, not weighted down by some of Luceno's occasional tics, that's a great look into the prequel era. It's probably not his greatest accomplishment, but it's a personal favorite. The Unifying Force, which is just a massive, glorious, rousing, definitive book is its closest competition, and I'd have to say that's his greatest accomplishment. Plagueis, LOE, and Millennium Falcon all get props too.
This is very tough. I chose Darth Plagueis, but The Unifying Force is basically tied to it, and I think Millennium Falcon is a great novel with some good old adventures and does some great galaxy-building for that era.
Cloak of Deception or TUF. Plagueis is second place or so, followed by LoE, followed by DL:RODV, followed distantly by the rest.
Plagueis earned an 8.5/10 score from me when it was first released and I largely stand by it, though I would be willing to shave off that other half point. It has strong prose, characterization, dialogue, and all the other Luceno trademarks in addition to the peerless maneuvering of continuity. The problem is that none of this territory is new or even superior: Cloak of Deception did it better. If anything, Plagueis gives us multiple synopses of the Sith's political machinations rather than actually exploring it like Deception did. The book also erred in my opinion for suggesting too strongly that Plagueis was responsible for pretty much everything; at times, it reduced Palpatine to errand-boy status, which moves Plagueis from mighty to virtually almighty. Financial genius, political genius, scientific genius, Force master extraordinaire, innovator, pioneer, master duelist, etc. and so forth. I realize Bane's Sith are polymaths, but I think Luceno could have done better making it appear to be a genuine partnership. Not to mention the fact that it spends so much time dealing with other stories and EU entries that it doesn't build much of one for itself. The book's best chapters were the ones dealing with the Gran Protectorate's ambush of Plagueis and Sidious. We saw devious maneuvering as well as surprisingly visceral combat (Luceno gives us scenes that are worthy of Stover) that highlight the power of the Force.
Darth Plagueis, followed by Dark Lord and Labyrinth of Evil. Millennium Falcon was just a disappointment.
