PT Club Jocasta - Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

How far into the book are we allowed to discuss at this point? I'm aboot 1/3 through.

I'll start by saying how much I like the intro with Shryne and his Force vision of the momentary rift. I wonder how many other Jedi saw something like that.

It's also a real treat to be able to see inside the heads of the Clones while Order 66 is going down. Particularly Climber and his fellows who chose not to follow commands. And of course also being able to witness the experiences of the Jedi while being turned on by their troopers.

And, well, of course also being able to experience what it's like to be Vader from his point of view; I love following the psychological transformation, but I won't get into that, if it's not time yet.

Patience, young Cubman.

 

So... I forgot to watch this thread, and then forgot to start the book . Not ideal. I'll try and catch up and join you soon

 

I voted for Cloak of Deception. I read that back in 2002, and I reread it in 2014. I liked it. I don't think it's too dry as others say. Yes, it deals with some serious issues, of course, but I think it's pretty good. I like how Qui-Gon is so fixated on his mission, and Palpatine undermines Valorum at every turn. I don't even like Palpatine as a character, but I actually am amused by his cleverness in that novel.

 

@Guidman, how far into the book can we discuss now? Cubman used to give us periodic guideposts as the weeks progressed. What's your style, man?

I finished, btw. Not that I'm going to dive right into the ending now or anything, just wondering.

I liked being able to hear about the struggles parents have with giving away their children to the Jedi, as well as the honor & pride. It was interesting how Shryne's parents were in disagreement.

Yes. I like how Luceno quoted himself from the Darth Plagueis novel:
"Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you. Tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face. Tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you. And tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you."

One of the many things this book adds perspective to is why Vader is the way he is in RotJ, Sidious really sinks his fangs in deep and keeps that leash short.

 

I was just sent here through another book club that had ended. Is a new thread made for each book read? I will, hopefully join in with you guys at the next book!

Happy reading!

 

Dark Lord:... was probably one of-if not my favorite of the Legends books. It was actually the first Star Wars book I ever read, and to this day I can't think of a better one. I bet I could if I tried, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment...Thrawn trilogy? There we go. But still. Kind of like the special place you have in your heart for a first child, that's this one for me, that started my literary Star Wars journey back in 2005!

I really enjoyed the connections with the later part of ROTS and how (especially from Obi-Wan's perspective) the events even overlapped slightly. But especially I enjoyed seeing the fleshing out of Darth Vader's internal struggles having lost and left all he knew, struggling to find his footing for his future, his early relationship with Darth Sidious, and him becoming acclimated to his new mechanical suit. Great stuff there...

IMO this should be the canon detailing of Darth Vader's first days as a Sith.

 

Spoiler

Obi-Wan in the cantina figuring out that Anakin is still alive is a great moment.

 

I want to echo that this is also my favorite SW novel. This is actually the 4th or 5th time I've gone through it. Honestly, I could read this back to back over and over again for the rest of my life. Really solid work from an already consistently great SW writer.

There's so much painful irony in this book, for one thing. Like when the Clone officer asks what will happen to them after the war and Shryne answers, "You'll help keep the peace."

Also, the way all of the facts of what really went down got flipped in Palpatine's official story to the public. Which is a testament to his plans, thus Lucas's story crafting. Not only was it an ingenious plan, but in the aftermath it can be so perfectly flipped; to further demonize the Jedi and justify the need for a military/industrial complex.

Likewise, as part of Anakin's justification for his actions he convinced himself that Padmé and Obi-Wan and the Jedi were wrong about everything.

It's also interesting to see how Palpatine wasn't really bent on killing the remaining straggler Jedi survivors. Rather he revealed in the fact that they were hiding in fear and shame. Nice depth add, there.

I also thought it was compelling to see the surviving Jedi experiencing conflicting plans on how to continue; Starstone wanted to search for other survivors and stage a coup, while Shryne wanted to follow Yoda's advice and go into hiding.

And yes, @Jango723, every time you think this book is over, he keeps giving one more great addition.

 

One of my favorites as well.

Spoiler

That whole sequence in the book is something that sparked my deep interest in seeing an Obi-Wan spinoff film. Seeing Obi-Wan in his early days after ROTS, acclimating to Tattooine and learning about the aftermath of those events from a distance seems very interesting to me.

 

Another neat thing is that this book caps off an "unofficial" trilogy of books with no time breaks in between. Labrynth of Evil > Revenge of the Sith (novelization) > Dark Lord.

2 of the 3 are by Luceno.

 

Just finished it, and I agree with this too.

If the book didn't have Vader in the title, I would have been quite happy in the earlier parts of the book. However, I found myself getting impatient early on, wondering when Vader would make an entrance. This impatience meant I found it hard to fully engage with the earlier characters such as Shryne and Starstone and I felt less connected with their fate when it mattered later on.

A few bits I particularly enjoyed:

• Learning about the reaction to Order 66 and the details of how it played out;
• Vader's reaction to his suit (both initially, and his acceptance later on);
• Seeing Palpatine's manipulations though Vader's eyes.

I had always imagined the drive to eliminate the Jedi coming from Sidious, not Vader. Seeing this agenda being so heavily pushed by Vader in this book took me a while to adjust to, but I did come around to that way of thinking eventually.

Overall I did enjoy it, although not quite as much as I was expecting. This is at least partially due to the attitude I went into it with: expecting a book about Vader. Perhaps if I went back and re-read it now, I could appreciate the earlier parts of the book more and without impatience.