"Dark Lord" by Luceno (Spoilers)

I generally, and by generally I mean ubiquitously, don?t like EU writing. And I didn?t like LOE?his style isn?t very involving and way too many EU continuity throw ins. But I do highly recommend Dark Lord. Couldn?t put it down either, and the ending is particularly engrossing. Even liked Roan Shryne, don?t know why everyone doesn?t.

 

i totally despise the EU but if this book is as good as some say then i'll definitelly read it

 

I just finished "reading" the book and I really loved it although I must admit I did read it in an unorthodox way. I was about half way thru the second chapter when I became bored with the book and out it down. I picked it up several days later and tried to continue. I flip ahead to see when Vader comes into it and was most displeased to see he doesn't show up until Chapter 9.

I thought to myself "This book is called Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader. Darth Vader is on cover. This is a book about Darth Vader. Why read 50 pages about disposable EU Jedi to get to the real story?"

I skipped ahead to Chapter 9 and from that point on I just read the Vader chapters and those that featured important characters like Bail Organa and the droids. After finishing the book I came away convinced that the book should have been structured mainly from Vader's point of view with Bail's storyline working as a subplot. We don't need to know everything about these Jedi. All we need to know is that Vader is going to kill them. Not knowing what they're doing is actually much more exciting as find out when Vader does.

If you don't care about EU Jedi "extras" I recommend you just skip those chapters and only read the good stuff.

 

He should have tied the story lines together better. Vader should have opened the book not the jedi. But it is still a nice read.

 

Gobi_1 lol.......that's funny, because that's pretty much how I read Dark Lord, the first time through. I skipped right past any part about the "unknown" Jedi. Then, after I'd read all the "good parts", I went back and read the "filler material".

 

No, it's ok because we can discuss anything related to ROTS, either the book or the movie. Labyrinth of Evil, Revenge of the Sith, and Dark Lord are a book trilogy, with Dark Lord being the sequel to Sith. It's the closest we'll ever come to a sequel to ROTS. (ANH doesn't count because it's 19 years later!)

 

Well I have to agree with Gobi-1 on this one. I read the book in 2 days and I almost put it down within the first 30 minutes due to all the bland "character development". I persevered though and once Vader entered the scene the book got great. I loved the conversations between him and Sidious, and also the description of the agony and pain he felt in that suit. It explained a lot of things and I would definitely recommend it, but just skim the parts without Vader or Shryne.

 

If you want to just read the main plot points and no "filler" stuff that is your personal opinion and thats okay with me, but I don't think you should be judging the book or making comments about its structure when you didnt read it structured.

As for me, I enjoyed the book very much, sure the "extras" weren't the best EU characters, but I didn't feel they were bad. As with everything someones not gonna be happy though. If it had less "extra" character and more vader killing randoms, people would say, "it was okay, i just didnt feel any attachment or loss when John Doe Jedi died." If it were any more than it was, I would feel Vader's story was overshadowed, but I felt it complimented his story nicely and worked very well over all.

 

I did read the whole thing. The "extras" just weren't that good other than Shryne. And I think people in general are just tired of seeing Vader plastered all over stuff to sell it and then you get into it (whether it be this book or ROTS) only to find that the content doesn't match the billing.

 

Well, Luceno had to create a number of original characters on his own. Unlike when he wrote LOE, Cloak Of Deception or the NJO books, he had no established characters to work off of. So he had to start from scratch and try to build up these characters who have no pre-established history. That's why when the Sith show up, things get interesting. He has two characters that he has written before and knows how to write them well. The same thing happened with Michael Stockpole when he wrote the Rogue Squadron novels. He only had two previously established film characters to work with. The rest were all new. He did get to use characters from the films and from the comics, but not right away. Same with Michael Reeves and Steve Perry when they did the Battle Surgeons duology. Only three established characters appeared, the rest of the time it was filled with new characters and situations.

 

i think this book was a good read without question but he could have trimmed down a bit the nameless jedi we are introduced too in the begging of the book. overall i loved when vader and sidious talked to one another. it is like hearing to people who cant stand to be around one another. i can see as well why vader wont rise up against sidious just yet due to his constraints. pick it up if you like vader and sidious.

 

Read it when it first came out in November. To put it bluntly the created Jedi characters were garbage, and wasted words and pages. I was waiting for this book with great anticipation, expecting to find out about the first few weeks of life and the thoughts of characters like Obi-Wan, Yoda, Tarkin, etc, etc, and of course Vader. Instead, I get half of a good book, and half EU garbage. At the very least, Luceno could have used jedi who were at least mentioned in a line or two in the movie -- I'm thinking someone like Quinlan Vos. Instead, I have to read about some stupid characters like Filli Bitters (what the bleep kind of name is that?) Roan Shryne could have been interesting, instead of focusing on him, I have to figure out about 7 or 8 really horrible EU crappy names.....
The last chapter about ObiWan is the best in the book!

 

I don't really care, but is there still a book forum at theforcenet?

I mean isn't the movie out already? isn't this what we should be discussing?

 

But I actually liked the original characters once I gave them a chance and stopped skipping to find the "good" parts. Although it will become tirecome in any future books if every character who finds out who Vader was(Dark Lord), or who's at the heart of the conspiracy(LOE)dies before they're able to tell anyone.

And the last bit with Obi-Wan does a good job of explaining why Luke was left on Tatooine with the Skywalker name.

 

I just finished reading the book last night at like 11. It was so awesome. We can see that Vader already hates Sidious. He understands that he is but a tool. Also a certain senator gets cut down (sorry if its too much of a spoiler). Well, I hope that when you guys get your hands on it you enjoy it as much as me.

 

Quinlan Vos was almost killed by the attack on Boz Pity. He managed to hide himself, but his fate is unclear. This is due to Haden Blackman wanting to save Vos for a later story, but the comic adaptation of ROTS featured his death. Most of the film and eu Jedi were killed going into ROTS, or during Order 66. The Dark Woman had already gone into hiding, thus she couldn't be in the book. Master Brand isn't well enough established to be in this book, unlike in Dark Empire. Callistina could've been in this, but this is close to the time she was aboard the Eye Of Palpatine. Neeja Halcyon was already killed, otherwise he would've made a great lead. Any one not killed during this era and surviving into the post ROTJ era, will probably be in the live action series.

Obi-wan's life is mostly left to "Last Of The Jedi" and the occassional Star Wars Tales lost years story. Tarkin will be involved in the Death Star novel. Yoda during the lost years is pretty much off limits, I think.

 

in my opinoin the book was ok it want that bad the lines between sidious was great. I could actually feel the nervousness that Bail felt when he was confronted by vader. Also the reaction from Obi-won was great once he realized that Vader was alive and the fact he was contacted by Qui-Qon. I kind of thought it bridged the gap between ROTS-and ANH.

 

I just read the book this past weekend and enjoyed it. I liked reading about Roan Shryne and his point of view on the Clone Wars and the Jedi Order. Padawan Starsone is naieeve (sp), but she's a good demonstration of arrogance in the Jedi Order. It's important in my estimation to know about Roan and the others, so that we can see the changes in the Jedi Order and the galaxy. If you're just coming in for Vader, then you're going to feel disappointed.

I also liked the book because it made the transition from the PT eu to the OT eu. Getting to see Garm Bel Iblis, Sate Pestage and Armand Isard was nice. Understanding the relationship between Tarkin and Vader was helpful.

I recommend this book to everyone, but especially for those who aren't going to focus solely on Vader.

 

my only problem was the jedi who we followed as an audience because i could not get interested in there story and feel bad when they died. I did love however when vader was on alderan chasing the senator wanted and at the same time bail trying to keep leia from vader.

 

I am not done with th book yet, but what I love is what's going on in Vaders mind. it's really interesting to see how he feels and what he think after ROTS.

I also do like the discussion between Vader and Palpatine, I hope there's more to come.

They also should remane the book, because the title gives you the sense that it's all about Vader, but it's not. It also has the Jedi's story to.

Just what I think.

 

the book is just ok to me. i much prefer matt stover's RotS, which is my favorite EU book

 

Maybe we'll get to see a Jedi who survived into the post ROTJ era in the TV Series but I think if a Jedi appears in the TV Series they will die getting the Death Star plans to the Rebel Alliance.

 

Well, as I noted earlier, most of those established Jedi in the films and books are dead or in hiding already. I'm sure Luceno would've loved to use Quinlan Vos or Barris Offee, who had interaction with Anakin before his turn, thus making for a more compelling fight. But I did enjoy Roan Shryne, who I could get into. The others minor Jedi were essentially just cannon fodder.

 

^^^^^^I agree,

I like Roan Shryne, he kinda reminded me of a mix between Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan. His character was easy to get into. I do agree that the other jedi/smugglers were space fillers and at certain points I couldn't remember who was who.

All and all, I loved the book. Any vader fan would.

At the end of it Vader is a monster. Slashing thru hordes of wookiees, Leaping up scaffolds and platforms chasing the Jedi. Jumping and fliping over Shryne when they fight. Basically doing all the things that some people who post on these boards think Vader isn't capable of because of Lucas' BS crippled robot quote.

By the end of the book, Vader has totally excepted his fate and is totally comfortable in the suit. Once hes fully engulfed in the power of the darkside he feels that his suit is just nothing more then a costume.

 

Luceno only did that because it's a book. It couldn't be done that well in the films, which is why Prowse and Anderson were grounded. Today it could be done with a CGI Vader.