Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: DARK DISCIPLE (spoilers)

1- Needs more Dave certified fanfiction.

 

1/10 A harsh score yes. And I'm not trolling or joking, I really can't find any reason why I would give this book a higher score.

To be honest, I got half way with the book and I just couldn't stand it anymore. Certainly, me being a Quinlan Vos fan and a fan of the Republic comics had great influence on the way I perceived the book, and I guess for those that haven't read the comics or just don't care much about Vos didn't have the same issues with the book as I did. But even when I tried to get into this book by putting all of my previous feelings about the Legends story of Vos and Ventress, the book was just too cliche. To much forced sexual tension, and awful, awful writing for a Star Wars book. Some of the things that really bugged me about Vos that still would've even if I have never heard of Quinaln Vos prior to this book:

If I liked TCW TV show, then maybe I would've liked this book a bit more, at least be more interested as to how the characters would develop in the novel or just generally see what the show's creators had in store. But of all the Star Wars novels, there are a lot of better choices out there. Both Legends and Canon ones.

 

I did a review over on Eleven Thirty-Eight, here's the link. http://eleven-thirtyeight.com/2015/07/entertaining-insanity-a-review-of-star-wars-dark-disciple/

For the tl;dr version, I found it entertaining enough in only because I expected it to be completely insane as most of the late-season TCW arcs were. And it met those expectations in spades. I hate numerical scores, but I'll say it's a conditional 7/10. Conditional because I basically stopped trying to imagine it as a book and started playing out the events in my head as if they were animated as actual episodes of the show. It's more enjoyable in that context.

 

You kind of have to in order to really enjoy the book. The novel didn't begin life as a book idea but the scripts for eight tv episodes and that's how the book reads. It's honestly a lot better if you just think of it as the eight episodes in a translated script form. Because that's basically what the book is, with some minor additions from Golden here and there.

 

I'm writing rather lengthy reviews of all the novels I've read in the past year (A New Hope, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Han Solo at Stars' End, Lords of the Sith, Dark Desciple, and once I finish reading it, Aftermath). I haven't finished writing the full Dark Disciple review yet, but in the other thread I rated the book a 7/10. I just thought it was a fun read. Ventress and Vos are two really great characters and I loved reading a book that gave them both leading roles. I nitpicked the novel a bit in the other thread, but the word that keeps coming to mind when I want to describe this book is "fun." I really enjoyed it, and would definitely read it again.

So, 7/10 is my score.

 

7/10 a fun book that went a little fast in a few places with very little explanation on important things like how exactly did Vos get away with becoming an admiral for the separatists and breaking Dooku out of custody? Ahsoka "allegedly" bombs the temple and gets set up for execution by the senate whereas Vos gets let off because of Obi Wan giving a speech. This story was MEANT to be animated not turned into a novel

 

As far as I'm concerned, Dark Disciple is not only the definitively worst addition to the nu!canon, but rivals the very worst Legends stories. It languishes in the galaxy far far away's literary purgatory alongside Crystal Star, Jedi Trial, and anything written by Drew Karpyshyn. ​

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The dialogue is horrific: stunted and clumsy, with too many examples to cite. The characterization is deplorable, by and large, with Dooku being Exhibit A. Christie Golden subjects the good Count to an exquisitely Rasputinian death across 300 pages: not only reducing him to shallow caricature, but then undermining his well-established prowess by orchestrating ignominious defeats at the hands of a C-List Jedi. "Surely you can do better," indeed. The keystone romance is contrived and cringeworthy; Anakin and Padme radiate chemistry in comparison.​

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It's sad, too, because both pairing and premise were intriguing. Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress are each too compelling to feature in such an awful, awful book. ​

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And don't even get me started on that non-ending. ​

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1/10 and I'm being hella generous.​

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{Also my Georgia font and centered text may seem pretentious, but I believe this review and its subject demand nothing less than all the bags of douche.}​

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Or the tl;dr review:​

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This is true. I could not see Christopher Lee saying most of Dooku's lines in this book. However, I could see the much crappier version of Dooku from TCW saying them. So, I guess that makes sense.

 

7/10

Pretty decent, though it felt like it would have been better on screen, or delivered in parts.

 

6/10. Not out of any fault of Golden's, but rather the source material's. (I'm not a big TCW fan, though.)

 

6/10

The beginning (first third or so) was actually pretty strong and interesting.

I can deal with this version of Vos being a totally different Vos character. Though it does piss me off they would do that (and this is a pre-Disney reboot story, which adds further insult... why not just use a different character?).

The over the top melodrama killed this book the most, particular the Vos-Asajj 8th grade like professed undying love. Very juvenile. And that ridiculous relationship drove the development of the plot.

I agree it probably would have come across better on the small screen. That and Golden isn't particularly adept at novelizations.

That being said, there were parts I liked throughout out, I felt engaged, and the story moved me through the narrative well.

My least favorite NU novel so far. Buuuut...I would not be opposed to more TCW novelization. Lots of already developed I'd be interested in knowing.

 

7/10

It's a star wars novel, lol

 

1/10.

I still look forward to the day when we have a canonical Star Wars novel that doesn't **** all over the Jedi and my favourite EU characters. Bonus if the book also manage to have the characters "shine" without intentionally "rejecting" Jedi principles or behave atrociously out of character.

 

hairymuggle
You might want to give Scourge a read, the Jedi Mander Zuma in that is brilliant.

 

hairymuggle

Yeah, you should read Crucible and give it a review.

Alright, Davey jokes aside, I give this book 1/10

Same reasons as hairymuggle. This book is just another product of that "show" and I sincerely regretted buying it the minute I got. But I've sold it and I hope to wipe it from my mind like I'm trying to do with TCW.

 

Didn't we see you in the Amazon reviews?

 

Woah, man. How many times are you going to say "Amazon reviews"? Are you *gulp* becoming a one not pony?

 

How many times have I said it? Please tally and report. Thanks!

 

Why? Did you see a similar review on Amazon too? Please introduce us so we can commiserate.

 

9/10

I loved this book, it did two of my favourite Star Wars characters justice. Still really sad that Ventress died, but overall a really good book and one of my favourites so far. The one thing I did NOT like is that it did not feel like a book, it felt like a television show, split up into two major parts, being split up into smaller parts. Instead of handing the author the script to the show and saying "please make this in novel form", they should have let her adapt the major parts and ideas from the script, but make it fit better. So it would be more like, you know, a book.

Still, I loved it, and that was only a minor gripe. I just hope the next TCW content to be released is through unfinished animations, comics, or completely redone to fit with the medium.

 

I'll give this a 8/10. I think the romance was a bit overblown; even as I understood it was necessary to keep with the flow of the story. I liked this novel far more than A New Dawn; because it provided closure to a well-liked character. I remember feeling sorry for Ventress in that last episode of Season 5; especially when you hear her pathetically plead with Anakin, "leave me alone". I'll be honest, part of me was hoping she'd survive; but I'm glad there was a respectful resolution for her character. It's really a first for any of the new-canon material.