The JC Lit Reviews Special: DARTH BANE: DYNASTY OF EVIL (Spoilers)

Average score: 208.2/26 = 8.01

 

This was a solid and enjoyable read.

The good:

- The way that Zannah took Bane out was AWESOME! That's got to be one of the best kills in SW.
- The Huntress was an intriguing character. I found her fascination with pain suitably creepy. Her fight with Bane was great and I wouldn't mind seeing more of her in the future.
- In fact, all of the fights were great.
- And Bane simply taking the information from that Holocron while the gatekeeper shrieked in rage... very Sithy.
- There was a good balance between action and exposition.

The bad:

- Set Harth- What an annoying twit.
- I don't really see what the point of having Lucia know Bane was. For that matter it seemed far too coincidental for her and Serra (both people from Bane's past) to know eachother as well. It's a minor gripe, I'll admit, but I just didn't see the point.
- I can totally see where the confusion about who really won the final battle comes from. A bit more from Zannah about what it felt like to have Bane try to take over her body and then banishing him into nothingness would have cleared that up.

All in all:
- As I said, a solid and enjoyable read: 8.5/10

 

Average score: 216.7/27 = 8.03

 

I think this book is easily the best of the three. The last third is really well done, with the stone prison being an excellent venue to bring the cast together in a massive slugfest.

Clearly Drew's best strength is the way he delivers the battle scenes. They were all excellent. Set Harth is a great, fun character with a very Star Wars'ish personality. Gotta say that I think he's the breakout star of this work.

I've posted the rest of my thoughts in the discussion thread.

7/10

 

Average score: 223.7/28 = 7.99

 

An amazing ending to an awesome series. 9/10. The entire series is a escape from the Skywalker family and proof that your last name does not have to be Solo or Skywalker for you to be an epic character, and this last book is no exception. Dynasty of Evil is a quick read, as was Rule of Two, but it was still action packed and full of evil. Though the plot was simply fair and the ending was kinda predictable (not to say that it wasn't the ending that I wanted, it was), but the characters make up for that. Darth Bane was kickass as always, and Zannah developed more into a sithy bitch (I just love her personality). While the newcomers, Set Harth was appropriately annoying and the Huntress (Darth Cognus) is just amazing; cold, creepy and pure awesomeness. I cant wait to see if they'll continue the Zannah/Cognus storyline. If they do, those two will probably be my new favorite duo.

 

I should have rated this higher and Backlash lower. Just sayin' since the thread has been bumped.

 

I had high expectations for this book. I loved PoD, though I think after Bane left Lehon the story just kinda sloshed through until the end. And I liked RoT, but the fact that it was rushed I think kept it from being on the same level of the first book. But I wasn't sure if Drew could deliver a satisfying finale. Boy, was I wrong. The book was a fantastic read almost from start to finish. The story and characters were all top-notch and the action scenes were great. And the final fight is wonderfully done.

I put this book right up there with the first and give it a 9.5/10.

 

No one should ever rate this higher.

Average score: 251.2/31 = 8.10

 

I'd give it an 8.5. The book flowed well, despite a slightly lacking middle. I do agree the convenience of the character relationships stuck out, but hell, what Star Wars story isn't "convenient" in some way? Bane has been a really interesting character to read and I would say one of the most well developed "bad guys" Star Wars has. I really liked the mind games that Bane and Zannah had on each other, in that they were both constantly trying to figure out what the other was thinking or planning. Very Sith.

 

Average score: 259.7/32 = 8.12

 

I wanted to like this... but while it wasn't bad; it was just completely 'there'. Everything was very neat... too neat. You really only have like 6 characters - Set, Bane, Zannah, Lucia, Serra, Huntress/Cognus; for an entire novel that affects alot of people. The Bane ambush upset me. Harth's character was actually one of the better parts and I enjoyed him more than Zannah. And with how little time Zannah got in the book; I'd rather she had just died and set up Huntress/Cognus as the new apprentice. Or hell; even had Zannah live and disown the Sith and get a 4th Bane book where its Bane/Cognus vs. Zannah/Harth; (with the 4th being about one of the two factions dying and setting up the future of the Sith).

It saddens me how Serra and Lucia; nobodies, could basically nearly stop the entirety of the Sith history and if it weren't for 'incidentalities' they would have. Oh, I remember you as Des, even though you've been all burned up by the dark side/orbalisks and its been 20 years and you have no idea who I am. But I'll release you, even though your a super baddie... but you once one-time kinda sorta quasi saved my life, so I'll release you.

I wanted so much more out of the final Zannah/Bane battle too; sad.

The whole entirety of the book and how Bane foresees the Rule of Two (RoT) rule and how it actually TRULY is - is so contradictory it gets itself wrapped up in its own contradiction; and not by just the characters (which it does) but obviously by how the rule is itself; and how the author even uses it. So it all gets muddled and worsened paragraph by paragraph.

By the end of the book; you could definitely tell Drew had a set word count/page count to hit. When pre-final battle he spends like 3-5 pages summarizing the novel itself; its just pathetic.

I liked it; but I didn't like it; but I at least didn't hate it. So I'd give it a 4/10.

 

Average score: 263.7/33 = 7.99

 

I really enjoyed the third Bane book. While none were quite as good as the first, I liked them all.

While reading, I felt entrenched and involved in the story, and when I finished, I wanted to know what would happen next. Beyond all other literary criticisms, that's the ultimate litmus test for me.

Side note: I thought the end was pretty clear on who won the final battle.

9.5

 

Not without its moments -- Set Harth was a highlight, as was Bane spitting his philosophy in the face of his captors (not Stover-class, but then who is?) -- but ultimately it was a disappointing, and frankly contrived, conclusion to Bane's reign.

5/10.

If I ever find the notes I took a couple of months ago as I read it, I'll post them here.

 

Average score: 278.2/35 = 7.95

 

Average score: 287.7/36 = 7.99

 

First off, the prose is just bad. However, there's actually some bits of good to be said for the novel: having run out of continuity to mangle, Karpyshyn only has Set Harth to deal with, and the character's thin enough that there's not much there to ruin. It's basically a good portrayal of a self-involved, lazy, greedy darksider with low ambition, though of course thin and cliched.

The basic storyline is focused tightly on Bane and Zannah's decision to come to a confrontation and their search for future apprentices; the only main characters who don't fall inside that paradigm are Serra and Lucia. Unfortunately, both characters are jokes. There's really nothing to recommend them; they're both emotional, dim-witted, hysterical women who are terribly characterized. Serra's entire life revolves around her father and her husband, and she freaks out into a poorly explained, thinly drawn vengeance frenzy over both of them. She's like the worst two-D female character you could ever write. Plus, as a princess on a world where the nobility oppresses the miners due to super-genericness, she's not the least bit sympathetic. She's just shrill and annoying and contributes to the book's total lack of a single sympathetic character. Lucia's not much better, a former Sith soldier who decides to be a random healer's bodyguard (really?) because she saved her life once, then becomes her best friend, and then frees Darth Bane because of some ridiculous code of honor idea that because you used to know the Sith Lord, you're obligated to free him. Like a dumbass. I couldn't believe any of her scenes.

Perhaps worst of all, Serra and Lucia both blatantly lack any internal consistency as characters; they're pure plot devices. When Lucia gets all worried about the possible political consequences for the king of Doan when Serra uses an old prison, I immediately thought, Where the hell was that worry for the GIANT POLITICAL FALLOUT when you were hiring assassins to kill the rebel negotiators? It's almost as dumb as the near-climax, which features the triggering of self-destruct charges in the prison that collapse the facility, starting at the bottom and working upward. While having no effect on the upper levels until the charges actually go off. You do realize what collapsing means, right? It was just in-your-face with how little physical sense it made.

The action sequences were boring, the cardinal sin of action. Invinci-Bane slaughtering cultists lacked any tension or creativity, and all three fights in the climax were dull and uninvolving. Plus, the invincible, un-counterable dark side tentacles of doom were utterly absurd. The bits in the middle were a little better, with some attempt at interesting action, but it wasn't enough to save it. It also gave rise to more god-awful plot-driven idiocy, such as Serra attempting to carry out a secret mission without the king of Doan knowing about it, and thus . . . getting a Doan Royal Guard captain to run the mercenaries. Who apparently wears his Doan Royal Guard insignia during black-ops ambushes, just to make sure it can be traced back. Or Bane being all tired and worn out, which lets the ambush challenge him . . . right up until the point at which the Huntress manages to introduce the toxin that will put him out in five minutes, at which point all the tiredness disappears and he goes back to being invincible and pwning noobs until he passes out.

Cognus/The Huntress was barely characterized at all, and what it was was all pure cliche (a Karpyshyn character being nothing but a giant ball of the cheapest cliches around? Shocking, I know), but at least she didn't grate. Well, except for being totally untrained and unable to do anything with the Force . . . except suppress the Force use of others in a manner so powerful as to overcome Sith Lords, which seems like a pretty advanced technique to do instinctively, and is again an obvious plot device to allow her to take on trained enemies.

Bane and Zannah were both boring. Cliches, cliches, cliches, the Rule of Two breaking down the first ti

 

Average score: 291.4/37 = 7.88

 

Not much to say here. The story and characters were fairly simple. There was little to no character development, which was a drawback but not much of one. What it really boils down to is that it was an engaging page-turner. Nothing profound, but it was perfectly entertaining, though not as good as some books.

7.5/10

 

Don't you mean, the prose are just bad? I know. Take it to the discussion thread.

 

Average score: 298.9/38 = 7.87