The JC Lit Reviews Special: DARTH BANE: PATH OF DESTRUCTION (Spoilers)

Here it is, the first novel to be set anywhere near this far in the past, likely a testbed for future past projects.

Some rules: rate SWDBPODANOTOR on a scale of 1 to 10, supplementing your rating with a review, if you want to. However, please do not rate or review the book until after you've read the whole thing. Thanks.

Go ahead and review.


Some previous review threads:

Republic Commando: Hard Contact, by Karen Traviss
Shatterpoint, by Matthew Stover
The Cestus Deception, by Steven Barnes
Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Medstar II: Jedi Healer, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Jedi Trial, by David Sherman and Dan Cragg
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, by Sean Stewart
Labyrinth of Evil, by James Luceno
Revenge of the Sith, by Matthew Stover
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine, by Veronica Whitney-Robinson
Tatooine Ghost, by Troy Denning
Survivor's Quest, by Timothy Zahn
Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream, by Aaron Allston
Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand, by Aaron Allston
Traitor, by Matthew Stover
Destiny's Way, by Walter Jon Williams
Force Heretic I: Remnant, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Force Heretic II: Refugee, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Force Heretic III: Reunion, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
The Final Prophecy, by Greg Keyes
The Unifying Force, by James Luceno
Dark Nest I: The Joiner King, by Troy Denning
Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen, by Troy Denning
Dark Nest III: The Swarm War, by Troy Denning
Outbound Flight, by Timothy Zahn
Republic Commando: Triple Zero, by Karen Traviss
Legacy of the Force: Betrayal, by Aaron Allston
Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines, by Karen Traviss

 

This is out already? Time flies.

Oh, and... I'm pretty sure we'll be rating PotD here, not Bloodlines.

Plus, you didn't include the whole title in the thread title. It's Darth Bane: Path of Destruction: A Novel of the Old Republic, man! You can't cut short a name like that.

 

I am more eager to read this than I was for Legacy, KOTOR, Betrayal, or Dark Lord. I really wish I had the money to buy it tomorrow. But as it is I'm second in line for it at a library that'll probably get it in a week or two.

 

Darn copying. I'll fix that.

And it's out tomorrow.

And one character short. One damn character short of including the full title, I hit the character limit. It's shameful.

 

Clearly this is an issue that must be take up with whoever's in charge of character limits around here. Or something. Because DPoD:ANotOR must be fully written in all its long-winded glory.

 

Don't you mean: SW: DB - PoD. ANotOR...

 

Bumping, since the book has been out a few days and at least some people are finishing it.

 

Glad to see there's a review thread for this one. I picked it up today and it looks like a cracking read.

 

I'm going to give the book a 6.9. You can tell that drew is a new writer, and that he was one of the writers of KOTOR, since the book reads like an expenasion of the game. Drew also was kind of confined by the jedi vs sith comic, which from what i've heard isn't that good. The scenes where Bane would confront the other sith at the accademy were really bad. They read like cut scenes from kotor. The book also had a few minor factual errors and a couple internal consistancy errors. I think they kept changing how long ago reven was around. One of the dates seemed to fluctuate. Bane was intersting, to a degree, but quickly got boring. He kept getting screwed by githney, but for some reason couldn't figure out that she needed to die.

 

Where the devil'd you hear that, Enjayoh? Jedi vs. Sith is one of the more well-recieved comics. I liked it myself-- great story, characters, and dialog, although the art was cartoonish and Farfalla's band just plain silly.

 

I loved Farfalla and folk.

 

the reviews on amazon, iirc.

 

Jedi vs. Sith kicked massive ass, which is why I'm so disappointed that the ending of DBPODANOTOR screwed with its continuity so badly.

That's the biggest markdown for the book for me. There's really no excuse for not making the two line up perfectly -- JvS has been out for years and years, and there were no continuity errors made that were even central to the plot of the book -- just matters of the author changing things around that didn't need to be. I'm calling sheer laziness here.

On the other hand, the novel did do many things well. The opening had a nicely different feeling -- not your typical SW novel/writing style, but not in a bad way. When Bane arrived on Korriban, the book really hit its stride. Karpyshyn did a nice job of balancing pure badassery with internal conflict and conscience, giving us a clear framework and believable transition into the stone-cold Sith Lord that he is in JvS without sacrificing his humanity or ability to hold the reader's sympathy as a protagonist. Personally, I'd have preferred he be even more cold and inhuman and less conflicted by book's end, but it works.

The action was well-written, Bane's training was interesting, we got great insight into Kaan, Githany, Hoth, and much of the rest of the JvS team, but I'd have preferred we get a deeper, more Stover-ish look into Bane. Bane said he was a true Sith Lord, but only occasionally did I feel it. This, along with other previously mentioned flaws, holds it back from a higher score, but it's still an enjoyable book and a respectable first outing from Karpyshyn.

7.7/10

 

Average score: 21.35/3 = 7.12

 

It was a respectible firt star wars book for the author. Even though i gave it low score, if he wrote a sequal to it, i think i would buy it. I think a sequal could be better since there isn't a lot out there for it to have tie in with or be consistant with.

 

If the continuity errors aren't central to the book's plot, could you post what they are? It'll be a while before I'm able to finish this one. I skipped ahead a little just to see where the events of JvS start up and noticed that some of the dialogue between Bane and the farmer at the beginning of the comic and when Bane first meets Zannah are different, but admittedly I didn't read through the whole thing.

 

Continuity errors:

1) Cortosis. In book described as a hard mineral, in earlier texts it's described as brittle
2) JvS differences. There are a number of differences in what's presented here, and what was presented in JvS. Most specifically regarding the three kids at the heart of JvS.

Those are the two which stick with me the most, but I think there were one or two others as well.

 

Alright, I'll see what I can remember.

In the comic, when Bane does the Sith-Lords-meditate-and-fire-engulfs-the-planet thing, there is a battle which is disrupted by the destruction. In the book, the Jedi are happily encamped, the fire comes, and then there is that same battle.

In the book, Laa is shot with a blaster rifle, not a bow and arrow, after the thought bomb. The scene then proceeds largely as written in the comic, but blows the comic's continuity all to hell.

The JvS kids are entirely absent. Neither Darovit nor Zannah are mentioned when they should be present and mention-worthy.

In the comic, Githany refuses to participate in the Thought Bomb ceremony and stalks out; Kopecz, resigned to death, intends to. In the book, Githany participates but pulls herself out in the middle. Her death due to the thought bomb is also described, but doesn't match with JvS depiction of it. Kopecz never does participate, nor does he intend to.

Pernicar dies well before he should appear in the comic.

Dialogue is different at several points.

Some book scenes seem to be intended to be JvS scenes, but don't seem to match up in the timeline.

Bane's lightsaber is described as hooked and curved, but the comic illustrates it as straight.

Farfalla's scenes don't match up properly with the comic.

 

Hmmm...

Vaapad as a lightsaber style also seems to exist a thousand years before it should.

 

yes, that was the other major one that I noticed...

 

I'd give it a 5. The book seemed repetative and didn't have much new to offer if you had already played KOTOR & read the Jedi vs. Sith comics. The end of the book held no suspense for me since I had read the Jedi vs. Sith comics, I wished the plot had dealt more with events after the army of light/brotherhood of darkness engagement.

 

Average score: 26.35/4 = 6.59

 

It's disturbing to see a cartoon-arted comic the baseline for such measurements, let alone some game 3000yrs ago. What else was the novel like? I'd like to see more feedback on areas like intrigue, foresight, action, prose, maturity, characterisation, pacing.

 

I loved this book, even though it isn't perfect by any means. The pacing was great, I couldn't put the book down and I finished it fairly quickly. You can tell he's a first time author, but I think he did a good job and I'd like to see more by him - I'd give him another shot.

It's also a very fast read, it really isn't too complex of a book. I would have liked another 100 pages or so to flesh the story out a little.

I would give the book an 8/10. It was entertaing, and I enjoyed reading about the Sith.

I have some questions, but they are spoilers so beware....

SPOILERS!!!!!


































If Bane killed all the Sith, and the Jedi believed them to be completely wiped out how could the Jedi then know of the rule of two? That'll be handled in a future story I guess.

And when Bane picked that girl up to become his apprentice, I wonder if this became the new rule for the Sith? I don't know their whole history, but it made me think of how Palpatine raised Maul and I wonder if he was in turn raise by Plageuis? If this is so, he couldn't have been aware of Anakin's existence (if the theory that he or Plageuis was behind his birth). I can't see him letting him grow up the way he did,it was too risky. He would have had him around , maybe passing him off as his son.