Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: DARTH PLAGUEIS (spoilers)

At long last it's here, the most eagerly anticipated Star Wars novel since Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor! James Luceno finally reveals the secrets of Darth Plagueis in . . . Darth Plagueis!

Some rules: rate Darth Plagueis on a scale of 1 to 10, supplementing your rating with a review, if you want to (It's not necessary but is highly encouraged). However, please do not rate or review the book until after you've read the whole thing. Thanks.

Go for it.


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
[link=http://boards.theforce.

 

The task of crafting a novel featuring the backstory of Darths Plagueis and Sidious that would be completely satisfying and flawless was always going to be impossible. And so, of course, I have my quibbles with various decisions Luceno made -- certain elements of Palpatine I'd prefer played up, certain ones I'd prefer not played up, things I'd rather have seen or not seen -- but those are inevitable and fairly insignificant issues. Much more important is how much Luceno got right. From his glorious usage of vast stretches of continuity to his exploration of the Sith's political machinations to his wonderful creation in Plagueis/Damask to several pitch-perfect big scenes, Luceno created a novel that had me overwhelmed by excitement with great frequency. It's an absorbing story with great characters, great use of continuity to bring depth, fascinating revelations, and tons of atmosphere. In the three years since LSATSOM, there had only been one standout novel: Knight Errant. Now there are two.

Unfortunately, while great, it's not flawless, even leaving aside the minor "didn't go into X" or "Palpatine should have been more Yish" quibbles. The book's first act, focusing on Plagueis and his machinations as he establishes his rule, is the book's greatest strength, setting up Plagueis as a great character and revealing endless amounts of fascinating detail. The second act, which focuses on Palpatine's political ascent, is full of fascinating material, but is somewhat harmed by its increased focus on Palpatine, as it leaves too little time for focus on the truly fascinating aspect of Plagueis, the stuff everyone came here to read about: his studies in the Force and his role as a mystic researcher and sage of life and death. This is compounded by the third act, which goes over the TPM-preparatory ground established in multiple other sources and united it into a cohesive narrative -- which is valuable, but it puts the focus almost entirely on Palpatine and relegates the really interesting stuff about Plagueis almost entirely offpage (indeed, Plagueis basically drops out of the story on an IU level for a long stretch). Even if it was an editorial mandate, given that Luceno was likely hamstrung by top-level restrictions about what he could address, it still hurts the book. It also hurts that there are whole big stories going on that the book can't recapitulate, so you end up with almost a series of vignettes between other stories and Cloak of Deception deleted scenes that breaks up the story right when it should be gaining momentum. Allowing Plagueis to survive into TPM allows Luceno to play with the events of the movie and prolong his novel into the political machinations surrounding it, which he clearly wants to cover, while remaining within the constraints of the titular subject, but it hurts the story by forcing Luceno to fit the climax within the interstices of the film in this choppy section of the plot. Something more organic, within the confines of a purely Plagueis-centric novel, with the rest of the Sidious material restricted to the Palpatine novel that Luceno clearly wants to (and was born to) write, where it would fit without getting in the way of the Plagueis material that we'll be unlikely to have another chance to get, would have allowed a more rewarding and definitive story. The only other major issue that troubled me was that, awesome as Sidious's final revelation was, it wasn't sufficiently indicated in Palpatine's prior POV sections that he was playing this role, patiently waiting. I don't mind Luceno not going out of his way to point it out and keep it a surprise, but the way Palpatine seemed to be written to clearly contraindicate that in points made it seem too much of a left-field throw-in to ease the pain of jamming Plagueis into all of Sidious's plotting. The groundwork wasn't sufficiently laid.

As a result, Darth Plagueis was a great novel but suffered from significant structural defects -- most significantly a weak third act -- not all of which were likely Luceno's fault. I give it a 9.2.

 

James Luceno is by far my favorite Star Wars author. I really was excited for Darth Plagueis to come out and he didn't disappoint. It was a pleasant surprise to learn more of Palpatine's background and his upbringing. I wonder if he was knowledgeable of his ability to shutdown his force presence or not. I wished that there was more written on the murder of his family, but I was able to use my imagination. I'd give it a 9.4, simply because it was James Luceno writing about Sith Lords!

 

Average score: 18.6/2 = 9.30

 

I read this book awhile ago as I was lucky enough to receive it early. I must say this is easily the best Star Wars novel since Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. James Luceno does a wonderful job of telling the stories of both Plagueis and Sidious. I enjoyed everything from the recruitment of Palpatine by Plagueis, to his training. Finally to the events of The Phantom Menace.

I think he did a great job of giving us the histories of these two important Sith, plus tying in other aspects of the Sith. Finding out things like Plagueis is the mastermind of the events of The Phantom Menace as well as certain aspects of the Clone Wars was very interesting. Luceno is the best author when it comes to tying many things together.

There was very little I did not like about the novel, I felt it was great from beginning to end.

I give this book a 9.4 out of 10.

 

Unable to harness my impatience or restrain my interest, I had been fortunate {or foolish} enough to have read most of Darth Plagueis over the course of the previous month or so, thanks to extensive leaks from Amazon and Google Books; and while that decision sated my agitated desire, it kept me from basking in the boundless excitement of the day that I held the physical book in my hands.

I?ve read Plagues cover-to-cover three times or so since its official release. I had high expectations for it?given the story?s roots in the films, the long-awaited backstory of the saga?s Big Bad, and the fact that it was written by James Luceno. In most cases, the books met these heightened expectations; in others, it exceeded them. I?ve long posited that the only novelist with multiple contributions to the mythos who rivals him is the venerable Matthew Stover and Darth Plagueis forever eliminated any doubt as to Luceno?s supremacy.

While not perfect (nothing made by man is), the novel excels. Luceno?s prose is not quite as grandiose as Stover?s, but the dialogue and narration never cease to weave a tapestry of vivid details. His grasp of continuity is without peer; Plagueis is more entrenched in canon than any bar the essential guides. There are enough references to characters, events, locations, and species that I checked the front cover more than once to make sure James Luceno wasn?t an anagram of Daniel Wallace or Jason Fry?it?s not, but Luceno evoked their sensibilities here.

Given that he shares the book?s title, one might expect Darth Plagueis to be the primary focus of it. But as other reviewers have noted, Palpatine is as prominent as his Master in the tale?s unfolding. Divided into three sections, each spanning two critical years, the novel begins with Plagueis?s final day as an apprentice and follows his experiments with midi-chlorians, manipulation of galactic events, and the training of Darth Sidious?whom he seeks to fashion into a weapon that will doom the Republic and the Jedi.

Plagueis is the latest and most multidimensional of the EU?s Sith; there are parts of recently-created Darths Malgus and Scourge in him?he?s not a creature of pure evil. He?s ruthless, yes; he?s arrogant, of course; he?s even, on occasion, utterly brutal?do not mistake Plagueis for some sort of harmless, addle-brained mystic: He possesses an aptitude for combat that rivals his expertise in midi-chlorian manipulation. And while he uses deceit to his advantage, Plagueis isn?t unnecessarily sadistic and there is a sense of cool civility about him that can?t be ignored. It is this aptitude for humanity that dooms the haughty alien.

We are introduced to Palpatine at an early age and many among the fandom were hesitant that the novel would humanize him too much?as some believe the prequels did to Vader. But George Lucas has referred to Palpatine as ?pure evil? and that is maintained here. The difference, though, between his backstory and the one provided for the pale imitation of Darth Sidious that is Emperor Vitiate from Drew Karpyshyn?s Revan is Luceno manages to find some wiggle room for dimension even in an absolute appellation as pure evil. Young!Palpatine is arrogant, elitist, manipulative, and murderous?but fear and uncertainty conceal much of this darkness, just as the Force conceals itself within him. There are moments of humanity; of hesitation, of doubt, of misgiving. But mercy? Never. Unlike, say, the physically and mentally abused Dessel, Palpatine has no such Freudian excuse beyond malignant narcissism and a predisposition for criminal conduct. As the story progresses, Luceno draws a sharp contrast between the utterly affable {and chronically flirtatious!} Senator Palpatine and the sadistic Darth Sidious, whose penchant for raw, unadulterated violence far exceeds even his Master?s.

The relationship between these two is compelling; Luceno was wise to give us many snapshots of Plagueis?s training of Sidious and their sinisterly charming bond. Also interesting were supp

 

Average score: 37/4 = 9.25

 

9.5/10

The only scene I felt a little put off by was Palpatine's final conversation with his father. It was interesting that Luceno chose to work a few Biblical references into the conversation ("Father of Lies" and "King of Beasts"), but the whole exchange felt a little off. Then again, considering how that conversation ended, I can't imagine what an exchange like that should sound like.

Luceno should teach a course on continuity for every new crop of writers. This book is dense, all but requiring check-ins with Wikipedia for some of the half-remembered references. I'd recommend re-reading Cloak of Deception immediately before picking this book up, and the pre-TPM comics if you can find them. This book does more to flesh out its setting than any other book I can think of, which must have required an incredible amount of research. At the same time, none of the references feel forced, hammy, or like deliberate name drops, which is a miracle in and off itself.

Luceno deserves special mention for how he handled the question(s?) of Anakin's birth. We get some new insight shed on the subject, but we don't know any more about it than we did before the book. It's a fine line to walk around one of the most charged mysteries in the franchise, and Luceno does it masterfully.

Palpatine is arguably my favorite character in the saga, so I was approached diving into his origins with some trepidation. But we get some vintage scheming here, along with the expected cold-blooded murder. I know hope that we get to see more of Young Palpatine in future stories.


All around excellent, and really highlights why the pre-TPM era has been the host to so many great stories.

EDIT: Addendum - There is a lot of mention of Stover here, and the two authors do seem linked, to a certain degree. They collaborated on an unofficial trilogy, and Luceno's works are second only to Stover's in the amount of frothing anticipation they receive. I found Luceno's last novel, Dark Lord, to be his weakest effort, perhaps because he was trying to be a bit more like Stover. In particular, there was a sequence where Vader has something of a panic attack (my book is 800 miles away in New York, sadly) that seemed to evoke the "This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker" passages from RotS, but lacked the same punch. Plagueis is completely Luceno's book, and shows that he can do the dark, introspective stuff on his own terms.

 

This is easily one of the best Star Wars books ever written. Luceno packs so many references, characters, and a deeper understanding behind the events of several EU books and comics than I thought would be possible, all while telling a new tale that is exciting in its unexplored events. While the third part did get bogged down slightly by retelling the events of a other stories every several pages, enough new twists were added to them so that it didn't feel like a total recap, and the confrontation between Palpatine and Plagueis at the end more than made up for it.

9.8/10

 

For me, this is a 10/10.

To provide a counterpoint here Havac, I'd suggest that the third act is the strongest; by the third act, Plagueis doesn't matter. He's merely Palpatine's pawn. In a way, the structure that the book is set up in is that of the focus of the ruler of the Sith. As Palpatine's surety in himself and the Grand Plan grows, our Darth Plagueis-centric POV is decreased, as it would be useless to give us scenes that only reiterate the point. Added to that, I really don't want to know everything that Darth Plagueis did. The novel is brilliant at telling us plenty, but leaving the door open to interpretation and maybe future stories, something absolutely crucial to the longevity of the character.

 

I think this book might go down as the second best SW novel written behind the ROTS novelization. So far everyone I have spoken too, as well as reviews I have read have given it a great review. Up until now Luceno was what I considered a very good SW author, in the second tier, behind Zahn, Stover and Allston. With this Darth Plaguies he has moved up into that upper echelon.

 

I don't have it in me to say a ton about this book because, quite simply, I wouldn't know where to begin. It's a great book. So much information, so many revelations, so much sheer content. Needless to say, I kept wookieepedia close while reading it.

Plagueis himself has, in the short time we've known him, become one of the great Star Wars characters. What's interesting about Plagueis is that the guy is practically likeable, and not in a "love to hate" sort of way, in the same vein as Palpatine or Bane; or that's the way it appears. Underneath the pleasant facade, I think, lies a true monster. In fact, one of my few gripes with the book is that we don't see as much of Plagueis's "monstrous" side as I'd like. We see a few of his experiments, but I would have loved more details at just the kind of atrocities he commited: really bring out the mad scientist part of him. We don't get that in full, and we also don't get to see him train Palpatine as much as I would have liked (though the parts we get are fantastic). Nontheless, Plagueis's tale is a compelling one, and much like the Revenge of the Sith novel did with Dooku, Darth Plagueis made me actually feel sorry for him.

I love how much time the book spans. In fact, I'm planning soon to read the book, but pause and insert the proper continuity as I go along. I imagine this should be very fun, thanks to Luceno's practically perfect continuity. The great thing about the continuity in this book is it's not just a bunch of references thrown in their for fans (though there are a ton of those, and they get the desired effects. They add nice flavor to an already compelling tale), Luceno takes pre existing continuity and not only works it into his story, but develops and expands on them. I certainly did not expect the Jedi Council comic series to be so heavily featured in the novel. Luceno also does things like make a small reference in a Clone Wars book, the fact that Palpatine used to race, and manages to have it make sense.

As I was reading, one of the things that bothered me was the fact that it seemed Palpatine, the galaxy's resident mastermind, had not originated his crazy plans, but instead were given them by Plagueis. I loved the revelation at the end: unlike others, I choose to take what Palpatine said at face value. He truly had been planting ideas into Plagueis's head, to lull him into a false sense of security, in order to get him to relax his guard enough to drift into sleep, and perhaps, in true villain pettiness, to rub it in his face at the end.

I both liked and disliked Plagueis's end. I loved the speech Palpatine gave, and I love how Plagueis was awake while he was being killed: still, I would have liked more elaboration. There's one particularly vague paragraph in there, about a "Force storm rising from the couch", that if I'm reading correctly, indicates Plagueis's attempting to throw Palpatine, moving everything in the room but his desired target. I like this, personally. I wasn't expecting a final confrontation, like with Bane and Zannah, as a fight between Plagueis and Palpatine would have certainly alerted the Jedi Order. Palpatine had to be clever.

Plagueis was a thrilling read, and like with others, solidified Luceno as one of the very best Star Wars authors in my mind. I already considered him one of my favorites (I got chills reading the end of Rise of Darth Vader), but this book was fantastic all the way through. Even the little complaints I have with the novel aren't enough to really dock any point. In a book this massive, this revealing, I feel like it would be unfair to.

A solid 10/10

 

The Force is with author James Luceno as he masterfully carves an epic novel on the same scale as Zahn's legendary Thrawn Trilogy, Matt Stover's ROTS, Shadows of Mindor, and Traitor, and Michael A. Stackpole's novels. This is a man who wrote such epic novels: the Agents of Chaos duology, Labyrinth of Evil, Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, The Unifying Force.

Unlike the other failure of a novel by an author who butchered KOTOR2's main character, Luceno shows depth by continuously weaving past Sith Lords and building up the stage for the Grand Plan. That very same plan that Palpatine executed and turned the course of history. I was amazed at how much it covered, and how little time we got to see of Palgueis actually teaching Palaptine, though the stuff we did get was wonderful. I give props to Luceno for having the ending take place during The Phantom Menace. I now have much more interest in that horrible movie/novel when I factor in the machinations by both Palps and Plagueis.

This is Luceno at his best and he has shown he deserves to be placed with the Masters of the Expanded Universe--Timothy Zahn, Michael A. Stackpole, and Matthew Stover. All in all, a hearty 10/10.

 

Really nothing more that can be said here. 12/10

 

Darth Plagueis is, quite simply, an exceptional novel.

The story spans from the ending of Plagueis apprenticeship all the way to his death, an extraordinary feat for a single book under 400 pages. Unlike the recent series that have been pumped out (Lotf, FotJ, NJO), Plagues moves at a brisk pace without the need for filler, yet it is not rushed but rather perfectly paced.

The action in this book is rather sparse, and when there is such a sequence it is not dragged on for pages like many SW novels do today, but rather told in a short but rewarding fashion. Ultimately, this novel is about political subterfuge and unraveling the mysteries of the force rather than lightsaber combat and space battles, and it?s all the better for it.

Perhaps the greatest strength of Darth Plagueis is how it manages to tie in with the Prequel Trilogy. Numerous, plot threads are tied together in this novel. Anakin?s birth (which is still somewhat ambiguous), the force being unbalanced, the Clone army, Dooku?s fall, and many others are all touched upon or explained. Furthermore, reading the final pages of the book, which coincide with the events of TPM, was some of the most fun I have ever head reading. It?s that good.

In the end, Darth Plagueis is one of those rare SW novels that manages to transcend from mere pulp fiction to something greater. It truly is one of the greatest works in the EU and sits along other greats such as the Revenge of the Sith novelization and Yoda: Dark Rendezvous.

10/10

 

Well, finished this about a week ago.

What a fantastic novel! Utterly absorbed me from the start. James Luceno clearly set out with three distinct goals for this book, and that's how I'll break the book down:

-Unification of all pre-TPM continuity sources. Shadow Hunter, Cloak Of Deception, Acts Of War, Darth Maul and the Stark Hyperspace War are the main pre-TPM tales in my view; this book includes them all in a thoroughly excellent way by using them as anchor points for where we are in the timeline and also incorporates them into the greater Sith Plan; beforehand, it was obvious that there was some sort of overarching plan going on, but we only saw glimpses of it until all finally became apparent in ROTS. This is no longer the case; the Plagueis novel shows exactly how they fit into the Plan and the result is exhilarating.

-Establishment of young Sidious as a Big Bad. The Emperor/Darth Sidious/Senator & Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has always been a Big Bad, but this story shows that he's always been that way. There was no gradual, decade and a half decline into evil with him; it was scarcely a year between Plagueis meeting him and Palpatine becoming a Sith Lord. One suspects that even if the Sith had gone completely extinct at Ruusan, Palpatine would eventually have re-created the Order himself; Plagueis and his money are simply a means to an end for Palpatine. We also finally get a distinct answer as the exact nature of Maul's apprenticeship. Plagueis thought Maul was simply an assassin; Palpatine's attitude towards him, however, is much different. He pretty clearly considers him to be his Sith Apprentice and uses him as such.

-Clarification of the nature of the 'cloud upon the Force' and the Force's unbalancing, and a more solid stance on the nature of the Chosen One. It was somewhat implied to have been the Sith's doing in earlier EU, but Plagueis flatly states that the Force was unbalanced by Tenebrous' Master 'ripping a hole' in it. This is further exacerbated by Palpatine and Plagueis bending it to their combined will approximately ten years before Naboo. The nature of the Chosen One is also further examined. It is quite clear now that Plagueis, at least, did not create Anakin; he specifically wonders if the Force created Anakin in response to the actions of himself and Palpatine ten years before Naboo.

~~
There is also some clarification of other things, large and small:


-More clarification of the members of the Sith Order. Plagueis reflects that only thirty beings have been 'worthy' of becoming a Sith Lord since Ruusan; we learn the name of another Sith, Plagueis' master, Tenebrous.

-Clarification of Dooku's fall. He is already well on his way to Sithdom before TPM; Plagueis reflects on using him as an ally in some capacity.

-Clarification of Sifo-Dyas' creation of the clone army. Dyas is still somewhat enigmatic, although he turns out to be considerably less of a Jedi than some thought he might be. He gets rather easily manipulated into creation of the clone army.

All in all, a splendid novel. 10/10

 

Average score: 116.3/12 = 9.69

 

Just a couple of things that bothered me a little:

Sometimes the byzantine business and political machinations took away from potential Sith moments. I would have liked to know more about Plagueis's midi-chlorian experiments.

And Palpatine's reveal that he had been waiting for the moment to kill Plagueis sort of ran counter to the Palpatine that Luceno had let us see throughout the novel.

Otherwise it was an incredible feast. All of that disparate continuity blended together with excellent prose and a wallop of a story! I especially loved how Plagueis lived right up until the end of TPM!

9.5

 

Average score: 125.8/13 = 9.68

 

Hmm, how to assess this one? Well it isn't a rip-roaring adventure in the style of Riptide or Shadow Games and neither does it have the inventiveness of Knight Errant, so what does it have going for it? Luceno finally showing us just what the Sith's plan was and revealing Sidious' master. On that basis it works very well. The only reason it doesn't get higher marks is that I find reading about the villains is never quite as amazing as the idea first seems to be, but leeching away any sense of majesty from such figures is also to be applauded.

So, what to give? It merits an 8.

 

Average score: 133.8/14 = 9.56

 

9 out of 10 for me.

 

I'll give it a 10. First Star Wars novel that I've really really really enjoyed in a while.

 

Average score: 152.8/16 = 9.55

 

I'd give it a 9/10. I especially liked the origin/rise of Palpatine and the 'behind the scenes' of TPM. I will definitely do a re-read before seeing the film in 3D.