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332 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
My reaction to this book:
First,
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then,
and finally!
(HEADS UP. THIS REVIEW IS KIND OF LONG. I needed to get this out).
O. MI. GOD! This book!! I CANNOTEVEN! I can’t. I’m new to the Star Wars novelization game and I’m trying out multiple authors. They all love Star Wars and each have a unique description of the infamous universe. As of this review Michael Reaves is MAH FAV!
I’ve already experienced:
-James Luceno (my 2nd) Darth Plagues
-Wryder Windham The Wrath of Darth Maul
-Timothy Zahn Heir to the Empire
-William C. Dietz Dark Forces Trilogy
and
-Joe Schreiber Death Troopers ew… :/
Out of all of them Michael Reaves has shown me just how much he knows and loves his characters. AND how to put the reader on the same level as them. Every character mattered, not just Darth Maul (which is the whole reason I bought this book).
Why this works:
Darth Maul is just 1 of (let’s say) 5 different stories following different characters all simultaneously corresponding.
1.) Darsha is a Padawan that just wants to make her master proud and become a Jedi Knight. Things go horribly wrong during her initiation mission and she absolutely dreads facing her master about it. So much, in fact, that she spends the night in a crumbling building filled with homeless people! :(
2.) Lorn is a poor guy at the end of his rope and drinks to drown his many failures at trying to gain a little cash. (He also hates Jedi. Like, all of them). Luckily he has I-Five, a not-so-normal protocol droid who treats him like a best friend rather than an owner.
3.) Darth Maul is sent to retrieve a Sith holocron containing valuable information about the Sith and their plans.
4.) Obi-wan (still an apprentice) shows up at some point following Darsha’s trail throughout the book.
5.) Chapters shift between Sidious, some Neimoidians, and a bounty hunter.
The plot focuses on Darsha, Lorn, and I-Five trying to escape Maul, who’s constantly a step behind them. The group wades through more than just a few close calls as they try to reach the safety of Coruscant’s surface. And they go through a lot! Street thugs, booby traps, sewer mutants, ancient creatures that aren’t supposed to exist, Darth Maul…more Darth Maul. Through it all Lorn, who hates Jedi for spoiler reasons, comes to realize that Darsha isn’t so bad. He is NOT okay with that.
Darth Maul finally catches up with them and…oh boy. (Give me a minute………) Let’s just say “showdown” #1 happens, and Lorn discovers that Darsha is more important to him than he believed. Long story short, everybody is separated from each other involving the most emotional trauma I can’t deal with in just one day and things cool down so the book can finally come to an end…until the last page. I’m not kidding. Literally, the very last page in the book changes everything!!! Yeah.
The whole time I was reading I was with the characters. All through their tireless flight and towards a goal that rips out the reader’s heart! I was so in love with the heroes…that…I was actually praying Maul would not accomplish his task! That’s right. Me (crazy Darth Maul fan lady and may secretlyhaveanunhealthycrushonanimaginary Star Wars person), wanted Maul to LOSE…I can’t believe I just said that.
Please, don’t pass this one up. If not this novel then another, but Michael Reaves needs a chance from all who love a good book :)