… … … You remember how I said that I HATE having to denigrate someone else’s work? Well…

All right, I went into this book SUPER ENTHUSIASTIC!!! I didn’t even read the synopsis. I wanted to hear about the tragedy of Darth Plagueiss The Wise. To me, this was something that I’d been curious about for a long time. So I finally sat down and began to read…

And I read….

And I read…

And for change of pace… I read…

And then about half way through I bought the audio book…

And I listened…

And I… yeah you get the idea.

This book is long, REALLY REALLY long and drawn out! It is as slow moving as they come. This basically starts off with Plagueiss betraying his master and becoming the lord of the Sith. He disagrees with Bane’s rules and seeks to understand the will of the force… and even become the physical embodiment of it.

Unfortunately the book sort of tries to balance Plagueiss’ life between his dark side pursuits and his dealings in galactic politics, including the Trade Federation and the Banking Clan… because that worked out so well in the prequels.

Unfortunately, the dark side aspect seems to lose out and we find ourselves dealing more in galactic politics. If you’re looking to hear about the Sith and their philosophies… you’ll get it, but it will be sort of more of a footnote than anything else. You’ll also get a lot of background to Palpatine and how he came to be a senator.

Spoiler Alert:

This book confirms a theory that I’ve long dismissed as inaccurate, because the evidence doesn’t back it up… 

Palpatine was the apprentice who slew Plagueiss. UGH!!! Look, one of the few redeemable qualities about the prequels took place in Episode 3, which in my opinion was the only one that was really up to par with the original trilogy. Specifically this scene:

This scene is powerful on several levels, but perhaps the most impressive part is the story Palpatine tells about the tragedy of Darth Plagueiss. This was powerful because it is the first time in the actual movies that we are exposed to the Star Wars Universe’s mythos and beliefs. The tragedy of Darth Plagueiss could have been a moral tale about the quest for power. When I hear Palpatine speak of it, I think of Plagueiss as an almost shakespearian tale. An ancient Sith Lord that had discovered powers within the force that, by the time of Palpatine, had long since been forgotten.

This book ruins that. Essentially it turns Plagueiss into little more than a pawn in Palpatine’s rise to power and that’s it.

It’s my personal opinion, but in the end… I didn’t care for this book.

The story: When it actually deals with the dark side, its decent… However the politics of the galactic senate are as boring here as they were in the prequels. In the end, it explains too much that should have been left to the reader’s imagination.

The Characters: Honestly, I found them somewhat stale and predictable.

The Writing: WAY too slow. This whole story is far too drawn out for my taste.

My Rating…
2/5 Stars…

Honestly its okay when it actually deals with Sith topics and actually can get interesting. However weak character development and an unnecessarily long and drab story that doesn’t really even show the extent of Plagueiss’s power can’t cover that.

My advice: If you want a good Sith Tale, go with Bane. If you ABSOLUTELY INSIST on reading this one, get the audiobook. It’s well-read and makes it more manageable.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Is this book better or worse than I gave it credit?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.  I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim