Rule of Two (Star Wars: Darth Bane, Book 2) by Drew Karpyshyn
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Book Reviews of Rule of Two (Star Wars: Darth Bane, Book 2)
Book Review: Darth Bane continues the Sith legacy...
Summary: 5 Stars
Basically, I've been enjoying the Star Wars Expanded Universe for some time now. From the Tales of the Jedi comics told thousands of years before Luke and Leia (and even before Bane) to The New Jedi Order and the attack of the Yuuzhan Vong (may have misspelled that) I have been reading the EU of Star Wars since Timothy Zahn first wrote his Thrawn trilogy.
Now we have the story of the person who redefined what it meant to be a Sith. Of course, this story - as a novel - begins in the first Darth Bane novel Path of Destruction, and in comicbook form as Jedi vs. Sith, but ultimately what we have here is an excellent installment in what is clearly on ongoing story. With the third book coming out at the end of this year, this will either conclude a "trilogy" of Bane novels or be the start of something even more epic than it already feels.
What we have in this installment is the training of Zannah as Bane's apprentice. Yes, other things happen and other reviewers can talk about those extras, but the main thing here is Bane's training of Zannah as a Sith in order for her to gain as much knowledge as she can and ultimately kill him in the end to take over the Sith order. Some of the things I thought were really good in the telling of this training are as follows:
His first test (and a highly intelligent one I might add) of her being able to escape a planet and join him on another planet by a certain time. I was really wondering how a small kid could pull that one off.
As time passes (and we see this in a flashback) her test to coax a creature into trusting her enough to follow her back to the campsite on its own freewill. Then Bane kills it. Perfect, absolutely perfect.
Once the time has passed and we're in "real-time" again: Her infiltration of a small group of dissidents in order to push their plans ahead of schedule and thus sabotaging what they were doing.
Then she meets the real head of this organization who turns out to be a person empowered by the dark side of the Force without any training and convinces him that she will train him only to trick him into getting killed by Bane in order to share with Bane the secrets this fellow has gathered over time.
The infiltration of the Jedi Temple where she impersonates a Jedi Padawan returned from being off on an extended mission with her master to research something for her master. Real reason: Darth Bane needed some information that was located in the Jedi Archives.
Her battling two Jedi while Bane took care of another two during a heated battle.
At the end her assurance to Bane that even though she hadn't killed him when he was weak, she would definitely kill him once she acquired from him everything she needed to continue the Sith Order.
Oh, yeah! This baby rocked and I'm greatly looking forward to the next installment. If the next one is the end of Bane, I certainly want to see the continuation of Zannah in her own series.
5 Stars for sure.
Book Review: There can be only on.. uh.. Two!
Summary: 5 Stars
After finishing the first Bane novel I was really looking forward to this one. I finally got around to reading it and I am not disappointing.
The story picks up exactly where the last left off. Darth Bane is on the planet of Ruusan where the Brotherhood of Darkness set off their thought bomb. I'm sure you have read other reviews so I will just focus on what the others tend to put down on.
First off there is the Zannah. Others state that she is bland and the story fails to give her character. While the story does not go into to much depth with her it does give enough. One thing you have to realize is that Bane finder her on Ruusan as a 10 year old girl. She simply hasn't had enough of a life to have a back-story. Also the story does jump 10 more years and with a few back-flashes they try to give you some imput into who she is and how she feels. Besides that you need to pay close attention to how the author describes her feelings towards individuals and events, this gives you some great insight.
At least one reviewer has stated that some of the things that take place in the book are laughable in how absurd or over the top they are. To this I say it is fiction, it is star wars, get over it.
The cover. Ok it is cheesy. And to tell you the truth the first thing I thought of when I saw it was "Is that Gene Simmons and Angelina Jolie?".
Another review goes on to comment on how the book has errors with spelling and such. Out of the entire book I only noticed two and they happened to be the same two the other reviewer commented on. I have to say that every book I have read has had at least one error. The problem stems with the writer of the book, they are human and as humans we tend to err. Even with proofreading these things slip through.
I want to end stating that this book is a perfect centerpeice in a Bane trilogy. Yes there is going to be a next one and that's why this book needs to be taken for what it is, one more step towards the finale.
5 out of 5
Book Review: Kid Apprentice
Summary: 5 Stars
Because the focus of this book is on Darth Bane's relationship with his youthful apprentice, I started for grow concerned that this book would be a Sith version of Episode I. Thankfully, Sith do not make a conscious effort to be cute. For a child, Zannah proves to be an evil and worthy apprentice. Though the story lacks a certain electricity, it is a welcome supplement to Darth Bane's story.
Darth Bane immediately sets about training his apprentice, even with a lack of a training manual. The Sith Lord seeks to expand his knowledge and power, but simultaneously sabotages the Republic and the changing Jedi order. A lifeform that enhances Darth Bane's powers seems to make him invincible. But even he begins to question whether the lifeform is driving him mad. If he removes them, he will die. With them, he has a constant layer of armor.
Kudos to the author for exploring the origins of the Force in this novel as it adds something to the storyline in this earliest series of novels. Because most of the novel sees Darth Bane searching for powers long forgotten by the Sith, "Rule of Two" is an ideal location for this discussion.
In Sith centered novels, I often feel as though the author includes faceless Jedi only to lead them to slaughter. But Johun Othone's character was compelling despite a somewhat brief presence in the book. A slightly great problem with the book is that lack of carry-over of surviving Jedi from the previous book.
Even though this novel lacked some of the potency of the previous novel, it is still a well structured book. I was not a fan of some of the softer kid-type scenes with Zannah, but these scenes were far from nauseating.
Book Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Of all of the Star Wars books I have read, this one is the best I have read so far. Especially since the author was under a rush agreement to finish it.
I have heard the argument that the book should be titled Darth Zannah, however, I found her more compelling than Darth Bane. It's not everyday you get the pleasure of reading about a child brought up as a sith and get to see the them as human beings. Of course being the wife of a novelist and English instructor and a fan of Star Wars I feel that Zannah being brought to the forefront was something that had to be done and was Lucas LDT that made the plot line and should not be blamed on the author.
The author can write one after another intense action scene and the pages almost turn themselves over. The author is one of the greatest writers I have had pleasure in reading in a long, long time.
I will not spoil any plot other than it picks up were Path of Destruction left off and I give it almost near perfect.
Book Review: ...Through victory my chains are broken...
Summary: 5 Stars
The continuation of the first book, I found this one equally engrossing. As some of the reviews suggest the book is more about Darth Zannah than Bane. Nonetheless it is equally intriguing, filled with action. One gets to know more about the Dark Side. The story is rather short and is left wanting. I had to buy the next book, "Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil" which I am reading right now. So I would say this is a Darth Trilogy. The author, Drew has a smooth style of writing and things so fast. There is no rambling, just quick to the point plot. After reading this, I have begun to like the Dark Side and somehow hate the Light side. Oh well...!