Product Description

The ultimate guide to the characters and creatures from "Revenge of the Sith", the third and final film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #182239 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 64 pages

From the Publisher
Focusing on Darth Vader, the newly created Sith Lord and epitome of evil, this exciting original Star Wars novel builds on the events of the movie Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith to chronicle Vader's coming into power

About the Author
James Luceno is best known as half of the writing duo that was Jack McKinney, author of the Robotech series; the other half was Brian Daley, of Star Wars fame. Jim lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife and children.

Customer Reviews

Darth Vader takes his first steps into Post-ROTS Galaxy.
Star Wars Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader is a compelling look into the Star Wars galaxy a mere month after the climatic events of Revenge of the Sith. It's a book full of surviving Jedi on the run trying to rescue any remaining comrades and adpating to the fact that the Jedi Order got set up and are now used as the scape goats for all of the horrors of the Clone Wars by the new Emperor Palpatine. Combined with excellent insights into the mind of Darth Vader adapting to his armour and his postion as enforcer and apprentice of Palpatine, this is a fascinating book for both Star Wars addicts and for anyone with a passing interest in the films.

James Luceno again brings us a superb Star Wars novel, Dark Lord is up their with his best like Star Wars New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force, Labryinth of Evil and Cloak of Deception. He really gives a brilliant look into the state of the galaxy one month after Revenge of the Sith with Darth Vader hunting some of the remaining Jedi and a wayward senator. We get to visit Coruscant (Imperial Centre now), Kashyyyk and Alderaan and more. The new characters are well rounded and you quickly begin to root for them although you know they are not going to defeat Darth Vader.

Dark Lord is an enjoyable although quite short look into Star Wars "dark times" that take place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It shows the last pieces of Anakin Skywalker fall from Darth Vaders mind and by the end he is well on the way to being the Vader we see in the Original Star Wars Trilogy. Highly Recommended.

Major disappointment
There are several problems with this book beginning with the sad fact that there is no real story, just a loosely woven collection of vignettes featuring a collection of minor characters that are best forgotten. Vader never develops as a result of any of the events depicted between this book's covers, although the author claims that Vader makes a major breakthrough in understanding the darkside. Unfortunately, we're never shown why, how, or what that possibly means.

Secondly, the book is populated with minor characters (Vader isn't introduced until nearly page 50) that are really nothing more than fodder for the Dark Lord, characters that are stood up only so they can be knocked down. Except for their names, they are indistinguishable.

Which speaks to the major shortcoming of this book, the very poor writing. I was never once "drawn" into any of the scenes or the lives of the characters. The writing was flat, the characters d.o.a., and the story missing in action.

How many???
Having read the entire series in order (not a mean if i do say so myself), i pre-ordered the Unifying Force as soon as i could. Suffice to say, i was somewhat unimpressed with the postal strike!!
Anyway, once it had arrived, i got stuck in, and was thrilled with almost every page!
Luke at last does his Jedi thing, having spent most of the previous 20 books or so worrying about too aggressive, but here the story of Luke, Jaina and Jacens fight into the Yuuzhan Vong stronghold makes for an enthralling story, with the final battle equalling anything in the films. The only gripe i had with the combat is the understated aspect of the second space battle of Coruscant. With 15 million Alliance casualities alone, it is only when you hear the figures you realise just how huge and desperate the struggle is. The First Battle, detailed in Star by Star seems far more brutal.
Another thing was the introduction of the slayers, genetically engineered Vong warriors, supposedly the equal of the Jedi. Nevertheless, three jedi overwhelm 20 of them. I thought maybe the introduction a few books previously, and maybe claiming a few Jedi scalps, like the Voxyn, would make them more effective uber baddies!

That said, I found TUF an excellent finish to the series, with an entirely plausible completion to the bitter five year war (which cost the galaxy 365 TRILLION dead). I now have to find the previous books to read through from start to finish!!