Scan barcode
zethgonk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jkraemo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jaredkwheeler's review against another edition
4.0
Star Wars Legends Project #39
Background: Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil was written by [a:Drew Karpyshyn|20030|Drew Karpyshyn|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303916330p2/20030.jpg] and released in December of 2009, two years after the second book in the trilogy [b:Rule of Two|1347837|Rule of Two (Star Wars Darth Bane, #2)|Drew Karpyshyn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1281997208s/1347837.jpg|3341500] (my review).
Dynasty of Evil begins 10 years after Rule of Two (20 years after [b:Path of Destruction|35430|Path of Destruction (Star Wars Darth Bane, #1)|Drew Karpyshyn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388713193s/35430.jpg|1330495], my review), or 980 years before the Battle of Yavin. In addition to referencing the rest of the trilogy, elements first introduced in [b:Jedi vs. Sith|390081|Jedi vs. Sith|Darko Macan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348543383s/390081.jpg|1519180] (my review) continue to play a major role in the plot. As in the other books in the trilogy, Darth Bane goes on a mission to recover a Sith holocron, this time one belonging to Darth Andeddu. The action takes place across several planets, including Coruscant and Nal Hutta.
Summary: 10 years have passed since Darth Bane lost the orbalisk armor that had covered his body, granting him near-invulnerability, when it nearly killed him. However, his apprentice, Darth Zannah, seems no closer to challenging him for supremacy as the Dark Lord of the Sith, and Bane is beginning to think she never will. Distracting Zannah with a side-mission, Bane hunts for lost Sith secrets that may extend his life, hoping to buy himself more time to find and train a more worthy apprentice. Actually, Zannah is far more ready than he suspects, but a figure from Bane's past is about to throw a hydrospanner right into the middle of both their plans.
Review: As the Darth Bane saga draws to an end, building to the inevitable confrontation between Sith Master and Sith Apprentice, it would be easy for Karpyshyn to just plot a straightforward course to the final showdown and call it good. But that would also be pretty boring, and he's too good for that. Instead, he weaves together unexpected callbacks to seemingly minor events in the earlier books that suddenly have a major role to play in this one, and introduces a few great new characters (at least one of whom will become the apprentice to whichever of our two protagonists survives the final battle).
One of the best things about this novel is the lack of dull Jedi-related subplots. The Jedi make a few minor token appearances here and there, but they are no longer the major players that they were in the other two books. The focus stays exactly where it should (given the entire premise of this trilogy): On the bad guys. Even the non-Sith POV characters aren't exactly paragons of virtue, which is a refreshing change from the flatness of some of the characters in the previous books. In fact, I really liked all of the subplots. There weren't any that made me want to put the book down when the perspective shifted to them.
Mileage on this may vary for some. One of the major plot threads in Dynasty of Evil relies on a couple of connections that could be regarded as a pretty significant coincidence. I decided pretty early on that it didn't bother me, mostly because I really appreciated the connections with events from earlier in the trilogy and the potential for drama and tying up a few loose ends. Other readers might not be so forgiving, but I won't argue out the case here for the sake of keeping things spoiler-free.
I do feel pretty confident asserting that the favorite new character is undoubtedly The Huntress, an Iktotchi assassin with, shall we say, a very particular set of skills. Like John Jackson Miller's [b:Star Wars: Knight Errant|8323122|Star Wars Knight Errant|John Jackson Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320541726s/8323122.jpg|13172604] (my review) and the related comic series, Karpyshyn does a great job of differentiating between his various dark Force user characters, in this case by giving them a vastly different array of special talents and abilities. In particular, Zannah and the Huntress are such a brilliant and complementary pair that I kind of feel robbed of stories featuring them collaborating.
Anyway, while he takes an unexpected and engaging route to get there, the climax of this story is never in doubt: A winner-takes-all duel for supremacy between Bane and Zannah. It is no criticism to say that their battle can't quite live up to the explosive excitement of the climax in Rule of Two, because it's hard to imagine what could. But it's still good, exciting, and as well-written as I've come to expect. The outcome never seems inevitable, and in fact, there is an ambiguity that leaves a few lingering question marks, just to mess with your head. I shouldn't say anymore than that, but I really appreciated the open-ended conclusion, even though I know that now it will remain so forever.
All in all, this is a worthy conclusion to a rock-solid trilogy, and the first book series (chronologically) that I would whole-heartedly recommend. There have been some truly great comic stories and series, but other than the excellent [b:Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories|13023324|Lost Tribe of the Sith The Collected Stories (Star Wars Lost Tribe of the Sith)|John Jackson Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326407357s/13023324.jpg|18186079] (my review), the books of this era have been mediocre or worse. If more of them had been like the Darth Bane trilogy, I wouldn't be so excited to leap nearly a millennium forward in time for the next item in the timeline. Anyway, definitely check these out for some quick and enjoyable reading.
A-
Background: Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil was written by [a:Drew Karpyshyn|20030|Drew Karpyshyn|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303916330p2/20030.jpg] and released in December of 2009, two years after the second book in the trilogy [b:Rule of Two|1347837|Rule of Two (Star Wars Darth Bane, #2)|Drew Karpyshyn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1281997208s/1347837.jpg|3341500] (my review).
Dynasty of Evil begins 10 years after Rule of Two (20 years after [b:Path of Destruction|35430|Path of Destruction (Star Wars Darth Bane, #1)|Drew Karpyshyn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388713193s/35430.jpg|1330495], my review), or 980 years before the Battle of Yavin. In addition to referencing the rest of the trilogy, elements first introduced in [b:Jedi vs. Sith|390081|Jedi vs. Sith|Darko Macan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348543383s/390081.jpg|1519180] (my review) continue to play a major role in the plot. As in the other books in the trilogy, Darth Bane goes on a mission to recover a Sith holocron, this time one belonging to Darth Andeddu. The action takes place across several planets, including Coruscant and Nal Hutta.
Summary: 10 years have passed since Darth Bane lost the orbalisk armor that had covered his body, granting him near-invulnerability, when it nearly killed him. However, his apprentice, Darth Zannah, seems no closer to challenging him for supremacy as the Dark Lord of the Sith, and Bane is beginning to think she never will. Distracting Zannah with a side-mission, Bane hunts for lost Sith secrets that may extend his life, hoping to buy himself more time to find and train a more worthy apprentice. Actually, Zannah is far more ready than he suspects, but a figure from Bane's past is about to throw a hydrospanner right into the middle of both their plans.
Review: As the Darth Bane saga draws to an end, building to the inevitable confrontation between Sith Master and Sith Apprentice, it would be easy for Karpyshyn to just plot a straightforward course to the final showdown and call it good. But that would also be pretty boring, and he's too good for that. Instead, he weaves together unexpected callbacks to seemingly minor events in the earlier books that suddenly have a major role to play in this one, and introduces a few great new characters (at least one of whom will become the apprentice to whichever of our two protagonists survives the final battle).
One of the best things about this novel is the lack of dull Jedi-related subplots. The Jedi make a few minor token appearances here and there, but they are no longer the major players that they were in the other two books. The focus stays exactly where it should (given the entire premise of this trilogy): On the bad guys. Even the non-Sith POV characters aren't exactly paragons of virtue, which is a refreshing change from the flatness of some of the characters in the previous books. In fact, I really liked all of the subplots. There weren't any that made me want to put the book down when the perspective shifted to them.
Mileage on this may vary for some. One of the major plot threads in Dynasty of Evil relies on a couple of connections that could be regarded as a pretty significant coincidence. I decided pretty early on that it didn't bother me, mostly because I really appreciated the connections with events from earlier in the trilogy and the potential for drama and tying up a few loose ends. Other readers might not be so forgiving, but I won't argue out the case here for the sake of keeping things spoiler-free.
I do feel pretty confident asserting that the favorite new character is undoubtedly The Huntress, an Iktotchi assassin with, shall we say, a very particular set of skills. Like John Jackson Miller's [b:Star Wars: Knight Errant|8323122|Star Wars Knight Errant|John Jackson Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320541726s/8323122.jpg|13172604] (my review) and the related comic series, Karpyshyn does a great job of differentiating between his various dark Force user characters, in this case by giving them a vastly different array of special talents and abilities. In particular, Zannah and the Huntress are such a brilliant and complementary pair that I kind of feel robbed of stories featuring them collaborating.
Anyway, while he takes an unexpected and engaging route to get there, the climax of this story is never in doubt: A winner-takes-all duel for supremacy between Bane and Zannah. It is no criticism to say that their battle can't quite live up to the explosive excitement of the climax in Rule of Two, because it's hard to imagine what could. But it's still good, exciting, and as well-written as I've come to expect. The outcome never seems inevitable, and in fact, there is an ambiguity that leaves a few lingering question marks, just to mess with your head. I shouldn't say anymore than that, but I really appreciated the open-ended conclusion, even though I know that now it will remain so forever.
All in all, this is a worthy conclusion to a rock-solid trilogy, and the first book series (chronologically) that I would whole-heartedly recommend. There have been some truly great comic stories and series, but other than the excellent [b:Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories|13023324|Lost Tribe of the Sith The Collected Stories (Star Wars Lost Tribe of the Sith)|John Jackson Miller|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326407357s/13023324.jpg|18186079] (my review), the books of this era have been mediocre or worse. If more of them had been like the Darth Bane trilogy, I wouldn't be so excited to leap nearly a millennium forward in time for the next item in the timeline. Anyway, definitely check these out for some quick and enjoyable reading.
A-
mmorrisohio's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable if not wholly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The character of Set Harth is ludicrous both in concept and execution, but Serra's return to the plot decades after we first meet her is really cool. I wish there was more information available about what happens to Zannah/Cognus/Harth after the novel ends.
holtemon's review against another edition
5.0
Such an awesome trilogy!
Editing since I finished this at like 1130pm last night and didn't want to type out a full thing on my Kindle
-------
Darth Bane omg, he's just a badass. I love the villain and I love a good backstory and his character kills it in those two ways.
The action was awesome, the story was awesome and the ending is awesome+ lol. This would make such an awesome TV series I dunno why Disney is sleeping on this trilogy
Editing since I finished this at like 1130pm last night and didn't want to type out a full thing on my Kindle
-------
Darth Bane omg, he's just a badass. I love the villain and I love a good backstory and his character kills it in those two ways.
The action was awesome, the story was awesome and the ending is awesome+ lol. This would make such an awesome TV series I dunno why Disney is sleeping on this trilogy
marieren's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
randysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75