Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by: James Luceno

Summary:   Throughout the galaxy, it was believed that Jedi Knight Ankin Skywalker--the Chosen One--had died on Coruscant during the siege of the Jedi Temple. And, to some extent, that was true. Anakin was dead.   From the site of Anakin Skywalker's last stand--on the molten surface of the planet Mustafar, where he sought to destroy his friend and former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi--a fearsome specter in black has risen. Once the most powerful Knight ever known to the Jedi order, he is now a disciple of the dark side, a lord of the dreaded Sith, and the avenging right hand of the galaxy's ruthless new Emperor. Seduced, deranged, and detroyed by the machinations of the Dark Lord Sidious, Anakin Skywalker is dead ... and Darth Vader lives.   Word of the events that created him--the Jedi Council's failed mutiny against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the self-crowned Emperor's retaliatory command to exterminate the Jedi order, and Anakin's massacre of his comrades and Masters inthe Jedi Temple--has yet to reach all quarters. On the Outer Rim world of Murkhana, Jedi Masters Roan Shryne ad Bol Chatak and Padawan Olee Starstone are leading a charge on a Seperatist stronghold, unaware that the tide, red with Jedi blood, has turned suddenly against them.   When the three narrowly elude execution--and become the desperate prey in a hunt across space--it's neither clone soldiers, nor the newly deployed stormtroopers, nor even the wrath of the power-hungry Emperor himself, they must fear most. The deadliest threat rests in the hideously swift and lethal crimson lightsaber of Darth Vader--behind whose brooding mask lies a shattered heart, a poisoned sould, and a cunning, twisted mind hell-bent on vengeance.   For the handful of scattered Jedi, survival is imperative if the light side of the Force is to be protected and the galaxy somehow, someday reclaimed. Yet more important still is the well-being of the twin infants, Leia and Luke Skywalker, the children of Anakin and his doomed bride, Padmé Amidala. Seperated after Padmé's death, they must be made safe at all costs, lest the hope they represent for the future be turned to horror by the new Sith regime--and the unspeakable power of the dark side. Review:   Every one of the prequels has had a novel leading into it. TPM had Cloak of Deception, AOTC had The Approaching Storm and RotS had Labyrinth of Evil. This is the first time we had a follow-up, though. What happened immediately prior to the movie? I enjoyed this story very much. Learning about Vader and how he had to change his fighting style to accomodate the changes to his body, how he blamed that on Obi-Wan and a little on Palpatine. How he knew that a Sith was supposed to want power and to eventually be THE Sith Lord but he couldn't work up the desire to even think about overthrowing Palpatine, and how Palpatine worked to make him be more like that. Seeing the inside of Vader's tortured mind was very good. I would also like to read more about the other players. Olee Starstone and the group of smugglers she joins up with afterwards. Whatever happened to them? SPOILERS: Shame for poor Roane... reunited with his mother and all set to give up on being a Jedi and go into hiding like Obi-Wan and Yoda said for the Jedi to do... but then he gets drug back into the conflict and dies a true Jedi trying to bring down the dark side, and Darth Vader. Back to the Rise of the Empire Era. Back to Star Wars Eras.