Rule of Two

I have read a few of the Star Wars expanded fiction stuff. To be honest I am a big fan of Karyshyn's stuff. He has worked on Halo books as well as on the expanded universe for Mass Effect as well. This I a good intro into why there are only two sith, ever. Yet there is no reason to read it unless you are a fan of the Old Republic before the movies take place. ( )

7 stars: Good

From the back cover: As the last surviving Sith, Darth Bane promulgated a harsh new directive: The Rule of Two. Determined to put this policy into action, , Darth Bane thinks he has found the perfect apprentice. Zannah, though young, possesses an instinctive link to the dark side that rivals his own. Under Darth Bane's tutelage, she will become essential in his quest to destroy the Jedi and dominate the galaxy. But there is one who is determined to stop Darth Bane: Johun Othone, Padawan to Master Lord Hoth, who died at Bane's hands in the Sith War. Though the rest of the Jedi scoff at him, Johun's belief that there are surviving Sith is unshakable. But not even Johun could forsee the astonishing new knowledge and power that Darth Bane discovers through Force - induced visions - power that will alter him in ways he could never have imagined.

--------------------

I read this book about 6 months ago, and except for the highest level plot elements, I've found it reasonably forgettable. Bane encounters Zannah as a naive 10 year old, whose family he had just destroyed. She is drawn to his power, and wants that same power for herself. Bane also gets attacked by the hard shelled creatures that bind to him and make him impervious, but ultimately will grow around him until he is fully covered. They go back and kill various people on the planet. Its ok. An important part of the canon, but in the end...not memorable to me.

A few quotes I liked:

"You will forever look back on this day as one of great joy, but also one of great sorrow." Farfalla told him, offering one final piece of advice. "It will help you to remember that, in life, the two are often closely linked."

"The Jedi do not need symbols to inspire them." "Farfalla reminded him.
"But the rest of the Republic does." Johun countered. "Symbols give power to ideas. they speak to the hearts and minds of the average person, they help transform abstract values and beliefs into reality." ( )

If you liked Path of Destruction, you will like this one. It continues right where the previous book left off. The strong suit of the series is on the character development and on seeing how the Sith come to be One Master/One Apprentice. Actually, if one looks closely at what Bane is doing, he really is planting the seeds for the eventual fall of the Jedi we see in the Clone Wars films, which in terms of timelines, happens about a 1000 years later or so. Patience is one of the Sith's weapons. Also interesting is the relationship between and Zannah, Bane's apprentice. They argue; they get angry at each other; they are playing against each other even as they depend on each other. In the end, readers can see that Bane chose his apprentice well, but I won't give the ending away here. Meanwhile, the Jedi come to believe that indeed the Sith are gone, showing the high costs of complacency.

As I have stated before in other reviews, I am not what people would call a "hardcore" Star Wars fan. I do enjoy the films (Classic more than new), and some of the fiction, but I don't lose sleep over very minor detail. So I do have a bit of a hard time with people who have been very negative on this series: either they are getting their Star Wars underoos in a bunch, or they just take themselves too seriously as if reading a little fluff (I have no problem calling this fluff; it is fun reading) would somehow soil their aspirations. Overall, the book was good entertainment. And it lays the ground quite well for what comes later in the Star Wars universe; for that alone, it is worth reading. But it is a pretty good tale too. I am definitely looking for the next one. ( )

It's been ten years since Darth Bane slaughtered nearly all of the Sith Lords; saving only himself to keep the Sith going by the rule of two. To keep the Sith as alive and powerful as possible, there should only ever be two – the master and the apprentice. His pupil, Zannah, is still young but she is powerful and bright; and he is certain she has a connection to the dark side that one day will help her surpass his abilities by far.

Partly as a piece of her training and partly a small step in their plan to completely and utterly destroy the Jedi Order; Zannah is on the mission to encourage the anti-Republic rebels to attack their government prematurely to first planned. If the Senate and the Jedi Order are focused on violent rebels, they won't be as hard to mislead when it comes to keeping the Sith duo hidden in the shadows where they can go on with their plans and research without worrying.

But it's also her mission as Bane is nearly completely covered in orbalisks – whilst they create an armor that not even a lightsaber can get through, he makes quite an unusual sight. Standing out in a crowd is definitely not something they can risk. But when Zannah manages to find a cover strong enough to allow her to visit the library on Coruscant, a too familiar face pops up.

I really do find the story of Darth Bane and Darth Zannah quite interesting, so I was quite excited to pick up the sequel. And for the most part, I was not disappointed. It was an adventure from start to finish with lots of battles and a focus on lightsabers. But other than during the battles, there is so much description about things. It stops being just descriptive details and starts becoming long paragraphs about things that you don't really care about, or it is just repeating something you already knew, until you are confused about what happened before the description.

Despite being quite a stereotypical Jedi, I'm so into exploring the dark side of the force; especially when it is pre-films. Both Bane and Zannah are quite different from the Sith we are used to from the movies, and I'm loving it. I'm loving all the blatant lightsaber porn. It was honestly all I wanted. ( )