Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Star Wars)
by James Luceno
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Book Summary Information
Author: James LucenoEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-06-27
ISBN: 0345477332
Number of pages: 338
Publisher: LucasBooks
Book Reviews of Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Book Review: ...It had SO much promise...but ultimately left me disappointed
Summary: 3 Stars
Man I WANTED to like this book...and I guess it really was fairly well written, but as others have noted, where was the focus? Where does the story take us? Does the overall storyline ending with Revenge of the Sith and picking up years later in A New Hope move us forward--at ALL? The answer is simple: yes--but not by much.
One MAJOR complaint I have (as do others) is that even though the novel is titled, "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader" he doesn't even make an appearance until around 50 pages in. What the...?? I am no editor, but shouldn't a novels MAIN character be present from almost page ONE? Okay, so it bugged me...let's move on.
While certain parts of the book VERY much reminded me of why Darth Vader really IS one of the greatest icon's of Evil fictional characters ever created, others were written almost like filler for other threads to follow or explore in more detail. I especially loved the inner struggle between Anakin and Darth (yes, strangely enough they really ARE like two different people) and thankfully Emperor Palpatine gives us plenty to chew on as he unlocks plenty of Sith training for Vader, and these sections are the entire reason why I gave this story more than the two stars it otherwise would have received. The scenes depicting the Emperor and Vader are SO well done that they seemed to be crafted by a team of great writers who all fully UNDERSTOOD the Dark Side of the Force. It seemed that virtually everything said by Palpatine was done EXACTLY the way I imagine they would and should have happened. These scenes alone are the single reason for buying this book (in MY opinion anyway).
So what was my overall impression? One of genuine disappointment. The idea of defining the details of the life of Vader from almost the moment he takes that first mechanically assisted breath within his new armored suit just seemed like a PERFECT story to tackle...and I imagine had it been written by someone who actually has serious talent for story plotting it would have and could have been one of the greatest stories in this long running franchise (think Timothy Zahn). But other than a few (and far between) sections that detailed the training between the Emperor and Vader (which seriously are awesome), I was just not all that impressed...and once again, I really wanted to be.
For the serious Star Wars fan, you simply cannot allow this one to go by. It really does help iron out a few isolated dangling threads left over from the 3 prequel films -- some of which you may not even realize are un-answered until you read the book. But overall, just being able to get inside that black helmet of Vaders is one real treat for the SW fans who can appreciate what a tortured individual Anakin has become. Hopefully this review helps.
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