Star Wars: Darth Plagueis

I have a few things to say about this book before I start my review, I hope it helps someone.First off, I grew up reading star wars. Started with the kids books obi wan kenobi adventures, when he starts off not even getting picked as an apprentice to falling in love with Siri and almost leaving the jedi order. I've read all the Old republic books. The Bane Trilogy (which is a great precursor book to this one) all of Timothy Zahn's works, and the New Jedi Order Series, and pretty much everything in between. A good 60+ books I would say with confidence.Secondly. I abhor the decision made to turn the Expanded Universe into....the....legends.........It physically angers me. That all those works done to make Star Wars into My star wars, the star wars I know and love, are turned into stories merely so Disney can have creative f***ing insight to make their new movies--......... It was a poor and crap decision. Bc now everything I know is out the window to pave the way for the crap they're wanting to do now. The movies could have been great if they did the yhuuzhang vong invasion....but I digress.....Thirdly. This is the best book about the force I have ever read. Those 60+ books I've read don't include the omnibus's, comics, or the guide books they've created to explain the star wars universe. Yet, this book talks about the force in a way that the matrix animated movie explains what the matrix was really about.The author goes so in depth with the force, what it is, what its capable of, that some chapters you'll read twice just to be sure you gathered all the info correctly. So either he had Lucas on speed-dial to ask him about what the force really is, or he has a better understanding than even Lucas himself has. Bc he does a great job explaining the capability of the force and its uses that can be implemented if merely looked at a different way. Things the jedi could never do bc of their almost religious way of using it and seeing it as something given, instead of something that exists to be used. As always, its about point of view in how you perceive it.The book starts off amazingly with the death of the main character. Entices you into wondering "what just happened?" and then delving into the...I believe 50-75 year journey of this barely aging, very mysterious, almost mad Dr. like Sith who delves into the science and experimentation of what the force can do, and he does it well. Almost beautifully. As mentioned before, the Bane Trilogy is a good pre-book series to read, as those set up everything that this book continues. The bane trilogy is one of my favorites, and is the beginning of the Rule of 2 sith. This book, is basically the culmination of of a thousand years of building, planning, and gaining knowledge to bring about the downfall of the jedi and the coming of the sith. They go into detail about the secret contacts, meetings, almost illuminati like gatherings of the galaxies most powerful people, and how they are all being manipulated to do the sith's bidding. Eventually finding palpatine, and delving into his previously unknown backstory and even the intro of Darth Maul and how he came to be in an almost "slap on the knee I can't believe that just happened they had no idea they were giving maul to a sith instead of a jedi" moment.The story follows Plagueis's experiments into solving the biggest thing the Sith have looked for, immortality, and he FINDS it. It follows the story of Palpatines training and involvement into becoming the President of the Republic Galaxy basically.AND....in a sith ritual to put a veil over the jedi.......basically tells you what happened that brought Anakin into the world.And in one part, IF IT WERE CANON, places Plagueis being present during the time of episode I. Literally in the background of when the ship first lands on Coruscant when they're looking at Anakin knowing that this is the child they basically created and knew he would be the future.Which just goes to upset me more that this is just....legends.......grrrrrrr.......But anyway, I've downvoted all the 1 star reviews about "lack of character development bc of a pretentiousness of the authors inability to blah blah blah I'm probably an art history major and am filled with years of culture that make me better than you and use big words bc I'm smart blah blah blah"The story starts out with Plagueis being old, almost if not over 100, for a good reason it starts here. and Palpatine wasn't trained as a child, bc sith apprentices are different from jedi, they don't come as babies all the time, look at Dooku. Its more of someones ideals than it is them just being young, and they explain Palpatines desires to join and the "how it happened" very well. So character development is good. Action isn't everywhere, but this is more about learning about previously unknown origins and new facts about things we've never thought of than a book of Sith going on a killing rampage.All in all, I bought this a while ago on paper back, and wanted it on my kindle. So I BOUGHT IT AGAIN. Bc I'm that happy with it.May the force be with you.

This book is SO good. My current focus in reading Star Wars novels has been to gain a deeper understanding of Anakin’s fall to Darth Vader, because I feel like there’s a lot of questions left when watching only the films/Clone Wars show. This has lead me to realizing that I really wanted to see the bigger picture, because Anakin’s story is a small snapshot in a series of carefully planned disasters. I have since taken a deep dive into a few character studies centered around their journies in the Force (Mace, Maul, Kenobi, Vos, Qui-Gon, Dooku, Ventress). Ultimately, I was left wanting to know more about the Sith and, in particular, about Sidious.This lead me to Darth Plagueis and MAN was I not disappointed because it was EXACTLY what I was looking for. Not only do I feel like I understand the Sith better, but I feel like this is the first time the lure of the Sith felt more realistic and accessible, not just about villainous selfishness and power.As a heads up, unlike most Star Wars novels out there, this is not an action-packed space thriller, so if that’s what you’re looking for, this may not be for you. This is much more a character study that reads through the eyes of Plagueis and involves a lot of introspective narration, plotting, and strategic political games. Although the true introspective voice is only Plagueis’, we still get to learn a lot about the way Sidious feels/thinks as well as more about where he came from. As a bonus, we also get to learn a bit more about Maul in the meantime and see a lot of crossover with other Legends canon.All in all, walking away from this book, I feel like I have a better understanding of the Sith, Sidious, and the “grand plan”. A very rewarding read.

I've read plenty of books in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, including recent offerings. "Darth Plagueis" was not only heavily anticipated, but worth the wait. It is a magnum opus, a labor of love, with superior writing and lasting artistic insight enough for it to merit a title of "classic" even so early in its run.This book easily revolutionizes writing for the EU: Its prose is cerebral, lyrical, and delves into philosophical discussions of morality and ethics that people -- for those who had the privilege to take a few philosophy or political science courses in college -- are familiar with, though they are obviously cast in a new light (see: Nietzsche, Hume, Hobbes, and Schopenhauer, not to mention Freud and Plato.) *This book is not for Star Wars fans who like action/adventure or like to see things go boom.The book is extremely clever, using an omnipresent third-person narrator but multiple protagonists, a non-linear timeline, and nudge-nudge chapter titles that remain grounded in our world (I recall a chapter named "The Discreet Charm of the Bureaucracy" -- ha) and keeping us with one foot in the Star Wars Universe and one in Earth's. The stories of lobbies, bureaucrats, political machinations with corporations may be dull to some, but why not learn that strings are pulled by the rich, powerful and violent in EVERY GALAXY? Take an ethics lesson with Hego Demask and Palpatine, Star Wars fans; "Darth Plagueis" is, to some extent, a micro textbook on modern international politics and sentient moral philosophy, and for that I love it. Another major plus is that, while fleshing out the backstory of Palpatine, the man is not made sympathetic. He was always petulant, always manipulative, always superficially charming, always violent, and always destined for this future -- no mere Anakin Skywalker he. Palpatine is not a classic fallen hero trope, and his malevolent anti-social personality disorder is on gorgeous display in writing here."Darth Plagueis" is for fans who have always wanted their Star Wars a little darker and a lot smarter than the average.My only qualm is that the species of Darth Plagueis, the Muun species, is an obvious (and so obvious it was not unintentional) amalgam of various stereotypes of the Jewish people: Isolationist, obsessed with money, nearly only bankers and lawyers, not fighters but rather people who use money to win, and, of course, the famous stereotype that Jews are the puppetmasters behind all kinds of political lobbies and massive global schemes. As much as I adored the character of Darth Plagueis, I felt, as a Jewish woman, a little bothered that James Luceno would exploit common and harmful stereotypes of a real-life community of people to make his point about the nature of the Grand Plan of the Sith. It showed a lack of creativity on Luceno's part, just as George Lucas' casting of the Neimoidian Trade Federation leaders as East Asian peoples was crass and brought down his brand. Luceno might as well have said he thinks George Soros is a Sith Lord and taken it from there.The puzzling pseudo-antisemitism notwithstanding, this book is fantastic and the only must-read EU novel since, I don't know, anything that had Thrawn in it (exception: "Choices of One".) It's for the fans of the Empire and/or Sith who want to know the nitty-gritty without it all being romanticized or flashy. It is also removed enough from the heavy canon discussion that happens in the NJO/Legacy series for it to be acceptable to non-Star Wars fans. All you need to have seen are the movies, really. It can be a standalone fantasy novel, and it may prove to be a good rival EU introductory novel to "Heir to the Empire" or "Shadow of the Empire".This was the Expanded Universe book I was looking for.

I was 7 years old when I saw Empire at the movies. I was a Star Wars era kid. But I didnt really get it. Toys were hip. But not my thing as a kid. The prequels came out in my late 20s. Took my kids to all the movies, but still felt the whole show was too dense. Hard to follow the plot. Could not relate to the characters. It was actually the sequels that came out in my 40s, when I really got interested. When I fully understood the depth of the religious and political philosophies that this epic masterpiece is putting forth. All of a sudden I wanted to know more. I wanted to know the contextual history of these events. This book more or less explains how the wars started before they started. It's a 400 page book, but to develop the dozens of characters and species described it would need to be 3000 pages. If you are a casual Star Wars fan like I am, you will need to do constant research to follow the plot and make sense of all the characters named in it. But the effort and time will be worth it.

Muy buen libro, en estado decente. Muy buena historia!!

Even though the book is actually about Darth Plagueis and his way from the moment he killed his master, Darth Tenebrous, to the moment he was killed by his apprentice, Darth Sidious. It was great to see or better read the story of how Palpatine came to be The Emperor. And his or better their, Plagueis’ and Palpatines, machinations behind the scenes over quite a long timespan to achieve their goal ruling the galaxy. Also brilliantly done the connect to Episode Ⅰ: The Phantom Menace with Qui-Gon Ginn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala and last but not least Anakin Skywalker.

Siempre he sentido curiosidad por el personaje de Darth Plagueis y además siempre estoy intentando mejorar mi inglés. La historia es entretenida y el inglés fácil de seguir con lo que estoy encantado.

Ottimo libro in lingua inglese. Immancabile nella collezione degli amanti del genere.